Tuesday 8 July 2014

Crash, Bang, Wallop

Well...  After many years (over 10+) of care free riding I've finally come a cropper and been knocked off the bike.  Coming out of work after a short 8pm - midnight shift I was caught on the left-hand side by a car and sent rolling down the road with the bike following me.  Seems the bike has come off worse from the accident than myself.  I've suffered a broken metacarpal in my left hand, which now has a pin holding it all together, whereas the bike has more significant damage.

Broken mirror, scuffed brake lever, damaged front fairing,
minor scratches to the screen.

.

Scraping down the side of the front main farings.

Damage to the bellypan / footboards.

Damage to exhaust cover (not sure what damage may
have been caused to the exhaust / pipework)

Damage to the air box.

Damage to pillion footpeg / center stand
and surrounding fairing.

On speaking to the insurance company we're looking at getting the bike repaired for a total outlay of around £1500, not including at additional faults found.  I could have had the bike written off but it's currently on finance and I forgot to purchase the all important gap cover that allows you to bridge the gap between the book price and the price of a new bike. - Lesson learnt, an important add-on to anybody taking out finance!

I could have paid £1500 to bridge the gap between the book value of around £2200 and the costs of a new bike, which is still retailing at around £3500.  My bike is just over a year old, was in great shape, has two brand new tyres and should be relatively new after repairs.  Really didn't make much sense to be spending additional money on top of my regular monthly finance payments.



As for me...  I've spent a good few days gracing the local hospitals, sitting in waiting rooms for hours on end, to be patched up with a little pin sticking out of my left hand.  Seems I'm healing well and hopefully should be pin free for my fly / ride holiday planned at the end of July.

My hand just after the accident.
I nearly left it like that thinking it was just a bad bruise.

My hand after being bandaged up
ready for my pin to be fitted at
Pinderfields hospital, Wakefield.