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Accident damage

Will

Cruisin' Guzzisti
GT Contributor
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
Messages
403
Location
UK
OK, so there I was, sat on the bike quietly minding my own business waiting to turn across the road into a parking space when WHAM! some dippy blonde drives into the Griso. Panniers ripped off their frames, pannier frames bent, tail tidy destroyed, Mistral carbon can cracked, rear body work & tail light smashed up etc etc.

Impact was enough to shove me 10ft up the road. I guess she was doing about 20mph. Fortunately instinct cut in & I kept it straight & upright. I'm OK, been to hospital to be on the safe side: only a slightly stiff lower back so anti-inflamatories for a few days. Bike's a mess but I do have comprehensive insurance.

Now I've spoken to the dealers who say they will automatically include a new tyre in their estimate.....but do you think it should have a new wheel too? And might the CARC & shaft have been damaged in the impact? If they are the bike will definitely be a write off (might be just with cosmetic damage?).......then I'll be looking at a 8v.

Worst bit is there's no way the insurance company will do their stuff in time for the Griso to be repaired or replaced by the time I'm due to go to Portugal in 3 weeks! So looks likely I'll be suing driver for price of cancelling the my ferry booking.
 
You were stationary and she shunted you up the arse? Her fault, She pays! Your insurance company should do the fighting for you as long as you called the law.

As for the wheel? Any visible damage? Take it off and get it checked for true and any defects at all? New wheel! Not your problem.

Pete
 
Frame needs to be checked for alignment after a shunt
like that , motor out and check on all 3 axis.
Even a small kink will make the bike run off line especially
if its transferred to the headstock.
nasty experience speaking here, 15k hr off on a dirt road bent the
steering head and wouldn't corner to the left afterwards but only found
out at speed.
 
If your rear drive got scratched, they have to pay for a whole new one, and it's like $3600. I found out the "hard" way :woohoo:
 
New wheel? new Carc? new friggin front brake lever, ok she hit you, end of but was it just body damage ? lets not get carried away with the USA 'sue em' culture here.
I.m the first to be on the side of the biker, but be realistic guys
 
I ad a similiar rear ender. I took a flying lesson and ended up in the gutter. Bike V-indenteed the car bumper with the rear wheel. Experts said no damage to the shaft. Cost 2k to put right. Didn't ride for the winter months and the insurance fobbed of my lower back whiplash claim like it was nothin. It isnt when you u-bend over your rear top-box at the speed off the car hitting you. 4 months later in the spring I rode again stalled the bike and that simple jerk hurt my back for two weeks. My freebie insurance solicitors were lookin after the insurance company costs. Bottom line is I said they were sacked if they didn't cough for 1.5k back injury. They offered 1k but settled. My back is still bad. Even a long ride with the bumps from the rear suspension can cause pain.
 
Will

Main thing is the bike took the damage..its easier to fix or replace than you and in my mind a rear end is preferable to front or side.

Makes me wonder how much our V design offers us Guzzi riders a little more side impact protection from cars. I'm sure the solid pegs on my first bike (an ** - can't bring myself to say it) many years ago limited my leg damage, helped my the tank crumple zone.

If it is an insurance write off sounds like a great base for a project bike...

Art
 
Thanks for all the comments. The dumb blonde's insurers have accepted total liability & my dealers are assessing the damage. To date the parts are up to well over
 
You may be surprised by what leftover '07 Grisos are selling for... Back in January I was in the same predicament you are in. My bike was side-swiped by a truck and if it were 'totaled' would have been $9,300.00 US. You could then find new leftover bikes for that. In my case they didn't total it (it came close) but by the time they were done paying out for this and that on the bike they were wishing they did.

Th good news is the Griso is tougher than you may think. I saw mine hit by a truck doing 50 - 60 mph and bounce down the road on its side. Frame was undamaged and engine side held up pretty well. I got lucky and was able to get a bunch of parts I needed to fix the bike from Ebay and was able to fix it up for much less $$$.

Just guessing here but I would thing the wheel hub would bend before the swing arm does and the alignment of the rear wheel you are seeing is the wheel being bent and not the CARC out of line... but just a guess..
 
Will

You may already be aware but just in case ..There are some good specialist biker solicitors out there who can help make sure you dont end up out of pocket if your insurance company arent too interested in fighting on your behalf. Its an open and shut case so apart from standing a little up front until the claim is settled no downside. If they argue over the retail value of the bike instead of fighting over the notional value too hard you can recoup some of that by making sure you claim for replacement cloths/boots/helmet/watch/phone that were also damaged - dont miss anything.

I tell you this as a former foolish youth who accepted a cash offer to get my bike running again after a crash to only realise later that the knee "twinge" meant I couldnt kneel on it for 6 months (could still ride tho !)

Art
 
Will, my addition is that a rear impact may just have caused an alignment issue with the CARC/rear drive/u-joint... none of which would be visible, but will show up in time and cost you thousands. This could hold true even if the rear tire or rim wasn't damaged. Just something to consider.
 
RESULT !

The other drivers insurance did their sums....& realized that the cost of repairing/replacing my 06 1100 Griso plus the cost of hiring me a bike for my Portugal trip plus compensation for not having a bike since the shunt was rather expensive.

They definitely didn't like the idea of a CARC rebuild & possible frame damage.

So they took the cheaper option......so this morning I collected a brand new 8v Griso!

Carbon fibre goodies, screen, panniers etc from my old bike transfered. New Mistral can as old one was cracked.

So now all I have to do is get the mileage up for the first swervice before I leave. Service is booked for Wednesday....and so far I've done 170-ish miles. Guess what I'm doing this weekend?

PS its white.
 
will

Looks like the best result possible.

You in UK yes? Did the insurance company actually supply the cash or the replacement bike? not just the full market value(the usual arguing point) of your 06 with you paying up the difference to get the 8v?

Good to know are far they will go to meet a cast iron valid claim as they are often slippery b'stds

Art
 
Arturo,

Yes I'm in the UK. The insurers paid the dealers direct for the replacement bike in full. I guess it helped that they had it in stock so it was a quick & easy (= cheap!) solution for the insurance company.....and as I wasn't going to have to contribute I wasn't going to argue for a better deal or more compensation.

I am very lucky the drivers insurance company voluntarily accepted liability immediately and their assessor said he prided himself on sorting claims like mine out very quickly and without hassle......and yes, he was brilliant through out. I've never come across any insurance person like it and nor had my dealers! From accident to replacement bike on the road in 9 working days! I think he deserves a medal. OK, so I had a cast iron case but as you say they are all too often slippery b'stards.....but he obviously knew that any delay/dispute would only escalate the claim, so wasn't in the company's interest.
 
If only we could get health insurance here in the US that is as good as your motor insurance in the UK.

Good on you.

Cheers.
 
Will

Well would you believe it! You sure that insurance guy's not also a biker? ;)

Side thought - I can't see any reason why we can't have a thread on this site to log the VIN for sadly departed insurance write-offs like yours? Any of the moderaters care to comment?

There are some dodgy characters out there who might "repair" yours cosmetically without doing all the necessary frame/CARC work. It would be good if forum users could check write-off VIN numbers here so they know the full histor.
 
Fame at last.....yesterday I was out putting the miles on the new 8v.....stopped for a coffee & was approached by 2 guys asking if I liked the Griso.....I said: "hard to tell I've had it less than 48 hours, but its quicker than the one I had before"......& one of them said "Oh, so you must be the guy who got it free when you old one was rear ended?"

Yes, they'd heard the legend of the remarkable insurance settlement whilst browsing Guzzis at the dealers! They'd been told I was someone who could compare the 2 versions but of course had no idea where I live/ride.......so it was a pure fluke these 2 actually met me.

Back out today for more miles.....& more grins!
 
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