So I took a spill the other day, a woman pulled out in front of me and we were so close I had no choice but to dump the bike to avoid hitting her car and going flying... *sigh*

The bike looks horrible and the insurance company is asking me if I want to take it to a shop or repair it myself. It's my first claim so I'm not really sure how to go about it.

Would it be better to take the check and replace parts for cheaper and possibly do some upgrades, or should I just have it restored to stock at a shop?

You most likely will save a lot of money if you do it yourself...can we get some pictures?

Yeah I've been meaning to snap a pic. Might as well do it now huh?

I had no choice but to dump the bike to avoid hitting her car and going flying... *sigh*

This same message is repeated over and over again by newer riders, but as those same riders become older and wiser, they realize it is very rarely the case. A bike stops faster on its wheels than on its side, and once dumped it's going straight where it's pointed, with no chance of any directional control. Once you get up and running again, practice your emergency braking. Every time you ride. :thumbup:

The bike looks horrible and the insurance company is asking me if I want to take it to a shop or repair it myself. It's my first claim so I'm not really sure how to go about it.

Would it be better to take the check and replace parts for cheaper and possibly do some upgrades, or should I just have it restored to stock at a shop?

I'd have it looked at by someone experienced (whether shop or motorcycle-savvy friend) before making any decisions. Having a shop do a repair estimate will likely be money well spent and you can decide the best course at that point.

Get some pics, your insurance co. sure will.

Get repair estimates from most expensive place you can find (dealer). Insurance will pay quote or max worth. Do repairs yourself with $$.

You know it will be done right
You will have some extra to make some mods

Ride safe!

Alex is right. You usually can swerve or brake...or both (not at the same time). So brake then swerve or swerve then brake.

If I kept going straight I would have T-boned her. She was crossing over the road I was on and for some reason waited until I was just a few feet from the intersection before flooring it. It's a really narrow road too so there was no room or time to do anything. Luckily she hit her brakes so she didn't run me over. I will admit I grabbed too much front brake but even if I stayed upright I would have just run into a building.

If I kept going straight I would have T-boned her. She was crossing over the road I was on and for some reason waited until I was just a few feet from the intersection before flooring it. It's a really narrow road too so there was no room or time to do anything. Luckily she hit her brakes so she didn't run me over. I will admit I grabbed too much front brake but even if I stayed upright I would have just run into a building.

It was your fault take the bike to a shop let them fix it and then take the msf!

Pics

And how is it my fault that she pulled out in front of me? I did the best I could do to avoid her by lowsiding

Edit: Ok it's not HORRIBLE but it's my brand new bike so it's horrible to me

Bike :(
You :)
Hope you sort it out soon. :thumbup:

hmmm..... unless you hit her car, I am not sure I would have even claimed that to insurance.

Pics

And how is it my fault that she pulled out in front of me? I did the best I could do to avoid her by lowsiding

because you were not in control of your vehicle. One thing you will learn is unless you are rear ended its your fault. You should have prepared for her pulling out in front of you and you could have stopped or swerved.

When doing a quick stop you dont slam on both brakes all 4 limbs have to be used. while using both brakes you need to be downshifting.

Damage looks pretty minor to me, it appears to have been a very lowspeed tipover. If it didn't tweak the forks (unlikely to have happened), you may be able to be road-legal again with a new blinker and footpeg assembly. Replacing the plastics is pricey, though repairing/repainting is also possible. Whether you claim it on your insurance depends on the deductible, and how sensitive you are to insurance rate increases.

I'm assuming the woman didn't get a ticket, and your bike (or you) and her car didn't actually touch? What did the police report say?

I only got one piece of paper from the police and it just has our info on it.

It was low speed since I was slowing down because I was already expecting her to pull out. She was inching inching inching then stopped so I thought that meant she saw me. (My bike is only lime green and all with a matching helmet with mirror visor... plus my high beam was on.) Then I was literally within 5 feet or so of the road and she booted it, my skidmark doesn't even start until I'm in the road basically and the road I was on was very narrow so it didn't take long for her to get in my lane. I'm not normally one to panic, but this was so close that I did.

Is there a website where I can buy replacement fairings? I can't find any on ebay.

With the extent of damage to your bike you had to be going close to 5mph. You're lucky you're alive.

I'm with Alex, you could have stopped.

Practice, practice, practice until the rear wheel is coming off the ground.

Pics

And how is it my fault that she pulled out in front of me? I did the best I could do to avoid her by lowsiding

Edit: Ok it's not HORRIBLE but it's my brand new bike so it's horrible to me

this can be easily fixed by yourself. the damage is minimal

If that's a crack in the fairing then you need a new fairing, am I right?

I didn't notice any cracks but they're ground down quite a bit at the top

If that's a crack in the fairing then you need a new fairing, am I right?

Not necessarily:

DIY: Fairing crack repair (http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42690)

I didn't notice any cracks but they're ground down quite a bit at the top

Never mind, that wasn't a crack (Hopefully) but hopefully you don't need new plastics..frame sliders?

I only got one piece of paper from the police and it just has our info on it.

It was low speed since I was slowing down because I was already expecting her to pull out. She was inching inching inching then stopped so I thought that meant she saw me. (My bike is only lime green and all with a matching helmet with mirror visor... plus my high beam was on.) Then I was literally within 5 feet or so of the road and she booted it, my skidmark doesn't even start until I'm in the road basically and the road I was on was very narrow so it didn't take long for her to get in my lane. I'm not normally one to panic, but this was so close that I did.
That is where you went wrong...you should have assumed she didn't see you and prepared for the worse case scenario...

Was there traffic behind you? Did you honk your horn before you got close to catch her attention? I know this is pretty much useless info now but at least you learned something new and very important. If I was you I would have honked my horn, flashed my lights, and if I still didn't get positive acknowledgement that she saw me and knew I was coming and had the right of way I would of just pulled over to the side and let her go.

Someone here told me to drive like no one can see you or knows your there and that makes perfect sense to me.

So what do you WANT to do?

Do you want to replace the parts? We can point you in the direction of a good parts side (especially because I just lowsided the same way and have similar, but worse, damage)
Do you want to leave it as is? If you're a new rider maybe you want to wait a while on the repairs incase you get it all fixed and then go down a week later...boy would that suck.
Do you want OEM or aftermarket parts? Is it time for flush mount turn signals? New slip-on or full exhaust? I see you're already going for the Bohemian sets as am I (getting an OEM rear set from the parts sites is kind of a pain in the ass)

Also, have you ridden it at all just to see if the mechanical parts seem to be in working order? I know it's hard without the rear set but I did mine just down the street using the front brake and engine braking only with my foot either hanging or on the muffler. Might be something you want to try to at least see how your bike feels. Damage looks fairly minor though so I would expect it to be okay.

I decided I'm going to hopefully get a set of those bohemians and work something out for a turn signal to get it back on the road and go from there. I'm not going to send it to a shop because it's mainly 2 fairings. I haven't ridden it yet but I've walked it and started it, I highly doubt there's anything mechanically wrong.

I have a turn signal for you, if you pay for shipping its yours.

I may take you up on that. I might be able to just stick mine back on though. I'll let you know monday :thumbup:

You got it man - pretty sure mine aren't going anywhere lol

good time to get some flushmounts and rearsets ;] heres a gb on some rearsets http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81466

Looks to be mostly body work, so it's not that bad. The footpeg and blinker should be your priority followed by the fairings. There are all sorts of threads on people selling their stock components that you can probably scavanged for real cheap.

because you were not in control of your vehicle. One thing you will learn is unless you are rear ended its your fault.

Actually, watching your mirrors can prevent rear-endings too, so per your logic, that type of accident would also be the rider's "fault".
Ride like you're invisible from every direction.

Actually, watching your mirrors can prevent rear-endings too, so per your logic, that type of accident would also be the rider's "fault".
Ride like you're invisible from every direction.

She stopped inching out as I got closer so I let my guard down, then of course she pulls out at the last second.

I'm thinking about flush mounts but I'm worried about head on visibility

I'm thinking about flush mounts but I'm worried about head on visibility

A bike's front and rear profile is so narrow, I feel like getting flush mounts isn't going to matter too much. Where it'll matter the most is at night. As long as you ride like you're invisible, i.e. uber alert to surroundings, you should be fine.

Maybe I'll get some amber LED strips to stick on the front cowl under the headlight

As far as your insurance is concerned, who is considered at fault for the accident? If she is at fault, her insurance pays for everything so I would get the highest estimate from dealers. If you're considered at fault, I wouldn't even go the insurance route since you'll have to pay the deductible first and then your insurance rate will also go up.

The police report was poorly written and doesn't put anyone at fault. The way my insurance rep talks it sounds like they determined she was at fault but they didn't specify

You should ask your insurance rep then because it makes a huge difference.

I'm gonna talk to them on monday

This isnt an issue - liability is on her. She needed to yield. However, you almost certainly could've avoided the incident.

However, you almost certainly could've avoided the incident.

Yeah I could have just never left the house that day. I'm so sick of hearing this.

Where were you standing during the crash?

Yeah you guys seriously, i think he's been berated enough about who caused the accident and he just wants to fix his bike. Leave the guy alone.

I ordered some proton flush mount turn signals to replace mine the other day but it turns out I don't need them. They're normally $100 + shipping - I'll give 'em to ya for $80 shipped if you'd like.

Yeah you guys seriously, i think he's been berated enough about who caused the accident and he just wants to fix his bike. Leave the guy alone.

I ordered some proton flush mount turn signals to replace mine the other day but it turns out I don't need them. They're normally $100 + shipping - I'll give 'em to ya for $80 shipped if you'd like.

Max you are slowly becoming my best friend. I'll let you know monday :thumbup:

And nothing personal Eric, I'm still hurting so I'm a bit irritable. I wasn't trying to attack you or anything.

because you were not in control of your vehicle. One thing you will learn is unless you are rear ended its your fault. You should have prepared for her pulling out in front of you and you could have stopped or swerved.

When doing a quick stop you dont slam on both brakes all 4 limbs have to be used. while using both brakes you need to be downshifting.

:der:
you must be one of those ppl who believe every cager is out there to just fcuk up your ride.....

as for the damage, i dont see anything major besides that rearset
get on the sportisi rearset group buy and get a new turn signal and you're done for "repairs"

i would stay away from fixing everything else just in case you drop it again