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Re: PLaces to see in Canada

Richard said:
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All I can say is I LOVE IT. I spend time on these web sites to give me a motorcycle/scooter fix until my machine gets out of the shop. :cry:

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They're still waiting on parts. The parts alone come to $6722.00 :eek: , and only about $5500.00 of them have come in :cry: . I'm also having the new bigger OEM windshield installed as there have been some good reports on it. :)

Richard
Richard - sorry to hear of your accident and injuries but it sounds as though you have a real positive attitude to keep on going :wink:

Hope you are able to recover your costs from the guilty party.

I am suprised at the cost of parts to restore the bike - is this economic or even desirable? - surely write off would have been the best way for the insurance company - they will be paying a heap of labour too!

Anyway - all the best to you in your recovery (and reunion :wink: ).
 
Re: PLaces to see in Canada

Richard said:
...a kid in daddies van, with his learner's permit, without signaling or even obvious braking turned left directly in front of me less than 20 metres away....
That's just about the most common cause of serious accidents in motorcycle vs. car crashes.

It happens to other vehicles, too, but it hurts motorcyclists more.

It's happened to me three times: once when I was driving my big Buick Electra 225, once when I was riding a city transit bus, and once when I was on a bus at Walt Disney World.

In all three cases the at-fault driver was looking for an unfamiliar store or attraction, and when the driver saw what he/she was looking for (or the passenger saw it and yelled "There it is" in one case), the driver just turned left without any regard for what was going on around him/her.

If that can happen to a big car or bus, imagine how easy it would be to not see, or to misjudge the distance to, a bike.
 
I am also surprised that they didn't total the scooter. It does seem that with labor costs the repair will exceed the cost of a new one.

I've only had one bad motorcycle accident in almost 40 years of riding. I was taking my Suzuki to the dealership for a scheduled service. I was riding about 45 mph on a boulevard - bright sunny morning, no traffic around me. A woman in a large car had been sitting at a stop sign on a side street for quite a while. As I approached, she suddenly gunned it and pulled out right into my path. No escape. I hit the brakes to scrub off a bit of speed, and simultaneously pushed down on the footpegs and handlebar to launch myself OVER the car instead of slamming into it with my body. That quick decision saved me. I went over the hood of the car, cracking the windshield with my legs. I was wearing full protective gear, and I tucked in for a parachute type roll (Air Force training) when I hit the pavement on the other side. I got to my feet and limped over to the sidewalk. Damage to me was badly bruised legs and a couple of broken bones in my left hand - which had torn the mirror off of the bike as I was leaving it. My helmet and riding jacket did their jobs - and had to be replaced. The motorcycle had slammed into the driver's front wheel and was totalled. The car had to be towed due to damage in the wheel area. The police and ambulance arrived very quickly, as did my wife, who was coming in the car to give me a ride back from the dealership. The ambulance crew wanted to take me to the hospital for examination. I declined. I made my wife drive me to the dealership behind the tow truck which was carrying the remains of my motorcycle. I put a deposit down on a new motorcycle, THEN I let my wife take me to the doctor's office for examination. I was afraid that if I didn't do that, I wouldn't ride again. For several years, my stomach would tighten whenever I saw a car sitting at a stop sign perpendicular to my path, and I still tend to calculate escape options when I see that. Needless to say, I always wear protective gear when I ride - I don't need any further convincing.
 
Why they didn't total the bike?

First you have to remember that list on the bike is $10,999.99 here in Canada. I actually paid $10,135.00 plus freight, prep, licence and tax the total came to $12,079.00. That's the number the insurance company had to work with.

At that it took them three days after a detailed examination of the bike to decide which to do :eek: . I think the fact that the bike was only two weeks old and all damage was to the plastic panels, not to the frame of the bike made the difference. :?

Yes, the insurance company has bought me a new helmet a $340 Shoei to replace a $135 HJC :) - a serious dent inside over the eyes shows the helmet probably saved me a broken neck :D , a new Joe Rocket Ballistic Nylon jacket in bright yellow and black for more visibility :) - the paramedics cut the sleeve of the black leather motorcycle jacket I was wearing to put on a blood pressure cuff :cry: , new shoes - I was wearing my good walking shoes instead of my motorcycle boots because I had just come from a charity walk, and paid for my jeans as the paramedics cut those too - otherwise they weren't damaged. They are akso paying for 18 treatments by my Chiropractor for the rib and the hip :) . They also paid to have my grass cut at both houses - I inherited my mother's house in April - because I couldn't walk well enough to do it myself for the first week. They also paid the $45 ambulance fee. All medical and hospital fees are automatically covered by Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan which is our free medical system here. :D

All in all they have done quite well by me except I don't get amything for the pain and suffering because Ontario is a no fault province which means my insurance company pays for all this, not his :( . To get anything for pain I'd have to sue and there is a $30,000 deductable. That means that the settlement would have to be over $30,000 for me to get anything and settlements in Canada average much much less than in the US. If the settlement was less than $30,000, not only would I not get any money, I'd still have to pay the lawyer out of my own pocket. (I don't know if you have any idea what a lawyer costs if they go to court!)

All in all, everything is covered except a rental bike to get me back in the saddle. Apparently Ontario insurance companies don't treat a motorcycle as necessary transportation and so don't cover rental. (Beside, no one here rents Burgmans so I would have to get something I would have to shift - how 20th century.) :roll:
 
Yeah, I totally forgot about the dollar difference, and price differences, between our countries. Makes more sense after hearing all the figures. I have both an HJC and a Shoei - you are going to like that Shoei I think. And paying to cut your grass was a nice touch. Sounds like you made out pretty good (not counting the pain and lost riding time). Hope you are back to riding soon.
 
Back to Riding SOon

Thanks, so do I! All this great weather we're having and I can't take advantage of it. Also newly aquired skills are getting rustier by the minute.

Richard
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
I want to thank all of you for the great ideas on places to ride/visit. I can't wait until I get my Bugman!! I may just have to take off and ride for about 2 months straight!!! I may never leave that seat.


Thanks, JD
 
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