Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

You are usually obliged to tell your insurance company and it normally only affects the premium if they pay you anything. If anyone has been injured you should call the police at the roadside. Insurance companies will try to sell you their legal cover by suggesting a claim could still be made against you, this happens even if it seems pretty clear cut, later on in the process you talk to people who actually understand liability!

It’s normally resolved in a sensible way, there’s little point in hiding from your own insurance company as they can share information from other insurers anyway.

If you’re not too badly injured you’ve had a lucky escape, hope you heal up fast and her insurance makes you whole on the bike.

Thanks all, will be making the calls this morning. Going to start with a free advice legal line, then follow with my insurance. Which is MCE so I’m not looking forward to that having read the reviews of them on here.
I’m just achey today. Cuts and bruises to my leg, my shoulder and wrist are a little sore but definitely nothing broken so I’m not bothered about pursuing anything relating to injuries. I’m just bummed about the bike.
It’s mostly cosmetic damage but the forks and engine cover are the biggest broken bits. Not sure how easy these are to source and replace. I wouldn’t want the bike to be written off. Also it’s an aluminium frame so who knows if it’s cracked or damaged elsewhere.

1 Attachment

Hope you heal up quick and can get everything dealt with (relatively) headache free!

http://www.wemoto.com can be a good place to start for sourcing parts.

Parts fiche available at http://www.cmsnl.com can be very useful too for finding the parts code for bits and pieces.

Bad buzz dude. Glad to hear you're ok though! I would have thought the course of action would be as Jaitch suggested that your insurance company would deal with her insurance company to claim on your behalf?

Just got off the phone with them having reported it so now just to wait and see how it goes.
My mate does his test this weekend so mostly I’m just gutted I won’t be able to get out and ride with him while he’s all excited and the weather is still nice

Wemoto recommendation seconded - really good - Ebay's always good for secondhand spares.

I guess it comes down to seeing how the insurance want to proceed. If I have to take it to a garage for fixing and then charge the other party then I’ll just hand it over and get it back fixed hopefully. Otherwise I’ll treat it to some R&G covers, renthal bars and some replacement panels. The only thing that will always be there is the frame scrapes. External alloy frame and all. Not really repairable I guess.

1 Attachment

Frame scrapes / chips usually mean insurance write off...

Wouldn’t be a bad thing I guess. I paid less than what it’s worth for it I reckon. If they write it off, presumably I could buy it back cheaply and repair the broken bits myself with money to spare

I reckon your forks are meant to have that split, with the pinch bolts closing it up maybe?

I think so too now, just had a panic yesterday when looking at all of the scrapes on my pride and joy!

Yeah..don't get your hopes up too much dude. I had two policies with MCE; both of which shat the bed. Take a billion pictures, get statements, and don't fall in for some of their trick questions.
Also remember your excess if you have it. I was offered £50 for my first stolen bike because I got fucked by excess and apparently I didn't use the specified 16mm chain as opposed to my 14mm one.
Also, if you declare and start a new policy, that'll be on your new policy, which will raise your premiums a bit.
Sorry to be a downer, as long as you're alright, that's what matters most.

Also, battle scars are awesome.

@BrickMan Bike shop ordered new seals....from Nissin Japan...

She’s immediately calling her insurance and reporting it to the police which I told her wasn’t necessary anyway.

Tbh she was doing exactly the right thing. And if the same happens again you should too.

If I'd called the police when a Brompton knocked me off I'd have been much better for it.

But as others have said definitely make sure you are physically OK.

Also replacement 2nd hand forks should be easy to source on ebay. What bike is it?

Suzuki GSR600. If nothing comes of a claim, I’m not too worried, I don’t think repairs will be difficult or expensive to do myself. I wouldn’t want to receive a counter claim from her though. I can’t imagine she’d succeed since it was her who drove into me though.

I’ve heard filtering can be a grey area but good luck getting it sorted!
Right hooks are my nightmare tbh

Glad to hear you're OK and the bike is in more or less one piece!

I'd get ready for a 50/50... I don't know anyone that's got paid out on a filtering accident, including myself. Oddly enough it was my first 'other vehicle' crash many years ago too, taken out by a lady doing a u-turn in Brompton Rd, traffic warden as witness and no possible right turn for at least 60 yards. Settled 50/50. Super annoying but just get back on and try and forget about it.

Good luck!

+1 on 50/50, also my first bike crash too, many years ago.

I’ve got three friends will old guzzi I’ll ask them One of them must have a lead that can help you.

Thanks, but no need to now.
Just got a pair today! The clue was scrutinising obscure parts fiches for the polizia version, which turned out to have the same engine, but had added replacement versions of these parts for a much longer period. That gave me two other parts numbers to search for.
Say hello from a fellow Guzzi rider though.
You still have the old BMW?

Talking about inlet manifolds: Do I polish them inside before mounting? Or doesn't it matter?

Yeah still have the silver dream racer

IIRC polishing used to be recommended as part of engine tuning, but has been up for debate for some decades - at least since I was an undergraduate in the '70s.
The argument for polishing used to be couched in terms of pressure drop across the manifold, and a highly polished surface will theoretically give a higher flow rate.
The argument against a highly polished finish is that turbulent flow gives better mixing of fuel and air - a matt abraded surface finish should be sufficient to disturb laminar flow in most cases.
My suspicion is that with older manifolds, the early stages of a polishing process will remove gross casting core marks, which in turn allows a higher flow rate than the 'as cast' finish, but going on to a high polish will be time consuming and may even be counterproductive in terms of overall efficiency. More recent castings are likely to have a 'better' surface finish to begin with?
I'd take time to confirm that everything lines up correctly, there are no steps or edges introduced by gaskets, no obvious (internal) surface defects, and then put it all together.

Would anyone be interested in a DMD vintage style helmet in 56? Used a handful of times amd almost as new condition.
Girlfriend/smaller head size.
Good for your DGR ride.
Comes with a Biltwell bubble visor
£80 for both.
Helmet new was £135 and £40 for the visor
Will pop into eBay at the weekend but wanted to scope interest here.
Collection or delivery in London
Thanks

1 Attachment

Insurance company often want to either repair to 100% as new condition, or hand you some cash, nothing in-between.

As any work they do (ot don't do) they end up being liable for, so they want to avoid that by making it perfect or not at all.

Yeah gotcha.
Insurance are collecting the bike on Monday and providing me a courtesy bike. Gotta day, after all the bad reviews of MCE, they’ve been fantastic with me this week.

I guess there will be none, but I'm going to move my blackbird on as I won't need to commute next year if anyone is keen.