My First Ambulance Ride

[slug]

Dammit, I lowsided the Dirty Bird on Thursday Did it on the ride back from Sunrise lodge on Mt. Rainier. Good golly, that is an incredible road ! Some of the best twisties I've ever been on around here (the Chumstick highway is a distant second...) I rode up, hung out at the top for a few minutes, got some pictures and started to head down. About halfway down I went in to a super tight lefthand hairpin, and I'm not sure if I set up for the turn too late or had too much speed, but I ended up getting my front tire in the soft dirt and got sucked down in to a ditch (thank God it was soft, almost fluffy dirt ). While I know I messed up and I've only myself to blame and not my equipment, I'm still wondering if I could have saved this... I have the MotoBits foot controls and the footpegs are solid and don't fold up. Right before my front wheel hit the dirt, my left peg touched the ground, which I think prevented me from getting the lean I know the bike is truly capable of, and I wonder if the peg touching caused me to start sliding prematurely?

 

Anyway, I got away with a broken finger and a couple of bruised or cracked ribs. No road rash and my helmet did its job well

 

Dirty Bird suffered mostly cosmetic damage. Broken CF windscreen, fender, headlight, bent handlebars, scratched tank and tail section, scratched & dented valve cover, minor damage to fins on the head. The worst part was that I f**ked up my brand new Mistral cans

 

Absolute worst part: I was billed over $500 to get the bike towed 60 miles. Doesn't this seem a bit high? The towing company didn't have to do anything extraordinary. All they had to do was roll the bike up on the truck and strap it down! Plus, I think they might have bent my right clip-on (can't be sure since I was strapped to a backboard in the ambulance when we went by...) Seems even more fishy because they didn't write the mileage down on the invoice. Anyone in Washington successfully contested something like this?

 

Grrrr.

[dlaing]

Ouch!

That bites.

Hope you heal well, and I know the bike will get put back together well....it is only money

But when the towing company dings you $500+ for 60miles, that is criminal.

I would look into suing them somehow.

There is a guy in San Diego who specializes in motorcycle towing and he charges $100 flat rate within greater San Diego County. When I used him, I called around and got some estimates that would have put a 60 mile tow at about $300 but nowhere near $500 <_>

Maybe you could search court records for precedents on such a small claims case.

[Steve G.]

Sounds like you were taken advantage of with the towing. You should consider joining AAA, free towing.

I think you could have saved the bike if solid parts had not touched down. Hard parts are touching down regularly on my machine, left and right, yet there is still at least 1/2" chicken strips on my tires, still lots of usable rubber.

Ciao, Steve G.

[Frenchbob]

Bad luck, Slug.

 

Heal well, good the bike is not too bad, sue the bastards' arses off! Even from here in Europe, that sounds steep.

 

Good opportunity to refurbish the Goose, no?

[slug]

Sounds like you were taken advantage of with the towing. You should consider joining AAA, free towing.

I think you could have saved the bike if solid parts had not touched down. Hard parts are touching down regularly on my machine, left and right, yet there is still at least 1/2" chicken strips on my tires, still lots of usable rubber.

About six months ago I asked my insurance company to add towing insurance and the woman who answered told me "no problem". Talked to my agent on Friday about the tow and she said that they've never offered towing insurance for motorcycles. Had I known this I would have had a friend go pick the bike up in my truck. My agent then told me that the woman who said "no problem", no longer works for her because of things like this Fortunately my collision coveravge should handle this.

 

As for dragging bits, my chicken strips were about 1/4" without ever dragging anything. Maybe our suspensions are set up differently...

 

Heal well, good the bike is not too bad, sue the bastards' arses off! Even from here in Europe, that sounds steep.

Thanks Bob, I spoke with the tow company today and they said when the authorities call for a tow they bill an hourly "emergency" rate of $182 per hour. Drive time round trip was about two hours plus 1/2 hour hook up time. They said that they gave me a "discount" for indoor storage of the bike, from $18 to $9 which "they could live with" <_ . i found out that in this state have a right to contest the bill if feel it is unfair so will. there was nothing extraordinary about tow. my insurance company may do for me hope. just want get dirty bird back on road halfway presentable src="%7B___base_url___%7D/uploads/emoticons/default_crossy.gif" alt=":bike:">

[Martin Barrett]

Glad that you're okay, and able to type.

 

As regard with the tow, if you've got fully comprehensive insurance cover they should cover the tow.

The garages on our rota that we call out charge a flat fee of £105 for a tow and then £12 a day storage, Most are local I think the furthest distance one could possibly be required to go is just under 30miles, but most are considerably less.

[slug]

Glad that you're okay, and able to type.

 

Thanks Martin. Fortunately, the finger I broke was my left pinky, not the one used for "American sign language" I couldn't make it through the day without that one!

 

Still, I'm a programmer by trade, so it'll be a bit difficult for a while.

[jrt]

Glad you are ok, Slug. watch out for those ditches!

[Tom M]

Sorry to hear of your accident slug, but it's good that your injuries are relatively minor. Please keep us posted on how you make out with your insurance company.

 

How close did you come to making the turn? I ask because if you went off at the apex I doubt that folding or stock position footpegs would have changed the outcome much, but if you went off at the very end of the turn it's possible that a few extra degrees of lean might have helped.

 

Get well soon and try not to sneeze before those ribs heal up! That can be one painful injury that takes a long time to heal.

[Guest philbo]

Dammit, I lowsided the Dirty Bird on Thursday Did it on the ride back from Sunrise lodge on Mt. Rainier. Good golly, that is an incredible road ! Some of the best twisties I've ever been on around here (the Chumstick highway is a distant second...) I rode up, hung out at the top for a few minutes, got some pictures and started to head down. About halfway down I went in to a super tight lefthand hairpin, and I'm not sure if I set up for the turn too late or had too much speed, but I ended up getting my front tire in the soft dirt and got sucked down in to a ditch (thank God it was soft, almost fluffy dirt ). While I know I messed up and I've only myself to blame and not my equipment, I'm still wondering if I could have saved this... I have the MotoBits foot controls and the footpegs are solid and don't fold up. Right before my front wheel hit the dirt, my left peg touched the ground, which I think prevented me from getting the lean I know the bike is truly capable of, and I wonder if the peg touching caused me to start sliding prematurely?

 

Anyway, I got away with a broken finger and a couple of bruised or cracked ribs. No road rash and my helmet did its job well

 

Dirty Bird suffered mostly cosmetic damage. Broken CF windscreen, fender, headlight, bent handlebars, scratched tank and tail section, scratched & dented valve cover, minor damage to fins on the head. The worst part was that I f**ked up my brand new Mistral cans

 

Absolute worst part: I was billed over $500 to get the bike towed 60 miles. Doesn't this seem a bit high? The towing company didn't have to do anything extraordinary. All they had to do was roll the bike up on the truck and strap it down! Plus, I think they might have bent my right clip-on (can't be sure since I was strapped to a backboard in the ambulance when we went by...) Seems even more fishy because they didn't write the mileage down on the invoice. Anyone in Washington successfully contested something like this?

 

Grrrr.

 

Sorry to hear about the accident - I had an almost identical accident a month ago except that I had a close encounter with a woman in an SUV talking on the cell phone half way through a nice left hander. It was either hit her car or take to the gravel - I chose the later I got two cracked ribs, a banged up knee and hip plus a lot of missing skin from my right hand but I was able to ride home with a hankerchief wrapped tightly around the hand and blood dripping all over the place. Minor injuries thankfully.

 

What really surprised me is that the insurance company wrote the bike off. They gave me a check for $10K and carted the bike off. Two broken indicators, scratched up fairing, bent foot peg and a few scratches on the tank (which could have been buffed out rather than the $1100 for a new tank that they quoted). They claimed there was $6300 damage - I'm thinking the dealer over quoted based on the fact that it would have been an insurance job. So now I have $10K and no goose - what a pain - and in peek riding season (here in New England anyhow).

 

Get well soon.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[slug]

How close did you come to making the turn? I ask because if you went off at the apex I doubt that folding or stock position footpegs would have changed the outcome much, but if you went off at the very end of the turn it's possible that a few extra degrees of lean might have helped.

 

My bad use of terminology, I was at the end of the turn, not the apex. I think I was pretty darn close to making it.

[Baldini]

My bad use of terminology, I was at the end of the turn, not the apex. I think I was pretty darn close to making it.

 

Not sure that more lean on the dirty stuff at the edge of the road would've saved you: If you're running wide at the exit then maybe look earlier in the corner for the problem: Turning in too soon? Late turn in helps, esp in tight stuff cos V11's do run wide given a chance & badly need weight over front when ridden hard in turns (body weight/raise forks?). Did you close throttle? Throttle effects rate of turn & lean. What happened immediately after decking peg? Leaning off can get you round when clearance is gone....Hope you get everything sorted. Best wishes.

 

KB

[mike wilson]

What really surprised me is that the insurance company wrote the bike off. They gave me a check for $10K and carted the bike off. Two broken indicators, scratched up fairing, bent foot peg and a few scratches on the tank (which could have been buffed out rather than the $1100 for a new tank that they quoted). They claimed there was $6300 damage - I'm thinking the dealer over quoted based on the fact that it would have been an insurance job. So now I have $10K and no goose - what a pain - and in peek riding season (here in New England anyhow).

 

So you get on the phone and offer the insurance company $4K for the "wreck". Then you have _your_ bike and $6K to spend on it. What's the problem?

 

You're probably too late.....

[Dan M]

Sorry about your spill Slug, Thankfully your injuries are relatively minor. Tow companies who are in bed with the authorities and get the accident calls are mostly pirates. Even here in Chicago where folk songs have been written about such things, $182 /hr for "emergency" work seems out of hand, especially on a single vehicle accident. It's not like they had to upright a semi trailer. I've been in the automotive business for decades and although we don't do recovery work, I'd think $100 - $150 for the hook + $2-$2.50 per mile is more on par with the rest of the industry. Further, the "emergency" part is the recovery. If they are going to charge by the hour, it should be for time at the scene. After that it should a mileage charge.

[Guest philbo]

So you get on the phone and offer the insurance company $4K for the "wreck". Then you have _your_ bike and $6K to spend on it. What's the problem?

 

You're probably too late.....

 

I get $10K for a bike I paid $12K for three years ago with a book value of ~$7K Vs. paying $5.3K (I did actually ask) for the wreck, having it fixed up (I'm garageless for the moment) at some cost hopefully less than the dealer quoted and still only having a $7K bike. I loved that bike but the math just didn't add up against buying a brand new 2007 something or other.

 

Such is life I guess.