Off the road for a while

[Hunar]

As the title says gonna be off the road for a while, after a young lady reversed into it, taking it off the side stand and a right hand drop onto the kerb. I was in the flat at the time and heard it go over (god thats a chilling sound!).

Initial damage seems to be that the right side of the fairing is totally smashed, and the brake pedal has punctured a small hole into the engine casing.

I let her settle for a while, after getting her upright again, before I started her and she fired up first time no worries, but there was oil slow being forced out the small hole created by the brake pedal.

As I doubt very much she will pay for the repairs, I will have to go through the insurance, which will probably end up with them writing her off, and I doubt very much that the insurance company will give me top dollar for her :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Looking around at other bikes at the moment just in case, will probably go for another FJ1200, but need to see how much they will give me for her yet.

Not sure how long all this will take, hopefulyl not too long so I can be up and mobile again.

See you all soon I hope,

Stuart

[R1chie]

Why won't 'she' pay for the repairs?

Is this someone you know?

Bad luck btw

[Hunar]

Why won't 'she' pay for the repairs?

Is this someone you know?

Bad luck btw

I just spoke with her on the phone and told her how much a replacement fairing is for my bike, and obviously it would need to be fitted and sprayed, and she doesn't even have that available, so the extra money needed for the other repairs and check over will also be out of her reach, so its going through the insurance companies.

Not sure if I will be able to claim a hire bike to use while mine is off the road, and not sure how much I will get for her if or when they write her off. I am hoping to do a deal where I get as much as I can in cash and keep the bike, but will see what happens.

[6T]

sorry to hear your bikes been damaged stuart,if you manage to get a payout from the insurance and are able to keep the bike it may be worth looking on ebay for parts to repare her.Regards Steve

[BB]

Sorry to hear about that - stupid female! >:(
Real bad luck landing on the kerb and holing the case like that

BB

[Dabz]

really sorry to hear that mate, hopefully it goes through pretty quickly for you :(

[FJ_Biker]

That’s bad news

I suspect you’re right the insurance will write the bike off for you.

I would try and get a hire bike

[Hunar]

OK an update as to whats going on...

Firstly my insurance company is picking up my bike and dropping off a 650 Bandit for me to ride while the claim is being sorted out. So a bit of a happy note there, at least I am not going to be without any form of transport while this is sorted out.

And now the not so good bit. I have not been able to get hold of the girl that hit the bke since the evening of the day it happened. I have sent text messages with my contact details on it, and left a message on her voice mail over the past 2 days, nothing. She was here visiting the couple that live over the road, so I went to see them, know them very well, so wasn't worried. I spoke to Steve, and it turns out it was his sister in law that hit my bike, and he's not sure she is insured. He's pretty certain that she doesn't have a full driving license, and not sure if she even has a provissional, and if she doesn't then he doubts very much she has kept up her insurance payments.

His wife is going to be on the phone and sorting it out for me, but from what he's saying I shouldn't hold my breath. He is also gettign her address and other details for me as well. So not sure what happens now, but I am pretty sure that I'm not going to come out of it ahead of the game, or even in the same place I was before she hit the bike.

[FJ_Biker]

Hunar Wrote

and he's not sure she is insured. He's pretty certain that she doesn't have a full driving license, and not sure if she even has a provissional, and if she doesn't then he doubts very much she has kept up her insurance payments.

Hunar you are taking this news very well I would be lived

Who’s going to end up paying for the hire bike if she has no insurance?

[Dabz]

Good news about getting a temporary bike, plus a 650 bandit is quite cool :D That sucks about her possibly being uninsured, it really makes my blood boil when people do that...why should we pay our premiums every year only for some people to think they're special enough to not have to. If it turns out she's either unlicensed or uninsured or both I hope she gets everything that's coming to her - she should not have been on the road in the first place!

rant over..deep breaths :P

[Hunar]

I have no idea what happens, I am waiting for confirmation from the guy over the road or from the girl herself. If it does work out that because she is uninsured I then have to pay for the hire of the bike out of my own pocket, then I need to find around £68 per day, which isn't a nice prospect at all, with our current financial circumstances (and I am sure that everyone is in the same boat at the moment) thats not going to be possible by any means, but they way I see it, if they can't get the money out of her, then they damned sure ain't getting it from me. If they want to chase someone about the bill for the hire bike, then they can chase her about it.

My mother is a solicitior so she is goign to be having a few words with people in her office to see what can be done. I am trying to remain optimistic about whats happening, but in all honesty it doesn't look good from my point of view.

OK, if she is uninsured then she is going to be in some trouble with the law, and I know that they are talkign about up'ing the fines and punishments for being found with no insurance, but not sure if thats taken hold just yet, and the majority of cases I have looked at so far that involve a low speed collision like mine end up with the offending driver getting a £200 fine and banned for 3 months, which, as someone pointed out, isn't a bad saving really, a possible £200 pound fine instead of a guaranteed £500+ premium, and what does a 3 month ban matter to someone who doen't have a full or possible even a provisional license?

If she is uninsured, and unable to pay then baslically (from what I have been able to understand) the future goes like this. My insurance company having no one else to claim the money back from, will put the claim for the accident on my insurance, meanign i will lose my 2 years no claims, and also will have a claim recorded against me, which will obviously increase my insurance alot next renewal.

I will need to pay the policy excess for any repairs done, or for the final payout if (or rather when) they write the bike off, so thats another £150 out of my pocket.

Its quite likely that I will then also be responsible for the payments on the hire bike (£62 or 68 per day, and bearing in mind even with insurance carol nash have said it can take several weeks to clear up).

As the repairs are quite likely to cost almost as much as the bikes current book value, they will write it off, and then obviously make me an offer of payment to what they believe the value of the bike is, of course I will dispute the first offer they make (unless for some reason its well above what i need, which i doubt), and they will also remove the £150 excess from that payout. The bike is insured with a value of £1k, which I am 100% sure they will not offer me, even if they offer me £685 (which will end up as £535 with the excess removed) I doubt very much I will get an even half decent bike for that. I have also mentioned that there is a new £600 exhaust system just been added, £200 of avon tyres just put on front and rear, £50 new battery added a few days ago, fairly recent MoT, and a few other little bits that I have done to the bike, which ni total are probably worth more than the offer I will get, but aparently this doesn't count, as they only go by the book price for the bike.

now check this out, lets say the offer me £500 for my bike, becuase of the hire bike, they will probably take the cost of that from my claim money, and as its goign to take a few weeks to sort the claim out, longer if she isn't insured. Now the hire bike will probably be taken away from me when they find out that the woman isn't insured as they cannot claim that back from her insurance, but I will be liable for the charges of that bike, and they will deduct it from my final settlement.

I can bring a personal court action against her, as can the insurance and the police, but if she doesn't have the money to pay it, then there isn't much I can do. Yes she will get the punishment from the law (points, fine, ban, etc) but when it comes to payment, she can just say 'I can't afford it, blah blah blah, £1 per month', and I pretty much have to acccept it. I can go through a company / organisation called MIB (alas not the Will Smith type of MiB), which is set up to help people in my position, but from the many cases I have read through, in order to get you money back, you will first of all be responsible for the first £300, and it will take YEARS to get the momeny back, I have not seen anyone report it took a few weeks, everyone is saying 2+ years, some are still waiting 5 years later, because they have a huge backlog which they are unable to make any serious headway into, and they do not like to make the payout at all if they can avoid it.

End result?

Well at the moment it looks like this...

I will end up with no bike, lose my no claims (and of course have the fact that i have made a claim also recorded), and be out of pocket by what could end up being quite a large amount, and because I will be unable to pay that, then of course its my turn in the dock for non payment.

and she gets?

£200 fine, £60 costs, and banned for 3 months from the action the police will take against her for driving with no insurance, which she will probably pay at £1 per month. If I do bring a successfull claim against her privately, I will probably win, but what good is that when she pays the compensation at £1 per week?

[BB]

Feckin' hell mate - what can I say! :(

You have my sympathy and I hope it works out better than it appears at the moment.

BB

[Dabz]

where's the justice in that? I assume you don't have any kind of protection against uninsured drivers on your policy? I think I was offered the option of an extra £25 which I didn't take (not on a £125 policy)

[weefrenchie]

Hey Hunar, sorry to read that - I might be able to help you - I have been dealing with motor claims for over 5 years now so I know a fair bit about it all!

Give me a call and we'll discuss - I'll PM you my number

:)

[6T]

hope it ends up in your favour hunar, its people like that who make are premiums so high in the 1st place, theres no justice >:(

[SupeRDel]

If you are riding a FJ1200 then it must be a classic in insurance terms.

You get special policies for these bikes where you get guaranteed values added to the policy - you have to agree the amount with the insurance company. Wot ever happens if the bike is written off they pay you that amount.

Then buy the bike back from them then strip it for bits and sell them on ebay.

Most of the damage sounds purely cosmetic

The only serious problem you have is the holed crank case!
Not too sure exactly where the hole is from your description. The break pedal is very close to the clutch cover on the FJ engine. This cover could be replaced.

You can remove this cover with out draining the oil on a FJR/XJR

If the hole is behind the cover and is as small as you say then I would be looking to get it welded

[Amante_271]

Hi ya buddy. Been off the site as couldnt log in for ages as having probs with the computer (again!)

Really sorry to hear about "Fudge". :'( Hope all works out ok for you, if I can help you, just ask!! :)

[Kevinb]

Stu

Sorry to hear about the FJ

You need to speak to the guy over the road (or get his wife as sister to sister might work better) and tell him his sister in law has got 24 hours to contact you. If not you will call the police. If she was provisional and not insured she can sell her car (which she shouldn't be driving) to pay for the damage.
It wasn't your fault and you shouldn't be penalised.
There are enough bikers on this site, maybe intimidation might work.

Cheers

Kev

[Hunar]

well at the moment its like this, I am riding around of a 2008 bandit 650 (not a bad bike, but uncomfortable as hell, feels like ur sat on a plank of wood!), Fudge is in Manchester at Carol Nash's workshop have a quote for repair sorted.

I will call carol nash today, find out how much they will charge me for canceling the claim, and how much the quote for repair is. These two sums will be added together, and thast how much she will have to pay, in cleared funds into a bank account before I will stop the claim.

She should find out today how much this will cost her, and I am not waiting for payment, she pays before I cancel. I have explained due to her lack of quick and clear communication that the insurance compnay might add on up to £1k for me stopping the claim as they have arrange for my hire bike (£68 per day), their mechanics will have spent time sorting out a quote, etc etc, and they may well produce a bill for over £1k for repairs to the bike (not sure if they wuill order the rear can and fairing from Yamaha, but it will be expensive if they do). So she knows there could be a bill in excess of £2k comign her way, which she says she accepts, but time will tell.

[ONFIRE]

You might want to have a chat with these people :-/

http://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/motorcycle-accident/

http://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/motorcycle-accident/legal-advice/

Its worth a call... 8-)