The Inevitable Crash ...

Slaanesh

It finally happened, I was side swiped by a van on the way in this morning.
He went to move into the left lane without any notice or indication and whacked into me!

Thankfully I only have a bit of a sore leg but the fairing of the bike is cracked and the alternator cover very scratched. Front left indicator borked (I think).

This is the quote I got for repairs:
Bike: Yamaha Fazer 600 03'
Top Fairing €397.38
Decal X2 €66.66 - What the hell is a decal?
Left Fron Flasher Lamp €58.20
Alternator Cover €73.48
Top Fairing Bracket €226.48

Total including labour €1049.80 :eek:

The guy who hit me was fairly sound about the whole thing and admitted being in the wrong. We called the police at first but when I figured I wasn't too bad and neither was the bike we called them off.

This quote looks astronomical and because the guy was sound enough I don't really wanna hit him for a grand, hoping he'd learned his lesson.

How does this quote sound to the more knowledgeable bikers out there?

sutty

The Decal is a sticker/brand mark. Sorry to hear about the crash. But it really is best to clame the expenses off him. A grand isn't that much when it comes to bike crashes. IE: no injory or loss or earnings. Things like that. Just a thought but have you tried looking on ebay or second hand bike part sites for the required replacements? Glad to hear your ok though. It is the most important thing.

DBK

Sounds about right. I only drive a moped and when I was knocked off it by a stupid auld wan, the damage didn't look like much. Cracked fairing, broken brake handle. Came to 1200 or something....the fairing was about 800 euro alone. Insane. But at the end of the day, it wasn't your fault so don't feel guilty about it. Good to hear that you're ok too. I saw a crash much to the same thing to yours, but the bloke on the bike ended up under the van. Nasty.

Dr4gul4

Dont take this the wrong way but u shoudl take him to the cleaners..

here's why

Last year i was making my merry way into work on a nice sunny september morning, when i got side swiped by a chick in a micra,

Now she was young and kinda cute, wasnt much damage so i said ok let not go mad no need 4 cops or insurance, dont wanna fook up ure insurance or mine etc, she admitted being wrong ans said she would pay.


So off to the shop we go, and the lads only had to fix my gear selector which was bent in a hoop.


Good stuff i though only 50 euro thats not bad..

So i picked up the bike and went to meet this chick after telling her it's 50 euro..
Got the €€ off her and away we went.


However...

There always a however ... it wasnt untill i had a good look at the gear selector and noticed it looks like sum 1 had shat on it.


Really annoyed me after a while also..


So recently a got a quote for a new 1.

Just shy of a ton mind you.. now i dont mind that it's not much.


But the moral of the story is.. if it's gonna cast him over a Grand make sure to get it all sorted, make sure ure happy and make sure he pays


D.

trout

thankfully no-one was hurt ... sore leg aside ... that's the main thing

a grand for repairs, including labour, compared to the value of the bike is reasonable... the van driver probably knows this too ... gods forbid there was an injury ... the insurance costs would truly be astronomical ... this guy may drive for a living, and may already be paying through the nose for insurance ... sure, be fair to him ... but you have to get your bike fixed also.

in the interest of fairness, you could give him the parts list, and invite him to look for better prices, or you could try a different dealer for the repairs ... but the long and short of it is you must be satisfied ...

now ... hate to inject cynicism into the thread, but have you any witnesses ? verified contact details for the van driver ?

Slaanesh

Any witnesses, as such ... no. Strange thing is, not one car owner apart from the accused got out of their car. A moped came up between the lanes and stopped and helped me up with the bike. Then strangely enough the guy who gave me the quote pulled up in his van a few minutes later and took a look at the bike.

The van was very marked with company name and I took the insurance details straight from the disc and reg number. Then the guy gave me his name address and mobile. It's my first crash involving anyone so I wasn't overly sure what to do. Would love a witness though

Thanks for the replies lads.

Might ring another place and get a quote.

trout wrote:

now ... hate to inject cynicism into the thread, but have you any witnesses ? verified contact details for the van driver ?

sutty

Nah you done everything right and kept your widths about you. I can only speak for my-self. But when I had my crash. I was all over the place. Didn't have a clue. I had a Camera in my back pack. But never even thought about it (I always carry one with me just in case). The main thing is that he was being lagit and you got the details off his disk. Did you get the licance plate number of the van as well? Its a shame about the lack of witness. But if he is accepting it and is ok about.

Ginger

I thankfully avoided that on Wednesday..

Something similar, woman in a Trajet with 4 kids in the back decided she was in the wrong land and swiped in.

Very lucky not to get anything, she got a shock when she saw me. Thankfully no harm no foul.. except for my helmet been steamed up as i ranted and raved about stupid drivers on my way back to work :P

Krusty_Clown

You were very fortunate. Thankfully nobody was hurt...
Do not look for short-cuts to save the van driver money, no matter how sound he was (eBay or otherwise). The van driver was at fault and is responsible for ensuring that your bike (and you) are returned to their original condition, no more, and no less. Do not settle for less than original condition, and don't seek to profit by trying to get more from him than you should.

Did your helmet come into contact with the ground? If so, you should claim for a new helmet also, as these are designed to protect you from a single impact. Any damage to your protective clothing? Claim for this also.

If the van driver wants to get an alternative quote from a different motorcycle garage, then that is his entitlement.

Those prices don't look out of the ordinary (rip off Ireland) with the possible exception of the top fairing bracket, which seems abit mad at 226 euro.

If you're feeling a little guilty for him (and you shouldn't) you can get the replacement part numbers and do a ring around (try: http://www.motofiches.com).

Oryx

Prices sound normal enough, and the labour isnt excessive. Genuine parts here are crazy money. Car drivers often dont realise what its going to be to repair a 'little knock' and can sometimes change their tune when you produce a quote like that.

If the quote you got lists part numbers all the better for double checking it. Dont know what dealer quoted you, but the distributor (pm me if you dont know who) may give you the prices as well, that way you know for sure what they should be.

lord lucan

just to let anyone who rides a moped know that there is a company in holland,"easyparts.nl" who sell parts for most mopeds,i had a crash recently and was given an estimate of €1900 for repairs to my mojito custom,i am after buying most of the parts i need from that website for €350,was able to fix my bike,renew my insurance and still had money left over to treat myself,happy days!!:D

Tomohawk

Hasn't happened to me yet but I had a similar incident last year on the rock road coming up to the Blackrock Clinic junction heading into town in mid-morning traffic. Car in the outside lane started coming into the left lane on top of me. I was level with the back seat of drivers car at this stage. Just gave a quick blast of the horn and they woke up and stopped changing lanes. I had anticipated the car was gonna change lanes for some reason and had time to react and beep the horn. Tis a good trick when it works and is a satisfying feeling, not to mention helping avert a potential crash. This car had been behind me in the outside lane so why they hadn't seen me is just typical of some car drivers. And there was a car behind me and in front at safe distance. That'll learn them!!

Do as Lord Lucan says re online parts. Save on the labour costs by spannering the parts on yourself (or get a mate who's handy to help you if you not confident yourself)

seamus

Yeah, good to hear you're alright man, but don't scrimp on it cos he was a nice guy. If €1k is what it costs him, then he's lucky. Get OEM parts, properly fitted, and get any major scratches/dents sorted too, before handing the guy the bill. If anything is bent out of shape, have it replaced, don't settle for a repaired part.
You're entitled to have your bike exactly as it was before he hit you.

Elfish

I think you should have let the guards come and witness that your man took responsibility. Especially as you have no witnesses.

Unfortunately I've learnt this the hard way, and unfortunately it took a second time/accident for me to learn that everyone doesn't think like you do yourself.

Report it to the cops straight away.
Don't leave it long. Especially not over 3 mths as I did before when I was involved in a open and shut case. A person crashed into me, was all very nice to my face, she called her husband to the scene. He was the closest thing to Geremy from Paths to Freedom, and accepted full responsibility. So I didn't report it to the cops, thought I was safe out and I even gave them the option of just sorting me out without putting it thru insurance (even though the f**kers were obviously quite wealthy).

Biggest mistake I made was judging the book by the cover, these people from
Booterstown changed their tune very quickly when I informed them of the estimate (sportsbike, fairing/exhaust/casings). Turned nasty, they were insisting on giving me no more than 500 smacks even though damage was 2700 yoyo. And the cops were NO USE getting it sorted because of me having exceeded time limit for reporting.

So REPORT TO THE COPS STRAIGHT AWAY AND GO THRU INSURANCE
GET A WITNESS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE

Now isn't the time to be thinking everything is nice and the world is full of decent people. Don't be fooled, no matter how 'sound' this person appears.

Hope it works out, shame about your smash.

Ride safe!!

Slaanesh

Thanks for the advice!

I left a voicemail on his phone and he txted me this morning saying that he
had to follow company procedure and fill out an incident report for their insurance company. He wants my insurance number, does that sound right?

seamus

Yeah, that sounds normal - they're looking for the name of your insurance company and your policy number.

At this point, report the incident to your own insurance company and to the Gardai to cover your ass. If the other insurance company find out that you haven't reported it they could try and screw you over.

ifah

have to agree with the rest of the posters - get all your parts fitted new and also a new helmet - from the damage it sounds like the bike went down hard - did you hit the road too ? if so your helmet had to hit the deck and you probably won't even know about it. it's an insurance job and there will be no queries about material damages as long as there is no injury to the biker - i know some senior underwriters/claims assessors and they will happily sign off any claim by a biker if there is no injury.

Supercell

Nice or not, he's the one thats caused you ad your bike damage. This is what his company pays the insurance for. Believe me if you crashed into him , he probably wouldn't have any hesitation claiming off yours (or the company boss wouldn't).

Don't feel guilty at all, nice or not, he's a danger on the road and better that he realises this and maybe prevents him causing another accidant in the future if he's stung this time (unlikely, the company insurance will pay all costs and that will be that), but he might get his wrist slapped at most but thats the way it should be - you owe this as much to yourself as the other bikers on the road his van is beside next time he gets into it.