Just had an encounter with a bikers nightmare (DDDDDDiesel)

On my way to work today. Sh*t weather (raining with the ocasional dry spell). Pottering along behind a car (doing about 30). He stopped to let a car out of a side road (gentle stop - nothing agressive). I went to stop behind himand my front wheel hit a patch of diesel. Down went the bike and into his rear bumper. I must have only been doing 10-15mph at the time. There's not a mark on my leathers (well none that weren't there before). Scratched his bumper and punched a little hole in it. It trashed the whole front of the fairing and bent the RHS footpeg bracket when it hit the deck. It's also bent the brackets holding the instruments and lights. Everything still works but it's now at a funny angle.

I took a few photos of the damage done to both vehicles and of the scene of the accident (including the diesel patch).

I know I don't have to worry about the driver claiming I was speeding or following too close as his wife was behind me in another car. He was fine about it and after we exchanged details, they carried on their way to Wales.

The bike still rides fine (I rode it back from the scene).

I'm only on Third Party, Fire and Theft insurance on this bike, so I'm going to have to foot the bill for repairing it myself.

I really didn't need this as this is currently my only vehicle and I'm skint at the moment.

To top it off, the car I was following and hit was an 07 plate, so it'll be expensive to fix and will have to go through the insurance.

Bad luck man. What a bummer. I did read a while back in MCN that a fund had been set up to support victims of diesel related bike accidents, although I imagine it is only designed for serious injuries etc - maybe worth a google search though. It take the p*ss that there are designs out there to prevent drivers over filling their tanks and causing problems like this, but the manufacturers have not adopted them.

must be a bad morning for road surface problems, I almost had an off at a roundabout this morning where some knobber had dumped gravel all over the road.

I hope you manage to get some cheap parts to get it sorted. Glad that the guy was nice about it. Had a similar experience, and even what looks like a bit of bumper damage can run into big money - I'd go through the insurance.

Just took all the plastic off.

It's smashed the back of the headlight housing and it looks like it's bent the front subframe.

How can a 10-15mph off cause so much damage?

that's crap news. at least you are ok.

Just been doing some reading

At present, in diesel spill cases, one cannot claim for property damage but one can claim for other financial losses such as lost earnings."

Thought that was the case. Street fighter project maybe. Not ideal for commuting though, I like my fairing. Hopefully some nice person on the org will have some spares kickin around to help ya out!

Originally Posted by jamessunhill

Just took all the plastic off.

It's smashed the back of the headlight housing and it looks like it's bent the front subframe.

How can a 10-15mph off cause so much damage?

Have you seen mine, that was at 30 mph Sorry to hear about ya off, hope you dont find no bruises or aches!

sorry to hear of your off james, diesels a right pain, hope you can get sorted quickly mate

Originally Posted by plowsie

Have you seen mine, that was at 30 mph Sorry to hear about ya off, hope you dont find no bruises or aches!

Dont you mean mine, and whats this about an off at 30mph ? I can feel the price dropping as we speak, sorry for derail btw

[RingDing]

Originally Posted by jamessunhill

How can a 10-15mph off cause so much damage?

Sorry to hear of your off and hope it isn't too costly to repair.

When we were at uni I was following my mate on his YammaGamma when he failed to notice the Volvo in front of him slowing to turn into a layby. When he finally realised he locked the front and fell into the back of it, only doing about 15mph. Unfortunately the headlight smashed onto and hooked over the towbar hook and the bike was dragged around the corner into the layby before the car driver realised what was happening. No damage to the car but the bike looked like it had been down the road at 70mph!

Hope that makes you feel a bit better!