What's the prognosis doc?

[emptysea]

Getting an attorney is probably not necessary at this point. If the two (or three, if you you count the health insurance) companies involved are reputable, then your claim will be settled fairly and promptly. If things are not going well in either the fairness or promptness area, then it might (might) be worth talking to an attorney. Basically, let he insurance folks do their jobs and only involve your own attorney if they don't.

Hope you heal up fast and feel free to PM me with insurance-related questions.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Thanks all for your kind wellwishes and so on. I just wanted to put a cap on this conversation and say that the damage did indeed turn out to be somewhat superficial. I did pick a honda certified dealership for the work and the insurance company agreed that they were the best choice. the initial estimate appears to only involve replacing the crank case cover and the shifter and doing general diagnositcs, so serious damage is highly unlikley. Work is being done as we speak

I also wanted to pay due respect to a couple of people's questions and suggestions:

well, thanks cor, but i'm not confident that mine can be replaced if it gets totaled. they might pay out my value and all, but i seriously doubt i'll be able to find a new '14 again without paying a whole lot of extra money. basically, if my CB gets totalled, i might never be able to get a CB again, because i can't pay full price for one.

I think it doesn't work that way (at least in Europe):

-you had a bike, and it wasn't your fault.

If it had been your fault, and you had insurance cover on "own damage", they would pay "market value" (what ever they have on their charts, according to model/year etc. Not real market value of your particular bike)

Being someone's elses fault, they have to pay any repair to get your bike back. It can't be "totaled": it will just be more expensive to them. Or they can offer to buy you an equivalent bike IF you accept that. But they can't make you to accept their "market value" price.

Actually, here in the US (south carolina) it can be totaled. and the value at which they "total" something is usually just about enough to pay off what you owe on the auto loan (convenient eh?). This is just as true for motorcycles as it is for cars. I've had it happen to me before, though thankfully it was a much older bike, and not a new one like this. What this means for you, the owner, is that you have no bike, and no more loan obligations, but you still have no bike, and guess what, if you want a replacement it's 100% up to you to find and buy one and come up with the new down payment ect ect. it's a really unfair, terrible system that should go the way of the dinosaurs.

Sorry to hear about your accident, and best wishes for a speedy and full recovery. A woman in an SUV rear ended me at while I was stopped at a stop light in broad daylight last year, so I have a good idea how you feel.

A couple of suggestions: From my experience, I prefer to use a dealership that has a Honda Certified Mechanic for any warranty and/or repair issues. On the Honda web site you can look up all dealers in your area, and each dealer listing will show whether or not they have a Honda Certified Mechanic in house or not. Best guess from info provided, is that the bike probably is not totaled, and odds are it can be put back to new condition

Another member asked what kind of boots you were wearing. Armored motorcycle specific boots may or may not have saved you from injury, or reduced the extent of the injury. That said, feet and ankles are pretty vulnerable, so the investment in armored CE rated boots might be worth considering if you do not already have them.

I always carry my cell phone with me when I ride. Aside from being able to call 911 in the event of an accident or break down, I can take pictures. I the event of an accident, photo damage to all vehicles, license plate numbers, the other driver, insurance cards, DLs, the accident scene, etc. etc.. Pictures come in real handy later on if there is a dispute.

I'm a day-to-day commuter with a job in a corner office. to be totally honest with you, wearing motorcycle boots every day of my life just isn't practical. Yes, i see the result of that decision and i had to take the stitches out of the result of that decision just the other night, but i stand by it. i've been in more than one accident in my life, and dealt with several injuries of this nature, and i still stand by it. it's a quality of life thing, i can't go around changing shoes back and forth all day or clonking around in boots everywhere i go. helmets make sense, gloves make sense, jackets make sense, but i leave it at that.

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

Your feet man- but just admit you don’t care about your own safety or at least your feet.

There are countless different versions of motorcycle specific protective footwear in numerous styles for many years now. Any excuse not to wear them is only that- an excuse.

I can’t condone an example to other possibly new young riders to not wear proper gear without them understanding there is no good reason. NONE.

Choice is one thing, but knowledge is another.

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[Houtman_imp]

Take your boots of in the office and wear your shoes all day , seems very simple to me as you have to store your other gear somewhere in your place of work ; boots might fit under neat your desk.
Hands and feet are very vulnerable in a crash on your bike , buy the best boots and gloves you can afford. ( for me Held gloves and Daytona boots )
Take your boots of in the office and wear your shoes all day , seems very simple to me as you have to store your other gear somewhere in your place of work ; boots might fit under neat your desk.
Hands and feet are very vulnerable in a crash on your bike , buy the best boots and gloves you can afford. ( for me Held gloves and Daytona boots )

 

[misterprofessionality]

Your feet man- but just admit you don’t care about your own safety or at least your feet.

There are countless different versions of motorcycle specific protective footwear in numerous styles for many years now. Any excuse not to wear them is only that- an excuse.

I can’t condone an example to other possibly new young riders to not wear proper gear without them understanding there is no good reason. NONE.

Choice is one thing, but knowledge is another.

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To be fair, I did say exactly that. I'm fully knowledgeable of the consequences and still made the choice. I could post pictures of my ankle if you'd like a better "example" for new riders, but somehow I Don't think anybody wants to see that. At a certain point in life I decided that getting rained on a few times a year and riding in the bitter cold for a few months out of the year was better than owning a car. Same goes for deciding that occasional injuries were better than changing my shoes 5 times a day. It's just a choice. It doesn't imply everybody should make it.

 

[jtopiso_imp]

Your feet man- but just admit you don’t care about your own safety or at least your feet.

There are countless different versions of motorcycle specific protective footwear in numerous styles for many years now. Any excuse not to wear them is only that- an excuse.

I can’t condone an example to other possibly new young riders to not wear proper gear without them understanding there is no good reason. NONE.

Choice is one thing, but knowledge is another.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To be fair, I did say exactly that. I'm fully knowledgeable of the consequences and still made the choice. I could post pictures of my ankle if you'd like a better "example" for new riders, but somehow I Don't think anybody wants to see that. At a certain point in life I decided that getting rained on a few times a year and riding in the bitter cold for a few months out of the year was better than owning a car. Same goes for deciding that occasional injuries were better than changing my shoes 5 times a day. It's just a choice. It doesn't imply everybody should make it.

To be fair, I did say exactly that. I'm fully knowledgeable of the consequences and still made the choice. I could post pictures of my ankle if you'd like a better "example" for new riders, but somehow I Don't think anybody wants to see that. At a certain point in life I decided that getting rained on a few times a year and riding in the bitter cold for a few months out of the year was better than owning a car. Same goes for deciding that occasional injuries were better than changing my shoes 5 times a day. It's just a choice. It doesn't imply everybody should make it.
100% agreed. Life is continuous risk management and trade-offs, isn't it?

 

[Houtman_imp]

Occasional injuries better than changing shoes , sorry I do not get that !

 

[jtopiso_imp]

Occasional injuries better than changing shoes , sorry I do not get that !

Like risking a fall from the bike instead of driving a car or even a tank.

I do get it.

 

[KiowaEagle_imp]

It comes down to the fact that misterprofessionality knew the risk when he took it and is not complaining about the outcome. Whether we agree or don't agree with his decision should only affect the decisions we make, not his.

 

[Houtman_imp]

I have been riding motorcycles since I was 18 in 1968 and I am fully aware of all the risk involved but I try to prevent as much as possible injuries when in a crash .

We can not always prevent crashes but I try to minimize the injuries by ATGATT. I rather sweat than bleed , gear is cheaper than medical bills.

 

[2017EX_imp]

Although this thread has taken a bit of a different direction from the original post, I think one of the obvious values of this or any other forum is the exchange of information, and ideas. We are all adults, responsible for our own decisions, and the consequences pro or con of those decisions. That said, I also think that the intent of our comments in this case is to help a fellow cyclist, and perhaps suggest a different prospective moving forward.

Many of us started riding as teenagers, and in my case, it was 1966. Back then motorcycle specific protective gear was next to non existent, other than maybe a helmet. That is fortunately not the case now, and I have found over the years that boots seem to be the least considered, understood, researched, and/or acquired pieces of gear for many riders. This may because many people already have lace up work boots, or cowboy boots, mistakenly considered adequate.

We all know the best protective gear of any type is useless if it is not worn, and not a guarantee of avoiding injury, but does tilt the odds in favor of the user. Personally, I want whatever gives me the best odds of a favorable outcome in any situation. I wear Daytona Boots. They are comfortable off the bike walking around, and each boot has two zippers, making them easy to put on and take off. All leather uppers, with Kevlar layer under the leather for abrasion and puncture resistance. There is also hard TPU armor in the toe box, heel, ankle bones, and shin under the leather. My personal preference is Daytona, but there are other premium brands that offer good protection as well.

Whatever mrprofessionality decides to do or not do is up to him, not anyone else. That said, I think forum members would be remiss not to at least offer a different prospective on the subject for consideration. In this situation, given the motorcycle is a commuter exposed daily to sharing the road with frequently inattentive drivers, I hope that leaving a pair of shoes at the office to change into on arrival and departure at the end of the day along, with purchase of a good pair of CE rated armored boots will at least be considered.

 

[the Ferret]

Well thought out and explained post EX

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

Sorry to have started a war.

I wear what many would think to be excessive amounts of armored gear.

I'll readily admit I had a couple beers in me when I wrote what I wrote, but something about the 'wearing motorcycle boots every day of my life just isn't practical' must have hit a nerve.

Anyone is free to wear or not wear what they want. I just try to set a good example for the new guys I ride with, or even make the old guys feel more comfortable about getting over the whole 'I don't want to look like a nerd' mentality that is all to prevalent in our testosterone filled hobby.

 

[DAC]

Here's another angle -- a somewhat logical one -- to think about.

As someone who works in the insurance industry (yep, one of those guys) I've learned of one angle not often considered: comparative negligence or, in more strict jurisdictions, contributory negligence. I'm a bit rusty on these since I don't work directly in legal or claims, so keep that in mind.

Anyway, these doctrines hold that if the harmed party could have prevented a portion of the damage, then that party has a diminished claim or, in the case of contributory negligence, no claim at all.

This puts the freedom of choice in a different light. Not wearing gear, especially a helmet, makes the human and financial cost of any accident much higher. This could draw the ire of the car driving public so that at some point they push for wider adoption of these doctrines to shield themselves from the cost of what may be perceived as rider preventable injuries.

And virtually all of us buy auto insurance and bear the cost of situations where claims costs run higher because certain precautions are not broadly adopted.

Not judging at all. Just another angle.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Honestly, i didn't mean for this conversation to look like this at all either, I just meant to explain why i choose not to wear anything like that, and that I stick by it. really, the whole concept of my bodily injuries in this case is blown way out of proportion. it was a super minor bruising/laceration injury with a few stitches that i've already removed myself. i've been hurt worse than this tripping and falling down a hill. the bodily injury here is really a non-issue. I was more worried about what the outlook was for my bike and whether the mechanically minded folks on the forum had an opinion on whether or not the bike would survive. In that regard, the whole situation turned out really favorable, and i'm thankful for everybody's insight.

 

[Houtman_imp]

You might have been lucky this time but what about the next time ?
Bikes are cheaper to replace than body parts , we are not judging you , only trying to help . I know that it is very hot in Charleston as our daughter lives there but a shower takes care of sweat after a ride.
We have a helmet law in NC but when I see people riding with just a "pan " on their head I think by myself : " they are not fooling the law , they are fooling themselves"

 

[Cormanus]

Honestly, i didn't mean for this conversation to look like this at all either, I just meant to explain why i choose not to wear anything like that, and that I stick by it. really, the whole concept of my bodily injuries in this case is blown way out of proportion. it was a super minor bruising/laceration injury with a few stitches that i've already removed myself. i've been hurt worse than this tripping and falling down a hill. the bodily injury here is really a non-issue. I was more worried about what the outlook was for my bike and whether the mechanically minded folks on the forum had an opinion on whether or not the bike would survive. In that regard, the whole situation turned out really favorable, and i'm thankful for everybody's insight.

misterprofessionality, I hope this comes across as gently as it's intended, but I'm afraid one of the problems of contributing to any forum, particularly one populated by a lot of opinionated geezers, is that you'll very often be given the benefit of their opinion whether you want it or not.

It may not seem it, but your post and the various responses are, as 2017EX said, an important part of the forum's culture and appeal: you've provoked a conversation and an exchange of ideas which may provide a moment for some or all of us to pause for thought. That's a good thing in all our lives.

It may seem very personal—after all it's your opinion that's being disagreed with—but it's one of the risks of having and expressing an opinion: others will take it upon themselves to disagree.

I'm glad you're OK and the injuries were minor. I'm also pleased for you that the bike's come through in good shape. Don't be deterred by this curious and curmudgeonly corner of the internet. People may disagree, but they generally do it respectfully. Stick around; I, for one, value your views and enthusiasms.

 

[KiowaEagle_imp]

lol...."opinionated geezers"....I like that!

 

[misterprofessionality]

Honestly, i didn't mean for this conversation to look like this at all either, I just meant to explain why i choose not to wear anything like that, and that I stick by it. really, the whole concept of my bodily injuries in this case is blown way out of proportion. it was a super minor bruising/laceration injury with a few stitches that i've already removed myself. i've been hurt worse than this tripping and falling down a hill. the bodily injury here is really a non-issue. I was more worried about what the outlook was for my bike and whether the mechanically minded folks on the forum had an opinion on whether or not the bike would survive. In that regard, the whole situation turned out really favorable, and i'm thankful for everybody's insight.

misterprofessionality, I hope this comes across as gently as it's intended, but I'm afraid one of the problems of contributing to any forum, particularly one populated by a lot of opinionated geezers, is that you'll very often be given the benefit of their opinion whether you want it or not.

It may not seem it, but your post and the various responses are, as 2017EX said, an important part of the forum's culture and appeal: you've provoked a conversation and an exchange of ideas which may provide a moment for some or all of us to pause for thought. That's a good thing in all our lives.

It may seem very personal—after all it's your opinion that's being disagreed with—but it's one of the risks of having and expressing an opinion: others will take it upon themselves to disagree.

I'm glad you're OK and the injuries were minor. I'm also pleased for you that the bike's come through in good shape. Don't be deterred by this curious and curmudgeonly corner of the internet. People may disagree, but they generally do it respectfully. Stick around; I, for one, value your views and enthusiasms.

Oh, no I just meant to say that I didn't even mean to give an opinion in the first place, and for that reason it didn't really occur to me that I was being disagreed with. I was just stating a fact of my life for those who were questioning it, lol. I don't think anybody thought it was personal.

 

[PowerDubs_imp]

So... what were you wearing? You are the guy with the sparkly sneakers, right?


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