Unbelievable

[Maddog]

Last week on the way to work while on a freeway transition road loop (think 270 degree turn) I crashed. Taking the turn at a moderate speed (35 MPH +/-) the back tire simply went out from underneath me. I slid a little and rolled a little but no damage to me. My FJR on the other hand, slid at first but then decided to start flipping.

When it first went down it was sliding on its right side. Then it flipped over to the left side and smashed the hell out of the handle bar, side case, muffler and slider. Then it flipped again, now landing on its right side and breaking some more stuff.

I got it and me out of the way of traffic quickly. Now I am no fan of truck drivers here in SoCal but the only person to stop and ask if I was okay was a trucker.

A quick inventory showed I had all my pieces and the FJR had enough to get home (riding with no mirrors is a bitch). The FJR started and ran fine. On the way home it tracked perfectly so I was thinking the damage was just cosmetic. But when the sun came up and I could see all of the damage I was discouraged. This was going to be expensive so I decided to make an insurance claim and take it to the dealer for an estimate. The estimate was $5900. This is for a 2004 FJR with 87,000 miles. I figured it was a total loss and I don't have the funds for a new bike right now (the insurance payout wouldn't have been enough for an equivalent replacement).

Then I called the insurance company today to find out when the final determination on my claim was to be made, and to my great shock, they said the repair estimate is lower than the value of the bike and it will be repaired!

So I get to keep my FJR and they will make it all better. Unbelievable.

 

[SacramentoMike]

How awful. I mean that's great. Guess the good news trumps the bad in this case. Glad you are/your bike will be OK!

 

[Old Michael]

Disturbing news Maddog, and of course relieved that you were not injured.

Why do you figure the rear end slipped out? Something on the road? Abrupt throttle? Car tire on the rear?

Have you determined what may have contributed to the slip?

 

[XJRGUY]

Glad you are ok and that insurance is sorting it all out.

Those "snake strips" on the SoCal freeways have a tendency to slick up sometimes.

That and the darn metal expansion joints in the rain are also a nuisance.

 

[palerider]

Last week on the way to work while on a freeway transition road loop (think 270 degree turn) I crashed. Taking the turn at a moderate speed (35 MPH +/-) the back tire simply went out from underneath me. I slid a little and rolled a little but no damage to me. My FJR on the other hand, slid at first but then decided to start flipping.
When it first went down it was sliding on its right side. Then it flipped over to the left side and smashed the hell out of the handle bar, side case, muffler and slider. Then it flipped again, now landing on its right side and breaking some more stuff.

I got it and me out of the way of traffic quickly. Now I am no fan of truck drivers here in SoCal but the only person to stop and ask if I was okay was a trucker.

A quick inventory showed I had all my pieces and the FJR had enough to get home (riding with no mirrors is a bitch). The FJR started and ran fine. On the way home it tracked perfectly so I was thinking the damage was just cosmetic. But when the sun came up and I could see all of the damage I was discouraged. This was going to be expensive so I decided to make an insurance claim and take it to the dealer for an estimate. The estimate was $5900. This is for a 2004 FJR with 87,000 miles. I figured it was a total loss and I don't have the funds for a new bike right now (the insurance payout wouldn't have been enough for an equivalent replacement).

Then I called the insurance company today to find out when the final determination on my claim was to be made, and to my great shock, they said the repair estimate is lower than the value of the bike and it will be repaired!

So I get to keep my FJR and they will make it all better. Unbelievable.

Wow--talk about your good/bad news days.

The EXACT SAME THING happened to me coming out of LAX on the 270-degree, right-hand, down ramp from Century Blvd to Sepulveda. Rear-end just simply slid out and away. Fortunately for me the bike didn't flip. I had sliders, and the right-side slider was worn to the nub from the slide. I got away pretty easy--broken mirror and a scrape on the side of the Givi 52. I thought that was all the damage there was, but about a month later the ABS error light started flashing. Turned out the front wheel was slightly out of alignment, and the front-wheel bearing was chewing itself to bits.

After the slide (a motorist got out of his car to help me lift the bike and get it over to the side), I looked back over the area where I'd slid, and there was a large puddle of oil on the ramp. Sometimes traffic backs up from Sepulveda back onto the ramp, and I'm guessing someone with a bad oil leak sat there for a few minutes shortly before I came around the curve.

Needless to say I'm MUCH more conservative on these ramps anymore.

 

[Maddog]

Disturbing news Maddog, and of course relieved that you were not injured.Why do you figure the rear end slipped out? Something on the road? Abrupt throttle? Car tire on the rear?

Have you determined what may have contributed to the slip?

That is the thing that bothers me the most about this incident. After moving the bike to the shoulder, I walked the transition road looking for what might have caused the tire to slip but I couldn't find anything. Now, granted it was 6:00 AM and the sun wasn't up, so the lighting wasn't too good but I couldn't see anything that might have caused it. No oil, no antifreeze, no pieces of tire, nothing. And I checked the tire on the bike and couldn't find any evidence of fluids.

And it definitely wasn't abrupt throttle; I've hit slippery stuff on this same road before. That's why I took it at a nice easy pace with smooth throttle inputs.

Now I'm sure some guys get pretty good milage out of a car tire on the back, but I'm a traditionalist and stick with proven performers, like a Michelin Pilot Road. : )

 

[Maddog]

Palerider - Glad to hear you didn't have too much damage (I'm going to have to keep an eye on the front bearing though). Isn't it weird when you do down like that; everything is fine one second, and the next you and your bike are on the ground. I've always wondered how I would react to crashing but it happened so fast I didn't have time to react.

 

[poorredman]

Glad you made it through the situation in one piece. I assume your riding gear did its job. Have any comments regarding your gear? I'm always interested in hearing real world experiences with riding clothes and how well they protect in crashes.

Thanks,

Eric

 

[Chris Prior]

Last week on the way to work while on a freeway transition road loop (think 270 degree turn) I crashed. Taking the turn at a moderate speed (35 MPH +/-) the back tire simply went out from underneath me. I slid a little and rolled a little but no damage to me. My FJR on the other hand, slid at first but then decided to start flipping.
When it first went down it was sliding on its right side. Then it flipped over to the left side and smashed the hell out of the handle bar, side case, muffler and slider. Then it flipped again, now landing on its right side and breaking some more stuff.

I got it and me out of the way of traffic quickly. Now I am no fan of truck drivers here in SoCal but the only person to stop and ask if I was okay was a trucker.

A quick inventory showed I had all my pieces and the FJR had enough to get home (riding with no mirrors is a bitch). The FJR started and ran fine. On the way home it tracked perfectly so I was thinking the damage was just cosmetic. But when the sun came up and I could see all of the damage I was discouraged. This was going to be expensive so I decided to make an insurance claim and take it to the dealer for an estimate. The estimate was $5900. This is for a 2004 FJR with 87,000 miles. I figured it was a total loss and I don't have the funds for a new bike right now (the insurance payout wouldn't have been enough for an equivalent replacement).

Then I called the insurance company today to find out when the final determination on my claim was to be made, and to my great shock, they said the repair estimate is lower than the value of the bike and it will be repaired!

So I get to keep my FJR and they will make it all better. Unbelievable.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Maddog. It is truly amazing how fast a bike goes down. At the end of the day remember how lucky you are, all it would have taken was one car to clip you and your riding days - gone. A good shop will bring that bike back to show room condition - the bike will be perfect. Stories like yours forces us to reflect on how we ride.

Chris

 

[dsmack]

That absolutely sucks to hear that you went down, especially when you couldn't find an apparent reason for the slip-out. I wonder if maybe your tires were still a little on the cold side, where it was that early in the morning. Glad the trucker stopped to help you out, too!

In the overall scheme of things, it surprises me that your insurance company is repairing the bike, but that is better for you it sounds, so GOOD for them for stepping up to the plate.

If you don't mind my asking, who is your insurer?

Hope the scoot gets fixed well and quickly!

Don

 

[daviddowns2000]

Disturbing news Maddog, and of course relieved that you were not injured.Why do you figure the rear end slipped out? Something on the road? Abrupt throttle? Car tire on the rear?

Have you determined what may have contributed to the slip?

That is the thing that bothers me the most about this incident. After moving the bike to the shoulder, I walked the transition road looking for what might have caused the tire to slip but I couldn't find anything. Now, granted it was 6:00 AM and the sun wasn't up, so the lighting wasn't too good but I couldn't see anything that might have caused it. No oil, no antifreeze, no pieces of tire, nothing. And I checked the tire on the bike and couldn't find any evidence of fluids.

Man, that sux. Had to have been something! Tire pressure low? Frost? I skidded while walking in the grocery store today, someone spilled salt in the aisle. Good that you are OK. What a puzzler!

 

[Jagermeister]

Sorry to hear about your get-off. So, the adjuster said no Frame damage? When mine got whiff of a possible bent subframe, he totaled it immediatly.

In a sharp turn like that, it may have been Diesel fuel in the road, sloshed out of a tank in the corner. Diesel + rubber = very bad juju.

 

[Tyler]

Well, all things considered, sounds like the moto gods were lookin' out for ya on all levels! Bikes can be fixed/replaced... people can't... glad that you were able to walk away... the rest is just icing on the proverbial cake.

 

[s_boy]

That absolutely sucks to hear that you went down, especially when you couldn't find an apparent reason for the slip-out. I wonder if maybe your tires were still a little on the cold side, where it was that early in the morning. Glad the trucker stopped to help you out, too!
In the overall scheme of things, it surprises me that your insurance company is repairing the bike, but that is better for you it sounds, so GOOD for them for stepping up to the plate.

If you don't mind my asking, who is your insurer?

Hope the scoot gets fixed well and quickly!

Don

glad you are not hurt - but like the above post i was amazed your insurance covered this without a police report of the accident? i think i'll call and find out how my company would have handled it - just curious?

 

[fjrboomer]

Maddog I am sorry to hear about your unplanned get off. It is great that you were not hurt and that the bike will be fixed. My brother-in-law went down on an interstate last year ending up prone between lanes 1& 2 of 3. A trucker saw him and pulled up and blocked both lanes so no one would run over him. NO one got his name so we were never able to thank him.

Take care and do not be suprised if in a few weeks things will come to you as to what happened in those last seconds before you went down. My brother-in-law had that experience. Hope you are back on the bike real soon. Stay safe.

 

[Maddog]

poorredman - The gear did its job. My Scorpion 700 helmet took a minor hit to the chin and the shell cracked - so the insurance company is picking up the cost of a new one. The gloves are Gerber heated gloves - very minor road rash, they are still okay to use. The jacket is a Cycleport Ultra II Air Mesh - there is one small area on the right arm where it got scuffed up but that's it. The pants are Firstgear mesh pants and they took the brunt of the impact when my hip initially hit the ground; one small cut (about a 1/4 inch) and some road rash. They can probably be used again but they are definitely weak in that area so ultimately must be replaced. The boots are Cruiser Works Commando - the toe is where the main impact hit and they are very roughed up there (these boots do have a toe cup so my toes are fine) but they are still servicable.

dsmack - Tires weren't cold, by the time of the accident I had gone maybe 15 miles at freeway speeds. My insurer is State Farm. They have been pretty good to deal with; the only thing I thought was unfair was that they don't cover clothing, only helmets. But I can't complain given the result.

daviddowns2000 - Tire pressure was okay and the temps were in the high 40s so I don't think it could have been frost. On the shoulder of the road I did see some rubber bits (not sure what they were - kind of like a tire went through a shredder) but I could not see any of that debris in the road way.

 

[wel1123]

Anti-Freeze can look pretty harmless, more like a wet spot if it's spread out enough and still be slick as can be. Ask me how I know.

 

[Bokerfork]

Your Scorpion 700 took a minor hit but the shell is cracked! I suspect it either took a much harder hit than you realize, or, like a diamond, the angle and force were just enough to cause a failure. Given what I've read recently about helmet shells, I'm surprised.

Nonetheless, glad all is well. As well as it could be, all things considered.

 

[Maddog]

s boy - You know I never even thought about calling the police. My only thought as I was going down was "I'm going to catch hell from my wife." She is not a fan of motorcycles, to put it mildly. She has actually been very supportive and when we thought it was totaled she asked me if I was going to replace it.

Strangely, now that you mention it, I don't think the insurance folks ever asked me if the police were called. Maybe they did and I just hit the pavement harder than I thought.