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woof

RJVB

RJVB

GT Reference
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
Messages
1,936
Location
Paris
Well...

Shit happens, but I was hoping this shit wouldn't happen, and certainly not so close to the final rounds in the French equivalent of a tenure track procedure (next week).

Left Anne's place at about 21:30 tonight, and went to get fuel before attacking the road back to Paris. Saw the pump in the village had Premium-98 for a very good price, so decided to treat the Norge to that, content I'd not have to ride to the next town which isn't on my route.

Riding back through the village, I was checking my speed (40km/h) and/or had my right hand off the throttle to get my sleeve a bit better in the glove, and there it was.

A dog, clearly heading for my front wheel, neither of us having seen the other (so much for the 1200-2V engines having a sound keeping animals away!). It wasn't a big dog, but it was big enough when run over to lift the front wheel just too much off the ground, or maybe cause it to slip. Not having both hands at the bars (I think) probably didn't help me either keeping the rubber side down.

I came down almost perfectly flat, my left knee (well padded and now not even blue though sore) touching tarmac just a bit before the rest of me. Smooth tarmac, so the Norge slid on quite a bit even after I'd stopped, not a nice sight.

With some help from 2 kind persons, I got the bike up and onto the sidewalk to inspect the damage.

Not pretty, but apparently nothing major. The handlebars had been turned left, so the end-stop must have taken the brunt (it's a bit more aerodynamic now...) so I'll have to have the left bar checked. The clutch lever is still in one piece, as are the left mirror (just missing some chrome from the plastic - miracle I guess!) the pegs and the gear lever. The pannier clear took the remaining brunt: it really is black under that silver paint, and it really is tough plastic (would be perfect if they didn't warp).
The fairing faired differently though. Completely cracked along the sharp "fold" in the cheek running up from the optic array, the turn signal now fully separated from the part it sits in (and which I was preparing to get changed under warranty: part is waiting for me), and much of the inner fairing probably ripe for replacement too. The fairing skeleton may have been bent a bit, hard to say in the dark, but the cockpit isn't exactly symmetric at the moment. Everything's holding together with broad brown packaging tape right now (solid enough for transatlantic shipments, and for riding to Paris at 110km/h on the motorway :D )

Maybe the biggest miracles: my laptop which sat in it's special Bagster tankbag hasn't budged (kudos to Apple?) and the 6 months old dSLR in the left pannier apparently still functions too.

Now to see how this will work out with the pending warranty replacement thing, and whether or not I'll have this taken up by the insurance (depends on how much 'malus' that'll cost me ... and on how much repair is going to cost...)

Damn, of course it had to be a dog (unexpected, rare even in that village) inside an agglomeration and not one of the deer, foxes, swine or rabbits that I'm used to encounter :-/


the paracetamol is beginning to work, off to bed I go!
 
That's some bad news René. :angry:
Still got some luck that you weren't riding at high speed. I hope your knee gets well again.
On the bright side: now you'll find out how good your insurancecompany really is. ;)

Ciao Dolf.

And for your Norge:
 
Given that you apparantly got through it without major injury, by & large it's only money. Fixable/replaceable. And hopefully, after insurance, etc, not too much out of pocket.

Hope you are feeling well ASAP.
 
best wishes on speedy recovery to you and the guzzi. Crashing is no fun, but if things work out well you'll have a story for the pub worth more than the damage. At least that's how I look at it, since I've been lucky enough to have all my crashes result such... but hitting a deer at 70mph is fairly nerve racking...
 
Damn dogs. ;)

You'll heal faster then your Norge, but that is a very good thing.
Everyone crashes... those who soldier on have the better stories to tell in the end.

Heal fast and ride again soon!
 
Thanks for the words of support! I'm taking a bit more time to go to work, they'll just have to understand ;)

Yes, I was lucky I was riding at less than the allowed urban speed - effects of impact increase roughly with the square of speed, so at 50km/h my clothing would have been much more torn up (now there are just a very few small holes), and the Norge would have been much worse.

No major injury? Almost none at all! I put some arnica balm on the knee, and am almost not feeling it at all right now. Pity I forgot to put some on my left wrist, it seems I came down left palm up (hole on the upper part of the sleeve where my watch must have pressed into the tarmac ... and into my wrist). Didn't really notice that yesterday evening, but now it's about the only part that's a bit sore.

Insurance. Hmmm, yeah. That's really a tough question that I'd have to discuss with my dealer and some friends here. You may have noticed in the insurance thread that I'm paying a shitload because I have a big bike and not even 2 years of riding/driving experience. It's true that I'm paying for all-risk so this ought to be covered ... but it might take even longer than Piaggio to get things done, and since this is would be a claim for which I only am responsible I could well take a hit on my policy fee that would cost me more than the repair in the end.

Damn dogs ... yeah. S/he got hit pretty badly and was yelping loudly somewhere when we were putting the bike on the sidewalk. We looked for it afterwards (also because identifying the owner might have been useful...) but it had disappeared.
 
Crashes are bad but ones you can walk away from and chat about are the best sort!

Heal well and good luck with the silver spray paint!!!

Did the handlebar hit the tank if it broke the steering stop off? Make sure you get the front end checked out to ensure nothing is twisted.
 
Thanks ... and yes, I will probably go find some silver paint. Black panniers wouldn't be bad either, but the silver keeps 'em cooler on the inside ;)

Did I say it broke the steering stop? I'd hope not! I meant the bar-end weight. On the Norge, the handlebars almost touch the tank at full lock, so yes, I think the tank was hit a bit. I can't feel anything damaged though, under the tank protector.

I do have the impression that the left handle bar is bent a bit (the bar-end clearly doesn't enter the tube perfectly straight anymore, and I had to tighten it, which worked perfectly fine indicating nothing is broken inside if you ask me. Tthe fairing skeleton is bent to the right side a bit (the right-hand side of the inner fairing sits 4-5mm more to the right than it used to), so it's hard to judge if the bending is in the bar (should be a trivial replacement) or at a more annoying level. Those risers do look they can take a beating though. And (I hope) most importantly, steering is still neutral, the bike doesn't pull to either side when coasting (despite the rather asymmetric load of my panniers yesterday!).

I noticed though the tang of my centre stand is again so close to the ground the bike is currently sitting on it. If I'm going to have to bleed for the bike, I might as well get a new one of those at the same time :-/
 
RJVB wrote:
Did I say it broke the steering stop? I'd hope not! I meant the bar-end weight. On the Norge, the handlebars almost touch the tank at full lock, so yes, I think the tank was hit a bit. I can't feel anything damaged though, under the tank protector.
Click to expand...

Just me mis-reading your post :(
 
wow... bummer.
I had a buddy hit a dog with his daytona... he was going quite a lot faster & actually cut the dog in half. It didn't save him from huge crash, written off motorcycle and a few weeks in hospital.

so, all in all, I would say you are as lucky as you can be in a bad situation. :(

heal up quick!
 
Bugger, Pox, and Damn it all......

This is not good, but as a "new and now blooded rider" ;) ;) ;) there are likely to be others, but the good news is that just like this one they are all just a learning experience although usually expensive and bloody scary at the time, I know when I fall off It takes half an hour for my hands to stop shaking.

The amazing thing is that we never seem to remember exactly what happened as we come off and hit the deck, I have tried with previous offs to analyze what actions I took as I rolled along the pavement but there is either no recollection at all, or there is damage to the ride gear that I have no idea how it got there and cannot even imagine how it "might" have got there.

Have you told Ann yet?
 
Yes, I told Anne. It happened just around the corner from where she lives, so once the tape was place, I went there to drink a bit, tell and show her I was OK, and then left again.

Another lesson: after such a thing, strip, and gives yourself and your clothes some time to dry. I've been bloody cold due to all the stress-related sweat (indeed, a cold sweat!!!) on the ride home. That's where you notice that all the high tech warmkeeping stuff still can't do 1 think that good old wool can: keep you warm even when wet.

I agree that we shut out certain things, or rather, maybe we focus on something else, when this happens. Like you retract your hand from the fire before you even realise you've burnt yourself, the brain takes over, and not everything makes it into consciousness afterwards.
And indeed, I can't imagine how I can have a hole in my sleeve above where my watch sits (which can't ride up my arm), that should have been covered by my glove ... which shows some wear on the underside, and none on the upper. Really beats me.

Also can't imagine why a muscle in my jaw is getting stiff. The helmet only has a few superficial scratches, so can't be the impact. Maybe I was shouting obscenities when I flew, and this is my reward B) (nah, I've had this before, probably just the whole stress for next week's selection procedure).
 
Rene, you might find it worth checking with Paul at Corsa Italiana here in the UK. He was telling me that he was surprised how cheap the fairing bits were, unusual for Guzzi, and with the Euro/pound exchange rate being what it is, it might just be cheaper than buying in France.

As you say, shit happens. Just glad you walked away OK.

http://www.corsaitaliana.com/
 
Glad to hear the injuries are relatively minor. The fact that you are already back to your frequent posting form is a good sign. It sounds like the Norge held up well. If I was to dig for a silver lining in this misfortune, you will at least learn a little more about your Guzzi as you replace and repair some of the broken parts. I look forward to reading about your progress. Bonne chance!
 
Given the bike is still under warranty (and I have no experience nor a suitable workplace), I intend to have it repaired by a professional...
 
Warranty isn't going to fix crash damage, unless same pieces were already going to be replaced for warranty reasons. Insurance for that. Course, sorting out the intersection of the two can be a problem, as each tries to point the finger at the other, unless clearly defined beforehand. Good luck with that. Also, very common for things to hurt in the days after that didn't hurt the day of. As you head for the ground, tendencies for muscles to tense up big time, so no give when you finally hit.
 
Of course, the bit holding the turn signal was already ordered under warranty replacement at least 2 months ago, I just never got around to having it installed. Fortunately... Dealer seems to think that the demand was accepted so there'll be no issue.

Re: the hurt: yes. Wearing my helmet today riding to the dealer I moved it as it probably did when it made its brief contact with the ground. There's a touchy spot just where it touches the side of my chin, and moving the helmet moves my jaw just a bit. I'm feeling a sprained muscle of ligament - an uppercut would have had worse effects ;)

Long ago, I learned a falling technique during martial arts practice where you bring both hands together and turn your head such that your cheek is cushioned by the hands. I've found myself using it during my last fall with a bicycle (front fork broke...), but fortunately I didn't this time - I'd probably have broken a few fingers with my helmet B)
 
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