New drop club member - or something else?

Never dropped a bike before, but I did it yesterday. it was a 0kph left-side drop, error code 30 and everything. In front of lots of people, as well.

In my defence, I had just had to do an emergency stop to avoid being wiped out by an ******* who ran a red light at a 4-way junction just a few hundred yards from home. I was crossing the road to get to a gas station to fill up before escorting my wife to her bike license test. She was actually behind me for once - she'd normally be out front but 'cos I was filling up I went in front this time. Good job or I might be visiting her at hospital.

I was at the front of the line, the lights went green on the smaller (2-lane) road I was on, and had just started to pull into the junction when the jerk came from the left on the bigger (4-lane) road, in the fast lane, past the line of stopped cars in the right lane, straight into the junction. I put on the anchors and stopped before I was over the mid-way of the junction, and he screeched to a halt. No contact between vehicles.

I'm not sure if he stopped in front or before the line where I would've been if I didn't manage it. If I had reacted slower or pulled off a bit faster or quarter second earlier I'd've been hit on the right side.

Anyway, the emergency stop worked (yay me!) but I lost my balance and it tipped over on the left, taking me down, too (d'oh!). My OES sliders saved the fairing from any damage but I have some scrapes on the mirror casing and the left bag cover. I got up and gave him verbal **** from a distance, but didn't get in his face or threaten him, just called him a f*cking *****, who could've killed me, etc. No injuries - just bruises on my hips (both sides, oddly) and a bit of a stiff back, both of which showed up today. My jacket armour did the trick for my elbows & back, and my helmet barely touched the ground - just a tiny cluster of surface scrapes from the gentle head-tap as I hit down.

The guys' been ticketed for running the red and may also be done for leaving the scene - the officer wasn't sure that would stick. The jerk claims he deserted because he was scared - no-one did or said anything violent towards him at all but loud shouting and arm-waving happened, which is of course natural. My wife got in his face more than I did, that's my girl!

His story doesn't wash anyway, because he had already tried to leave just after I got up, before I even got anywhere near him - me and a witness stopped him the first time he tried to leave, but when we were picking up my bike & pushing it off the road (error code 30, flooded and stalled) he took off - we thought for good.

Actually, before he skedaddled I was more worried he was going to take a swing at me at one point as I was walking round his car to take a photo of his license plate. He aggressively got out of the car as I walked by, looking like he was coming at me, and I backed away warning him not to touch me. He's an older guy (60's) but his demeanor was pretty aggressive and very angry - he was just as loud and sweary as anyone else was at him...

Bizarrely enough, he drove past us one more time about 10-15 minutes later as we were waiting for the police, and he eventually came back again when the police officer was there taking our statements, but brought a buddy (who I reckon coached him to say he was scared to try to avoid the leaving-the-scene charge, as we had his license plate and lots of witnesses).

4-5 witness statements, absolutely his fault and liability. However, the officer said he also seemed to be in complete denial that he was responsible for anything that happened to me... 'cos of course if he hadn't nearly hit me I'd have dropped the bike anyway, like that was my fault?! *******.

Not a collision, bit of a lame "accident" (thankfully, could have been nasty, though), but does this at least count as qualifying me for the drop club?

Everything seems to work OK on the bike, but the windshield jerks a bit when it retracts, so not sure if something got knocked about under the covers. With the sliders, I doubt there's any chance for any real damage and it seems a bit like overkill but I'll get my insurance co to check it over, maybe get a dealer to inspect it. He should at least pay for replacement plastics...

The wife never made it to her test, forfeited the fee. Bah. She'll try again on Thursday (gotta get it done before winter sets in up here). Not sure if I should ride my bike there or just follow her in the car, though...

[edit]

Not sure why this ended up in Ride Reports, I thought I was posting to general discussion - my bad!

Plz move...

Dave

Since it landed on the mirror, you may have bent the fairing stay (the metal weldment under the nose skin), which contains the mirror mounts, as well as the windshield mounting hardware. An expensive part (don't ask.....), so you are doing the right thing by having your insurance adjuster check it out.

As far as the cage driver; what a tool. Everyone has the right to be an a-hole once in a while, but some people abuse the privilege. Good luck with the rest of this.

Sorry about the incident, you probably should sue the *******.

SwollenRaccoon said:

Since it landed on the mirror, you may have bent the fairing stay (the metal weldment under the nose skin), which contains the mirror mounts, as well as the windshield mounting hardware. An expensive part (don't ask.....), so you are doing the right thing by having your insurance adjuster check it out.
As far as the cage driver; what a tool. Everyone has the right to be an a-hole once in a while, but some people abuse the privilege. Good luck with the rest of this.

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Wow, I hadn't thought there could be any structural damage related to that - definitely need to get it to the shop for a check-up, then! That might explain the jerkiness of the windshield... I'll make sure to tell the insurance guy that's a possibility.

I also need to double-check the operation of the side bag, latch, etc. just in case there's any damage to it other than the scrapes from being squished.

Yeah, everyone was utterly amazed at how the ********* behaved. Unbelievable.

Thanks for the tip, and the good luck wishes!

steveoreno said:

Sorry about the incident, you probably should sue the *******.

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Thanks! I don't know if there's really a case for suing, but definitely the bills for repairing any damage caused will be sent to his insurance company - who just happen to be my insurance company as well. That should keep it simple. Small mercies...

I really hope they book him for leaving the scene, though. Another witness called us last night (she couldn't stay at the scene but we gave her our number) and reminded me of how the guy was just trying to leave and make it a "hit"-and-run pretty much from the start. I should pass that on and make sure they get her statement too... She also has some pictures of the scene from afterwards.

I have to say, I have been touched by the supportiveness of my fellow Calgarians, all the witnesses, folks who helped, folks who talked to us, etc. Makes me proud to know there are lots of genuinely good people out there to outweigh the *********s.

Sorry about your get-off.

I agree with SwollenRaccoon. That part (3P6-28356-10-00) costs over $350 and could have been damaged. Make sure the ********* pays for it.

teerex51 said:

Sorry about your get-off.
I agree with SwollenRaccoon. That part (3P6-28356-10-00) costs over $350 and could have been damaged. Make sure the ********* pays for it.

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Thanks, man. Ouch, though!

I found an old (2009) thread here where damage to the stay was discussed, here.

I read that, went back out & double-checked everything, measurements to the screen, movement of the screen, etc. and the jerking has now gone (tested it 10 times as manual up/down and auto-retraction, symptom not repeated), the distances between mirror and screen are identical on either side, and as far as I can see the angles of the mirrors to the bike's centre line are visually identical, unlike the bike in the thread above (well, on the side stand they looked good - I didn't level it up onto the centrestand). However, the outside end of the mirror mount (the non-pivoting bit) definitely has some minor damage from hitting the ground after the mirror folded, as well as the mirror casing itself.

I also double-checked the side-bag and the lock/open mechanism is fine, the mounts are undamaged and it's still as (un)stable as it was from the factory - I might do the Toecutter farkle on them both, though.

There's a very small dent on the left hand exhaust - a tiny thing on the surface just at the seam between the flaring & cylindrical sections, most likely irrelevant. Also a wee bit of a grind on the bottom of the engine casing, but looks only cosmetic.

I reckon that it really boils down to the only damage that the insurance will pony up for being replacing the plastic on the side bag and the mirror assembly. I'm still getting it all professionally inspected on his dime, though. Probably ~$1k (CAD) including shop time if I replace the damaged parts. The assessor is coming round tomorrow. I'll be sure to go over what I've read (and written) here. It's no-fault, no-deductible, though - it'll all be billed back to *******.

I want to be able to ride it in the next couple of days to practice & accompany my girl to her re-booked license test on Thursday, otherwise I'll have to go behind her in the car, which'll just be weird.

It snowed here today (5cm!) so we couldn't go out to practice tonight anyway... 80f yesterday, 32f today, WTF Calgary?!

Dave

I sympathize with u. Dropped mine last year for the first and hopefully the last time. Started to pull out making left turn. Didn't give enough throttle and bike stalled. Was two-up and with the extra weight and leaning to the left, was unable to hold it up. The drop was enough to scratch up the mirror, side bag and like u a very small dent in exhaust. When the left mirror hit, it was obvious that something had bent because it was a lot higher and at a different angle the the right one. Turned out the stay behind the fairing was bent. Tried to bend it back but couldn't get it just right. I didn't turn in to insurance because after my deductible it would have cost just as much. I wanted to be the one to so the work anyway and I figured it was a good time to switch to the FZ1 mirrors. I am glad I did. Much better view now. Replacing the stay was a lot of disassembling but took my time and lots of pics. Learned a lot about the fairing assembly, that's for sure.

K Rider said:

I sympathize with u. Dropped mine last year for the first and hopefully the last time. Started to pull out making left turn. Didn't give enough throttle and bike stalled. Was two-up and with the extra weight and leaning to the left, was unable to hold it up. The drop was enough to scratch up the mirror, side bag and like u a very small dent in exhaust. When the left mirror hit, it was obvious that something had bent because it was a lot higher and at a different angle the the right one. Turned out the stay behind the fairing was bent. Tried to bend it back but couldn't get it just right. I didn't turn in to insurance because after my deductible it would have cost just as much. I wanted to be the one to so the work anyway and I figured it was a good time to switch to the FZ1 mirrors. I am glad I did. Much better view now. Replacing the stay was a lot of disassembling but took my time and lots of pics. Learned a lot about the fairing assembly, that's for sure.

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Thanks!

I've nearly done your scenario before on my old VFR, turning right though, but a tight turn on a steep hill, 2-up. Buggered up the throttle and stalled, it started to lean over to the right and had to yell at the wife to jump off the bike or we were both going down. Managed to save that one, though - just! That bike weighs a lot less than the FJR, but we both weighed a lot more back then so it probably evens out...

The good news about this one for me is that the ******* is responsible for all repairs, and my deductible is waived. The estimate is back, $650CAD - assuming the mirror subframe is OK. The assessor said I should just keep riding it until the end of the season or it'll end up at the back of the line in the shop and I won't see it for ages, so that's exactly what I'm doing!

I accompanied my wife to her bike license test yesterday on it. She passed!

Congrats, wifey! Courage, too, to stay with the testing after the close call.

manglegrat said:

The good news about this one for me is that the ******* is responsible for all repairs, and my deductible is waived. The estimate is back, $650CAD - assuming the mirror subframe is OK.

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Update for anyone who's interested, the shop has finished its own detailed inspection of the bike and the repair bill is now $2100. They say the side bag needs to be replaced (not just repainted), as does the lower LHS fairing, plus mirror, shop time, etc. so that all adds up...

It probably makes me a bad person but I'm enjoying the shadenfruede at the ******* who hit me's expense (literally).