JoeSTL
Member
Can't believe I'm here... I was riding to work yesterday. There was this red Chevy Blazer in front of me that put turned on its right turn signal and started to turn. I sped up to go around and the front end of the Blazer whipped back and smacked the back right side of my previously perfect Fazer.... She went down hard on the right and scraped across the pavement for what seemed to be a lifetime. Unfortunately my right boot was trapped underneath, so I scraped along with her.
We eventually stopped and I was able to get my foot out from underneath. I stood up, took my helmet off, and the first words out of the chick's mouth that hit me was 'I don't have insurance...' Freaking wonderful... I called the cops, and in the middle of the call she got in her car and took off... Unfortunately, the Blazer had temp tags and most likely they were fakes. I'm fairly certain that half of the St. Louis city population is driving unregistered cars with fake temp tags and no insurance. Cops came, but didn't really care about her. They took various statements and were on their way. Ambulance was there too, and luckily I just had some scratches. People keep saying 'thank god you weren't injured more'... I'm thanking Icon, Fieldsheer, Shoei, and Alpinestars... And of course I'm blaming myself for not wearing any leg protection, which resulted in some road rash to my right leg. I did manage to break my big toe even with Icon Super Duty boots.
My bike is actually not very damaged. I recently bought some Barkbusters Storm hand guards that got scraped up along with a small spot on the fairing. My Givi soft saddlebags actually saved the rear of the bike, and they are just scuffed up a bit. Broke off my right peg and bent the rear brake lever. My OES frame slider failed miserably. It broke off at impact. And my front rim has a very small bend in the lip. The tire maintained pressure, but I'll still have to get the rim fixed or replaced. I was able to hop back on and ride home, with my right foot placed on the nub.
So it could have been much worse. It was a very busy street and their could have easily been oncoming traffic or any of the other million things that could have happened if something was different. I am happy that it probably won't cost too much to get everything fixed. Though I wish I hadn't switched from full coverage to liability 5 freaking months ago, just to save a 100 bucks a year.
Here are some pics of the damage:
We eventually stopped and I was able to get my foot out from underneath. I stood up, took my helmet off, and the first words out of the chick's mouth that hit me was 'I don't have insurance...' Freaking wonderful... I called the cops, and in the middle of the call she got in her car and took off... Unfortunately, the Blazer had temp tags and most likely they were fakes. I'm fairly certain that half of the St. Louis city population is driving unregistered cars with fake temp tags and no insurance. Cops came, but didn't really care about her. They took various statements and were on their way. Ambulance was there too, and luckily I just had some scratches. People keep saying 'thank god you weren't injured more'... I'm thanking Icon, Fieldsheer, Shoei, and Alpinestars... And of course I'm blaming myself for not wearing any leg protection, which resulted in some road rash to my right leg. I did manage to break my big toe even with Icon Super Duty boots.
My bike is actually not very damaged. I recently bought some Barkbusters Storm hand guards that got scraped up along with a small spot on the fairing. My Givi soft saddlebags actually saved the rear of the bike, and they are just scuffed up a bit. Broke off my right peg and bent the rear brake lever. My OES frame slider failed miserably. It broke off at impact. And my front rim has a very small bend in the lip. The tire maintained pressure, but I'll still have to get the rim fixed or replaced. I was able to hop back on and ride home, with my right foot placed on the nub.
So it could have been much worse. It was a very busy street and their could have easily been oncoming traffic or any of the other million things that could have happened if something was different. I am happy that it probably won't cost too much to get everything fixed. Though I wish I hadn't switched from full coverage to liability 5 freaking months ago, just to save a 100 bucks a year.
Here are some pics of the damage:
) I know I too will sometimes take a risk to get around someone. Thanks for the reminder that sometimes our behaviour can have negative results. I preach to myself that it's better to get home a minute or two later than to have to deal with a crash (cage or bike).
