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Learnings from my first fall on the Triumph Scrambler 400X

10th October 2024, 17:59 by Kanad Kalasur

I think the front end jumped over some stone and slided on landing where I could not hold/control the bike. I jumped off the bike and managed not to fall.

BHPian nasirkaka recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Anatomy of a fall.

Yesterday (being a holiday on the occassion of Gandhi Jayanti), we went for a typical ride searching for some adventure. The destination was a newly discovered place known as Bolumalai, made famous by an instagram reel which has gone viral. So famous that all of Bangalore bikers are rushing to that place on weekends. We followed suit and it was a fish market at the top.

Mad rush of bike of all shapes and sizes, from scooters to Africa twins, and everything in between.

We quickly thought to break away and look for some trails around the area, which were plentiful.

Exploring trails, I had my first fall on the 400X. It was a medium speed fall.
We were exhausted due to heat, and I think the front end jumped over some stone and slided on landing where I could not hold/control the bike. I jumped off the bike and managed not to fall.

The bike fell on the right side. At first glance, it seemed like there would some decent damage to the bike as the surface was uneven with stones and slopes. The front end looked like it had hit some rock undulations on the side of the trail. Two of my colleagues were ahead and i was sweeping last. I did not have energy to lift the bike so waited for my rider friends to return to help. Meanwhile took these pictures.

On closer scrutiny and in retrospect, the bike took the fall pretty well. The point of contacts with ground were minimal. Towards the front, the plastic hand guard took most of the impact. It got bent, twisted and scratched but did not break. The front number plate also got bent and scratched.
I thought the headlight dome and aux lights were also hit and damaged, but thankfully they appeared fine. Towards the middle of the bike, the engine crash guard took the impact with minor scratches. No bends or deformations, just some minor scratches. Towards the rear, it was the silencer which took the impact with mild gruffing/ scratch at one point.

Overall, the the bike appeared fine without any major damages and thank God the for the same. The usual suspensts like brake lever and foot peg did not even touch the ground. As I did not pick the bike immediately after the fall, a few minutes later, petrol started leaking from somewhere around the underbelly cat-con area. Most likely, it would have leaked through the petrol overflow channel as there was no leak from the main filler cap.

I reached home, and set the hand guard back to its shape and tightened it. No bend on the handlebar as well, which was something I was scared about. All in all, bike is as good as it was with only minor scratches at 2-3 places. Biker is fine becuse he jumped off the bike and did not fall at all.

A fall on the road is very different form a fall on the trail. THe road surface is usually plain but trails have undulations/ stones/ rocks, ruts, slopes, etc which can damage bikes in most unlikely of places. Therefore most adventure bikes are well protected with almost cage like contraption. This scrambler 400x somehow looks under-protected. However, there was no major issues with the first fall, lets see how the other falls fare in future.