I didn't see you

[flajason]

Why is it "I didn't see you", rather than the real reason "I wasn't looking"?

So, I've been the proud owner of an 81 GS650 GL for a grand total of about a month. Now I've got to look into repairing it instead of tuning it, since I got backed into yesterday. I'm really rather frustrated.

I went for a ride yesterday, and was on my way home, on my own street about 200 yards from my driveway (why does it always happen so close to home?) when I was hit. Ironically, part of my ride was going out to a deserted area and practicing the MSF techniques. Quick stops, swerves, slow maneuvering.

It's a 2 lane residential street, and there was a car in front of me. He came to a stop in the middle of the street, next to a lady who was walking her dog. I came to a stop behind him, about 10-15 feet back. I figured he was going to chat with the lady, so I was going to wait a few seconds to see if this was just a quick hello, or if I needed to go around him. So imagine my surprise when I see his backup lights come on. I lay on the horn, and damned if he didn't speed up. Still laying on the horn when his rear bumper makes contact with my front tire. Got pushed backwards about 5 feet and the bike went down on it's left side. I went down with it, then scrambled out of the way in case he kept going. He didn't, got out and the first words "I didn't see you!"

Well, no s#!t Sherlock. You obviously didn't hear me either. Turns out he was going to back into his driveway. If he looked in his rearview, there's no way he could have not seen me. I know where blind spots are, and I was definitely not in one. Hit dead center in the middle of his bumper. Normally, I have several outs when riding. I'm always looking for someone to pull out on me. I didn't have a decent out on this one. I left room to go around if he was going to be stopped there. I didn't have enough room to avoid or swerve once he started closing the distance. If I did, he would have still caught me, but at an angle instead of straight on. To the left, I might have run into the lady and her dog, and to the right was a ditch.

To his credit, he was very apologetic. Called the police, and did an accident report. The responding officer was also a rider, and a motorcycle cop part of the time. He gave him a pretty good lecture. Because the guy had a good driving record, there were no injuries, and was taking responsibility, the cop didn't cite him with a ticket. The driver was noted as being at fault in the accident. I'm fine. Bike didn't land on me, and I pretty much did an ungraceful dismount.

As for the bike, front fender is busted. A few new scratches on the engine cover, and scratched mirrors. A very small scrape on the back of the exhaust. The center stand lever and the peg took most of the weight. On the bright side, I now know I'm strong enough to lift the bike very easily. It still runs. Started right up. The steering is a little torqued. Doesn't appear to be any fork damage, but the stem is twisted about 5 degrees. Not sure where yet, if it's just on the stem or if it's at the head tube. (Also not sure of the terminology, so apologies if that doesn't make sense. I'll get someone who knows more about it to take a look this coming week sometime)

That's my story and my first drop/collision. Could have been worse, and now I know not to assume that a cager might not just stop in the middle of the street and try to run me down in reverse.

- Jason

 

[alke46]

Thanks for sharing and I must say you seem to have acted more responsibly than I would. My 1st words to him would have been something that probably would have been best not said. Glad to hear you are OK and the bike can be repaired rather easily.

 

[posplayr]

Glad you did not get too hurt. Obviously I was not there but it sounds like you got too close to the car. The car is parked with a driver in it and you "assumed" that it will continue forward progress. In all cases when things like this happen the consequences to the bike and rider are Allways going to be much worse than to the driver or their car. Therefore you cannot afford to ride your motorcycle like you are in a car.
if that had been a running semi truck, how close souls you pull your car up behind him? I think the answer is much further than I would a parked car. The reason is that the danger the semi can pose to the car is higher than that of another car do you give a wider berth. On the motor cycle you always get the short end so you have to stay clear .

 

[Rover]

The horns on most bikes leave a lot to be desired. I bet if your horn sounded like a mack truck he would have heard it.
A reminder to all of us that if we really want to be as safe as possible a horn upgrade may be a good move. Food for thought,me included.

 

[Kaiser Sosei]

It's basically selective attention. Most people are looking for cars to be on the road and unless they ride or there are a lot of motorcycles around they just aren't looking for them. It's like when you go to the store to buy something, walk past it half a dozen times, then ask a clerk who takes you right back to where you knew it was the entire time, but you couldn't recognize it because you were expecting it to look a certain way and anything that didn't look that way was summarily dismissed from your awareness. Not excusing anyone, just saying that it is possible he really didn't see you, should have heard the horn though.

 

[Nessism]

Glad you weren't hurt and the bike is repairable.

Consider this event a wake up call to you. Riding motorcycles is dangerous! Period. There is a HUGE number of motorcycle accidents at intersections, because people don't see the rider. People don't try to not see people, they just don't.

Make sure to wear bright colored riding gear. NO black jackets and helmets. Get bright yellow or similar. A louder horn may have helped you, maybe not though.

Just understand that you are putting your life on the line when riding. Be careful and accept the risk. Otherwise you should be driving a car.

 

[eil]

Sorry to hear about the mishap, Jason. I've only been riding two years (so I'm no guru myself) but posplayr's advice is solid. 99.99% of motorcycle crashes could have been avoided by the rider, even when they weren't even remotely at fault.

If I see a car stopping or slowing down in the road, and I can't tell exactly why (e.g., no stop sign, no other traffic), I always cautiously zip around them. Rationale being I'm more in control of where I'm going than what might be coming up behind me. (The same strategy might have worked here too, but for a different reason, obviously.)

When stopping behind a car is required, I try not to be directly behind. Plenty of space in front and either to the left of right, but favoring the left. That way I have less chance of getting rear ended when someone "didn't see me". Or if I need to get out of the way for any reason, I have somewhere to go.

I've used my bike's horn plenty of times but I've never seen it do any good whatsoever. Same is true of my car's horn, come to think of it.

Best of luck fixing up the bike and getting back in the saddle!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for sharing your story. I don't have any "useful advice" to offer, but hearing your story will help keep a lot of readers safer. Thanks again.

 

[trevor]

Glad you did not get too hurt. Obviously I was not there but it sounds like you got too close to the car. The car is parked with a driver in it and you "assumed" that it will continue forward progress. In all cases when things like this happen the consequences to the bike and rider are Allways going to be much worse than to the driver or their car. Therefore you cannot afford to ride your motorcycle like you are in a car.
if that had been a running semi truck, how close souls you pull your car up behind him? I think the answer is much further than I would a parked car. The reason is that the danger the semi can pose to the car is higher than that of another car do you give a wider berth. On the motor cycle you always get the short end so you have to stay clear .

Great advice. I might add that in a situation like that I try to be directly behind the car driver. That way he can see me in his rear view mirror and his side mirror. Also oncoming traffic can see me too. I also allows me and "out".
Glad you are ok.

 

[Jamesp]

Sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Just grateful you could walk away. The first thing i usually do when i buy a different bike is buy loud dual horns. Sounds just like a big Lincoln bearing down on you. Saved my life once. Lady pulled out in front of me while I was coming around a curve, laid on those horns and she hit those breaks asap. Gave me the room to get between her and the ditch!!!

 

[1_v8_merc]

Always wear leather. I've been down, brothers been down, and watched my cousin go down at 50mph right in front of my eyes, slide across opposing lane of traffic and land in a ditch. When he got up, he began ripping parts off his bike and throwing them all over the road, cursing and trying to fight everyone that Helped him.(including the cops and paramedics once they arrived). Sounds a little crazy, but that's usually what ends up happening, most people don't take it well.

 

[GSXR7ED]

MSF Techniques

MSF Techniques

Jason,

That was some story. First thing I think of to make sure they are aware of your presence is to Rev your engine. Hopefully, they can hear your pipes and make eye contact with you.

Glad you are ok and not too much damage to your bike. It's upsetting anytime something happens to our ride. We forget our own injuries and want to rectify the situation by becoming verbal. You kept your cool and I'm sure the driver being apologetic helped...a little.

I also love hearing that you practice those MSF techniques because we never know when we'll need them. Ride safe and take your time getting your bike in working order.

Ed

EDIT: Sometimes we have to be their eyes/ears/irrational thinkers. We shouldn't have to but preventing an accident outweighs the possibility of injury to ourselves and damage to our bike.

 

[flajason]

Thanks everyone. I was able to fix the steering myself the other night. At least as straight as I could eyeball it. After inspecting it a little more, I do still need to fine tune it, but since I got a crash course (pun intended) on the steering components, that shouldn't be too much of a bother. The T's were just a little out of alignment. The source of the misalignment was the fender. Loosened the clamps on the T's, loosened the fender mounting, braced the wheel and wiggled and bounced it back to straight. Then I tightened everything back up. I still need to get a replacement fender, but at least I don't feel like I'm constantly turning right to keep the wheel straight.

Anyone got experience in dealing with the insurance process for this or a similar incident? I just want to order a fender and do the replacement myself. Do I just do that and submit the invoice to his insurance as a claim for reimbursement? Or do I have to contact them before hand and arrange to take it to a shop?

 

[Nessism]

If the insurance says it was his fault and you are entitled to compensation, the first thing to do is take the bike to a shop and get a repair estimate. The insurance will reimburse you the full amount of the repair. After you get the check you can take the money and fix the bike yourself. If you are already wrenching you are shooting yourself in the foot. At minimum you need to save receipts and submit them, but you will get far less money this way.

 

[mikerophone]

If the insurance says it was his fault and you are entitled to compensation, the first thing to do is take the bike to a shop and get a repair estimate. The insurance will reimburse you the full amount of the repair. After you get the check you can take the money and fix the bike yourself. If you are already wrenching you are shooting yourself in the foot. At minimum you need to save receipts and submit them, but you will get far less money this way.

Sorry to hear about you getting hit, people just don't see us. Good advice here as well, revving the engine and laying on the horn at the same time, maybe even a loud HEEEEEYYYYY but sounds like he just wasn't paying attention. In his neighborhood, like you felt safe...

Like Ed says, don't do any more work on it until you get it looked at, and I would get a couple of repair quotes, even if you just intend to take the check and do it yourself.

 

[Sandy]

If the damage is minor and won't cost that much you might just want to approach the guy to pay out of pocket. Better for him as there is no insurance claim and better for you because it's just easier. The insurance company will not pay you whatever it costs to fix the bike. They'll pay you no more than what they figure it's worth and probably deduct a large percentage for cash payout. Might be worth a try.

 

[spyug]

The first thing i usually do when i buy a different bike is buy loud dual horns. Sounds just like a big Lincoln bearing down on you. Saved my life once. Lady pulled out in front of me while I was coming around a curve, laid on those horns and she hit those breaks asap. Gave me the room to get between her and the ditch!!!

Excellent advice which I strongly agree with.

Loud horns can make a great difference and they don't have to be expensive. Fiamm make high and low tone "Highway Blaster" horns that run about $20 each. Our equivalent of Harbour Freight carries them up here perhaps you can get them there. I swear by them and they go on all my NTM bikes (new to me).

Like the others say, however, your life is in your hands so be pro active and get out of the way. Don't put yourself in dangerous positions. It is also a good rule to keep your head on a swivel as you ride (danger can come from every direction)and get paranoid i.e. believe they are out to get you...because they are.

Glad you came out of it ok.

 

[Brendan W]

Hi Jason,
You go out to try and improve your skills and what happened? I just have a few comments if I may.
There is a deep perception problem in our threat assessment. We often hear they didn't see us. In reality they did but the brain overrode the signal and dismissed you as a bug. I have had people with whom I had direct eye contact pull out in front of me at distances of less than 50 feet.
As Nessism says don't wrench the thing or try to be a boy scout and downplay the damage. You have no way of making a proper assessment. Tubes need to be checked for straightness, fork clamps for cracks, headbearing for impact etc etc. Slight damage on a case can be a lot more than you thought.
Sitting still in stationary traffic is asking for it. They tend not to teach this on courses. Eventually you get hit from behind or in your case from the front. A high proportion of all car collisions are low speed rear enders and between them is not the place to be.
I hope this doesn't come over as preachy. Some things just are the way they are.

I need to make another post fast !

 

[JTGS850GL]

The insurance will reimburse you the full amount of the repair.

Actually they have the choice of repair or total. If the damage assessment is greater then about 80% of the estimated value they may opt to total. Just make sure that any estimates you get take into account of that.

 

[mikerophone]

I need to make another post fast !

666, number of the beast! That was close!