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About 30 years ago I was riding across Europe on a BMW R75 I borrowed from my uncle in London. I was heading to Poland to visit a lady penpal in the town of Opole just across the Czech border. I came to a tiny border crossing station that just had a little guard house and one of those barricade arms that goes up and down to let you through. We were a queue of about 7 vehicles inching forward as the customs guys checked papers. I was just behind a farmer driving what looked like a converted WW2 flatbed stakeside overloaded to the max with potatoes. The farmer's load was creaking and groaning something fearsome and I began to think about the possibility of an avalanche so I moved over left as far as I could. A Polish customs agent blew his whistle and directed me to get back behind the spud wagon. At that moment, the load broke loose and in about 5 seconds my bike and I were shoulder high in taters. I can remember vividly the sound of the Beemer's characteristic ticking idle under that mountain of potatoes. Everyone jumped out of their cars and exhumed me in a short time. The bike sustained a few dings. I rode on thinking no one is gonna believe this one.

To answer MJR and Mr.Paul:
I showed my uncle the damage and he said to my aunt, "Addy, he says he was hit by potatoes."
The visit with my penpal went very well, she couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Polish but we both spoke German.

#1  Sometimes motorcycles and scooters don't present enough metal mass at stop lights to trigger the sensors. Look for straight cutlines in the concrete at the intersection and position your bike right over them; these cutlines are where the sensor lines are buried and you'll have a better chance of getting the light to change. If you don't have a kill switch on your sidestand, you can even swing it down right on the cutline.

#2 Once in a while you want to stop somewhere that's not an optimal surface (like really hot asphalt or soft ground) for your sidestand and you could get a tip over if it sinks in. A squashed beer can is ideal for putting under your sidestand foot in this case and they seem to be ubiquitous on the side of the road. Other hacks are jar lids, folded cardboard or a flat rock.

#3 OK, for whatever reason, you may need to get the rear wheel off the ground. Put the side stand down and position yourself on that side of the bike. Turn the bars lock to lock towards you and apply the front brake. Push forward and pull the bike towards you at the same time and you can lever the bike up on the front wheel and side stand with yourself as the 3rd leg of the tripod. Ask your friend to oil the chain, find the nail, rotate to get access to the air valve, remove the obstruction, etc.

Just a stab in the dark, but two possibilities:
1. I had a big Suzuki road bike that behaved like that and the problem was the ignition coils.
2. Another big road bike, a Yamaha, had a fuel line running from the tank to the carbs that was exposed to engine heat. At a certain temperature, the line would kink resulting in reduced power.

I could go on and on about slippery stuff...It's easy to spot tyro or untrained riders...they ride right in the middle of the lane where all manner of goop drips out of vehicles, especially at intersections. Mind your lane position when riding and your foot position when coming to a stop...you could short-leg in a pothole or slip on some tranny fluid.

I'm 175 and wifey is 100...we ride her Compagno 110i with her in front and it's easy and comfy. I set the shock on the middle position and no problems bottoming out.

ya, there's a vertical panel at the rear of the main underseat storage area...just pops off.