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2008 off to a bad start... went down (again)

3K views 50 replies 34 participants last post by  Granny 
#1 ·
Not my fault this time... but it's only a grim consolation.

Had to take the bike to work, was cruising down the street in office clothes (luckily I had anti-rain/anti-wind overalls on which protected me from grazes... and obviously helmet and gloves, which I always wear) when some dumb, old beeatch who was parked on the right hand side of the road decides to PULL A U-TURN to park on the other side of the road!!! I saw her start the maneuver, I slowed down, and for a moment she stopped. I thought she'd seen me, so I got off the brakes and back on the throttle. At the last second she pulls out and blocks my side of the road entirely... I slammed brakes and swerved to the left, but I must have slipped on the tram tracks and I went down.

"Fortunately" I managed to avoid her (I'll get to that), and just slid on the cobbled road on the other side of the road (into oncoming traffic, fortunately there was none!).

Unfortunately both the bike and I sustained damage (the bike a lot more than me!) and because I didn't hit the dumb beeatch, I'm having to go through lawyers to get any money from her insurance company!!! At least the lawyer is a family friend and isn't going to cost me anything...

As for me, the bike basically landed on my left calf-muscle (I lowsided and dumped it on the left side) and squashed it. I partially tore the muscle (ecography next week to better understand the extent of the tear) and it got bruised pretty bad... hemorrhage in the muscle and general damage to the muscle cells. I've been at home for a week with my foot above my hips and today I'm back at work, but it's still swelling and obviously I'm limping because of the tear. My whole leg from just below the knee is an interesting shade of yellowish-green... it's a sight for sore eyes!

As for the bike... it didn't seem that bad at first but to repair it to "good as new" is going to be expensive... around 5.000 US dollars!!! I REALLY hope the lawyer is going to come through :biggrin: Most expensive bits to replace are front rim (it got bent), rear fairing (the tail of the bike), front tyre (it popped), windscreen and windscreen frame, left clip-on. The minor bits are: left footpeg (a must, obviously), passenger footpeg, left bar-end, left-side mid-fairing, left rear-view mirror, and other assorted bits and pieces.

In the next few days I have to talk with my lawyer and the shop and see how to proceed - a lot of the bits that the shop quoted me for are only cosmetic (eg.windscreen and windscreen support, mid-fairing, bar-end etc.) so I want to understand if I should proceed and get the whole bike repaired and cross my fingers, as opposed to fixing the essential and then waiting to see how much money (if any) the lawyer is able to get out of the insurance company, and eventually fix the rest. Time will tell.

In any case the plan is to get the bike up and running as soon as possible, since I REALLY don't want to take public transport to work anymore :biggrin:

LESSON LEARNED - from now on, anytime I see ANYONE pulling ANY sort of maneuver in front of me... I am going to slow down to a crawl... because even at 30 m/h, if someone pulls out right in front of you... ain't nothing you can do about it. At 10 m/h you can :smile:
 
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#4 ·
god that really sucks man, dont you just wanna strangle people like that, people who absolutely refuse to take the time to pull a maneuvere properly? Its like the people who pass up an exit ramp and instead of just taking the next one will stop, reverse on the freeway and try to get back on. Anyway im sure that calf muscle is pretty gnarly. Maybe some minor physical therapy in the future? Hope things work out so you can be on the road soon man.
 
#6 ·
OUCH!
I am SO SORRY!!!
As a newer rider, I really appreciate you sharing this story with us. It gives me pointers on things that can go worng and to watch for.

Most important, I hope your injuries can be fixed, and I hope your lawyer can get her insurance to repair your bike.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the wishes everyone.

Yeah the damage (especially to myself!) could have been a lot worse, so I guess I can consider myself lucky.

I really did learn a lesson though in that, even though I can honestly say I am a very conscientious and responsible rider when it comes to driving in traffic... there are some accidents you just can't avoid unless you're going at a crawl... which I am going to be doing a lot of in the future :biggrin:

Oh yeah I forgot other bits that were damaged were the engine cover on the left-hand side (the round bit that sticks out of the fairing) and the frame slider (which got bent and all banged up). The engine cover is scratched up real bad and looks nasty even though I wouldn't need to change it as such. The frame slider definitely needs to be replaced as it ain't got the chance to do anymore sliding :biggrin:

I took some shots of my leg yesterday when they took the bandage off... when I download the pics onto my pc I will post them up for a little gore :biggrin:
 
#11 ·
Crap dude! That totally sucks! But I'm glad that you're mostly in one piece and that you still have your great disposition. Totally baby that calf muscle for now, it's still gonna get a lot of use for a few decades. Man, now your bike has more "battle wounds" than my 500R does!

I hope that everything goes the way it should with your lawyer friend. Who knows, in addition to his fees and your medical expenses, maybe he can negotiate a new bike for you in lieu of you suing her for some ridiculous amount of money for punitive damages. If not, at least try to get compensated for a bus pass. ;)
 
#17 ·
Thanks again gals and guys :smile:

AZ Rider, yeah for sure having a witness will help (at least I hope it will)! He told me right after the accident he saw the whole thing, saw I was going slowly and saw the woman pull out right into the middle of the road, so hopefully his testimony will go a long way to proving that I could do nothing to avoid the accident...

sdbrit, don't even get me started on the fact that not having hit the woman makes things worse for me!!! It makes me wonder what kind of a world we live in when you are INCENTIVATED to crash into other cars in order to get your money from the insurance companies... although obviously when sitting on a bike that is the LAST thing you are ever going to dream of doing...

Ed! Howzit, man? I think I got off luckier than you did but it still sux... judging from the pain and swelling in my leg today, it makes me wonder whether I should have come to work at all... the leg definitely still needs rest and I don't know how the stupid doctor I saw yesterday told me I could walk on it fine. I just hope I'm not screwing things up by walking on it right now as my boss sure as hell isn't going to let me stay home unless I'm backed up by a medical opinion...

Thanks again to the rest of you for the wishes :smile:
 
#18 ·
Ouch, at least YOU are somewhat intact......machines can always be replaced easier than people. Yeah, when cagers has that "obsessed looking for parking lot" look on their face, nothing else exists around them.
:lol: Ain't that the truth, it's like they're in their own separate dimension!

Couple that with the fact that this woman is 73 years old and on the loony/senile side, and you have a recipe for disaster waiting to happen right there...
 
#19 ·
Sorry to hear you went down. Hope you feel better soon.

Too bad about how expensive the bike will be to repair, hopefully you'll be able to work something out.
 
#20 ·
Thanks again gals and guys :smile:
judging from the pain and swelling in my leg today, it makes me wonder whether I should have come to work at all... the leg definitely still needs rest and I don't know how the stupid doctor I saw yesterday told me I could walk on it fine. I just hope I'm not screwing things up by walking on it right now as my boss sure as hell isn't going to let me stay home unless I'm backed up by a medical opinion...

Thanks again to the rest of you for the wishes :smile:
Might be a good idea to get another medical opinion. Damaged muscle is very painfull and can tear if over used. Glad you survived and there is a witness. As much as we cherish our bikes they are still machines and many more get made every day. Heal fast my friend. One rule I always use in traffic. I think of the stupidest thing they can possibly do and plan for it. I'm very seldom surprised.
 
#21 ·
As for the bike... it didn't seem that bad at first but to repair it to "good as new" is going to be expensive... around 5.000 US dollars!!! I REALLY hope the lawyer is going to come through :biggrin: Most expensive bits to replace are front rim (it got bent), rear fairing (the tail of the bike), front tyre (it popped), windscreen and windscreen frame, left clip-on. The minor bits are: left footpeg (a must, obviously), passenger footpeg, left bar-end, left-side mid-fairing, left rear-view mirror, and other assorted bits and pieces.
Man stefano...that really sucks dude. Good you got up! As for the bike man! At least you can get rid of those god awful bt014! Also you should look at race rails for the bike. Cost about $130CA and will provide more protection then a frame slider.
 
#22 ·
Sorry to hear about your accident. Glad you weren't hurt any worse.

I always try to read threads about someone going down. On the one hand I HATE to read them, but on the other hand, I hope I can learn something that might help in the future.

Thanks for sharing.
 
#23 ·
Stefano, did you file a police report for this accident? This is a common accident in big cities. You need to file a police report in order to try and make a claim to her insurance co.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I had a Terinex truck pull the same trick on me. He was looking for an address and thought he passed it, so he just decided to do a u-turn.
I was able to stop up in time, but my arms were very sore from the strain. This is another reason I really want anti lock brakes. I slid a long way before I stopped, and felt like I had no control over the bike stopping.

D
 
#24 ·
Goodness!! Stefano, glad to know u're not tooooo badly banged up. It could hv been worse if there was heavier traffic. Just hope u dont need to use up all 9 lives too soon, *****cat :)
$5K for repairs? :eek: Aieee... When a truck hit the back of my bike, and when i crashed my bike on the back of a car in heavy rain, and when i crashed it in Thailand, and when my son crashed it, all the repairs still don't total up to US$1k. I've had to straighten the handlebar, knock back and repaint the back fairing, replace the rear light, and indicator light, put in new license plate, replace footpeg, clutch lever, wing mirror etc.. all those a few times already. hehhe...
I miss my mechanic. siiighh.. (bet he misses me too) hehehe.... No one else has done so much repairs in one year. :biggrin:

Oh well.. at least you don't have any permanent damage to yourself. Thank Goodness for that. Get some therapeutic massage when your leg is up to it. Make sure the masseur is good looking too :)
 
#25 ·
My italian brother from another mother my heartfelt saddness and sympathy for your experience. :( The frame sliders probably saved you even more damage beyond just cosmetic thank goodness you had the foresight to buy some and put them on! I always here people saying " i dont plan on falling off " when i suggest things like frame sliders, to which i always reply yeah well doesn't matter what you plan when some idiot pulls out in front of you! I hope you get everything fixed through their insurance and you get to throw your leg over your bike without too much headache over getting everything fixed up!
 
#26 ·
I'm sorry to hear of this Stefano. Keep watch over the leg. Glad to hear it wasn't far worse.
I never trust cars that appear to pull out... so many idiots on the road. I try to come to a stop and wave them on, but I admit that in many circumstances I would do as you did... a good lesson to all of us.

Heal up, keep us informed on the bike.
 
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