Submitted story: Top heavy

In 2003, my wife bought a new 100 year edition of the Harley-Davidson 1200 Sportster. When she bought it she had never driven a motorcycle but had ridden on a Harley with her stepdad. She had it for about two months before she took a riding course at the same Harley-Davidson dealership where she bought it. Of course, I rode it a few times to keep it lubricated and keep the battery charged, or that is what I told her.

She successfully completed the riding course and began riding it often. I ride another brand of cruiser.

She has dropped it twice. Both times it was while stopping or while stopped. Apparently the 1200's are a little top heavy when you turn the handle bars sharply and don't have much power or speed on the bike. Both times the falls were complete surprises to her. Neither time was the bike damaged.

However, the second time she dropped it, it fell to the right side and nearly trapped her foot. Realizing the bike was going to fall on her foot she jumped away from the bike. Unfortunately, the way the dip stick is stuck into the oil tank allowed her heel to catch it and pull it out of the tank. Since the bike was tipped over she lost quite a bit of oil before getting the bike upright.

Thankfully we were about .2 of a mile from the dealership and I rode up there and bought some oil and refilled the tank. Some other readers might like to be warned about the top heavy tendency of the bike. A male could probably wrestle it and keep it from falling but it tends to be hard to do for some ladies.