Before I explain what happened, let me tell you a little about "Korean Driving Culture".

I've been living in Seoul for six years and I've learned alot about the culture. I've also learned that Koreans in general are very very very bad drivers. They are very introverted, non-confrontational people when outside of their vehicles, but once they get behind the wheel they become effing Tony Stewart. On a daily basis I am cut off, forced over, honked at, blocked in, and in most cases actually raced with by drivers in Hyundai Sonata's. Last Saturday night was no different.

I was riding in Seoul and realized that I needed to make a right turn, but wasn't in the turning lane, so I put on my signal and prepared to merge. Well, the reason most drivers in Korea don't signal when they merge is because in Korea, the turn signal is a visual cue much like a yellow light...floor it. Everyone in the right lane who was coasting along minding their own business turned into Daytona maniacs, speeding up so that I couldn't get in front of them and make them lose whatever dick measuring game they like to play on the road.

After slowly riding along with my turn signal on, and being denied entry by at least 8 cars, I finally saw an opening and began to merge. Apparently the guy behind me wanted to merge, too, but he didn't want me to merge before him (if he let me do that, he would have "lost", and that can't happen), so he stepped on the gas and tried to pass me in the same lane as I was merging and forced me back into my original lane with absolutely no regard for my safety or life. The guy who was originally in front of me came to a dead stop for no reason apparent to me right as this was happening. I hit the brakes, grabbed the clutch, and tried to swerve without going into the turn/race lane. It didn't work too well, because my left hand shattered his right taillight, and his tire bent my shift pedal backwards and broke the seal on my transmission case. I wasn't going very fast, so I didn't go over the bars. I tried to keep the bike upright, but I couldn't so I did my best to keep it from hitting the ground too hard.

Both levers and footpegs were scuffed, the end caps on my grips popped off, and my right rear taillight broke when I laid it down. I also scuffed the heat shields on my short shots pretty badly. Still, by brother in law was able to slowly ride it to my house in 2nd gear while I went to the hospital for some stitches in my hand and percocet .

Since the guy who forced me over wisely decided not to stick around, my insurance is footing the bill and I'm not in Korean prison for assault with a bloody, shredded fist.

Anyway, Harley parts are about 160-200% more expensive in Korea than they are in the states, so I thought you guys might like to see the estimate I got from Harley Korea. The second to last and last items on the list are my Short Shots and Flanders Drag Bars, respectively. The price quoted for the bars is actually a hundred bucks short, because they didn't know the model number.

The prices are all Korean Won, with 1200 Won equaling about $1.00. I should have my bike back in 3 weeks. Thanks for reading my rant. Sorry it was so long.

 

Man that sucks! Makes me appreciate where I live. When I leave my house it's about 20 min of country riding and 10 min on a slow highway before I even see another person/vehicle.

Hope you get everything back to the way it was before the accident.

 

Thanks, man. I wish I had some country roads. It's illegal to ride a motorcycle of any size on the highway here. I rarely get over 35mph, and have only hit 70 once.

 

Wow. Are your pipes ok other than the heat shields? I'm doing a quickie rat rod bike for my wife and took the heat shields off, coated the pipes black & wrapped em. They're still short shots but with a bit more of an old school look.

 

They're fine, but Korean insurance has a law that allows them to salvage any parts that are replaced. They're replacing anything with a minor defect or scratch, so the old pipes are going. Otherwise, I would have wrapped them and sold the new ones.

 

Gotcha. Crazy laws.

 

You just learned that? Its pretty common knowledge where I'm from.
http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ons/icon10.gif

 

Those damn Koreans... (I'm Korean). Sorry to hear about your crash man.

I was on the Interstate today going 90 and the jeep left of me decided to get in my lane while i was in his blind spot. he changed lane quickly into mine and his rear bumper was about a foot away from me. i couldn't swerve to the lane to my right since there was a car there so i swerved enough to get on the white lane dividing line, barely missing him. i caught up to him and gave flipped him the bird and he threw his hand up as if it was my fault. that made me lose it so i kicked the crap out of his car. he just sped up and took off.
sorry to thread jack with my rant.

 

Always sucks when people are a-holes and only can focus on their well being. Good luck with repairs on bike and hand, gotta love percs for pain though.

 

I think the part that stumped me the most is that you can't ride a motorcycle on the highway there. WTF is that all about???