If this means my number just came up, I'll take it

[Gone in 60]

What's the saying? There are riders who have crashed, and riders who are going to crash?

Guess my number just got called, but if this is the one that pushed me over the "have crashed" line, I guess I'll take it.

Riding the Bonneville to work, and a block before the office, a lady turned left in front of me into her office parking lot. She saw me, hesitated, and then gunned it and tried to make her turn in front of me. I started emergency braking, then, of course, she panicked and stopped right in front of me.

I could see that we were going to hit, but I looked down at the two RLETs on my levers, which I was now squeezing with all of my might, and they gave me the power to stop even harder. At least I had slowed significantly.

Luckily, if we were going to hit, I hit her in the best spot. My front wheel went into the gap between her front wheel and fender. So, the bike wedged and stayed up. Lunched my front fender, scuffed up my forks.

I talked to the lady, she said "I saw you, why didn't you stop?" Really? Having been an insurance investigator, I figured the best thing was to take a bunch of photos before moving anything. One driver who was next to me before the accident circled back and gave me his info, saying "I saw everything".

The whole thing was pretty minor, but a good Samaritan called 911, and as I was parking my bike, was insisting that I lay down. I thanked him but said it wasn't necessary. Soon, a phalanx of two fire trucks, an ambulance, and three police cars showed up. Great.

The firetrucks and ambulance got a thumbs up from me, and kept rolling, while the police took our stories and information.

I pulled what was left of my front fender off of the wheel, and rode the final block to work. I rotated the bars forward in the clamps, and the bike pulled to the right a bit as I rode. Maybe tweaked the forks in the clamps, hopefully that's it as far as structural damage.

We'll see how insurance shakes out, I immediately filed a claim with her carrier.

I'm torn about the RLETS on the Triumph now.. they either just saved my life, or created the bad juju that made that lady want to turn in front of me, then panic stop. Hm...

 

[Rocky_imp]

Stupid people!!!!!
Glad it was only fairly minor and you weren't hurt.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Yow. Let's chalk this one up to the "have crashed" category. We'll have no more of that, thank you very much.

Certainly glad you're okay. Sounds like she violated your right of way. A good defense attorney could pin it back on you for not avoiding her, but that would be lame. Hopefully all goes well with the insurance adjuster and you two can be on your way.

 

[KiowaEagle_imp]

Thank goodness you had the foresight to install rlets on your Triumph! Imagine the outcome without that extra layer of protection and performance!

 

[Gone in 60]

The irony is that she was pulling into her office, AAA Insurance. I'm going to chalk the RLETs up to a positive spiritual force in mitigating the accident, not contributing to it.

 

[Cormanus]

Gone in 60, I’m glad you’re OK. Accidents certainly cause one to question the power of the RLET, but I think your conclusion is the right one. I’m sure my recent ‘off’ would have Ben worse without them.

 

[suhawk305]

Thanks goodness this “have crashed ” is minor. I think people like us, with many years of motorcycle riding, learn not to trust any other motorist or even an animal while riding. Unfortunately, situations like yours are unavoidable.
Yes, I am in the “have crashed” category with a couple of bad ones during my reckless youth years.
I’m sure Psychologists have a term for people like me: a person who gets discharged from the hospital in the morning, my parents the go to their jobs leaving me to inspect my crashed CL350, minor damage displayed, put on my scuffed-up (with pebbles still embedded in it) BUCO helmet and down the road I go... Only to return after few hours to a very unhappy mother!

 

[Gone in 60]

I was thinking, if she hadn't stopped right in front of me, I probably would have hit her SUV further back, into a solid surface like her door, rather than into the gap between the wheel and fender. That would have been a much more damaging hit to both the bike and me. As it is, my tank isn't at all scuffed, and my mirrors are bent forward, which tells me that I didn't slide forward on the seat, and my forearms bent forward and pushed the mirrors, while my hands stayed on the grips. Impact speed must have been less than 20. For a split second, I was thinking I might have been able to stop short of hitting her.

 

[Houtman_imp]

I am very glad that YOU are ok !

 

[the Ferret]

Glad you are ok Gone. Rlet's have no power over others so they couldn't have made her turn in front of you, their sole purpose was to make sure you got slowed enough to avoid injury.

 

[pdedse]

Good to hear you escaped injury! That's such a sickening feeling when you realize that things are about to go south, but at least you're here telling us about it. Best of luck with the post accident details.

 

[Buzzard Biker_imp]

Glad you are ok GI60.
I’ve had a real heart in my mouth scare and it really shook me up. Luckily The bike and I escaped impact and injury although my undies certainly got close to a ‘code brown’ situation.

I hope your bike is fine and that the insurance assessor checks it properly for alignment and checks the headstock/frame.

Wishing you well.

 

[Desert viper_imp]

Glad you’re OK Gone in 60!

 

[Bheezy27403_imp]

Yep. You can check "crashed" off your list now. Glad you escaped uninjured.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Gin60 - I am glad the story was limited to containable vehicle damage. It must have been a spine tingler for about 638 milliseconds.

Really swell to learn you are okay. Man.

I don't think I am qualified to remark regarding RLETs on a Triumph. Sounds encouraging though.

 

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

Glad you're OK Gone in 60! Jeez, old ladies! I've had my share of unplanned get-offs, some of which were moderately serious, but the one that spins my crank the most was the last one. In traffic at a red light. The light turns green, everyone starts to move, and the old biddy on my left decides she wants to change lanes and just comes right on over, pushing me and my bike to the right and almost under a box truck. I wasn't hurt, a bruise on my hip where I went down. Totaled my Nighthawk. A park ranger saw the whole thing and took charge of the sitch. She claims she didn't see me but how could she not? One of those things.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

It always starts with, " ... I didn't see you ... " as if that is the "you're excused" ticket.

Quite simply, cagers can be self-consumed, in la-la land oblivion, or distracted. This is driving basics 101. Driver must take responsibility for their actions/inactions when operating a licensed road vehicle.

Cagers who are riders I find tend to drive a bit like they are riding. That is, for example, shoulder checks are automatic.

 

[E11even_Hunnit]

Glad to hear it was minor and you were able to walk away from it, Gonein60
I'm sorry if I missed something, but how exactly did the RLET's help in this situation?

Few weeks ago I had this fat b*tch just pullout right infront of me, when I pulled up next to her window, she had the audacity to unapologetically scream "I DIDN'T SEE YOU!" as If that was some sort of acceptable explanation. Needless to say, I should've taken her mirror

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Glad to hear it was minor and you were able to walk away from it, Gonein60
I'm sorry if I missed something, but how exactly did the RLET's help in this situation?

Few weeks ago I had this fat b*tch just pullout right infront of me, when I pulled up next to her window, she had the audacity to unapologetically scream "I DIDN'T SEE YOU!" as If that was some sort of acceptable explanation. Needless to say, I should've taken her mirror

(... chuckle ...) I can envision this.

 

[Gone in 60]

Quick update. I’ve been on a two week business trip since the accident, working two rather strenuous outdoor events. My fear was being limited by muscle aches and stuff, but other than a massive bruise on my right leg, no I’ll effects. Since I share a room with one of my bosses, I had to explain the bruise away, as I don’t want my work mates on our crew to think I’m injured.

The adjuster from the lady’s insurance called to get my statement and said that although it looks like a cut-and-dry left turn accident, the other driver was disputing liability. I said that I didn’t see how she could have possibly have a leg to stand on in that regard. I sent her several photos I took from the scene before I pulled my bike out of her fender. It’s pretty obvious from the pictures how it happened.

They sent an appraiser to my office to look at the bike. He noticed the very obvious smashed fender and noticed that the handlebar mounts are bent forward, which I didn’t see in my inspection of the bike. However, he said Triumph bikes aren’t in their estimating database, so I’ll need to take it to a shop.

By the time I get home, the adjuster hopes to have the police report, which she admits probably won’t be too complimentary to their insured driver, and I hope liability won’t be an issue.

My plan is to take tools to my office and do a fork alignment as best I can, then ride the 12 miles home to see how she handles. Hopefully it tracks straight and doesn’t display any vibration. I limited my personal inspection to the front wheel and head stock area, and nothing looks clearly damaged, but a shop will have to make the final call.

If total damage is limited to the fender and mounting bolts for the handlebar, I’ll be very happy.