Time Heals

Finally, after a month, she is HOME!!!!
Insurance covered every broken part, minus a couple scratches and such that I agreed upon(I have a oil reservoir to repaint and a couple scuff on the frame to buff out). But she is in better shape than when I got her.





With a tear in my eye I placed another helicopter memorial sticker on the new Zero Gravity smoked screen. Clint, Chris, and Browski are forever honored. Alas on 3/31/13 I lost another good friend in a helicopter crash. Trooper Tage Toll was killed when Alaska State Trooper Helo 1 cashed during a search and rescue mission
north of Anchorage. Tage and I have been friends since my Kansas days. Rest easy, Trooper.


And now, the list:
Right mirror
Right side cowl
Right turn signal
Right bar end
Left side cowl
Left turn signal
Brake pedal
Gear shift
Brake lever
Clutch lever
Front cowl
Zero Gravity smoked screen
Front cowl inners
Headlight Assy
Header cowl
Rear Pilot Road 2CT
battery
All associated stays, clips, bolts

Thanks to Nate at Mussleman's Honda in Tucson and Brett at Progressive Insurance. They both made sure I was taken care of during the process. I really have few complaints about the whole ordeal(other than the time it took).

Thanks again to Nungboy. We'll have that drink soon!

Sorry about the sideways pics. My phone was laying down on the job(get it?).

 

That is purty my friend.

 

Nice bike, I am a fan of yellow too

Glad you made it out of it ok, bikes get better with age anyway.

 

She's lookin' purty once again!! :biggrin:

 

Welcome back Drewl. Looks as good as ever .

 

Just from the information given here my guess the damage on the left side is when she hit you and knocked you down on your right side!

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune (or whatever the fcuk her name was!) Glad it worked out ok and you weren't badly hurt.

 

I'm going to play devils advocate here, but first off glad that you are OK & that your bike is fixed.
But why didn't you stop the lady in question & the witnesses behind you for her insurance details & there addresses so they could give statements ?
Was the lady indicating ? or just crossed lanes ? How was it possible for her to cross 2 lanes without you seeing here or taking appropriate avoiding action ?

Now I'm going to present a scenario, which I have found myself in in the past, so don't shoot the messenger.

I can only assume that you may have been travelling at an unsafe velocity (see your own words at the start re past experience) & thus were unprepared for her actions & then unable to mitigate them due to your own speed ! Please correct me if I'm wrong, the witnesses may have corroborated the fact that you were travelling at excessive speed. This would then have impacted how the police viewed you & your claim if they were contacted.

Regarding the preprogrammed to look for cars, I often ask people what they look for when about to pull out of a junction & the normal two responses are 1. That its clear (predisposed assumption) & 2. Cars. I always reply by stating that I look for MOVEMENT, anything moving is a danger ! That can be people, bicycles, Bikes, or any other traffic.
Try it on your friends, colleagues etc.

 

Looks good! Riding time again.

 

Mohawk,

I am going to jump in here a bit to Drewls defense even though he is quite capable himself.

I re-read his post and he does not appear to be absolving himself of sometime being adventurous with his riding. Nor do I. But I have ridden with him a few times as a group, and also for a fair distance from Atascadero to the northward for a few hours. His riding style is not reckless. But I don't assume you are suggesting that either.

His perspective of the chain of events her from what I read in this was that they were both travelling in the same direction, he in a clear right lane or curb lane as I would refer to it in my former professional life. She was in the fast lane, left lane, or what ever terminology one might use to refer to a lane closer to the centre line. I do understand that sometimes there are actions that most drivers can do most the time to prevent a collision, but Drewl was driving along in a clear lane with reasonable expectations for that lane to be safe. The driver of the car, regardless of a signal, suddenly moved over three lanes and took a space that was legally occupied, or was immediately about to be legally by Drewl. I would assume she did not see Drewl, but that is her error. He was there. Otherwise the collision would not have taken place.

Now should Drewl have seen this about to happen? Possibly so. In a perfect world we see everything in front and in our peripheral vision. But in the real world, we don't more often that we like to admit. A prudent driver would not suddenly cut across three lanes of traffic . That is simply not the way to do things. You make one lane change at a time and a pause between lanes. Mirrors - signal - shoulder check - eyes front then move. For every lane.

From a police prospective, Drewl's speed may have been a contributing factor to some degree. But to a degree to even consider here, it would have had to be an absurd speed which is not indicated. And even so, the fact that he may have been riding at a higher rate of speed, does not negate the responsibility of the person making a lane change, or already driving in a lane of safety, to move to another lane where someone else occupies legally and in safety, unless, that move can be made safely. That is what went wrong here.

I won't shoot the messenger because I don't own a gun. But next time I am over your way, you can buy me a G & T.

 

Gotta go with Mohawk. Drewl just didn't crash all by himself and show me anyone who comes off a bike and can recount in detail all the factors from up to down is tossing out BS..

What we got here with the woman in the cage is a contributing factor and something for the authorities to sort out. Consider this.. Where will all the well-wishers be when it comes time for D to pay his next insurance premium?

 

Drewl:

Glad to hear you are OK and the bike is back together.

God Bless,

BZ