TheSaffer Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Been a while since I posted, but after my last little mishap, I thought I'll post a little something... Just before Christmas my bike was in my garage for a few weeks. So I decided it was time to go out and charge the battery for a while. After I had my fix of fresh air, I decided to head back home and at the last set of lights a white van reversed into me! I pulled up behind the van waiting for the lights, leaving about the length of half a car between us. As soon as the lights turned green the van reversed. I had a second to try and hit the horn, but it was too late. The van pushed me back about 2 metres! I'm just lucky I didn't come off. The van driver was kind enough to provide me his details and admitted liability. I just wanted to give some advice to new riders. If you had an accident, always: Take pictures of the scene. Take as much details of the 3rd party as possible. NEVER say sorry or admit any kind of liability. If you are not at fault and the 3rd party admit liability, try to get them to write you a note where they admit to causing injury, harm or loss. Try as hard as you can to find a witness! Do notify your insurer, don't agree to get repairs done by the 3rd party. They often don't want to pay once they get the repair quote. I was lucky to not being hurt and I was very lucky that the van driver owned up to causing the accident. The van driver wanted to pay for my damage himself, but after he saw the repair quote, it was left to the insurance to pay out. My R1 is now about an inch or two shorter! The Cost: Top fairing: £219 Fairing Bracket: 176.23 Front mudguard: 88.16 Head light unit (left and right) £279 each! Inner fairing panel: £12,74 Be careful out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhat250 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Fk ell saffer" what was the slaphead doing? was he in the wrong gear, as soon as i see Rev lights on vehicle in front, am on horn, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenDAWG Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 atleast you got it sorted pal and you didnt get hurt. tell you what the other day i was riding through our local front street at less than 30mph couple of cars infront i had atleast 2 car lengths gap between me and the car infront of me when i notice a car on the right waiting to pull out of a backstreet waited until the car infront of me passed then pulled out right infront of me so i droped to the left side of my lane and continued my speed past the car waving at her as if to say "hello didnt you not see me"...... honestly if i wasnt switched on i would have had that car take me out in the middle of a busy street, i cant belive she never saw me i had my lights on also.. i couldnt toot the horn just for pure shock at what i had witnessed!! and the artic lorry that pulled out infront of me on a 40mph road i nearly never made that.... all you learners out there its like a fuckin jungle of retards with vehicles who find it hard to select the right gear or use there indicators my rant ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 may be worth checking those forks just incase they are bent. glad you were okay though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgsm7 Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Glad to hear youre alright, but you should always stop to the side of the rear of the vehicle. If you cant see their mirrors, they cant see you ect ect. You were lucky he was so helpful about it. Good advice you give too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSaffer Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Thanks for the advice. The van driver said he realised he was in the wrong lane. He was in the turn right only lane and wanted to carry on towards Romford. He said he stopped when he heard the crunch! I always stop in line of sight of the drivers side mirror, so he didn't even bother to look. At the moment I am still waiting for my bike to be repaired, waiting for the 3rd party insurance engineer to asses the cost. My trust bike garage mechanic did go over my bike and said it was fine to ride. But now I don't know if its my mind playing tricks on me, but I can swear the bike feel different. You know when you ride on a well worn London road where trucks managed to mould the road. It feels almost like the bike is slightly weaving left to right on a flat road. And I can swear I can smell fuel more than usual. I just want them to get it sorted and have a good look. Now this is my question: can you check the forks by just looking at them? I'm sure you need some kind of instruments to check if they are straight! Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 It wouldnt take a lot of bending to throw the forks out of aligment and you would nescessarily have to see it with the naked eye for it to be bent, i would be asking the garage to prove that they arent bent, personally i would check by stripping the forks down, mounting the stanchions in a lathe with one end of the stanchion in the chuck and the other end supported by a live centre and run i dial test indicator along the length whilst its rotating, as the piece rotates any bends would be shown up on the DTI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrever Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Glad to hear youre alright, but you should always stop to the side of the rear of the vehicle. If you cant see their mirrors, they cant see you ect ect. You were lucky he was so helpful about it. Good advice you give too. +1 Also, when pulling up, check where the escape is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Alex Posted January 7, 2013 Admin Share Posted January 7, 2013 Make sure you check the crown on the frame where the forks go. Many written off R1 frames out there for sale due to low impact front end accidents. Look for any rippling or fractures along the welds. Measure the distance between lower forks and back end of frame and then compare to another bike. Easiest way to check that I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSaffer Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Thank you for the good advice, I will have a go at checking it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSaffer Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 So my MCE insurance renewal time has arrived... guess what... £200 more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledBacchus Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 £200 more and its not even your fault?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSaffer Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 Yes, they say prices went up for everybody... BS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grouch Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'm with MCE and my renewal is less than half what I paid last year. You need to phone them again and use the compare websites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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