First ride this spring

This is just a warning to us older riders but young can benefit.. Went to meet a buddy for lunch so to impress I rode my 996. I knew better! Winter fuel grabby Ducati clutch banked parking lot. You guessed it stall and couldn't hold it in the steep bank! I knew better then take this bike for the first outing of the season. Had I been on the Royal Enfield or Norton everything would have been ok. Fairing scuffed and break lever broke on bike, easily repaired. Nothing broken on my body other then my pride but will feel it tomorrow. Start the season with caution PLEASE! No booze was involved! I should add the there is hope for the younger generation. A young man saw it happen from the main road , pulled over and helped me set the bike, I couldn't do it myself the tank was lower the the tires.

Bent metal not so bad...bent body a different deal.
Good to hear people are still willing to stop and help.

Ouch!!

I have a two Ducati 996S ride stories resulting in $9K damage each. One of them involved a short bit of time upside down. Neither were stalls or in parking lots. I really liked that bike, but they were not designed to ride slow at all. Parking lots even without a stall were a pain in the butt to ride slow in.

My first ride last year after putting a 4LS brake and new tires on my P11 resulted in a world of hurt. Front fender got a nose shape change ground into it, and the top of the throttle housing ground down some. Other than that, the bike was very ridable, so I headed back home. Broke ribs and got some road rash. It was too cold for my tires and too much brake in a sharp right hander. Two people offered to help, but I picked it up and rode off eventually. I was on flat road surface, so not impossible to pick up. P11 is a little lighter than a wet 996 though.

Lesson: I won't be going out until the temp is up, and the roads perfectly dry this year.