Frame Sliders - They Do the Trick

[xnay]

This was the second time I've gone down and I have to say if it weren't for the sliders, the damage both times would have been much greater.

I was driving to work Tuesday morning on a multi-line road through the city. I was in the right-most lane and there was a taxi slightly ahead of me in the lane to my left. Without warning, he turns across my lane to go down a side street. I had nowhere to go and all I could do was break a bit (was going 70km/h), turn slightly right, and mutter "you f&$ker." I caught him between his two passenger doors on my left side around the my front wheel and then with the side of the bike. The angle knocked the bike over onto it's right side and I skidded down the side street. I ended up on top of the left side of my bike on the ground.

The taxi driver got out of the car and I said "what the hell were you doing?" He didn't speak English so I repeated politely in Korean the same question to which he replied that he hadn't seen me. Taxis are notorious for not signaling and people here in general don't believe in blind spots.

I just had some scraps on my left hand and leg but was amazed that my leg wasn't more hurt when the bike and car came together. The damage to the bike though makes me sick: fender, handlebar, clutch lever, tank, crankcase cover, both sliders, both rear cowlings, grab rails, and passenger pegs. He freely admitted it was all his fault, but even still, insurance will likely want it to be a 80/20 split. In Korea, bikes can only get third-party coverage, but I'll be damned if I'm paying. The worst part is that my bike will be out of commission for 3-4 weeks. Ughh.

So, frame sliders, use them. Definitely saved my bike a lot of damage.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[macem29]

bad deal man, glad to hear you got off lightly (no serious injuries)

 

[maverick1970]

WOW! Close call. Sucks about the bike man. Happy that the sliders worked for you. Got some pictures to share?

 

[Kriswithak]

Damn very lucky your not too badly hurt, sounds like it could have been nasty!
Taxi drivers the world over are just terrible drivers, about on par with bus drivers!
Pretty sure their slogon is "Meet new people, run them over!"

That aside, sucks about the bike!!!!! Especially it being a sexy white FZ6, they are so rare

 

[sabre]

Glad you weren't hurt more.

 

[Falcon1220]

Man are you ever lukey.
To bad about the damage. I hope the taxi gay pays for the repair.

 

[xnay]

Thanks for the well-wishes guys. Looks like it'll be an 80/20 split since both of us were driving. My mechanic will work some magic with the numbers so hopefully I won't be on the hook for anything. The hardest part will is going to be not having my bike for 3-4 weeks.

 

[RJ2112]

Thanks for the well-wishes guys. Looks like it'll be an 80/20 split since both of us were driving. My mechanic will work some magic with the numbers so hopefully I won't be on the hook for anything. The hardest part will is going to be not having my bike for 3-4 weeks.

Make sure your safety gear is all good to go when you get your bike back. If your helmet hit the ground, replace it........

Glad to hear it's all bike damage and not serious injury to you. Any crash you can walk away from is a 'good' crash.