Jeep vs SV

[NobodySpecific]

And I didn't lose!!

Cliffs notes: I'm ok (back is a little sore, hopefully it's not too bad), bike is fine (didn't fall down, was able to ride it home).

So I'm heading home from Jon's apartment. It's about 35 degrees and the usual after work Friday traffic is streaming out of downtown. I jump in the left lane hoping to get lucky and have a spot open so I can get on Spear St or wait and head up Dorset St. Traffic was fairly heavy, but there were some spots so I was looking over and weighing my options. I get to the top of the UVM hill (at the bus stop), and traffic stops fairly quickly, but certainly nothing new for that area. I hit the brakes and no more than 2 seconds after I stop I am jolted forward about two feet.

Somehow I kept the clutch and front brake in, so the bike doesn't rocket out from underneath me, it doesn't hit the car in front of me, and it doesn't fall over. The first thought that came to mind was "are you kidding me?". I'm not sure if the other driver heard or not, he was too busy freaking out asking if I was ok. I take off my backpack (which had a nice heavy laptop for added jarring), helmet, gloves, and face mask and realize that I am shaking like crazy. I assume that was the adrenaline, but the cold didn't help things. He again asks if I'm ok. Well I think I'm ok, I was walking and talking just fine. My back hurt a little, but it was nothing major. I was just trying to take in the whole situation.

By some act of serendipity an ambulance was driving by, so they stop and a crew of 4 get out to assist me. At this point I'm more embarrassed than anything, because now I'm blocking 2 out of 4 lanes of traffic (one each way) at a very busy time of day on one of the busiest streets in Burlington, and I have a whole ambulance crew checking me out when I feel fine (aside from the shaking). They give me a quick little test, check my vitals, and inform me my blood pressure and my pulse are high. Well duh, I'm a bit shaken up here. I decline the hospital trip because that would be a waste of everybody's time and money.

Then while all that is going on a firetruck shows up. Now I'm really embarrassed. They help me check out the bike, and it looks fine. No noticable marks in the tire and no noticable misalignment. He must have hit me square in the back tire because the helmet hanging off the left hand side was fine (I was picking up my spare from Jon), the exhaust looked fine, and the license plate was untouched. I tell them I'll ride it home and they agree that it should be fine.

Lastly the police show up to take down everybody's info and make a report (another jeep rear-ended the guy that rear-ended me), which I want just in case the bike or my back are damaged. I actually had trouble finding my registration (I looked at it and thought that since it expired in 2010 that it was my old one...oops). Everything comes back clean on everybody and he says he'll mail us a copy of the report.

The guy that hit me was extremely apologetic and offered to follow me home to make sure the bike was ok. I took him up on the offer. Everything seemed mostly ok except for some potential weirdness in a left hand turn that I felt, but again it was 35 degrees and the tires were cold, plus I was freezing from standing outside for 30 minutes, so I will check it out better tomorrow.

If my back hurts tomorrow can I still pin it on him? I told him that I've had some back spasms recently (they went away a week ago) so my back is easily tweaked. It feels pretty tight right now and I have a feeling I might be in some pain tomorrow. I also want to get the bike checked out ASAP, but will a normal shop like Cyclewise or Roadside be able to determine if the swing arm is tweaked? I'll probably try to bring it to Cyclewise since they are a Suzuki dealership (LandAir can eat shit).

That was my first real incident on a bike (I've still never been down *knocks on wood*) and it was scary as hell even though nothing really happened. I got so lucky.

[markbvt]

You did get lucky. As for the back soreness... yeah, that'll happen. You'll find more will be sore tomorrow, just from suddenly tensing up (it's the same deal as falling when snowboarding early in the season -- even if the wipeout's pretty mild, you usually get sore as hell just because your whole body tensed up).

Like I said on the phone earlier, Cyclewise ought to be able to give the bike the once-over, but I doubt a slow-speed accident like this will have caused serious damage -- especially since the guy hit you square and just pushed you forward. The most likely damage would be to the rim, I would think, and you'll be able to tell that easily enough when you look at it in the light tomorrow. Just see if you can find a dent in the outer flange of the rim. But my guess is that the tire absorbed the entire impact.

I can ride down to Cyclewise with you tomorrow if you want, or help you check the bike out beforehand, or whatever. Just give me a call.

Glad you weren't hurt!

--mark

[e30addict]

Glad your okay man. I know first hand how much that sucks. I totalled a 6 month old bike that exact same way. Was rear ended by a pick up truck and shoved forwarded. I never went down and rode the bike home as well. The bike ended up being totalled though. Definitely have it thoroughly checked out, I was shocked at the damage the shop found when they went through mine.

[NobodySpecific]

So if I do go to the doctor tomorrow, how do I go about that? Do I call my insurance first? His insurance? Just go and keep all of the records and then contact his insurance? I've never had to deal with this so I have no idea.

[Stegosaurous]

If you need someone to take your bike to anywhere, i'll gladly ride it there for ya so you dont have to stress yourself. As i said before, anything you need please PM me, i'll shoot you my phone #, and you got my name in the last PM i sent ya. Dont ride if your back hurts the last thing you want is to have a spasms on 89.

Mark if SV650N wants me to take is bike can i 2 up with you on the way home lol.

Advil my friend will help you with the soreness, it could be inflamed. Take care. Rest up and take it easy, as i said in the PM, if you hurt tomorrow the hospital is where you need to go, their insurance will take care of it and your back is your life. you dont want to risk anything.

Call their insurance, hell they prob have a 24 hour line, call and state your having pain and your thinking about going to the DR, but you want to know what their protocol is.

[NobodySpecific]

fyi, I wasn't trying to dismiss your and mark's recommendations from the PMs, I just like getting multiple opinions. I definitely know to stay off the bike if my back is being tricky, which is why I missed a good chunk of the nice weather (and a few bike nights). I'm not so worried about getting it down to Cyclewise right away if my back is acting up. I might give my insurance company a call tomorrow as well, since they have always been really helpful in the past (State Farm).

[markbvt]

Mark if SV650N wants me to take is bike can i 2 up with you on the way home lol.

Oy, the things I do for my friends...

Keith, give a call or post here tomorrow and let us know what you want to do.

--mark

[Stegosaurous]

State Farm is the shit, they are a great company. Dont forget to call their insurance first though. It was their fault afterall

[AHAMAYs2]

Man i'm just happy to hear you're alright. Also if your back hurst tomorrow it doesn't matter what has happened in the past, the fact is that when he hit you it was the cause of any injury that you may have. I agree that you should call the insurence company and ask what to do but i wouldn't worry about it as long as you keep records of everything. Wost come to worst you pay for it now and get reimbursed later. Hope every thing works out man, keep us posted.

[SVenpointsixtwo]

Damn, glad to hear you're alright man! My advice: call both insurance companies, tell them what happened and go see the doc. His insurance will cover your visits, so better to be safe than sorry later when it's too late to do anything about it. If nothing else, you could get some massage/PT sessions out of the deal

I went through the same thing when a lady pulled out in front of me and I dumped the bike- her insurance covered everything including at least $500 worth of gear... just be sure to stay in constant communication with the insurance agencies over everything that might need to be covered, they will take care of the rest.

[Baggey22]

If nothing else, you could get some massage/PT/happy ending sessions out of the deal

Fixed

[NobodySpecific]

So I'm feeling alright today, just a little tightness. I'm going to skip the doctor for now and see if it gets worse throughout the day. I'm still getting over a cold, so I may put off the trip to Cyclewise for a couple of days too. I will go inspect the bike in the light though, put it up on the stand and see if I can see anything obvious.

[Trouble]

Glad you're feeling better! Good luck on the bike - if it needs a ride down to Cyclewise let me know. I could grab a trailer and give it a tow if it isn't rideable.

[SVRACER01]

at the very least you should be asking for a new rear tire. an impact like that (even though minor) could have broken a few cords in the tire and you dont want that coming apart on you at 80 one day.
insurance shouldnt bitch too much as its a $200 cost to them...dont take no for an answer. any experienced claims adjuster will agree with you.

[AHAMAYs2]

That's great that your feeling better. Keep us posted as to if you need anything.

[NobodySpecific]

Taking the trip down to Cyclewise on Saturday. I have an appointment at 2pm so leave from South Burlington some time between 12:30 and 1. Who's in? Right now it looks like it might rain

[markbvt]

I'll come along unless it's pissing rain. We'll talk later in the week.

--mark

[MotoFreak]

Working 24 shift on Sat...else i'd go down to give Robbie shit.

[Stegosaurous]

my bike will be home in RI by then... Sorry i cant make it.

[NobodySpecific]

So that ride pretty much sucked. About halfway down to Cyclewise I lost my front cylinder (the old SV325 problem). I'd never had that happen to me, so that was quite the experience. Plus I was fogging up pretty badly at the beginning of the ride, so visibility wasn't 100%. Made it to Cyclewise just fine though, and Robbie (and the other guy, I don't remember his name) made me feel right at home. The only thing wrong with the bike was a very badly balanced rear tire. Which is strange, because that tire isn't very old and I had it balanced at Roadside. They fixed that up and gave it a clean bill of health.

The ride home was definitely worse weather-wise. It had cooled off and was still raining quite heavy. The new breath box I picked up at Cyclewise, though, made the fogging problem disappear completely. I'm definitely thankful that nobody else came, because that ride was just no fun, and I would have felt horrible to put anybody else through that.

I'm just glad I fought a Jeep and I won (well, didn't lose).

[catamount]

The only thing wrong with the bike was a very badly balanced rear tire. Which is strange, because that tire isn't very old and I had it balanced at Roadside. They fixed that up and gave it a clean bill of health.

Good news! Sorry to hear about the ride... sounds like the weather we had during this summer's "Cyclewise night".

I wonder if the impact knocked one of your wheel weights off?

[MotoFreak]

Good news! Sorry to hear about the ride... sounds like the weather we had during this summer's "Cyclewise night".

I wonder if the impact knocked one of your wheel weights off?

+1 Keith, glad that everything is 100%...sucks about the ride, makes you a stronger man! I'm with Catamount of the tire balancing...whether it was a wheel weight, or broken cord(s).
Joe is the other guy. Nothing but good things to say about the Cyclewise crew. I'm overdue for a cup of coffee and some bs'n down there (and I owe Robbie $$$).

[SVenpointsixtwo]

I'm overdue for a cup of coffee and some bs'n down there (and I owe Robbie $$$).

(and a new triumph )

[MotoFreak]

(and a new triumph )

[NobodySpecific]

+1 Keith, glad that everything is 100%...sucks about the ride, makes you a stronger man! I'm with Catamount of the tire balancing...whether it was a wheel weight, or broken cord(s).
Joe is the other guy. Nothing but good things to say about the Cyclewise crew. I'm overdue for a cup of coffee and some bs'n down there (and I owe Robbie $$$).

The wheel took 2 ounces of weight, which seems like a lot to me. It had 1 ounce of weight on there, and when they balanced it it was asking for another ounce near the original 1 ounce. They then removed that and rebalanced and it asked for 2 ounces in a different spot.