Just came off

Zaheer · 07-24-2008, 9:10 AM

I had the absoloute stupidest off this morning on my way to work.

I was not aware that the local municipality had repainted all the road markings around town. Whilst pulling away from a traffic light and turning left the back wheel spun up on a pedestrian crossing and the bike highsided me at 15km/h. I felt so stupid because I ride the same road to work every day, come rain or shine and I did absoloutely nothing different today, but yet my bike is now damaged.

Damn, I feel that the council should reimburse me for the damages because the paint they use is obviously not bike friendly.

denzee · 07-24-2008, 9:35 AM

Sorry to hear that. I'd sure be pissed too. File a complaint with the city. They'll maybe be happy there wasn't any personal injury and just property damage.

flea954rr · 07-24-2008, 11:07 AM

that truly sucks. let us know how this turns out.

Zaheer · 07-24-2008, 11:19 AM

Thanks guys. I just spoke to my cousin who is an attorney and also a biker and according to him there have been no recorded cases where someone has sued the city for negligence regarding the use of non-abrasive paint for road markings and won.

He DID say that there was a similar case a long time ago but all that came out of that was that the council now mix a black powder with the paint to give it more grip which clearly doesn't work. In fact some people at work have told me that they've slipped while walking on the painted road markings.

I just got the quote for replacing all the damaged parts and its R9,500 ex labour.

MCR001 · 07-24-2008, 11:51 AM

Sorry to hear that budd.....bottom line is U wont win - we all know how dangerous a road marking is, get used to it.
I also hit the dirt friday the 11th. I hit black ice - I can only blame myself - this is after 28+ years on the bike.

-Z- · 07-24-2008, 3:11 PM

Buddy of mine had some sort of similar incident. Apparently the city he lives in uses some sort of temporary layer (which they are supposed to remove) when they are installing things like new manhole covers, which apparently has the consistency of petroleum jelly. He made a right turn, the bike went out from under him, and he filed a complaint with the city. They paid him.
I doubt this will help in your situation, but you mentioned people say they've slipped just even during walking on the material. Perhaps if enough people complained something could be done about it?

taurag · 07-24-2008, 4:48 PM

Sorry to hear that but thanks for sharing your story. I am the wiser for it now. Btw, why are the cost for damages to your bike so high? Did your headlights or fairings get damaged?

jj_long · 07-24-2008, 6:15 PM

simmilar thing happened to me yesterday. i pulled into my neighborhood where there is a golfcourse and a crossing for carts there in mid corner and as soon as my tires hit the white lines the bike went sideways and suddenly hooked up. it sucked but i didnt go down. just somthing supprising cause i cross them every tine i ride.

bonham · 07-24-2008, 6:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jj_long

simmilar thing happened to me yesterday. i pulled into my neighborhood where there is a golfcourse and a crossing for carts there in mid corner and as soon as my tires hit the white lines the bike went sideways and suddenly hooked up. it sucked but i didnt go down. just somthing supprising cause i cross them every tine i ride.

The same thing happens to me on my bicycle when I pedal over them with my summer tires at a spirited pace. What I didn't realize until a few years ago was that the lines weren't paint, they are pieces of plastic that they melt onto the road with a flamethrower. It's a rather disturbing sound to hear outside of your window, but fun to watch. Keep an eye out for those and the sewer covers.

bjay51d · 07-24-2008, 7:12 PM

I went thruogh a same **** in my car with a pothole the the water company made.i bent my wheel and they ran me around blaming different departments for the hole.I ended up not getting money but they patched it up on the spot cause of my bitching....So I woundnt hold my breath for any money.

bettingpython · 07-25-2008, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taurag

Sorry to hear that but thanks for sharing your story. I am the wiser for it now. Btw, why are the cost for damages to your bike so high? Did your headlights or fairings get damaged?

hmmm 9500 Rand comes out to 1200 USD sounds about right thats close to what my little 10 mph high side cost me.

Zaheer · 08-01-2008, 9:10 AM

Right side fairing, engine cover and tail piece all have scrtaches and scuff marks on them and with the bike only being 10 months old I didn't want to have them repaired so I replaced everything including brake lever, brake pedal, mirror, front indicator and footpeg.

Luckily I have a friend with a bike shop so I got all my parts less 10% from Honda and no charge for labour..I'm picking the bike up later today.

To all the SA guys, I'm selling the damaged fairing , engine cover and tail piece so drop me a pm if you interested. Like I saide before everything is slightly scuffed and scratched but not cracked or broken.

taurag · 08-01-2008, 12:09 PM

Nice ending. Do yourself a favour, fit Frame protectors or sliders as they call them. I dropped my bike quite a few times while doing those slow, sharp turns at full lock and my bike hardly suffered a scratch except a little to the side mirrors ofcourse, but engine and fairings were left unscathed. make sure you fit them correctly though.

Twincam · 08-01-2008, 7:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taurag

Nice ending. Do yourself a favour, fit Frame protectors or sliders as they call them.

They are also called crash bungs - I have sets fitted to all of my everyday bikes (954RR, Hornet and also the VFR)... They are quite cheap and help a lot...

I "lost" the bike right outside my house, the crash bung took most of the damage and saved all of my fairings. Well worth the money IMO.

i_ride_fighter · 08-01-2008, 7:33 PM

glad to hear your not hurt, you always feels stupid when you go down over something stupid, ive gone it enough

i would strongly recoment crash bungs, im a cheep git, i use skateboard wheels, they work great, but as you have a 10 month old bike im sure you can afford a set lol

main thing is your not hurt

Zaheer · 08-04-2008, 4:25 AM

I had the Puig crash bobbins on my K7 GSXR750 but hated them because they stuck out too far and looked like dildos.

I like the look of the new Aerodynamically shaped R&G crash bobbins but unfortunatley you have to drill holes in the fairings to make them fit.

Does anyone know of crash bobbins other than Puig which requires no cutting of the fairing?