well it was short lived. bye bye my 900. i loved that bike. last night a car made a turn right in front of me and i t-boned it. i was wearing all my gear which i am very grateful that i only have a sore arm and no broken bones.the bikes front end is trashed. the forks i think are good but im not sure. from the looks i just cracked what i think is the crankshaft cover on the left side which is why i lost all my fluids. its sitting in the back of my friends truck and i just got released from the hospital. 12 hours later.

im not sure how the insurance works. i have liability only but from my point of view it was the other guys fault but the cops said they got all info and it will be in a report. and they took me to the hospital. hopefully they will total it. im not sure its worth replacing all the plastics and if any engine damage.and the radiator is bent a lil.

pics up soon

 

Sorry to hear that but glad you're okay. From your description i have no doubt the bike will be totaled from an insurance standpoint. Most insurance companies consider a vehicle totaled when damage meets or exceeds 70% of the value of the vehicle....with some it's 80%. On a damage estimate, a bike shop will replace every piece that has any damage at all. For instance, if the little ball on the end of your clutch lever has a scratch on it but the lever is not bent or broken it will still go into the estimate. Factory parts are VERY expensive plus, you have the labor as well so it doesn't take much damage to technically total any bike. Abrand newbike can be totaled from even a very minor accident if enough parts got scratched.

If you had the right of way and the car entered your path then it's clearly the other driver's fault. Depending on the insurance company you might get paid very quickly. The faster they pay you the faster they can be done with it. If they issue a check quickly, make sure it's enough...... Enough to cover EVERYTHING. Your bike, your clothing, your medical bills.....EVERYTHING. Once you sign their check you're releasing them from any further liability.

On the other hand, some insurance companies will fight every claim no matter how obvious it is that their driver is at fault. Allstate is one of them. The same situation happened to a friend of mine in '98. We were riding along, at or below the speed limit, not doing anything stupid. A car pulled out in front of us from the right. I was on the left and was able to just barely swerve around it but my friend ran right into it. He didn't have any chance of stopping or getting around the car. Allstate claimed that their driver was 70% at fault and he was 30% to blame because he could've stopped without colliding with the car.

If you run into an insurance company like this be VERY careful of what you say when you speak with the adjuster. Don't give him/her any reason to twist your words into making this accident at all your fault. They'll be recording the conversation so you have only one chance at this. They do it for a living and usually they're pretty good at getting you to say the wrong thing. If he or she starts to confuse you, just remember, getting pissed off and hanging up on them or standing up and leaving the roomis not an admission of wrongdoing but answering a question the wrong way could be. Just don't let them intimidate you. They're not cops but they like to act like it when they're taking your statements. Take a miniute now to write down evrything that happened second by second concerning this starting from when andwhere you got on your bike and ending when you left the hospital. It wont hurt to also have it notarized to prove the date it was written. That way you can show the events were still fresh in your mind when you composed it. This way, if some BS insurance adjuster starts asking questions you wont be caught saying "I cant remember" Plus, if you choose, you can simply read that word for word when giving a statement rather than answering any of theirtwisted questions. When they try to askquestions afteryou read your statement you cananswer by saying "I've already given you every detail concerning this accident" NEVER say "I can't remember" or "maybe I could've stopped if....."

Hope I've been of at least a little help. Unfortunately, I've been through all of this myself and had to learn the hard way.

 

I don't know how your insurance works, but with every company I've had or heard of liability only is exactly that, they won't give you a dime, I'm sorry to say. Just makes it legal to drive on the road, no matter whos fault it is. I'm in Michigan, we have a no fault system, no matter who causes the accident, you pay your own. Unless the other driver doesn't have insurance then they may have to pay the dedictuble on the claim, but only with full coverage.All the fault do is decide who gets the ticket from the cops.
Glad to hear it wasn't a "end of riding" accident.

 

SO wait, you pay your own even if the other guy is at fault? And they require you to have insurance anyways? If that's the case what's the point of having insurance. Liability insurance covers the other guy when you screw up, that's why it's required as a minimum. If you pay your own no matter what then it doesn't make any sense, you'd just be paying for fun (and paying is never fun).

 

I grew up a stone's throw from the Michigan state line and always heard horror stories about their No Fault law. The way I understand it (and I'm not 100% sure) is that your liability insurance covers personal injury. If you cause an accident and hurt someone in your car and in another car your insurance is responsible for that but not responsible for fixing the other car.Another reason they are required to carry insurance is because most other states do not opperate under a no fault policy so they have to be able to cover damage to other vehicles in the event they cause an accident while out of state.

I never had to deal with this first hand (knocking on wood) I'm just going by things I heard from friends and neighbors who had dealt with it. If my description is off, I'd like to hear about how this actually does work as it's never made a whole lot of sense to me.

 

That's insane. How does a law like that not get voted away?

 

Well after moving my bike to a friends garage and examining it more it appears to be fixable and ridiable soon. But not sure yet. According to some research i have done total oem body parts and the damaged mechanical parts totals over 5,500 not including labor. So hopefully i will get a big check and if not then at least blue book which is almost 5,000. My bike definitly has a good crumple zone. lol I will have to wait till the police report so that my insurance can get with his insurance and blah blah blah. who said vehicles arent a good investment?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattthecat122/

 

The one above is some old damage with some new

 

If they total it (and I'm certain they will) you should find out how much they charge for buyback. The owner has first right of refusal to this by law so don't let them tell you otherwise. Most insurance companies come up with buyback price as 20% of book value. Some do it on a case by case basis.... At any rate, it's worth at least a phone call. You may be able to get that thing back for $1000.

 

That's hard to look at, ouch.

Glad you are okay. The bike is a machine, and is replaceable but you are not.