How To Pick Up A Fallen Motorcycle By Yourself

What do you do if you’ve dropped your motorcycle and there’s no one around to help you pick it back up?

This video shows how to pick up a fallen motorcycle by YOURSELF — the QUICKEST and EASIEST way!

My #1 best piece of advice is to PRACTICE the maneuver of lifting your bike yourself at home BEFORE you actually need it!

My husband and I have dropped a couple of our 900-pound motorcycles (thankfully, only a handful of times), and we WISH we had practiced the steps of lifting a fallen motorcycle ahead of time – because when you’re “in the moment” it’s shocking and scary and you’re confused about what to do next. Trust me on this!

So my best advice is to practice in your own driveway by laying your bike on its side on top of some blankets, pads, towels — even a rug or piece of carpet.

It takes most people a couple of attempts to get the hang of this and do it “right”. You want to get yourself to the point that you feel comfortable doing it! 

Be sure to practice lifting your motorcycle from BOTH sides.

The steps aren’t all that different if your bike fell on its right side versus its left side — but you want to feel comfortable getting your motorcycle upright from both sides!

How To Pick Up A Fallen Motorcycle By Yourself: 

1. 1. Turn OFF the motorcycle with the emergency cut-off switch. (Also, kick away any sand, rocks, and gravel that might be on the right side of the motorcycle around your feet – so you won’t slip as you’re lifting the bike.)
   2. Put your motorcycle in gear using your hand to move the shift lever on the lefthand side of the motorcycle. Sometimes, you might have to pull the clutch lever in order to get the bike into gear.  (This locks the back wheel and keeps it from spinning.)
   3. Put up the kickstand – so the motorcycle won’t fall over to the other side once you’ve lifted it. (NOTE: If the motorcycle fell on its left side, then you will do this AFTER you’ve slowly lifted the bike high enough off the ground WHILE you’re grabbing the front brake.)
   4. Sit on TOP of the seat that is now on its side, and then scoot down just a little bit. (For the best leverage, stay high up on the seat toward the top.)
   5. With your left hand, grab the handlebar that’s furthest away from you (closest to the ground).
   6. With your right hand, grab the rear wheel well OR the bar near your saddlebag OR the bar on the passenger backrest. (NOTE: Your hands are simply holding onto the front and rear of the bike – your legs will be doing all of the work!)
   7. Push your hips into the seat and use your hips and legs to push the bike up HALFWAY up only. (Don’t worry… the motorcycle will naturally stay in this position by itself!)
   8. Finally, scoot down a little lower down the seat, put your hands on the front handlebar and the rear wheel well again, and use your hips & legs to push the bike the rest of the way up. (TIP: If possible, have a spotter on the left side of the bike to ensure that your kickstand stays out and supports the bike – this is especially important if you happen to be on a slope.)

…and THAT’s how to pick up a fallen motorcycle by yourself!

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TRANSCRIPT:

We’re gonna go ahead and turn it off and engage the engine cut-off switch — which on a Harley-Davidson is on the righthand side here. It’s our button there on the righthand side of our handlebar.

Secondly, we’re gonna make sure that our motorcycle is in gear. Now how we do that is either pull down the shifting lever — but first, make sure the back tire is either spinning or locked.

So as you can see, I am moving this tire right here. It is locked in place. If it wasn’t locked in place and the motorcycle was in neutral, this back tire would continue to spin. And if you tried to lift it up, you’re actually gonna spin yourself in a circle.

One time I was doing this demonstration, and I didn’t put it in first gear with the shifting lever right here — and I was spinning myself in a circle! It was REALLY embarrassing! How am I supposed to teach somebody if I’m not doing it right?

So if that WAS spinning, you’re gonna go to this shifting lever which is on our left side. Pull it down. Again, go to this back tire. You’re gonna make sure it’s nice and locked. As you can see, it’s nice and locked there.

Now I’m also going to show you how to put it up on the side stand. When you ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle… it’s not called a kickstand. That is for a bicycle! We call it a side stand at Harley-Davidson. We are mature and like to call it something different. So a SIDE stand.

Alright, now that our engine cut-off switch is engaged, our motorcycle is in gear, and our side stand is firmly placed down… I’m gonna show you the proper technique.

I like to walk through this a little bit slower. Because when this happens, all sorts of chaos goes on. And so, if you can retain any kind of lesson that I’m talking about right now… I’m hoping that if I slow it down, it will work.

So for this… As opposed to rushing over and trying to pick it up with my arms. (I’m not as strong with my arms.) I’m gonna use my legs right here. I’m gonna firmly place my seat in the seat and PUSH with my legs.

Now, if you ride a motorcycle that has saddlebags or a tour pack, your motorcycle isn’t gonna be completely down on the ground like this.

I’m also going to use my engine guard for leverage. If you don’t have an engine guard, I’m gonna to show you where you’re going to feel most of the weight.

I’m also going to show you if you have a tour pack or additional accessories where your motorcycle would lie.

So, if you do not have any kind of those additional accessories, your motorcycle is gonna lay completely down on the ground like this. And this is really challenging to try and lift up if you don’t know what you’re doing. And especially if you’re riding by yourself.

So, I ride a lot by myself. But luckily I [inaudible] if it does ever happen.

So I’m gonna go ahead and place my seat in the seat. Give myself a nice 90-degree angle with my legs here.

I’m gonna go ahead and put my left hand on the handlebar, my right hand underneath the seat. I’m only placing my arms here so that I have leverage when I push the motorcycle and I’m actually holding on.

So I am going to push with my legs and step towards the motorcycle.

Now, if you do not have an engine guard here, this is where you’re going to continue to hold with your arms then slide down in the seat! And continue to push up and glide.

Now if you have a tour pack or saddlebags, this is actually where your motorcycle is going to lean down. And instead of, you know, trying to muscle it up here… please use your legs. Because that’s the proper technique and you won’t hurt yourself.

Now I need something… Who’s a rider? Do we have any riders? I need… [Yeah!] Yes? No, I just need help, I’m not gonna make you do anything. Okay, no I just need your help. So this side stand here gets a little wonky because we are on a down slope. This probably isn’t the proper environment… So you’re my roadside assistant. So if you could just make sure that the side stand doesn’t go this way, that would be great. So just when I left it, make sure that it stays down. Because the last thing I want to do is be really embarrassed… and push it over on the other side!

I mean I can lift it! No, I just want you to monitor my side stand. That’s it. No no no no no. I just want you to monitor. I want you to be my manager. Yeah, just be my manager. Just manage the side stand. Alright, you have this… I think. I hope so.

Alright, like I said with the side stand down… What is your name? [Chuck!] Alright Chuck… [York, PA Harley Davidson!] Awesome. Awesome. Thanks.

Alright, here we go!

So, I’ve crouched down in the seat just a little bit… 90-degree angle [legs]… here I have my man Chuck monitoring my side stand. Normally, if I was in a safe environment, I wouldn’t have a monitor like this. But just for assurance, I went ahead and called my roadside assistant.

My left hand on my handlebar here. My right hand can either go underneath my seat, or I’m gonna grab the wheel well there. It just depends on what’s most comfortable. If you have saddlebags that have a bar, you can grab that as well. Your hand placement will differ depending on the motorcycle that you ride.

So again, I have my left hand here. I’m going to put my right hand underneath the wheel well. I have that 90-degrees with my knees right there. And I’m going to step towards the motorcycle.

Now, this is where you’re going to feel the brunt of the weight. So, if you ride a larger motorcycle — like a Ultra Classic — you have to COMMIT when you are going to push this motorcycle up. Because it is so heavy, you need to commit and you need to continue to drive with your legs.

When I lift this, you’re gonna see me step towards the motorcycle and push. It’s very simple. Like I said, I’ll walk you through so [inaudible].

Left hand on the handlebar here. Right hand on the wheel well. And I am going to step it up. Monitor, are you good? Alright. And I am going to push it over. [You have to let it…] Alright, thanks monitor. Alright, I’m gonna push it over just like that! 640 pounds!