Collision with an Audi

[Spanky]

Sorry about the accident but glad to hear you are OK! Hope everything works out for you with the bike repair or new purchase.

[Throttle 8]

Glad you walked (hobbled) away almost unhurt! You are right, that our bikes take on a personality; and we have fond memories associated with riding them----but you are still around, and will be able to make new memories with a new bike!

[shaggs147]

Hi Martin,
I know how you must feel right now. I dropped a 12 month old ZX636 several years ago. I had a few cuts and bruises, but what hurt the most was watching the bike slide down the road as I followed it! No doubt you will be gutted for several weeks or maybe months as I was, but rebuilding the bike was like having therapy lol. I soon realised, as you will, to be thankful that you walked away and your pride was hurt more than yourself. Metal and plastic can be repaired or replaced at a cost, but you'll find a way.
Good luck with the bike and insurance mate, have a beer and try not to beat yourself up about it.

[bbhzx12]

Glad to hear you tell us about the accident.
I got hit on my favorite bike in 2005, head on by a squid trying to wheelie going the other way.
It took me awhile to get comfy riding again, and although it was not my fault it also changed the way I ride.

Here's to many safe miles on the next bike!  BTW what will the next bike be?
Those 13 leftovers still in TX???

[Walker18]

Ok, so you don't want to talk about the series of events, how 'bout what gear saved your ass? Is it worthy of
recommendations, or disappointments? And glad you're here to tell us. 

[tomp]

Martin, glad things weren't any worse for you.  I do understand what you mean about glad after every ride.  I know I am, and never take sharing the roads with crazies in cars, trucks and buses, for granted.  Over the years I have lost several good friends to motorcycles, some their fault and some not.  Saw my best friend die in a dirt bike  incident, all of his own making.  That was in 1973, and I have kept that in my mind on every ride since then. FWIW, he died because he refused to wear a helmet, didn't feel it necessary on that one occasion.  He was wrong. 

I hope you are able to get a new 14 and have many years of riding enjoyment on it ahead.  tomp

[PH14]

Martin, you have a very healthy attitude. I'm sorry to hear about you accident, but I'm glad you are well other than the toe. Bikes can be repaired or replaced.

Been there done that, four broken bones but I walked away and rode home on the back of a friend's bike, about 40 miles, slept, and went to the hospital the next day. That was 1995 and I haven't done it again, but know it can happen at any time.

[martin_14]

well, good news. As I suspected (<-- that's a lie, I wanted/wished/hoped/begged more than suspected), the bike was left with the ignition on for too long and the battery went flat.

After the night on the Optimate III, I put the battery back on the bike and it started right away. You guys know the feeling: my heart got flooded with a great sensation. I couldn't resist sending a stupid sms to my girlfriend full of smileys 

Anyway, I already talked to my dealer and I'm driving her over for a quote for the repairs. Yesterday evening I looked in fleabay and I could find most fairing parts (basically the whole front/right), the right mirror (from China, though  ) and the headlight (also from China ), but not the freaking case and the front mudguard. Black C14s are a very, very rare sight in Germany. These folks truly have not taste

Still, I need the quote from the dealer to give it to the insurance from the Audi. I estimate that I will be 50% guilty of the accident and hence will get just 50% of the quote. Fair enough.
Max or V-Jim: I was going to ask you if you could make this it's own thread, so thanks for that. I really would like to keep people posted about how things unfold, as I've been reading on other people's experiences with insurances and sourcing out parts without resorting to paying Kawa full price, so I think it serves not only a cathartic purpose for me, but it also might be useful for others. Or just out of courtesy to those who want to see this through.

[martin_14]

Ok, so you don't want to talk about the series of events, how 'bout what gear saved your ass? Is it worthy of
recommendations, or disappointments? And glad you're here to tell us. 

I have to admit that I'm not an ATGATT driver, but I try. This time I only missed the pants, and I hit the floor at very low speed, probably 5 mph or something like that, according to the police, so the bike simply fell on my foot, and it seems like an alumium brake pedal is exactly as hard as a toe, because both lost their structural integrity 

Seriously, what saved the day was the proper gear. The bike would have crushed the foot were not for the boot. The fall would have broken my shoulder (I have a very good jacket from a German brand named "Bikers") and my head barely touched the asphalt, but as doctors know, even that can be fatal. However, I only know that I hit the ground with my head because of a scratch on the right side of the helmet. It's a Shoei Multitec and that thing is fantastic.

Again, nothing is torn, not even the jeans I was wearing, which shows how slow I was going, and I didn't fly above the car.

Ok, here a bit of detail. I met the car at 45°, on the front left bumper and driver door. It was a 2 lane street, plus a 3rd lane to turn left. He was trying to make a U turn coming all the way from being parked on the right, went over the two lanes of cars waiting at the red traffic light, and I was coming on the free turn-left-lane, as most bikes do here in Germany. Technically it is forbidden, but it is a usual practice and the police tolerates it. So, since there were several cars waiting at the red light, I didn't see him, or he me

The results are in the pic. What you cannot see is that my right leg was not crushed because the mirror/front fairing and the bag took the hit, and went kaput. After the impact with the car, since it wasn't perpendicular, the bike went on a couple of metres (yards ) and felt on the right, trapping my right foot. I didn't even brake, I think.

[VirginiaJim]

I have to admit that I'm not an ATGATT driver, but I try. This time I only missed the pants..

You weren't wearing pants?  I really don't want to imagine that.  So you also broke the bike's fall and protected it somewhat?  It could have been much worse for the bike if you hadn't of done that.

Seriously though, glad you are ok.  I typically ride like that, very good top gear and jeans and boots.  Yes, I know jeans don't last that long on a slide but it just depends on the trip whether I wear them with outer wear or not.  You should probably replace the helmet as well just in case as it did take some damage.

[gPink]

I don't know about now but years ago Shoei had an evaluation program for their helmets. IIRC if the helmet was sound (mine was) it was returned< if unsound it was destroyed.

[maxtog]

The results are in the pic. What you cannot see is that my right leg was not crushed because the mirror/front fairing and the bag took the hit, and went kaput. After the impact with the car, since it wasn't perpendicular, the bike went on a couple of metres (yards ) and felt on the right, trapping my right foot. I didn't even brake, I think.

Eeew.   It is too bad you didn't have Canyons to protect the bike (and in this case, you might have come away with almost no damage at all).  As a bonus, the Canyons will help to prevent the bike crushing the driver when doing down.  Glad to hear it starts up and runs!   Since it looks like the non-plastics might be OK, I bet it won't be super expensive to repair.

Like you, I wear good top gear (helmet, jacket, gloves) plus heavy boots, but only just jeans (unless it is cold, then I often wear jeans + chaps).  I split off the thread to help preserve the "tip-over switch" one.

Oh, what does "eenzegarteg" on the side of the bike mean?

[Walker18]

Oh, what does "eenzegarteg" on the side of the bike mean?

By the looks of things, my guess is "OUCH!"

Actually it means unique, which the lovely lady is!

[Jrodizzle07]

Really looks like it fared well, other than the plastic, hopefully nothing structural damaged. Also a great sign that it starts and runs! That's also a HUGE license plate! I guess I've never seen a German motorcycle plate before.

[martin_14]

indeed, "eenzegarteg" means "one of a kind" (eenzeg = unique, arteg = type) in Lëtzebuergesch, which is the original language in Luxemburg, where my girlfriend comes from.
And the reason it goes so well in the bike is that I park it daily among 50 BMW bikes. I always tell my colleagues not to be afraid: it's only power 

Addressing the explanation from Brian, yeap, my life happens in many languages: German at work, English with friends, Spanish with family, and Luxemburgish/French/German/hands with my girlfriend 

So I took the bike to the dealer yesterday. By the first look at it, without looking under the plastic too much, there's a cover on the ignition (right side of the crankshaft) that got hit and there's a few drops of oil coming out. Otherwise she's mechanically sound, and the frame didn't get any damage whatsoever. Plastics and a few brackets, plus the hugely expensive headlight and the "mask", and we're good to go. But they will really look into it and do the comprehensive parts list and quote the next couple of days, and I'll drop by on Monday to talk about it. The mechanic that always looks after her said that I should look at 3000 in parts (officially) but if I make do with a few scratches, we will get that down to 2000 or so. But we'll see on Monday... 

Meanwhile I'm looking at the German, Dutch and British fleabay to source salvaged headlights and mudguards and whatnot.

[martin_14]

small update.

The bike is in the shop and the dealer's quote is 5200 EUR (from now on I'll skip the currency, specially because the euro and us-dollar are so similar at the moment). As a side note, in Germany the C14 can be had for about 7000 with half the mileage of mine (60 000).
Anyway, he explained that this is the "official" quote, and if I'm willing to do some homework and try to find the components in fleabay or salvage yards, it might get substantially lower.
Lawyer said that by the looks of it, I will get about 65% of the money from the insurance, as I am about a third guilty in the accident, so that 35% is what the insurance will deduct.
At the same time I asked my dealer to perform the valve check. He admitted that he was going to ask me if I wanted that, since it was due and the tupperware is out anyway, so I'll save quite a bit of labour.
A couple of things caught my eye from the quote: the side case, ONE freaking side case, costs next to 900. Kawasaki will sell you the lead alone, but not the base. So if your fixing points are broken, you'll have to buy the whole thing  Second hand you might find the whole side case for 250.
The headlight costs about 550, and the mask around it (part number 55028-0198-17K) costs a freaking 326, and I can't find it second hand. Plastics (cowlings) in general, are ridiculously expensive. Fortunately, they can be found around.

[Jrodizzle07]

Oh man, that's a much higher estimate than I was hoping to read!! Those big plastic parts get expensive though. Hopefully you can find some of the parts cheaper. Do you think you'll keep it or go the 7k for 'new' bike route?

[maxtog]

Oh man, that's a much higher estimate than I was hoping to read!! Those big plastic parts get expensive though.

If you built a whole bike from OE parts, it would probably cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[tomp]

Martin, perhaps the bike is destined for a make over.  Check out this thread and video.  And they said it couldn't be done.

http://www.customfighters.com/forums/showpost.php?p=862220&postcount=31

[Deziner]

Love it!