I Wrecked my new bike :(

[Duane]

The pain meds are wearing off a bit so I thought I would try recounting what all happened.

I figured I had a few years before I would encounter my first bike wreck. Never once been in a car wreck, rode the heck out of dirt bikes when I was a teen and never had anything serious happen.

On Saturday I'm riding home from the bike shop, enjoying the weather when a truck in front me decides to make a quick right, which was no problem, check my blind spot and moved into the left lane. Then some guy whips out of the gas station on my right, apparently trying to turn left on the street, where he is blocked by on coming traffic so he just stops, blocking both lanes and giving me no where to go but into his car. I had about 4 seconds to stop, back wheel skidded a bit and BAM right into his driver side door. I felt some pain in my knee as I got a good look at him while my head bashed into his window.
Thankfully I only busted up my knee and tore the muscles off from around it. I was wearing all my gear except my rain pants which has extra padding for th knees and I can't help but wonder, if I was wearing that would I have broken mine. Anyways, I'm awaiting surgery, which will hopefully be this Thursday. The real issue is my bike doesn't look so good, insurance isn't sure if they are going to total it or fix it yet. I paid around $6500 for it and they are figuring its going to run around $3100 to fix, maybe more, they are still trying to figure that out. Basically the whole front fork is smashed up to head light and a bunch of damage on the right side (mufflers and stuffs).

So for now, I'm sitting around in limbo, doped up on pain meds waiting to find out what is happening. Pretty sure the guy who pulled out is going to held liable but I can't get a copy of the police report unless I walk down and pick it up in person which means I am waiting for them to mail it to my insurance company. Hopefully that is the case and he has insurance, then I don't have to worry about anything. Otherwise its going to run me a $500 deductible on my bike and god only knows how much my insurance will cover on medical bills.

I think once I'm back in the game I'm going to cut back on my in town riding, there are just to many idiots. Besides, I like to cruse, not sit at stop lights and dodge cars all day long.

[Gadjet]

Damn! that really sucks about your bike, but glad that you are (relatively) ok. Any idea how long you're going to be down from riding while your knee heals?

With any luck the driver of the car will not only be held liable for the damages to you and your bike, but will also be slapped with some hefty fines and charges.

Hang in there buddy, we're all rooting for you.

Owen

[Social Distortion]

hey man
thanks so much for sharing and i am really glad that you are still in 1 piece!
Let the insurance take care of the replacement or repairs and you'll be back on the road in no time!
Heal up quickly buddy!

[MattC13]

sorry to hear you wrecked your bike glad your ok im new at riding and that is my biggest fear but i hear there are only two types of riders "ones have been down and the ones who are going down"
hopefully i can beat the odds
get better
-matt

[Scoutmedic]

Hope your recovery is fast and smooth and you get a new bike out of the ordeal!

[Duane]

Thanks for the kind words!

Well they found some frame damage done to the bike and calling it a total loss. Which I thought I would be cool with but they are claiming the bike is only worth $4500 even though I have receipts showing I paid nearly $6500 for it 3 months ago.

Besides from that, recovery is going well but taking so damn long. Doc says the soonest I'll be walking is near the end of August but probably closer to mid September. There goes my summer.

Anyways, watch out for the cagers because they sure as hell are not watching out for you!

[live2ride]

hey man, sorry about all you are going through...

im thinking about buying a new bike but I am nervous about insurance these days...has your company been easy to deal with or have they been a pain? I feel like a lot of insurers are out to get motorcycle riders can we have a bad rep for being unsafe...

let me know,

dave

[Duane]

I went through progressive for insurance the rep was nice to deal with but they really tried to screw me on the bikes value. Since this accident was the other guys fault I was able to get his insurance (Geico) to appraise the bike and they came back with what it was worth. They even included sales tax into the value. So far I've been very impressed with Geico for property damages and will probably insure with them next time. I wont know how the personal injury claim will go until I have fully recovered but they have been very informative and helpful.

[Patrick]

Man I read your story, and I have just started riding since about 30 years ago myself. I started in June again and knock on wood only fell over once because of my own stupidity. Anyway, your story gave me something to think about in regards to cruising versus just driving around town and also Gieco. I have the same insurance co. you do so I too might switch next year. I would hate for them to devalue the bike to where you loose big on a deal like that. Anyway hopefully you can get back in the saddle soon.

Pat

[Jadien]

Duane, get better and we'll see you on the road soon.

As I'm looking for new bike insurance, I'm thinking Geico might be the one for me.