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Cruiser
Posts: 190
| So there I was, sitting in the shade on the front porch of the Welcome Center in Collinwood, TN taking a short break from riding the Trace. I was half way through my glass of ice water and had just started enjoying one of the chocolate chip cookies the nice lady inside had given me. From around the corner in the direction of the side parking lot, I heard a strange and new-to-me sound. I got up and peaked around the corner to see a young man standing next to a BIG white van wondering where that bike had come from.
Noticing my expression, he mentioned that he hadn't seen the bike. "Well," I told him, "It's not a big bike." Anyway, he'd backed into my parked bike, knocking it forward enough to run the front tire up onto one of those concrete bumpers they put in parking lots to keep people from pulling too far forward. It's actually the first time I liked having that trunk rack on the bike because it did WAY more damage to the back door on his delivery van than my bike got from tipping over. I did notice that when you put the front tire on top of one of those concrete bumpers...give'er an extra 5 or 6 inches of height, that those tip over bars simply don't do much good.
Other than some damage to the edge of the left side fairing/mirror housing and a cracked left tail light, the bike doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear. However, I'm 3 days into a 2 week vacation and another 1 1/2 weeks from home where I can have my local Vic dealer give me the bad news. All-in-all the ride down the Nachez Trace was uneventful but that'll teach me to assume that "little" bike of mine will be ok in a well marked parking spot.
Edited by beemerdad2@yahoo.com 2015-09-02 10:30 PM
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Tourer
Posts: 341
West Salem, WI United States | Hopefully you got enough pictures and the drivers insurance to get everything covered! I had a lady "bump" me from behind at a stop light, didn't do any damage and when I walked back to her window and asked her what happened she said "I don't know"... |
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Visionary
Posts: 1308
Sand Rock, AL United States | wow! , sorry for your misfortune. And , no, I wouldn't expect the tip overs to work in that situation. That's not what they are designed for. Hope you get some help from someone local to you. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 190
| It gets even better. I stop for gas this morning in western Louisiana..get off the bike and am standing a couple feet away from the left hand mirror. Just as I get my helmet off, I "felt" something brush my left wrist, look left and see some lady is backing her car to within a foot of the same mirror that was damaged 2 days earlier! Of course I put my hands on the car trunk, stopping it in it's tracks. Well...maybe shouting STOP at the driver helped a bit.
At any rate, the bike was saved this time...nice lady apologized and I just figured it's my week to come across idiots. My insurance agent will wait until I get back to Michigan the weekend following Labor Day to get the estimate from my local Vic dealer. I could probably get along fine without replacing the plastic that was damaged but the fact that it's been messed up in the first place makes me want to replace what's in need of replacing. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2027
Brighton, TN | The mirror housing is mounted in the middle to the frame, something like that and it breaks the bolt holes where it mounts when it gets shifted. Ask me how I know I got a broke spare on my shelf in the shop. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 804
Perry Hall, MD | Sorry to hear what happened, but good to know you could still ride the bike. Thought any about getting her painted in a brilliant red? lol |
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Cruiser
Posts: 180
Georgia On My Mind.... United States | Trials and tribulations!
I admire your spirit!
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Cruiser
Posts: 190
| Little update here....my local bike shop did a walk-around when I got back to Michigan after my vacation and came up with approximately $1800 worth of damage that this kid did when he backed into my bike. While the plastic on the left side fairing and speaker cover was scuffed up and the left saddlebag door had paint scrapped off...I sure didn't see where he was coming up with $1800.
Imagine my surprise when the insurance adjuster had a total slightly over $3100! A couple of the parts are on back order AND I'm getting a new front fender bracket now that I'm listed with Victory as the owner. Sometimes things work out better than we expect.
Edited by beemerdad2@yahoo.com 2015-10-08 11:42 AM
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | Good on you. Two incidences in my life much like that. The first one was in 1986 in Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, a foreign student borrowing a car with no insurance backed into and knocked over my 1981 CB750 Custom Honda. I immediately called the local dealer who came to pick it up. My concern was the kickstand was bent, seemingly at the frame and I wanted to be sure it was safe to ride. I reported the accident to my insurance company, AllState, who began litigation with the owner of the car, that had no insurance. An adjuster came out to inspect the bike and before long he had totaled it. It also seemed the dealer wanted to "salvage" the bike and became mad when I told them I would take the reduced claim and the bike back. When I picked up the bike, safe to ride, but no work was done to it, they wouldn't even help me get it started from sitting so long. I was able to push it and ride away and rode it several few more years after that. The assessment was made due to some scratches on the fairing I had installed, scratches on the exhaust pipes, bent kickstand, and some other insignificant and hardly noticeable scratches on some body panels. The take $1,800. New two years earlier, I paid $1,800. I bought it new 1984 as a leftover from 1981. The second time was on the Vision where a guy pushed my wife and I at a stop sign. While there were scratches, and I called the police because how upset I was, but thankful it wasn't worse. The officer assess the acceptable cost of repairs would be $1,000 or more. I just wanted the report so I wouldn't be at fault and to make the guy aware to watch for motorcycles sitting in front of him and not ones going down the road. His insurance lady came out looked, and then called my dealer that refused to give her prices unless I brought the bike in. She hung up, called another Victory dealer who gave her prices on the left side bags parts. That came to about $1,600 or so and I promptly got a check. I went to look at replacing the parts, and aside from the scratches, nothing was broke or cracked. We had been push three feet with the brakes locked, with minor damage. I was still a happy camper. At the end of the day, it really is just stuff. Keep riding safe.
Edited by varyder 2015-10-08 12:06 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 244
| Just got hit in the car (driver front finder). When I got out of the car the other driver was out and said "DID I RUN A RED LITE". She told the cop, I guess I ran a red lite. It's not safe out there guy.
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | No, not for none of us. I almost got nailed at an intersection about 3 years ago, inches from the pickup that ran the light. Because I had the front brakes on hard and the wheel kicked left and dropped the bike as the truck whizzed by me, folks thought I did get hit. A lady in the turn lane chase the pickup down, called 911 and they got her. An elderly lady from New England who said she didn't see the light, even though there were two lanes of traffic stopped at the light and she had the open lane. The tip overs worked well and I think she got a ticket because she admitted she ran the light. She was shook up, and all I asked of her to be more careful. Fortunately I hesitate at lights for that very reason and it paid off in huge dividends that time. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 190
| Well..it's been a month and I'm still waiting for the Victory Motorcycle Company to come through with the 2 back-ordered parts. Everything else has been sitting at the dealership except the plastic for the left front fairing turn signal area and the speaker cover as well as the rear left-side tip over bar.
Can't believe it takes this long to get something in and it shows me one of the glaring weaknesses Victory has....a seeming-to-me lack of concern over customer service and slow turn around on parts. Glad I can still ride.
Edited by beemerdad2@yahoo.com 2015-10-30 12:01 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | A friend has a V-Rod and he got a big enough dent in his tank to warrant getting new one. I took more than 6 months, the entire riding season for him before he got the new tank from Harley. The problem I see is that even the industry treats motorcycles as niceties and not necessities, so they will not be in a hurry to get you your parts. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3773
Pittsburgh, PA | hey chris , im glad you shared that about the Vrod and HD... if the most money making motorcycle company in the universe took that long .. then it is like you said.... |
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Cruiser
Posts: 190
| Wow..that's just inexcusable to me. Long as I can ride it's not a big deal but it'd be easier..(and more fun) if I could ride the bike to the shop when it comes time to replace the parts. Trailering is never something I enjoy doing but if the snow's flying side-ways I can put up with it. |
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Tip-over bars didn't work