I have some bad news guys, read on:
Have you ever wanted to castrate a man with a dull spread knife?
My bike was parked on a street under a sign that read ?tow-away zone from 4-7?. I was thinking of moving it the whole time but one thing led to another and by the time I got to it, it was 4:30 and the bike was gone.
I called the city and they said that bike was impounded and gave the towing companies address to go and get it. Now, for those of you who don?t know my story, I?m traveling on my GS850 around the world (
www.motorcyclememoir.com) and I was in Los Angeles, CA when this happened this evening.
Since this bike is my only ride, I called a cab and got there 45 minutes later in the rush-hour traffic of L.A. The trucking company is called Keystone Towing and the building is as big as a good size mall.
I?m already ****ed and blaming myself for the stupid parking zone but that?s just one side of the story. They tell me that the towing fee is $217 plus $80 citation to Los Angeles police department.
I asked the man to show me the bike so I can inspect and see that everything is ok then I?ll pay the charges. He walked me through the lot and when I got to the bike, I couldn?t believe what I saw.
The tank was ripped off the frame and hanging from the two bolts under the seat. The seat was bent back with the tank and the tank rubber bushing and a 10mm bolt was sitting under the bike.
As calm as I could be (which is not what you imagine the word calm would mean) I asked for the manger to come over. The big man walked out and I told him I don?t care how it happened, just tell me loud and clear what you are going to do about it and tell me now.
He said oh, how do we know it wasn?t like this when it got here? At this point I wanted to strangle the mothe**ucker right then and there but I stepped away and called 911 to send an officer before I kill the duechbag.
While I?m waiting, he goes on with taking pictures and telling me that I have two options. A) To pay for the bike and get it out there or B) they would charge $45 every day that it sits there. And he has to interview his driver on Monday morning to find out what?s going on.
The cops get there and they refused to make a damage report on a ground that this is a civil dispute and if I have a problem with it, I can go to court and request a hearing.
Now I?m traveling and have nowhere to stay in the city, nor I have the time or patience to peruse a law suit against a city contracted towing company.
I told they guy you know what; just give me something, drop the towing fees and I?ll be on my way. after a long conversation he said that $100 of the towing fee goes to the L.A county and they can?t wave that and all he can do is to give me a discount and for that, I had to sign a waiver that I?m ok with everything and will not sue the company.
I?m assessed my options to cut down on the damage given my travel situation, I told him that let me try to turn the bike on so I can see if it even moves, there might be other damages that I can?t see in the dark warehouse with flash light. If it moves, I make my decision then.
This prick was rude and arrogant from the start and this time he says: take it or leave it. I won?t let you see the bike until you pay for it or get out because we are closing right now.
At this point I told him to go **** himself and I paid the full amount so I can sue them when I get out. They ran my card and then, they wanted me to sign a paper saying that the ?I have received the above vehicle in satisfactory condition?. I told them Hell no, I?m not signing that. I already paid for the ?service? and I want my bike NOW. They said if you don?t sign it, you?ll not get your bike.
So I called 911 again and asked for the cops to come back which took them 45 minutes. With their intervention, they added a segment to the paper, that the bike is in a damaged state and I listed all the damages, making two copies and finally got the bike out of there.
I bent the tank back down but it?s holding on with the back bolts only, the paint is chipped and cracked on the tank(this tank was in immaculate shape, see the pictures on my website) and the seat is bent and ripped and it won?t stay on without moving to left and right.
I am suing this company. Maybe the tank is not worth the trouble but it?s a matter of principle. Paying traffic fine is one thing which I don?t have a problem with, but getting f**ked in the ass by the city and their contracted company is something else.
If you have any legal advice or you have ever been in a citation like this, please make a comment and help me out here. If any of you guys are in Los Angeles or in the immediate area with a garage, I would truly appreciate a help with getting the bike back together so I can hit the road and get out of this godforsaken place.
