Curse of the Twunt, Mk.II

[xwhatsit]

Mother's Day! Wanted to bake mum a pie, so took off to the shops at about 4.45, 5pm or so to get some short crust pastry and fruit. Not long out of Mangere Bridge, the road turns into a 70kph zone (before the Lawn Cemetary and Christmas tree farm). Sun behind me, turn a corner, old man in a Toyota hatchback pulls out. Sees me then slams on his brakes -- too late, he's blocking the whole lane.

Stupidly, I grab the brakes. I say stupidly, because there was almost a metre of room to dodge past on the left. Angry with myself for that, normally I'm good at dodging cagers (have to be riding around in Auckland). No room to stop at 70kph, I hit the side of his car still going a reasonable chop. It's a glancing blow, my right hand, shoulder and knee go into his door and make some satisfying gouges and dents. Somehow my front tyre has given up holding onto the road, possibly the brake lever got pushed on hard by the car's body panels and tyre locked? Anyhow, me and the bike go for a wee lie down bouncing down the road on our right-hand side.

Got to love a Honda. Thing is lying on its side, haemorrhaging fuel out of the tank and carb and starving itself of oil, still happily ticking over steadily, waiting for me to pick it back up and thrash its nuts out. Must be the XR250 in it.

Crawl over to the bike, hit the kill switch. Check I've still got my limbs, pick up my bike.

Anyhow, elderly lad with Parkinsons climbs out of his car -- asks if I'm alright -- says he's very sorry, he didn't see me (of course). I have some sympathy for him, at least he's got the excuse of sunstrike; most cagers seem to not see you regardless of how good the conditions are. I wish he hadn't hesitated and stopped in the middle of the road.

Big stroke of luck, in the queue of traffic stopped on the other side of the road was a couple who live on the corner of my road. Asked me last year about BHS test. They check me over, get paper and pen, take both our details for us (stuffed if I could write legibly) and give us their own. They then see the state of the bike, go back and pick up a truck from their house, load it in then drop it at my house. Beer will be on their doorstep.

He's got full insurance (with State), I've got 3rd party (with Kiwibike/Protecta). He admitted full liability. I'd say the bike is a write-off, mainly due to the tank damage (hand and clip-on stove in the right front corner, its leaking fuel now) and paintwork etc. Can't tell if the forks/clamps are straight yet -- put in on the centre stand, whirled the front wheel and it seems to turn straight so that's good. It's insured for $1700, probably get valued at $1000-1200, repairs will go over that easy I'm guessing. Farrrrrk.

What happens here? How long will this take? Will the valuer come to my house? Whose valuer? Kiwibike or State? Buy back the wreck? VIN it again? Shit :crybaby:... I want my bike back. I love it to bits :weep:

So now I'm back to bleeding money on the bus `service', not sure how I'm going to do that. Had to do that for a while and spent half my wages on tickets.

P.S. I'm alright, Quasimoto makes some marvellous gear. Shoulder and back a bit sore, I think from when my body hit the car. Small abrasion on my elbow, I think that's from cordura rubbing when I hit the tarmac (jacket is a shade loose). Armoured gloves definitely saved my fingers and thumb. Feeling a bit stiff and sore but mostly just sad about my bike :(

Grumpy too about having a crash! I was aiming to go an entire lifetime without crashing :mad:

[Highlander]

P.S. I'm alright, Quasimoto makes some marvellous gear. Shoulder and back a bit sore, I think from when my body hit the car. Small abrasion on my elbow, I think that's from cordura rubbing when I hit the tarmac (jacket is a shade loose). Armoured gloves definitely saved my fingers and thumb. Feeling a bit stiff and sore but mostly just sad about my bike :(




That is the key. You were largely unhurt. At the end of the day the rest is only money ( I mean that in the sense that the things that cannot be fixed no matter how much money you throw at them, are not broken).

My experience (limited as it is) of insurance claims is that you make a claim with your insurance company, he makes a claim with his and they sort it out between them. If he admits liability to them (and normally they change their view of things after the event) then you shouldn't lose your no claims, or have to pay an excess.

[Neon]

Glad to hear you are ok if a little ruffled :weep:

[xwhatsit]

Who likes photogs!

Looking at it now, I can see it was mostly my hand/meaty bit of my thumb that made the dent in the fuel tank. Naked bikes crash lovely. What's interesting, is that, OK, the right clipon is bent backwards (just rotated around the forks I think). But what I find really interesting is that the left clipon is pushed forwards :laugh: And those suckers are on tight.

Worked out why my front wheel lost traction and I lowsided after bouncing off his car; there's some lovely Toyota white paint on the sidewall of the front tyre. So it wasn't just my body and the handlebar that hit the car.

[James Deuce]

What's his address? I feel like a week off, a road trip, and a holiday in a heated cell in Northland for a couple of years.

[xwhatsit]

What's his address? I feel like a week off, a road trip, and a holiday in a heated cell in Northland for a couple of years.
Oh wow! I stirred the curmudgeon into posting.

He wasn't wearing a hat.

[James Deuce]

I'll Ramset one to the top of the senile, frog testicle munching, deer velvet swilling idiot's head.

[imdying]

It's insured for $1700, probably get valued at $1000-1200Why are you paying a premium for $1700 if it's only worth $1000-1200? Get the next one valued, and only insure it for what it's worth, keep some money in your packet for gas :yes:

[xwhatsit]

Why are you paying a premium for $1700 if it's only worth $1000-1200? Get the next one valued, and only insure it for what it's worth, keep some money in your packet for gas :yes:
I paid $1650; but they come up on Trademe nowadays for a grand or so every so often. I think some horrible grumpy valuer from State with glasses and a bad tie isn't going to do me any favours, that's why I mentioned that figure.

I buy insurance for theft (in which case they'd give me $1700, wouldn't they?) and third party (in case I scratch a Merc with my mirror). Crashing is not something I do, as a rule.

[brendonjw]

Hey man, sorry to hear but its good your ok.
I live out that way so i know what the level (or lack of) of driving is like. :bash:

[xwhatsit]

Hey man, sorry to hear but its good your ok.
I live out that way so i know what the level (or lack of) of driving is like. :bash:
Heh -- actually he's from Glen Innes sort of way -- the useless Souf Orklan `drivers' tend to be moving too slow in their Bongo Wagons and Toyota Previas to cause that sort of incident.

[Daffyd]

So I take it your mum didn't get her pie?
Oh, BTW sorry about your bin. :(

[brendonjw]

Heh -- actually he's from Glen Innes sort of way -- the useless Souf Orklan `drivers' tend to be moving too slow in their Bongo Wagons and Toyota Previas to cause that sort of incident.

Heh, that was probably a good thing, the usual Souf Orklan driver would of probably got out n tried to bash ya for hittn his car :2guns:

[erik]

Bad luck, but good you weren't hurt much.

Sounds like a headache trying to decide what to to with the bike. I haven't got any suggestions. (although, if possible I might fix it cheaply as I could and keep on riding).

[McJim]

Bugger - that's your valve hand too.
Glad you are walking wounded - shame about the bike. It was such a minter before the crash too! :rofl: seriously though - bog and respray the tank for about $200 and get new indicators and levers as required from Cycletreads.

Try to see if you can get new clipons (if they are beyond repair) from the bike wreckers up Barrys Point Road. You should be able to get her back on the road for less than $400 all up.

[Ixion]

Bugger. I'm really sorry to hear that. Such a nice bike. (pity about you too, but people are more replaceable than bikes. Just kidding, glad youa re substantially OK).

You have only third party insurance? So you will be threatening Mr Twunt with various lawsuits , which he will of course pass to his insurance company, since he has full insurance.

This makes the insurance/write off/cancellation of rego a more flexible instrument than if you had full insurance and simply claimed off your company.

You may be able to do a deal with his insurers whereby they pay the value of the bike (being as that is less than the cost of repairs), but do not acquire the "wreck" - since they have no contractual right to it. (if you were claiming off your own insurance, there would be a clause in the contract that gave them title to the wreck in the event of a write off. But you have no contract with Mr Twunts insurers).

That assumes of course that you wanted to resurrect the poor wee dear. How far are you off your full?

[gijoe1313]

:gob: Crikey young fella me lad, that ain't no good! Gotta cut out that fun stuff eh? Poor Natalie, shes been through the wars ain't she.

Glad to hear you personally ain't too badly off ... but the insurance will write her off for sure ... :weep:

[xwhatsit]

Bugger - that's your valve hand too..
Well it's only my thumb-meat that's swollen and sore, that's what made the dent in the tank -- my first three fingers are OK, and the ancient Selmer doesn't have a first valve slide :2thumbsup

The photos don't show it, but the dent is probably a full double soy latté plus, that'll be a mighty bog job.

Should call Econohonda and ask if they've got some good tanks. I think maybe the wreck-buy-back thing is the way to go.

Do the assessors come to your house to do the valuation? What's the story. Do they pinch my bike, too?

[xwhatsit]

Bugger. I'm really sorry to hear that. Such a nice bike. (pity about you too, but people are more replaceable than bikes. Just kidding, glad youa re substantially OK).

You have only third party insurance? So you will be threatening Mr Twunt with various lawsuits , which he will of course pass to his insurance company, since he has full insurance.

This makes the insurance/write off/cancellation of rego a more flexible instrument than if you had full insurance and simply claimed off your company.

You may be able to do a deal with his insurers whereby they pay the value of the bike (being as that is less than the cost of repairs), but do not acquire the "wreck" - since they have no contractual right to it. (if you were claiming off your own insurance, there would be a clause in the contract that gave them title to the wreck in the event of a write off. But you have no contract with Mr Twunts insurers).

That assumes of course that you wanted to resurrect the poor wee dear. How far are you off your full?
I certainly do -- in fact just this morning I said something to the effect of keeping the bike until my days are out. Not much left for the full, but everybody needs a 250 anyway.

Glad to hear about the 3rd party thing making the wreck option easier -- so that would avoid a deregistration entirely perhaps? No scary VIN and brake tests (not sure the primitive retardation system is up to that, heh)?

[Mikkel]

Crikey! Most important thing is that you're ok! The bike will be taken care off one way or the other I am sure - doesn't sound like you're going to have any issues on that front.

Bloody good to hear about how people helped you out in the situation as well - karma's a lovely lass sometimes, eh!


What's his address? I feel like a week off, a road trip, and a holiday in a heated cell in Northland for a couple of years.

Grumpy today are we? Working?

[tri boy]

The photos don't show it, but the dent is probably a full double soy latté plus, that'll be a mighty bog job.

Is that an engineering measurement?????:clap:
Glad that your ok mate. You will work out the best option for you and your ride.:msn-wink:

[MSTRS]

The photos don't show it, but the dent is probably a full double soy latté plus, that'll be a mighty bog job.



Nah...the panel beater will weld small rods to the dent and pull on them to reduce the dent, snap off the rods and smooth out with bog. It may need leading to seal any pin holes first. This may be an expensive process, so a replacement tank with repaint may be the better way to go. I don't see anything in the pictures to suggest the bike is past it, but if you can get write-off/buyback...DO IT!!

[Bonez]

Bad luck dude. Doesn't look too badly damaged at all. McJims accesment sounds about right.

[Crisis management]

Bad luck Xerses, glad to hear you're ok, that adventure bike looking more likely then is it?
If you need a hand fixing the Honda / tools / running around etc, give me a yell, I'm only over the bridge.

Iain

[Swoop]

This is why cooking (or baking) is dangerous! Bloke's should avoid the kitchen at all costs.

Glad you're relatively OK.

[EJK]

Man... You really love that bike don't you... lol
Sad to hear you've been involved in an accident and.....


.... Welcome to the club! :innocent: lol jks

Take care, and hope to see you on a ride someday :)


P.S. If you need any funding, remember I have your $50 plus the Evil Xerxes' interest rate lol
<img src="http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9236/img7ny2.jpg"></img>

[GaZBur]

Mother's Day! ...He admitted full liability....
Never admit full liability and never get anyone else to admit full liability. Look at the fine print of your insurance and if it is like mine it forbids you from doing that, I assume that it could mean you void the insurance if you do. Get them to admit what thier actions were fine and great, let the insurance company work out that those actions were the obvious cause of liablilty. I would be surprised if it ever happened but it appears possible that getting someone to admit liability voids thier insurance?!?!?
Are there any insurance or legal people out there that can clarify that????

Anyway - welcome to the BIN club. You were prepared so you got off reasonably well, good for you for having the smarts to wear good gear.

[xwhatsit]

Hahah cheers guys.

I just got off the phone with the nice man from Kiwibike. He said -- 3rd party -- can't involve Protecta (who my insurance company really is), but he said, as my broker, he can give me a hand and help walk me through the process of claiming against State.

As I'm technically uninsured in this situation, I need to make an `Uninsured Loss Claim'. He reckons State aren't normally too evil about this. I asked about the possibility of keeping the bike if it's written off; apparently when make the claim, I am effectively selling the bike to them. He said I might be able to cut a deal to buy it back, or I may even have to wait for it to come up at auction :doh:

Anyway, I'll mention that to them from the beginning, that I want to keep the bike. I'm happy to do that even if it means not getting such a good pay-out.

Woke up this morning and my knee, hip, shoulder felt like they didn't belong, lol. Ankle a bit funny, thank god for those lovely Quasi race-boots. It's all good now though after moving around. Think just a bit stiff and sore, it's been a while since I did any particularly strenuous exercise since owning a motorcycle. It's funny, I was saying before, I did more damage to my boots by cornering hard without hanging off than I did going for a tumble down the road :laugh:

Is that an engineering measurement?????
That's a Ponsonby Hinckley Triumph engineering measurement.

[Mikkel]

I'm guessing you'll get sorer as the day passes by... Hope you won't get too bad :yes:

[Bonez]

It'll be a good idea to get a checkup by a doc ol bean. Even it its just to fill out an ACC form. In case of further problems.

[Ixion]

BTW, have you reported the accident to the Police? You must, you know, apart from it being in your interest to do so.

[Donor]

It'll be a good idea to get a checkup by a doc ol bean. Even it its just to fill out an ACC form. In case of further problems.

What he said.


BTW, have you reported the accident to the Police? You must, you know, apart from it being in your interest to do so.

What he said too.

[xwhatsit]

Reported to police, woot woot.

Now to see State about some monies they owe me :yes:

I looked at the world through apple eyes
And cut myself a slice of sunshine pie
I danced with the peanut for the flies
Till time went and told me to say hello for every goodbye

[gijoe1313]

Most excellent young grasshopper ... have you put Pippi back together yet? :sweatdrop

Trust you to choose Pippi and then fang her along (but as we know, she takes after her big sis and likes to be ridden hard! :pinch:)

Try not to molest her too much, after all, she isn't like your girl Natalie! (and those racing starts... sigh ... :lol:) :scooter:

[xwhatsit]

Most excellent young grasshopper ... have you put Pippi back together yet? :sweatdrop

Trust you to choose Pippi and then fang her along (but as we know, she takes after her big sis and likes to be ridden hard! :pinch:)

Try not to molest her too much, after all, she isn't like your girl Natalie! (and those racing starts... sigh ... :lol:) :scooter:
Haha, I didn't want to mention I was borrowing her, because I thought then everybody will want a go :shutup:

Yes, I'm now an evil two-smoker. Am I the first person to get an A100 to do 120kph? She sucks fuel fast though :bye: Just topped up the oil with Valvoline, too. This morning, start her up and the smoke cloud reached the second floor, went in the study window, and made my sister's eyes water. Success!

Many, many thanks to GiJoe1313, and the others that offered to help me in that way too :sunny: You guys rock :first:

[FROSTY]

Dud --whats the oldies excess?
If its a few hundred why not just offer to take the excess cash and fix the fucker yerself

[EJK]

You have cash comming in this evening :yes:

[xwhatsit]

Dud --whats the oldies excess?
If its a few hundred why not just offer to take the excess cash and fix the fucker yerself
Hmm, excess will probably be between $200 and $400 I'd guess; with Twunt Mk.I, fixing the (minor) tank damage was at least $300 (which I never got around to doing, lucky that! :D). This has a bit more wrong with it now -- tank is punctured for a start, tailpiece/mudguard damaged too.

I'll try my luck with the insurance bunch first. Ixion's got some good tips :)

[gijoe1313]

Haha, I didn't want to mention I was borrowing her, because I thought then everybody will want a go :shutup:

Yes, I'm now an evil two-smoker. Am I the first person to get an A100 to do 120kph? She sucks fuel fast though :bye: Just topped up the oil with Valvoline, too. This morning, start her up and the smoke cloud reached the second floor, went in the study window, and made my sister's eyes water. Success!

Many, many thanks to GiJoe1313, and the others that offered to help me in that way too :sunny: You guys rock :first:

Muwahahahah! :devil2: Well done young Sith lord, the dark side is strong in you! Well Pippi is such a friendly little bike, shes a bit naive to being exposed to filthy biker scum ... she was a little town bike, but then some red pajama ninja stole her away and rode her through bits of Noo Zeelund she didn't recognise.

Now shes being passed around and doing the rounds, she quite likes all the attention from the male filthy biker scum! :whistle:

And you been fondling her inside bits! :o Cor blimey, all I ever did was tweak her nipply bits and lube her up! :innocent: :o

[xwhatsit]

Well, I fouled the plug on the A100 on Tuesday. I suspected that's what it was -- didn't have any tools to take the plug out, though, so ended up chaining it to the fence outside my work. GiJoe1313 and Zeocen ran all over town chasing the poor wee bike around, and while I was submitting my assignment (due at midnight), they bundled into a van and took it home. Felt terribly guilty :doh:

A combination of me a) not thrashing it enough and leaving it idling too long when starting up, b) me putting the wrong sort of Valvoline 2T oil in (too thick or something, didn't know there was two sorts!). Must check up on that oil injection system some time, it seemed to be doing irregular things, and I wouldn't've thought an A100 of all things would get bent out of shape about a slightly different 2T blend.


Anyhow, so I went home and got a tire spanner, and pushed out a little of the dent in the RS's tank. Sealed it up with Araldite -- seems to be holding so far :D Re-set the clip-ons, spent ages swapping over the rear indicator/pillion rail for a good one, and she's good to go!

Checked the front end by blatting down the Southern at 130kph then letting go of the bars. Steady as a rock. Steering head bearing related problems still exist, I don't think hitting a car made them any better, but that's no issue.

So I'm up and running -- many thanks to GiJoe1313 for the lend of Pippi (and then running around after me when I broke her :sob:); he was so cheerful doing it as well! A strange man, dear Justin.

Finally got insurance under way today, after a few false starts (apparently no such thing as a simple `uninsured loss claims form' anymore). Spoke to claims person in Chch, an assessor apparently will be with me in a week or so (very busy they are).

One thing that worried me was when she asked me `does the bike have any modifications?' I mentioned it had low bars (don't think she'd understand clip-ons) and an aftermarket headlight. In the past I had a grumpy man at a VTNZ or AA testing station (the one in Onehunga, bright yellow, whatever that is) get bent out of shape about the clip-ons. Stock, the bike uses `normal' bars, and the clamps are still built into the top yoke. Then again, that tester said my bar-end mirror was too low (wtf?), so maybe he was just an anomaly.

Is that likely to affect the validity of my claim? By having potentially grey handlebars?

I also mentioned that I want to keep the bike and get the parts and fit them myself if at all possible; the nice girl on the phone said that should be quite possible; she said they try to avoid writing off bikes if there's a way to avoid that, as it's a lot of hassle and extra work people have to put in. She said the assessors are usually reasonable, so I'll chat to them when they come.

[xwhatsit]

The assessor turned up at 2.25pm -- and left at 2.35pm!

Nice young chap, took some photos, shook my hand, said he'd go and get some quotes for the tank/seat/sidepanel/guard to be repainted and banged into shape. Took my rough estimate for the indicator (`$40 from Econohonda') and doubled it to include fitting (nice how highly my time is valued -- I should be a consultant).

Said he'll take the photos to Haldanes/Red Baron (apparently they get good deals on fixing stuff like this, seems odd to take it to a middleman though) and also a one man shop in Panmure.

Apparently a valuer will be coming out in the next few days to work out that side of it.

I asked him about keeping the bike; he said, if State want to write it off, I can tell them no -- in which case they pay me the value of the bike (or threshold value or summat) and it's all done very nicely and civilly.

Yay! Progress! Polite people who don't want to take my money!

[xwhatsit]

Nutter valuers. I don't think CB250RSs were worth $2,500 even brand new, were they? :laugh:

Anyway, so now I just need to pick a bike shop -- any bike shop -- and State will pay for them to do the work. The tank (main issue) needs to be outsourced to some other crowd anyway.

Which shop should I send it to?