Rear Ended On My FJR

[War Machine]

On Monday Oct 29th at about 8:AM I was rear ended by a car. The impact sent me & the bike into the rear of another car. There was this massive traffic jam on the expressway & I was on the service road in the center lane approximately 150 feet from an intersection with a traffic signal. After the light turning from red to green & back to red again without traffic moving I decided to get into the left turning lane & take an alternate route home. With my left directional on I turned my head & found a minivan behind me to my left wanting to merge into the center lane where I was. The person in the van waved me to go & I didn't see anyone else behind him. As soon as I made my maneuver into the left turning lane....POW! I was moving (about 8 mph) but the force of the impact pushed my head back & I remember seeing the sky when the front impact occurred. I'm lucky that I am not a lightweight & didn't get thrown over the bike but went down hard on my left side after hitting the handlebars & tumbling a bit. I wound up on all fours with my arms extended, helmet on & staring at the ground. I remember someone repeating over & over "are you alright?" I could not immediately answer, I could only take very shallow breaths in & out. After about 20 seconds I mustered enough air to shout "I don't ****** know yet!" I then crawled to a nearby guard rail & raised myself up & sat on it. That's when I saw my bike on the ground & the green Toyota that rear ended me. All my anger swelled & I was going to seriously hurt the owner....until I saw him....he was a little old man (definitely over 70)& all my anger just disappeared. I still hated him, I just couldn't hurt him. That's when my attention shifted to the wetness below the left knee of my black jeans. Yes I had jeans on, but I also had a full face helmet, leather jacket, gloves & boots. FDNY arrived on the scene & the guys were great. They cut the leg of my jeans, cleaned the deep gash in my left shin & bandaged me up. By this time EMS arrived & put me in the ambulance. I had to sign a waiver that I refused to be immobilized & strapped to a board. I called my wife (she's a saint!) & told her of the accident & assured her that I wasn't seriously hurt, but am being transported to a local hospital for x-rays. The people in the hospital were also great. X-rays were taken of my left ankle right hand & chest...all negative for broken bones. I received 6 stitches to close the gash on my left leg, my left ankle is about twice it's size & purple. I can't fully make a fist with my right hand & I'm icing my chest for the contusion that I suffered. Thank the God of Endocet (Percocet)because without it I would have never made it through that day. I have only been taking Motrin & haven't taken an Endocet since Monday. I am totally surprised & pleased of my rapid recovery since I'm not so young anymore (54). Only a discomfort in my chest & inability to make a fist is all that remains & I will have the 6 stitches removed in about 10 days.

The bike was towed to my local dealer & although the bike doesn't look as bad as it should (see the 3 pics below) I was told today that the parts alone was over $7500 & that's without Labor cost. Another words it's going to be totaled. As much as I really loved that 06, I truly am focusing on how lucky I am to be sitting home & typing this story to tell all you children. The bikes insured & let me set things straight right now...I'll be ordering an 08 as soon as I can.

Notice how the top of the fork doesn't line up in a straight line with the lower fork!

Left side view....dosen't look too bad. This bike is obviously built very well. Thank God!

 

[ghbchess]

War Machine, glad you came out of the encounter with no broken bones and sorry about the loss of the bike. Every time we climb aboard there's a chance that despite all the caution in the world someone who's not paying attention to the road will do this to you. Hope you can put it behind you and join the cadre once again. All you can do is be grateful you're walking and breathing and able to face the challenges of another day. Whether the insurance covers it or not, hope you'll make the investment in the best protection you can afford. Godspeed!

On Monday Oct 29th at about 8:AM I was rear ended by a car. The impact sent me & the bike into the rear of another car. There was this massive traffic jam on the expressway & I was on the service road in the center lane approximately 150 feet from an intersection with a traffic signal. After the light turning from red to green & back to red again without traffic moving I decided to get into the left turning lane & take an alternate route home. With my left directional on I turned my head & found a minivan behind me to my left wanting to merge into the center lane where I was. The person in the van waved me to go & I didn't see anyone else behind him. As soon as I made my maneuver into the left turning lane....POW! I was moving (about 8 mph) but the force of the impact pushed my head back & I remember seeing the sky when the front impact occurred. I'm lucky that I am not a lightweight & didn't get thrown over the bike but went down hard on my left side after hitting the handlebars & tumbling a bit. I wound up on all fours with my arms extended, helmet on & staring at the ground. I remember someone repeating over & over "are you alright?" I could not immediately answer, I could only take very shallow breaths in & out. After about 20 seconds I mustered enough air to shout "I don't ****** know yet!" I then crawled to a nearby guard rail & raised myself up & sat on it. That's when I saw my bike on the ground & the green Toyota that rear ended me. All my anger swelled & I was going to seriously hurt the owner....until I saw him....he was a little old man (definitely over 70)& all my anger just disappeared. I still hated him, I just couldn't hurt him. That's when my attention shifted to the wetness below the left knee of my black jeans. Yes I had jeans on, but I also had a full face helmet, leather jacket, gloves & boots. FDNY arrived on the scene & the guys were great. They cut the leg of my jeans, cleaned the deep gash in my left shin & bandaged me up. By this time EMS arrived & put me in the ambulance. I had to sign a waiver that I refused to be immobilized & strapped to a board. I called my wife (she's a saint!) & told her of the accident & assured her that I wasn't seriously hurt, but am being transported to a local hospital for x-rays. The people in the hospital were also great. X-rays were taken of my left ankle right hand & chest...all negative for broken bones. I received 6 stitches to close the gash on my left leg, my left ankle is about twice it's size & purple. I can't fully make a fist with my right hand & I'm icing my chest for the contusion that I suffered. Thank the God of Endocet (Percocet)because without it I would have never made it through that day. I have only been taking Motrin & haven't taken an Endocet since Monday. I am totally surprised & pleased of my rapid recovery since I'm not so young anymore (54). Only a discomfort in my chest & inability to make a fist is all that remains & I will have the 6 stitches removed in about 10 days.
The bike was towed to my local dealer & although the bike doesn't look as bad as it should (see the 3 pics below) I was told today that the parts alone was over $7500 & that's without Labor cost. Another words it's going to be totaled. As much as I really loved that 06, I truly am focusing on how lucky I am to be sitting home & typing this story to tell all you children. The bikes insured & let me set things straight right now...I'll be ordering an 08 as soon as I can.

Notice how the top of the fork doesn't line up in a straight line with the lower fork!

Left side view....dosen't look too bad. This bike is obviously built very well. Thank God!

 

[LAroo]

Glad you are OK. I would like to swap my Galaxy Blue for a Black 08. So was the other driver insured?

 

[cota95]

You are a lucky man, sounds like it could have been much worse. Heal soon and get back out there.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Wow...quite the story! Glad you are alive to tell it! The $7500 seems really high for the apparent damage (not that pics tell a great story all the time).

 

[Scab]

Jeebus, dude. Man, that could have been really bad. I am glad it's you telling this story. I'm sure the 'crash club' was one membership you could have done without. I hope that there is no soreness hiding. Keep us posted on how this works out.

 

[TriggerT]

Glad to hear you are OK. Could have been a lot worse. if you can, I would try to buy your bike from the insurance company and sell off the parts. I would think you could make enough money for some great farkles on your next bike.

At least with winter coming you have lots of time to heal.

 

[Silver Penguin]

Hey War Machine - I don't recall seeing your name on the list for permission to crash. You do know you're supposed to do that right? (and permission is always denied).

Glad you're more or less OK. Was the old guy insured? It seems pretty cut and dried that he hit you from behind, so is at fault. If he has decent insurance, I believe (and don't quote me on this) that pain and suffering is often assessed at three times the material damage.

Take it easy and get well soon.

Jill

 

[Scab]

Hey War Machine - I don't recall seeing your name on the list for permission to crash. You do know you're supposed to do that right? (and permission is always denied).
Glad you're more or less OK. Was the old guy insured? It seems pretty cut and dried that he hit you from behind, so is at fault. If he has decent insurance, I believe (and don't quote me on this) that pain and suffering is often assessed at three times the material damage.

Take it easy and get well soon.

Jill

I used to have an article written by a retired insurance dude. I think, IIRC, pain and suffering was calculated at seven times actual material loss.

 

[Fencer]

Glad you are ok.

I can't really tell from the story, who was at fault. I am guessing he was if you were fully in the lane and moving forward. If you hadn't been there, would he have hit the car you hit? How fast was he going?

 

[Jazzzzz]

I was rear-ended on July 2nd while stopped behind two cars who were waiting to turn left across traffic on a two-lane residential street. The young lady who struck me was paying attention to her cell phone (texting, I assume), not the road, and smacked into me at about 30-35mph, no brakes. She drove up OVER my bike and into the car in front of me. I was thrown 30-odd feet from the bike over the right shoulder onto someone's lawn. I've been trying to get pictures from the police ever since the accident so I can brag about my war story

You seem to remember more about your accident than I remember about mine. I remember hearing a loud crunch and feeling a heavy impact on my lower back simultaneously, and the next thing I knew I was laying on my side with the wind knocked out of me. By the time I realized I could breathe and that everything moved when I tried to move it, there were witnesses yelling at me to lay still and I could hear sirens. You're gonna feel like someone took a baseball bat to your whole body for the next few days, so make friends with your favorite easy chair.

My bike looked a hell of a lot worse than yours does. Luckily the young lady that hit me was insured (USAA, great company). They totaled my bike out and gave a very fair replacement value for it. I had some lower back pain and problems with my left knee that prompted physical therapy and pain meds, but have managed to avoid surgery so far. We haven't reached any further settlement; lawyers are involved.

It's small comfort, but at least this accident happened towards the end of the riding season, and with any luck both you and your bike will be back in riding shape by the time spring rolls around. I missed out on the best riding this year. I'm picking up an '07 from YamahaTenn this weekend to replace the '04 that was totaled, so I'll get at least one ride in on the way home.

Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery.

 

[Zorlac]

Glad you where not very seriously injured, and I hope you come out whole.

If I switch lanes into the path of a moving vehicle at less distance than the 2 second rule, how at fault is he when he hits me from behind?

People in cars pull in front of 18 wheelers and then jam on the brakes, ignoring the laws of physics at their peril.

 

[Auburn]

Glad to hear your OK and not broken up.

 

[Calimus]

Glad to hear that you are ok. However, I also have to agree that $7500 seems a bit high. I got side swiped back in August and went down on the right hand side. No sliders so the fairing took it all. I also didn't have my luggage on so that might have been to my benefit.

Again, was an older gentelman that hit me, amazing how the fight just leaves you when you see it's some 70+ older fellow. Get a list from the dealer of everything that is damaged. If you like, I can provide you with the list of what was damaged on my bike along with the dealer costs for all my parts. I had after market exhaust which I think also helped me out as I learned that the dealers want about $800 per factory exhaust can. In total, my bike had $3705.24 in parts + labor just on the dealer side. The exhaust was another $650, but the insurance company cut me a seperate check for that. An I can't say enough good things about my dealer, the repairs are perfect. I have looked over the bike several times and I can't find any evidence of the damage.

 

[fjrchik]

oh war machine! i have worried/wondered about you since last year when you joined. i know your big city is way bigger than mine but i also know its just a matter of time, as commuters, before we are taken out. i'm so glad yours only included minor injuries. its what i pray for when its my turn. hope you heal up quickly and that new black 08 is gonna be here very soon for you!

 

[double_entendre]

Glad to hear your OK and not broken up.

Ditto indeed. I've been rear ended once on the bike, once in a car. Neither was fun, though I walked away from both. Glad to hear you're alive and (mostly) well.

Rancho

 

[Midlifefjr]

Glad you will be okay. Every time I read an accident report on the forum I think about upgrading my riding gear. Hope you are covered and there is an 08 in your future.

 

[dcarver]

Dooooood. Not good. Glad you're ok.. mostly.

.. vultures circle...

.... if you buy the bike back, wanna sell the rear shock?

..... i feel so.. dirty now.

 

[NoCage]

Glad you walked away WM. Commuting in Birmingham is bad enough, I can't imagine what it would be like in the big apple. Ditto on what others said on $7,500 sounding high. Like Calimus, I can send you the parts and labor costs from my bike repair from August. Most of the damage was on the front and left side. My forks weren't tweeked, and the frame wasn't bent... if yours are, that may explain the high estimate.