wrecked my bike

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How the hell can someone not see a large bike, two riders and a big-assed trailer? All with reflectors and such? It just boggles my mind and scares me.
Glad you are ok and hope your wife gets better soon and is compensated for her pain and suffering.

Glad you and the wife are OK ,,,, Ditto on what shiny said,,,

 
Really glad you guys came out relatively OK!! Yeah, yr better half definitely needs to gear up. But want to say a big Thank You as I have been considering a trailer & was almost decided that I wouldn't need a swivel. :clapping: Man do I know better now. Stay well. Ghalib Tikari, California

 
Just a quick update:

Wife gave me some Christmas money for some new gear, so I purchased an Olympia Airglide 2 Jacket and a Scorpion EXO-700 helmet, both are HI-VIS yellow. Wore the jacket and helmet combo for the first time yesterday, actually received comments from cagers, they liked the brightness. Jacket was $149 from revilla and helmet was $167 purchased on new years day from cycle gear, although they didn't have it in stock. It took a week for the helmet to arrive at store.

Bike is running and handling great. Have not replaced hitch yet or purchased a replacement trailer, but I plan on doing so. While the swelling finally went down in wifes right foot and the doc said bones have mended, she still limps and it causes her pain. She hasn't taken a ride with me yet, but says she will get back on the bike in spring. I'm not rushing her, only want her back on when she is ready and feels safe to do so.

 
Just a quick update: Wife gave me some Christmas money for some new gear, so I purchased an Olympia Airglide 2 Jacket and a Scorpion EXO-700 helmet, both are HI-VIS yellow. Wore the jacket and helmet combo for the first time yesterday, actually received comments from cagers, they liked the brightness. Jacket was $149 from revilla and helmet was $167 purchased on new years day from cycle gear, although they didn't have it in stock. It took a week for the helmet to arrive at store.

Bike is running and handling great. Have not replaced hitch yet or purchased a replacement trailer, but I plan on doing so. While the swelling finally went down in wifes right foot and the doc said bones have mended, she still limps and it causes her pain. She hasn't taken a ride with me yet, but says she will get back on the bike in spring. I'm not rushing her, only want her back on when she is ready and feels safe to do so.
Damn glad it wasn't any worse; hope your wife heals completely with no permanent damage. Hi viz was a good idea, hope it prevents a recurrence.

 
I have USAA for my car and home and they do a great job. Wish they did motorcycle insurance but they have a deal with Progressive and those guys were very expensive.

Ended up with Geico.
Sorry - just saw this thread

I've had USAA covering my bike for years. My wife and I have 2 cars and 1 bike. I'm in CA

USAA has been my auto insurer for a number of years now. no claims so can't comment on their performance

 
I have USAA for my car and home and they do a great job. Wish they did motorcycle insurance but they have a deal with Progressive and those guys were very expensive.

Ended up with Geico.
Sorry - just saw this thread

I've had USAA covering my bike for years. My wife and I have 2 cars and 1 bike. I'm in CA

USAA has been my auto insurer for a number of years now. no claims so can't comment on their performance
Apparently they have different levels of coverage for different states, like health insurance companies. I've been with them since 1969 and have had to use them three times with excellent results...bigjimbiker :rolleyes:

 
I have USAA for my car and home and they do a great job. Wish they did motorcycle insurance but they have a deal with Progressive and those guys were very expensive.

Ended up with Geico.
Sorry - just saw this thread

I've had USAA covering my bike for years. My wife and I have 2 cars and 1 bike. I'm in CA

USAA has been my auto insurer for a number of years now. no claims so can't comment on their performance
Apparently they have different levels of coverage for different states, like health insurance companies. I've been with them since 1969 and have had to use them three times with excellent results...bigjimbiker :rolleyes:
Had USAA back in 2000-2004 on an R1, sold it, went six months without. When I got another bike called USAA and they told me that if i had kept the bike that they would continue to offer coverage on other bikes (grandfather clause), but since I had canceled coverage and then wanted a new motorcycle policy (still had auto, ect..), i would have to go with their underwriter Progressive. Told me they had been covering the bikes improperly and it was costing the company money. My R1 with a $200 deductible full coverage in Hawaii was only $340 a year, compared to other companies wanting anywhere from $1500-2500 a year. now with Geico as Progressive is proud of their coverage.

 
Just seen the post

Good read, I used to be pretty guilty of not ATGATT and at times when my brain goes to mush I'm still guilty of it

I have more and more started going to ATGATT and mainly because of this forum and for that I thank you all

I also tow a trailer - I had a swivle hitch on the first proto type I built - but on doing some modification to the tounge for a better pull I removed it

I think I will look at reinstalling one. See if I can make something that will work right off the ball.

Glad you are healing up.

 
How the hell can someone not see a large bike, two riders and a big-assed trailer? All with reflectors and such? It just boggles my mind and scares me.
Glad you are ok and hope your wife gets better soon and is compensated for her pain and suffering.
I'll never own any vehicle that is the same color as the road. Silver bikes on gray roads blend perfectly and all you can usually see at "first glance" (which is all bikers usually get) is the head light or reflectors. I've nearly pulled out in front of gray/silver cars so many times..even while driving my truck. On rainy days, they blend perfectly with the background of the gray roads. Contrasting colors are easily noticed but a silver bike is way to close to asphalt camo IMO.

Glad you and your wife are okay. Could have been much worse.

 
An old thread but one with lots of lessons in it. I'm extremely happy that no one got hurt any worse.

I've never pulled a trailer but have ridden with many who have. I've set at the campfire while they discussed swivel v fixed hitches and always thought that swivel was the way to go based on listening to them. Your personal experience confirms it.

I have also, gradually over the years, moved toward more and better riding gear to the point that I tend to reference stuff as riding gear v street clothes. Some of that change of personal perspective has been due to light incidents where street clothes failed under the most minimal of impacts (parking lot tip, jeans knee gone in a fraction of a second, brain says... "this won't be good if xyz happens", change plan for riding in street clothes). Most of my personal change of mind has been a result of trying to learn from others (who usually are learning from their own "mistakes" while sharing or thinking out loud).

It takes some guts to share these things with other because it's often embarrassing (and sometimes just plane hard to reflect while the incident is fresh). I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates it when folks step to the plate and discuss what happened. It's not morbid curiosity. It's a desire to learn from others so I can avoid learning it the hard way.

My youngest had a very scary wreck in her car early in her driving career. She had learned to drive in a large metroplex with heavy commuter traffic. On a trip with friends (2 cars, her following the lead), she was still in "commuter mode" (ie tail gating) when out on the open highway. The lead car swerved to avoid a tire in the road (rim and all). She was so close she had to do an emergency avoidance swerve. She lost control, the car spun out, crossed the median AND the entire opposite direction lanes of traffic; coming to rest (upright) in the far side ditch. None of the oncoming traffic hit her. They were very lucky kids. She absolutely refused to discuss the details for years; using anger as an avoidance tactic. No amount of explanation about why it was a good thing to reflect and learn ways to avoid a repeat could turn it into anything other than a perception of personal fault finding (I wouldn't say she felt attacked as that's too harsh). She simply took it as a discussion about her personally until time passed enough to reduce the emotions of the event. We can now talk about following too closely, routine PM (including checking tire pressure which she never did; leaving it to me or the service guys when getting an oil change), and so forth. To this day, based on the description of what happened and the condition of the car, I'm convinced tail gating left her no room to react smoothly, low PSI tires failed as they slewed on the rim under the stress and then lost traction before coming off the rim, etc. Years later, she agrees.

But I digress into a very close and personal example to try and say thanks for sharing with us so we may possibly learn without having to go through it ourselves. I hope that others who sometimes feel "picked on" when mentioning a spill understand that the questions and desires for more details are so we can learn; not to belittle.

 
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