So apparently I'm competing with Jiggles

[Yakaru]

Got nailed today, I'll be shocked if Hotaru isn't totalled out.

What I learned (important part first): You can never 'just cruise' while on a bike; I let my guard down and it bit me. More to the specific incident: always be wary around slow cars/traffic. I will say I think I would've had the same accident in a cage; but that's irrelevant.

What happened: was heading down the road from my hotel to work. In the far right lane. Farther up this road the right lane and the two left lanes 'split' to two different roads, so lots of traffic in one but not the other isn't uncommon. Light ahead of me was red, lots of traffic in the left lanes, I didn't think anything of it. Anyway, there was a gap at one point I didn't see until I was on top of it with a car turning left (I assumed it was solid cars all the way to the red light ahead). By the time I saw him it was too late.

Contributing Factor: I had moved to the far left of my lane from a van that was trying to pull out to make sure he saw me/give myself more time. I was working my way back to the right when this happened. If I were farther to the right sooner I might've seen him earlier. Probably not enough to stop the accident but every bit helps.

And the video:

Link to original page on YouTube.
Also: Not an excuse but remember this is a wide angle lens -- the distances are shorter than they look.

*sniffle* Poor baby bike. I was fine though. Ironically if I had been a bit slower this could've gone way worse by having me hit the cabin instead of the hood.

[outasight20]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Got nailed today, I'll be shocked if Hotaru isn't totalled out.

What I learned (important part first): You can never 'just cruise' while on a bike; I let my guard down and it bit me. More to the specific incident: always be wary around slow cars/traffic. I will say I think I would've had the same accident in a cage; but that's irrelevant.

What happened: was heading down the road from my hotel to work. In the far right lane. Farther up this road the right lane and the two left lanes 'split' to two different roads, so lots of traffic in one but not the other isn't uncommon. Light ahead of me was red, lots of traffic in the left lanes, I didn't think anything of it. Anyway, there was a gap at one point I didn't see until I was on top of it with a car turning left (I assumed it was solid cars all the way to the red light ahead). By the time I saw him it was too late.

Contributing Factor: I had moved to the far left of my lane from a van that was trying to pull out to make sure he saw me/give myself more time. I was working my way back to the right when this happened. If I were farther to the right sooner I might've seen him earlier. Probably not enough to stop the accident but every bit helps.

And the video:

Link to original page on YouTube.
Also: Not an excuse but remember this is a wide angle lens -- the distances are shorter than they look.

*sniffle* Poor baby bike. I was fine though. Ironically if I had been a bit slower this could've gone way worse by having me hit the cabin instead of the hood.

Glad to hear you're ok. Sorry to say that the accident was 100% avoidable by simply slowing down when driving past stopped traffic in busy city situations.

Any injuries? Looks like you were going at least 30MPH when you hit that Benz.

[BlueHairSar]

Oof! And nice roll across the hood! Glad you're okay! Let's not turn this into a competition with Jigs, though.

[Yakaru]

I'm pretty sure I was going dead on 30 MPH when it happened, actually (speed limit was 35, I was easing off a bit since I saw the light ahead but not on the brakes or anything). Yeah, in retrospect seeing that traffic to my side should've told me to slow down but the stupid "it's always like that" part of my mind didn't give any risk to it and so I didn't. Lesson learned >.<

But I'm fine: a couple of light bruises, and a bit of adrenaline-come-down headache is all I suffered.

Assuming she's totalled I can either look for a new 2012 250 or maybe a 300 (I prefer the 250, but with the amount of highway driving I do the 300 is tempting). Wondering how much leverage I'll have -- they're probably going to try and offer me only enough for a used bike I suspect.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by BlueHairSar

Oof! And nice roll across the hood! Glad you're okay! Let's not turn this into a competition with Jigs, though.

I know better than that. First, it's not a fun competition. Second, I'm sure Jigs would wipe the floor with me (especially if there's extra points for injury).

Love ya Sean. Stop crashing. That goes for me too.

[xSean13]

Hope you made it out alright, and sorry to hear about the accident.

Reiterating what he said, whenever I see traffic like that stopped and there is a turning lane, I always slow down and look for cars stopped letting them turn from either direction. Can never be too cautious.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by xSean13

Hope you made it out alright, and sorry to hear about the accident.

Reiterating what he said, whenever I see traffic like that stopped and there is a turning lane, I always slow down and look for cars stopped letting them turn from either direction. Can never be too cautious.

Yep, if there had been a street I might've (though who knows) paid it more attention but he was turning into taco bell which meant my guard was WAY further down than it should've been; that driveway wasn't even there to my mind.

As previous people had said, I should've slowed down -- if I hadn't seen this traffic pattern one hundred times I probably would've, but retrospect is always 20/20. I'm so used to those lanes having solid cars I barely registered them as a blind spot until I was making sense of what happened on the ground. Dumb of me . never again.

[BlueHairSar]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

I know better than that. First, it's not a fun competition. Second, I'm sure Jigs would wipe the floor with me (especially if there's extra points for injury).

Love ya Sean. Stop crashing. That goes for me too.

[EternalNewb]

Glad you're ok! Sorry to hear about the bike though. I'll have to keep this in mind when I start using the 250 in southern California 4o5 traffic.

[lgk]

the only clue was the gap with stopped cars, otherwise there was no indication of any car making a left turn.

[lgk]

when my bike got totalled they offered $4200 for it.

[outasight20]

Originally Posted by lgk

the only clue was the gap with stopped cars, otherwise there was no indication of any car making a left turn.

Wrong. There is always an indication of all cars making a left turn. This is the only way to ride.

[Old Lemon]

god dayum glad you are ok

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by EternalNewb

Glad you're ok! Sorry to hear about the bike though. I'll have to keep this in mind when I start using the 250 in southern California 4o5 traffic.

405 is actually pretty 'easy' traffic wise (people expect bikes in the HoV split, exits are all on the right); I10 (no HoV) and 'major surface streets' like where this occured are the bigger hazards in my experience because there's more intersections/directions you have to be concerned with.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Old Lemon

god dayum glad you are ok

Me too!

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by outasight20

Wrong. There is always an indication of all cars making a left turn. This is the only way to ride.

Exactly this. lgk's mentality was my mistake -- this is what I should've been doing.

[Motofool]

Very painful to watch.

So simple and so irreversible !!!

[EternalNewb]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

405 is actually pretty 'easy' traffic wise (people expect bikes in the HoV split, exits are all on the right); I10 (no HoV) and 'major surface streets' like where this occured are the bigger hazards in my experience because there's more intersections/directions you have to be concerned with.

Hahaha, that's what I keep telling my concerned family. But they insist that I stick to surface streets.
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I hope your bike situation gets resolved quickly and competently, so you can be back on two wheels again soon.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Very painful to watch.

So simple and so irreversible !!!

Ah, see -- there's my problem. My 250's tranmission didn't come with reverse, so I can't just undo this whole thing. I'm going to Kawasaki about this obvious oversight!

[lgk]

Originally Posted by outasight20

Wrong. There is always an indication of all cars making a left turn. This is the only way to ride.

an indication or an assumption?
one plays off your mindset, the other plays off visual cues.

i agree that you should always assume a car is going to turn in front of you. this way you can plan and have time to escape.

whether visual indicators give time to react is a different story.

[EternalNewb]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Ah, see -- there's my problem. My 250's tranmission didn't come with reverse, so I can't just undo this whole thing. I'm going to Kawasaki about this obvious oversight!

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by EternalNewb

Hahaha, that's what I keep telling my concerned family. But they insist that I stick to surface streets.
Anyway, thanks for the advice. I hope your bike situation gets resolved quickly and competently, so you can be back on two wheels again soon.

Yep, me too. I'm trying to figure out what I should expect if she's totalled -- I'm not about to buy a used bike (I babied Hotaru and don't trust someone who's selling a low mileage 250 to have done the same) plus all my mods plus my gear. Aside: according to the State Farm claims rep my own gear isn't covered -- the helmet they'll pay for but not the jacket/gloves/pants/boots. I've asked them to confirm that and try to get a rider for future incidents. Since this is (I assume) the other party's fault though those should all fall under their liability, correct?

Regardless of the payout, if she's totalled I'm getting a new bike -- the only question is should I grab a 2012 250 or a 2013 300. I would love the extra power of the 300, given the amount of traveling I do, but I think the 250 is way cuter (at least once you get the flush mounts on) and more fun to tweak than a FI bike would be.

[outasight20]

Originally Posted by lgk

an indication or an assumption?
one plays off your mindset, the other plays off visual cues.

i agree that you should always assume a car is going to turn in front of you. this way you can plan and have time to escape.

whether visual indicators give time to react is a different story.

Very well said.

You should always assume and prepare for cars to do the worst thing they can do in any particular situation. Whether you have time to react when they actually do these things is a different story.

[Alex]

Glad you're OK! You were fortunate to be able to fly over the hood rather than absorb all of that energy up front if you were completely stopped by the car. The video shows both that you may have been able to avoid it if going a bit slower around stopped traffic, but it also shows that the car driver made a clear mistake by pulling across an open lane of traffic before confirming it was clear.

The hit was solid enough that I have no doubt the bike will be considered totalled. My vote is for the 300. Heal up!

[EternalNewb]

Maybe one of the other guys on the forum (like Jiggles), could chime in and be of more help on what you may be able to expect insurance-wise.
It would be nice to have a little extra power for the freeways (my daily commute is over 80 miles, sometimes more), but I can kind of relate to what you're saying about the 250 from a mechanical and aesthetic standpoint. I haven't sat on a 300 yet, let alone test ride one, so I can't say too much though.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Alex

Glad you're OK! You were fortunate to be able to fly over the hood rather than absorb all of that energy up front if you were completely stopped by the car. The video shows both that you may have been able to avoid it if going a bit slower around stopped traffic, but it also shows that the car driver made a clear mistake by pulling across an open lane of traffic before confirming it was clear.

The hit was solid enough that I have no doubt the bike will be considered totalled. My vote is for the 300. Heal up!

Thanks Alex; can you give some justification for the 300? Just curious as you are someone who's ridden both I'd love to hear it. Why can't they just put the 300 in the 250s body? :P She's just so UGLY!

Yeah, I was talking with some friends on the phone about it -- it's almost good that I didn't have the reaction speed to brake because if I had I likely would've hit the cabin instead of the hood, which could've been MUCH worse.

Still, that road will forever scare the shizzles out of me now and I'll be more aware. Condition white is bad on a bike, and I was in it. Bad Yakaru.

[xSean13]

Hmmm...so new thread on your next bike options? R6 or GSXR-600 are the only logical options. I myself prefer the cbr 600rr

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by xSean13

Hmmm...so new thread on your next bike options? R6 or GSXR-600 are the only logical options. I myself prefer the cbr 600rr

hahaha, Dennis at BeachMoto (my fav gear shop) was pushing me to replace her with a 2013 636 -- I told him Ninjette would never forgive me.

[xSean13]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

hahaha, Dennis at BeachMoto (my fav gear shop) was pushing me to replace her with a 2013 636 -- I told him Ninjette would never forgive me.

I'd forgive you...that's a sick bike

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Thanks Alex; can you give some justification for the 300? Just curious as you are someone who's ridden both I'd love to hear it.

Here's my initial review of our new bike.

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Why can't they just put the 300 in the 250s body? :P She's just so UGLY

Really? I find the new bike a bit more attractive. It definitely looks more modern, with more sharpness / less gentle curves, so I can understand how it might not be universally liked. But I'm hard-pressed to call it ugly!

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Alex

Really? I find the new bike a bit more attractive. It definitely looks more modern, with more sharpness / less gentle curves, so I can understand how it might not be universally liked. But I'm hard-pressed to call it ugly!

From the side she doesn't look bad, from the front though I just detest the look of her. Especially the turn signals -- I think my Protons looked way sharper on Hotaru than those blocky things. I'll take it under advisement though; and read that review. Thanks.

[beren]

The new gens are ugly enough, but but the 300s are fuuuuuugly

[EternalNewb]

I actually like the lines on the 250. The 300 is nice, but for some reason the 250 has really grown on me.

[BlueHairSar]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

From the side she doesn't look bad, from the front though I just detest the look of her. Especially the turn signals -- I think my Protons looked way sharper on Hotaru than those blocky things. I'll take it under advisement though; and read that review. Thanks.

aw, really? I like that cute lil' winky face and stubby turn signals

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

I know better than that. First, it's not a fun competition. Second, I'm sure Jigs would wipe the floor with me (especially if there's extra points for injury).

Love ya Sean. Stop crashing. That goes for me too.

And way to fail, you are supposed to break a leg and get paid 250k, duh.

[rojoracing53]

Yeah that sucks and your luck to be alright from hitting that hard. Chalk it up to experience and add it to your things to look out for. I've had this almost happen a few times but we both get it stop just in time luckily.

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

And way to fail, you are supposed to break a leg and get paid 250k, duh.

I'm shocked -- it took you 2 hours to reply! I expected around 2 minutes :P

Yeah, I totally blow at this destroying my bike and body thing. :P How are you doing, by the by? Recovered from your 1k hit yet?

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

I'm shocked -- it took you 2 hours to reply! I expected around 2 minutes :P

Originally Posted by Yakaru

Yeah, I totally blow at this destroying my bike and body thing. :P How are you doing, by the by? Recovered from your 1k hit yet?

Oddly enough my shin still hurts when I touch it, it feels like the day after you ran full speed into a coffee table because you are an uncoordinated ****tard. My pinky still hurts a bit and my wrist still hurts a bit.

Oh and my insurance just paid out the remaining 150k*

Oh and my disability payments just got reinstated

Oh and the check for my N1K is coming next week

Oh and I'm getting my BMW next week

Oh and my insurance is going down $600/yr

Subtract 50k for lawyer fees, subtract doctor bills, MRI's, Xrays, physical therapy, medication, etc. Receive whatevers left, hopefully enough to pay off ALL my student loans.


How about you? Broken at all? Are those held gloves in your vid? You'll probably get over 4k for you bike btw, you should probably get a K1300S, anything smaller will just make you look like a pansy

[Yakaru]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

[How about you? Broken at all? Are those held gloves in your vid? You'll probably get over 4k for you bike btw, you should probably get a K1300S, anything smaller will just make you look like a pansy

No, just a dime sized bruise and a thumb that aches if I move it too much (a fist is 0 pain but it kind of smarts to do the 'four' count post). Yep, those are my Phantoms.

So what should I expect regarding gear and my mods? e.g. Let's say I decide to get a 300 -- should I/can I demand they buy me an AreaP for it? Any 'value' I should demand from the work done to the bike (e.g. tuning carbs and such)? And what about gear? My pants and jacket have some hits, probably servicable but I'd rather be safe.

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by Yakaru

No, just a dime sized bruise and a thumb that aches if I move it too much (a fist is 0 pain but it kind of smarts to do the 'four' count post). Yep, those are my Phantoms.

So what should I expect regarding gear and my mods? e.g. Let's say I decide to get a 300 -- should I/can I demand they buy me an AreaP for it? Any 'value' I should demand from the work done to the bike (e.g. tuning carbs and such)? And what about gear? My pants and jacket have some hits, probably servicable but I'd rather be safe.

If you have receipts you can claim it. Scratch on your gear? Claim it. Physical therapy/chiropracter/w/e you need, claim it. They must pay to make you (and your situation) whole again. You might have to play hardball but they will replace everything