What Did I Do Wrong/What Can I Do?
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 162
Likes: 1
From: Boston
Thanks for all of the input. There was only one lane heading in the direction that I was traveling, so I did not cut across a lane to turn right. There were also cars parked along the road, so it is a fairly narrow lane. In this case, I can't see that she had any legal right to pass me on the right side in a one-lane situation. Probably a good idea to crowd right just to be safe, making the turn more difficult but avoiding any room for someone to squeeze by on the right (of course then maybe she would have clipped me on the left).
In Massachusetts, the police do not write accident reports, at least that is my understanding. The involved parties must file a standad report with RMV, local police, and insurance company if damage exceeds $1,000. Police also do not like to ticket at accidents--this probably minimizes their time in court.
If this was just replacing a few parts I would just suck it up and pay the bill. My concern now is the cracked piece on the frame that holds the middle screw for the crash bar. I thougt this could simply be welded, and maybe it can, which I thought my independent could do. I'll probably go to the dealer tomorrow and see what they think. If frame needs replacing, then I'll definitely have to file with insurance. New bike with less than 2000 miles on it, so I want to make sure it gets done right. I am surprised that a crack in this piece would warrant replacing the frame. It seems you could just as easily crack this piece if you dropped the bike on the crash bar.
Thanks again for the input. It makes this a little less painful and helps me decide on what needs to be looked at.
In Massachusetts, the police do not write accident reports, at least that is my understanding. The involved parties must file a standad report with RMV, local police, and insurance company if damage exceeds $1,000. Police also do not like to ticket at accidents--this probably minimizes their time in court.
If this was just replacing a few parts I would just suck it up and pay the bill. My concern now is the cracked piece on the frame that holds the middle screw for the crash bar. I thougt this could simply be welded, and maybe it can, which I thought my independent could do. I'll probably go to the dealer tomorrow and see what they think. If frame needs replacing, then I'll definitely have to file with insurance. New bike with less than 2000 miles on it, so I want to make sure it gets done right. I am surprised that a crack in this piece would warrant replacing the frame. It seems you could just as easily crack this piece if you dropped the bike on the crash bar.
Thanks again for the input. It makes this a little less painful and helps me decide on what needs to be looked at.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 162
Likes: 1
From: Boston
Wanted to resurrect this thread for an udate. You guys who said this would be a frame replacement were dead on. Called the dealer and they said to call ins. co. Progressive claims rep has been great; she is a motorcycle specialist. She got a check to dealer (over $4k the next day). She looked at bike and said it is definitely the fault of the lady who clipped me from behind. She says she will take it to arbitration if the other ins. company will not pay.
I am out of commission for probably the rest of the season. Dealer says that an option is to remove the crash bars to avoid this problem, but I figure they are more likely to save damage. I am installing saddle bag crash bars when I get her fixed.
I does seem like a dumb design problem to leave the whole frame up for damage because of this one support bold screwing into it. Seems like it would make more sense to weld a piece onto the frame for the bold to screw into; but what do I know? I guess if it was an older bike, I would just have the frame patched.
Anyway, thanks for the advice.
I am out of commission for probably the rest of the season. Dealer says that an option is to remove the crash bars to avoid this problem, but I figure they are more likely to save damage. I am installing saddle bag crash bars when I get her fixed.
I does seem like a dumb design problem to leave the whole frame up for damage because of this one support bold screwing into it. Seems like it would make more sense to weld a piece onto the frame for the bold to screw into; but what do I know? I guess if it was an older bike, I would just have the frame patched.
Anyway, thanks for the advice.
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,200
Likes: 24
From: Greenfield, WI
I went through something similar last year, kid turned left in front of us in his dad's Benz, admitted it to the officer but told Allstate (daddy's ins.) that he never did and I hit him, went to arbitration, which is a panel of ins. company folks minus reps of the 2 ins. companies involved in the case
FWIW, his ins. company told me that even though the police report contained his statement to the officer that he turned in front of me, since he told them later that he was mistaken they will go to bat for their insured regardless
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,085
Likes: 4
From: DE
AMEN! I'm only 67 yrs old and those old people really pizz me off...
Last edited by remike; Sep 23, 2009 at 01:57 PM. Reason: add a word
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Joined: Dec 2008
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From: Tonopah Az
I learned from experience that once the accident happened I never move the ride I am in until the cops get there.As soon as you move it they aren't going to investigate it the way they would if you left it where it got hit. This way they can see where you were.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 162
Likes: 1
From: Boston
Just an update to this thread. Whoo Hooo, Progressive took it to arbitration and won. So they get their payout back and I recover my $1,000 deductible. I am very impressed with Progressive and the claims rep assighned to my claim. Now I have an extra $1,000 to pay for some spring mods. All in all a good learning experience, but it feels good that the truth prevailed.
Ride safe.
Ride safe.