Well, the crash bungs seem to work...

Came off the Bike this morning.

Heading out of Bristol on the A420 and got to the Cold Ashton roundabout where it crosses the A46. There was a car coming the opposite way to me on the roundabout obviously going straight ahead , so I was about to go straight over. Then realised that despite the road position and lack of indicator, she was actually turning right, across my path so I braked. Not very sharply, as there was plenty of room, but too much front for the rather slippy conditions. The front just went in an instant and I went down on my left side.
Jumped up, picked the bike up, and tried to push it off the roundabout. Stopped for a brief think, pulled the clutch in and tried again to push it off the road, this time successfully. By the time I got to the curb, my visor was totally obscured with mist & water and it took my ages to get my foot on the sidestand.

She'd pulled over to see if I was OK, but almost the first words out of her mouth were ' It's not my fault!' . I was actually being really reasonable, I never said it was her fault, but it took me about 10 minutes of asking and explaining that I just wanted to get all the details before she'd give me her name. All I kept getting was ' It's not my fault, I don't want you claiming against me'

Left crash bung seems to have done a hero's job , it looks totally mangled considering I was probably only doing about 20 when I first hit the brakes. Gear lever is very bent but still just about usable, and the R&G engine case cover was just knocked off completely. Fairing and mirror scuffed.

I went down mainly on my left elbow/forearm , with some left knee & hip. Nothing too serious, just be limping a bit for a few days.

So what did we learn ?
Don't make assumptions about what other people are doing. - Thought I already knew that.
Leave something like triple your usual safety margins when it's slippy. - Well I saw the danger and reacted in plenty of time ...
Locking the front is very very easy on slippy roundabouts.LEAVE THE FRONT BRAKE ALONE. Thought I already knew that too.

Basically, it's my own stupid fault, and it's annoying having to get this reminder of stuff I really should have been doing.

[SoulKiss]

Actually mate, I would say it WAS her fault - at least partialy.

If she did enter the round about in the left hand lane and she wasn't indicating then she does have some blame.

Before you forget, write it all down on a piece of paper - complete with diagrams, and then seek advice (ie not just some bloke on an internet forum) about this.

David

[Luckypants]

Yeah incorrect lane and not indicating could be construed as without due care and attention.

However, we are all obliged to drive according conditions and be able to stop in good time. Sounds like the OP was driving correctly, but just made a bit of a hash of the stopping bit.

To be fair, it's a small roundabout, it doesn't have lanes. So it was just the lack of indicator and general attitude of the car. Hardly cut and dried in my favour.

I really don't think I'll be mentioning it to the insurance.

Nasty one Mac. I guess you know it'll be very hard to get an claim other than 50 50 for that. They way of things. I reckon it takes a lot of presence of mind / loads of luck to not go for too much front when something like that happens.

Sorry to hear of your off. Chalk another one up to "Don't trust the signal"

[squirrel_hunter]

Sorry to here that mate. Glad you ok though.

For something like that Its probably not worth the insurance. Just sort any replacement parts and they'll be plenty of us round to help fit them.

Take it steady.

Oh crap! not another one down. Sorry to hear about this mac, more importantly it's good that your OK and the damage is not too much.

In situations like yours it's something that you cannot practice, instinct tells you to stop ASAP, locking the front and then your just a passenger.

As for a claim. in these circumstances without a witness it can be hard to prove guilt, given the claim regardless of fault can affect insurance for some time I'd not bother. Sort of agree with you, keep this one to yourself.

Take it easy for a few days, the aches will linger a while.

Once again, good to hear your OK.

i was told that if sombody cuts you up,pulls out in front of you etc, and you come off but dont go into them ,then you cant claim against them?? anybody ??

Originally Posted by hovi5

i was told that if sombody cuts you up,pulls out in front of you etc, and you come off but dont go into them ,then you cant claim against them?? anybody ??

In practical terms you would probably have to have a shed load of witnesses and a report to the police if not the fact that they had been charged to even consider getting anywhere. Otherwsie everything would be the fault of unknown other driver, woudlnt it