Damn snowbirds.

 Plastic is on the counter, and Northerner's that stay up north feel free
to grab yourself a double.

Being a great day for a ride, about 75F and sunny, I took the Sporty out
for a ride.  After going through my favorite little back-road set of
turns & curves, and grabbing a great lunch at my favorite Mexican hole-in-
the-wall, I headed home.

Not quite stopped coming up to a red light and WHAM. Some crazy blue-hair
from Michigan rear-ends the Sporty.  I wobble, go down (but thankfully
not all the way), and see a car pass within a foot of my head as I'm
still not quite vertical.  A good Samaritan gets out of his car and helps
me get the bike upright and off the road.  Unfortunately, while he did
see me get hit, he said that after he saw me wobble he never looked back
at the car that hit me and only watched me.  His wife saw the blue MI
plate and that it was an old woman driving, but didn't get a license # or
make/model. Silver w/ MI plate was all she knew.


Final assessment, important parts first:
Handlebar: left side bent in, needs to be replaced. (Maybe mini-apes?)
Bracket attaching the shifter & foot peg: Broken.
Clutch: Chrome shot to hell, but functioning.
Battery cover: A few minor cosmetic enhancements, nothing a repaint won't
fix.
Saddlebag (leather): Now has character. A lot of it.
Custom paint job: Flawless & untouched!

Self:
Ripped & bloodied jeans, left knee.
Left knee: Ripped & bloody.  A little trouble putting weight on it, but
otherwise good.
Left boot: Steel is now exposed in steel-toed boots. Good ankle support,
foot/ankle are fine.

All in all, if I *had* to have a wreck, I'm pleased with the outcome.  I
walked away relatively uninjured, just pissed.


-G
--
-razorbuzz

 wrote:


    Did you file an accident report?  See a doctor?  Call your
insurance company?  Hope so, & glad to hear you aren't hurt badly.
You've had a busy day, I'll get the next round.........SHIRLEY!

Jinks ('86 FXRS, '07 FLTR)
#64
Remember, "No good deed goes unpunished"

 On Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:28:52 -0500, Jinks wrote:

I called sheriff's non-emergency number and 2 LEO's showed up in about
half the time it took when I called 911 a few weeks ago when I witnessed
an accident.  This was perhaps the single best interaction with LEO's
I've ever had - they knew I was armed, surprisingly did not relieve me of
my weapon, took a photo of the road where I went down and of my bike to
add to the report.

Called insurance, they said "don't bother".  Damage is less than
deductible, so no reimbursement just a risk of a higher insurance premium
if I made a claim.  They also suggested no police report as it would get
reported to the DMV and same ultimate outcome

Cop said that was a good idea.  Printed a partially-completed report from
his car, handed it to me and said I could file it if I wanted to but
didn't recommend it.

-G

--
-razorbuzz

 wrote:


    That's good!


    I'd be lookin' for new insurance.  I have some serious
problems with insurance companies.  I know that it's not worth a claim
if it's less than the deductible, but to suggest that even a police
report will cost  you money for something that isn't your fault is
simply robbery.  I'm of the opinion that if I pay for a service I
should be able to expect that service without threat.  Of any kind!
I've fired insurance agents for less.


Jinks ('86 FXRS, '07 FLTR)
#64
Remember, "No good deed goes unpunished"

 On 11/23/2011 6:24 PM, Jinks wrote:

Kinda depends on what's going on, where the cops are, and what they're
doing. Once in a while we'd get lucky and a cop would be literally
around the corner when we sent 'em somewhere. Other times they're all
busy and it takes forever to pry one free from a call. I had a guy on
the phone about an accident and was still taking some of his info while
the other dispatcher sent the cop. The cop got there in about 20
seconds. The guy on the phone paused and then said, "You guys are good!"

OK. Since I'm telling stories. Got a bank robbery one morning. I was
taking the phone call as my partner was putting it out on the air. I was
relaying the bad guy's description, that he was exiting the building and
getting into such and such car, etc. A detective happened to be in the
parking lot and he took over the radio and directed the two black and
whites...who happened to be a couple blocks away...to the bad guy's car.
They stopped him as he left the parking lot. Time from when we got the
call to when he was in custody was less than 3 minutes.

It just wasn't that bank robber's day.

This was perhaps the single best interaction with LEO's

If you ever want to get a quick response from the cops, just say,
"...and I think I saw one of the people who had a gun in his waistband.
Not for sure, but I think so." Poof! A cop will appear next to you in a
puff of smoke.


Yup. Even if your car was in the parking lot while you were in the
hospital under an oxygen tent in the ICU and someone hit your car, if
the DMV gets it they report it to your insurance company (generally to
confirm that you do indeed have current insurance) and then the
insurance company can raise your rates.


Agreed. Even if it isn't your fault, like in the above scenario I
mentioned, they can say "Well, we're raising your premiums because even
though it was unattended, you apparently tend to park your car in an
area more prone to getting hit. Therefore you are a greater risk for us."

Wonder what they'd say if a satellite fell out of orbit and landed on
your car. "You tend to park your car in areas where space debris is
known to fall, so we're raising your rates." I'd like to see their
actuarial tables for space debris damage.

Peckers...


The cops usually don't care one way or another. If you wanted to make
the report they'd do it. If you don't...they won't. Here in Kansas you
aren't required to make a report if the damage appears less than "X"
dollars (used to be $1k...probably more now,) if there are no injuries,
and no drugs or alcohol is involved and it ain't a hit and run. A minor
traffic report isn't hard to do...doesn't take much time, but they know
that it can effect (affect? I can't ever remember which it is) your
insurance so they'll often give you the option.

Andy aka Big Stinkie