Roommate dropped my bike, didn't tell me - Need thoughts and advice

[dkstariob]

My two roommates (will be known as A and B) and I went riding on Saturday morning. We were all riding the same dualsport bikes. Roommate B is a new rider with less than 20 miles of real street riding experience under his belt and is fresh from passing the MSF course. Roommate A is an experienced rider and the tallest out of the 3 and can flat foot on the bike. 5 minutes into the ride, Roommate B stalled his bike and the bike had trouble turning over (later found to be a dead battery). Roommate A said that he would try to manually jump start Roommate B's bike and ride it home. Roommate A told me that I could either ride my bike or his with Roommate B getting the leftover. Being the nice guy that I am, I decided to take Roommate A's bike instead of my own since Roommate A's bike has the sprockets/gearing set so that it is very wheelie friendly (which would not be a friendly ride for Roommate B). While I was making a u-turn, Roommate B dropped my bike (bike was still and not moving). I was only informed later that night by Roommate A that Roommate B indeed dropped my bike. Damage report was mostly a curved brake lever and some cosmetic damage on the barkbuster, additional scruff to the exhaust, and possibly to the right fairing (it's a supermoto so it's not really that big of a deal). Keep in mind that Roommate B never mentioned dropping my bike when he had ample opportunities during the rest of the day to do so. The next day..

I asked Roommate B if something happened on the ride yesterday due to my brake lever now being curved (I tried my hardest to make sure Roommate B was able to save face by stating that it wasn't a big deal since he probably had a lot on his mind that day with his bike being on the fritz and all). Roommate B's initial reaction to the question? He skirted around it a bit which sounded like a denial to me at first by stating that he didn't believe anything happened. The short pause I gave got him to admit that the bike did tip over, but he was there to save it a bit from hitting the ground hard (I cannot say if this is true or not). He did apologize and said that if anything needed to be replaced, I should let him know and he would pay for it.

Roommate A's reasoning is that Roommate B should have been upfront with me about it, but that Roommate B probably didn't think it was a big deal because it was a light drop and he was able to ride the bike back home (the no harm - no foul idea). The brake lever is still operational but I am still a bit annoyed so I wanted to bring up the situation and ask the great forum members here:

What would you do?
Would you demand the entire right side to be replaced?
Would you call out the roommate on this?
Would you be understanding?

Any other thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

[rasta]

Before I can answer further, how long have you known and lived with each?

[dkstariob]

About a year and a half. I like the dude, but this was pretty sketchy I must say, but then again not a lot of people own up to their mistakes. It really is a virtue. It'd be extremely naive of me to think that EVERYONE in this world would admit wrongdoing if they thought they could get away with it so I"m trying to be understanding.

[old3]

SM and DS bike are meant to be tossed to the ground. Pull the lever off, bend it back by light hammering and forget about it. It must be adjusted at an odd angle, I usually cut the ends off to fit them in the bark busters.

Ask him/her to give you a hand bending it back. It is a ten minute job. You might be able to bend it back in place with a wrench and a wedge to stop it from compressing the brake master.

[stubshaft]

Personally, I would call them out. If they are not willing to come clean about something like this, what else could they be hiding?

[rasta]

Honestly, that's unacceptable to me. Accidents happen, but at least be a man and own up to your mistake. You didn't notice your friend picking up a bike off the ground? lol I feel like ya would have noticed it in your mirror. I'd have roommate B replace anything he damaged.

[dkstariob]

Originally Posted by rasta

Honestly, that's unacceptable to me. Accidents happen, but at least be a man and own up to your mistake. You didn't notice your friend picking up a bike off the ground? lol I feel like ya would have noticed it in your mirror. I'd have roommate B replace anything he damaged.

It was a long u-turn in a 4 way intersection with slick pig spotters as mirrors on Roommate A's bike instead of the stock mirrors.

[chugs]

Originally Posted by stubshaft

Personally, I would call them out. If they are not willing to come clean about something like this, what else could they be hiding?

+2 time to move out.

[Sirref]

I'd say he should own up and replace the lever if it can't be bent back properly. They aren't terribly expensive and SM/DS bikes are practically designed to crash anyway. If it were a sport bike then I'd have a problem since fairings have a habit of cracking when they're dropped. I'd understand why the roommate didn't want to be upfront about it but he also knows that he did cause the damage to your bike and he should fix it, in this case by replacing the lever that was bent (assuming that it can't be bent back properly.) Things like this are why I very rarely allow inexperienced riders to ride my bike and even then they're under my supervision the whole time (parking lot "I want to learn how to ride" stuff, basically a recount of the msf course) With a supermoto I'd be a lot more allowing of things like this since I'd probably be crashing it all the time too offroad.

[Bob2010]

Accidents happen. So man up , admit it, offer to repair / pay for repair.
Anything less than that , I wouldn't consider them a friend of mine.
Best part is, these are YOUR roommates. Who knows what other bullshit happened behind your back that no one ever confessed to.

[KawiKid860]

Good thing it was a supermoto, as everyone's said they're pretty much made to crash lol. If I were allowing a friend to borrow my SM/DS I'd tell them I don't really care if they drop it because of the type of bike it is, but they'd have to repair/pay for the parts if they damaged it somehow. If they dropped it and scratched up barkbusters or something I wouldn't really care though, they'd likely already be beat up from me. Sportbikes are a different story though, they'd have to agree to repair/replace everything, but when giving a new rider the keys to your bike you kind of have to anticipate that happening. Which is why I wouldn't let a newbie ride something I know would be damaged if it got dropped. I taught an old gf to ride on my 500 because I didn't care if she dropped it, which she did twice lol. Broke my clutch lever and my lazy ass never replaced it so now two pair of gloves have holes in one finger from the sharp edge....

The worrisome thing here that he didn't own up to it. sure it's incredibly embarrassing, but you still need to be upfront about it. I'd say try to talk it out, this doesn't need to be a "time for a new roommate" situation yet IMO, but my trust would be really damaged with them. If he really won't own up to it it'd be up to you to give them the benefit of the doubt or move out.

[Ducati999]

Since the guy is your roommate and you let him ride your bike there is little you can do except have him pay for the lever and possibly the plastic. When dealing with people you share a house with you will have to weigh the price of having someone who is pissed at you vs the cost of repairs. I know he is wrong for not admitting what he did but you did allow him to use your bike and accidents happen. There was no mention of the condition or age of your bike before the accident so would a new plastic radiator shroud look out of place? I would have him pay for the lever (I don't trust alum once it has bent because bending them back can cause cracks) and anything else which is really damaged but if the bike has a few "wear" marks already then it may not be worth the hassel to have him pay for new replacement parts if the original were worn before the incident. The fact that he did not speak up was addressed by you in your original post, Most people don't "man up" to what has happened which is just human nature. I learned the hard way not to loan your bike no matter what or who and if you do then you will have to accept anything that happens. I hope the bike in not too damaged and the same for the relationship with your roommate. My advice is have him replace the lever and anything else which "needs" to be replaced and let the rest go, if the scratches on the exhaust are minor he will most likely not want to pay over $400 to replace it with a new one. Just my 2 cents

[dkstariob]

So my original offer to him was for him to take care of my internet share for 4 months ($10/month) which equals $40. If he had accepted, I would have gladly moved on and that would have been that. But he sent me an email reply stating that he wanted to see the damage and then decide what the next action is. Apparently, he thought I was being greedy and trying to screw him. So I told him that the last thing I want is saltiness and I said that I would call the dealership for the cost of a replacement lever and for them to fix it. I would even move past the cosmetic damage.

Called the dealership and their quote was;
$24.07 for the brake lever (must be paid before order and will take one week to ship)
$21.99 for service

Now I know you'll be thinking, why don't you or him replace the brake lever? Well he's not mechanically inclined and why should I spend the time to do it myself? I'd rather have the dealership take care of it and guarantee the work they do while I pick up the part the same day.

[Ducati999]

DKstarjob, Since you tried the nice guy thing and this guy is being not so friendly (I am taking your word for what happened) then you should play his game out!!! Take your bike to the dealership and have them do a full estimate for all the repairs for the damage he caused. This will cover you if he refuses to pay and you have to sue him in small claims court. HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID AND YOUR OTHER ROOMMATE WITNESSED THE ACCIDENT so you can present him with the full bill for what he damaged. I bet when he sees what all he did costs to repair he will be quick to pay for your lever and if he continues to be disagreeable you can sue him for the full amount. I think at this point this guy is NOT your friend. I personally would be willing to pay $40 to any of my friends if I did $2 worth of damage never mind the damage you described. He knows he damaged your bike and did not tell you and now he is yanking you around over a few dollars while you are letting him off easy. Time for a little tough love my friend I forgot to mention, Don't feel bad for not wanting to fix your own bike you did not damage it so you should not have to replace it and I don't see any issue with having the dealer replacing that part for you.

[Whiskey]

As Ducati999 says, go down to the dealers, get a full estimate & offer him the carrot & the stick, if he goes for the price of replacing the lever then leave it at that, if not he's an asshole, you've the full work-up that you can claim for & make a point of pissing in his shower gel & wiping your knob on the tops of his beer cans in the fridge at any oppertunity

[ez12a]

kid has insurance right? no big deal.

now just dont let him ride any of your bikes.

[ally99]

Originally Posted by dkstariob

So my original offer to him was for him to take care of my internet share for 4 months ($10/month) which equals $40. If he had accepted, I would have gladly moved on and that would have been that. But he sent me an email reply stating that he wanted to see the damage and then decide what the next action is. Apparently, he thought I was being greedy and trying to screw him. So I told him that the last thing I want is saltiness and I said that I would call the dealership for the cost of a replacement lever and for them to fix it. I would even move past the cosmetic damage.

Wow, first he lies about it and then wants to dickishly nickel and dime the repair? I'd be a bit pissed, honestly.

Originally Posted by ez12a

kid has insurance right? no big deal.

Deductible.

[ez12a]

Originally Posted by ally99

Deductible.

nothing out of the dkstariob's pocket.

though the roommate's deductible is surely more than approx $40.

[mania]

Originally Posted by dkstariob

What would you do?

Any other thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

After scrubbing the inside of the toilet bowl with his toothbrush & putting it back for him I would probably consider the pee in his orange juice thing


kidding just kidding

[old3]

Now I know you'll be thinking, why don't you or him replace the brake lever? Well he's not mechanically inclined and why should I spend the time to do it myself? I'd rather have the dealership take care of it and guarantee the work they do while I pick up the part the same day.[/QUOTE]

You are talking to a group of STRANGER who log on and offer to help each other for no particular gain, or to get free advice. You can't take 5 minutes to hang out and replace a brake lever with your room mate???

You do shat like this for people because that is what it is all about. Just asking for advice on this matter says a lot about you. I'd try to bend the lever back for FREE and break his balls about it forever cause I liked him enough to let him ride my bike.

Dealer guarantee on labor to replace a friggin lever? Seriously?

[Sirref]

^^ I fully agree with the above statement, replacing the levers is one of the easiest things you can do on a bike and can be done within 5 minutes with only the tools that come with the bike (I recommend using a socket wrench for it though, makes everything even easier) A dealer will likely be thinking "damn, what should I do with all this free money" if you show up to have a lever replaced.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by old3

You do shat like this for people because that is what it is all about. Just asking for advice on this matter says a lot about you. I'd try to bend the lever back for FREE and break his balls about it forever cause I liked him enough to let him ride my bike.

^^^ this

From the second you allow someone else to throw a leg over your bike, you accept that they are more important to you than the bike is. No matter the cost of repairs. ijs

[MR2Aaron]

He said that the roommate offered to pay for whatever was broken. I say let him pay for whatever is actually broken, tell him accidents happen and you're not super upset, and to just tell you about stuff like that in the future.

Sitting here imagining this happening to me, I can sort of imagine being super embarrassed, and trying to figure out how to tell you (knowing that dropping someone else's bike is like, the biggest faux pas there is in motorcycling), and then you discover it and confront me before I figure out how to tell you.

[Løckøut]

Roommate B offered to pay for the damages, so have him do that. If -I- were in your position, he would've already had hands put on him and his bike would be appropriated until mine was fixed. /shrug

You seem like a less volatile person, though. If he offered to take care of it, then you should talk to him about not letting you know, and in the future to be more considerate.

[Han Solo 1]

This thread reminds me of something horrible I did when I was a kid, and I never really realized the ramifications until much later.

When I was about 11 years old or so, my older sister was dating some kid who had a motorcycle. Don't know what kind, but in my memory it looks a lot like a Ninja zx6r; it was definitely a big, heavy racing-type bike. Anyway, she didn't want to ride on it when he picked her up because she was scared, so they went to their date in her car. He parked the bike on the street in front of our house.

After they left, my friend and I went out to take a look, and in my attempt to climb onto the seat (from the right side, no less), along with my friend either pushing on the bike or pushing me upwards and accidentally pushing up on the right handlebar, the bike tipped over and crashed down onto its side. I hopped forward and away from the bike as it came down, but I heard loud cracking sounds and saw that several pieces of the bike had broken off. We tried to tip it back upright, but of course we couldn't. So we ran to his house and I didn't come back til later that night. When I returned, the bike was gone, but there were several painted plastic pieces lying around the area.

No one ever asked me about it, and I never said a word.

Poor bastard.

[Whiskey]

Originally Posted by MR2Aaron

He said that the roommate offered to pay for whatever was broken. I say let him pay for whatever is actually broken, tell him accidents happen and you're not super upset, and to just tell you about stuff like that in the future.

Sitting here imagining this happening to me, I can sort of imagine being super embarrassed, and trying to figure out how to tell you (knowing that dropping someone else's bike is like, the biggest faux pas there is in motorcycling), and then you discover it and confront me before I figure out how to tell you.

Man the **** up & say it out straight, otherwise you will be caught out.

Roommate is trying to be a tight bastard, that's not acceptable.

[Tigerpaw]

Don't cut him any slack.