Idiot rider hits car, me and my GRiSO go down :(

I’m not seriously injured. 100% other riders fault. I’m not going to go into accident details now but had to share the sad story of the bike I put together by my own hands. It’s not as bad as I though, hopefully easily fixed.

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Shitty McShit Shit!

GRiSO’s can be fixed. Ask me how I know.

I’m glad you’re mostly OK. Details when you can.

I’m in the south San Francisco Bay Area. Anyone know a competent GRiSO shop that can fix it right?

Garlic was involved.  Just saying...

FYI falling over on the right side, is always the expensive side. Exhaust systems are cheap in comparison.

Steak wrote:

Garlic was involved.  Just saying...

FYI falling over on the right side, is always the expensive side. Exhaust systems are cheap in comparison.

Yup, I live in Gilroy and am currently enjoying the smell of garlic (worst of fire smoke has passed) and enjoying a scotch in my hot tub to ease my crash injuries.

I had expected a write-off but after seeing the right side, it doesn’t look too bad! But I’m getting it checked out to make sure nothing is missed.

Bet of wishes and luck to you GuZee. Hopefully all pains will be minimal.

I've got great memories of your locale, passed through many times en route to Los Gatos from Santa Barbara.

Bugger. With a hole in the rocker cover you're going to have to drop the sump and do a very thorough flush out of the head, oil return galleries and all the crevices gravel might of got into. Best bet probably to pull the head.

Details when you're ready. Sounds like a king sized stuff up.

Ah SHIT! So sorry to hear about this GuZeee. Of course we all want to hear the whole story, when you're feeling up to sharing. Be well, heal up quickly - you and the GRiSO.

Pete (Street)

Man that sucks, good to hear you are in one piece! Heal up.

If rebuilding perhaps a spare bevel (carc) is in the works. along with the porkchop.

Don't know any reputable Guzzi mech's Gilroy or South Bay. Dealers are pretty thin too. Last time a Munroe in SF they seamed more interested in Ducati and Triumph hipster models.

Pete Roper wrote:

Bugger. With a hole in the rocker cover you're going to have to drop the sump and do a very thorough flush out of the head, oil return galleries and all the crevices gravel might of got into. Best bet probably to pull the head.

Details when you're ready. Sounds like a king sized stuff up.

Ooh I never thought of that. Yeah that makes sense, my first thought was just replace the cover but of course it’s a much bigger deal

Thanks for bringing that up in case the shop doesn’t think of it.

So, here is what happened: I was traveling on a route I take almost every weekend, up a fantastic fun route that usually has very little traffic so I can have fun. Nearing the end of a very twisty bit, I found myself behind a vehicle, which is the end to fun but in this case turned out to be very fortunate.

The vehicle was an SUV or Minivan going fairly slowly (maybe 30 or less) because the road was twisty and just entering a fairly tight left-hander (in USA so we are in the right lane). I am behind the vehicle with a good amount of space -- not crowding it.

As we start going around the left bend, a sport bike comes FLYING from the opposite direction, completely missed the curve (a right for him), and heads straight for the SUV. The SUV veers to the right to try to avoid him, so he slams HARD into the front left of the vehicle. I saw it happen and thought oh shit and hit the brakes. I would have been able to stop in time, but I was taken down HARD by a piece of his bike -- I'm pretty sure it was the front wheel. (His front wheel detached immediately and was found near my bike while his bike slide much further down the road behind me in his direction of travel.)

I end up getting dumped down HARD to the right of the road, ending up in a ditch, which you can see in the photo. I must have landed on something sharp because I got a cut to my hand even through my gloves (which are obviously not great at palm protection) that needed three stitches. Fortunately I had my heavy Dianese jacket, Tourmaster Boots, Shoei full-face helmet, and kevlar-reinforced riding jeans.

It could have been a LOT worse: I ended up a few feet from taughtly-stretched barbed wire that could have done serious damage, and trees behind me and in front of me that might not have been as forgiving as the soft(-ish) dirt. The fact that I got some minor abrasions even through the super-tough Dianese leather tells me I would have been in a lot of hurt without it. Same goes for the riding jeans. I got stitches and X-rays: nothing broken but I have bumps and bruises, sore hip, shoulder and neck. And a swollen left hand that makes it hard to do anything.

The guy on the other bike was wearing sneakers, shorts, and a short-sleeved T-shirt. He came out OK, which is unbelievable when you see what his bike looked like. It was completely blown apart to pieces.

The cops told me he had no insurance. Great. Now I have to figure out what to do between my insurance and wondering if I should get a lawyer.

You're not at fault. Surely the thing would be to just dump it in the hands of your insurance and let them chase the fuckwit?

Hmmm, the eeejit that wrote off my V11 last year had no licence, insurance, gear or ability for riding bikes either. He did lose his case in court and got a good case of gravel rash so it wasn't all bad! I let the cops & insurance sort it all out - there seemed no point getting a lawyer involved

I’m thinking if the insurance company writes it off, I might get another used one and just move over my seat, exhaust, fender, LED headlight, mirror, etc. and make Sonia 2.0 (Sonia is/was her name). Has anyone done anything like this? I wonder if insurance cares that I strip the aftermarket parts once it’s written off?

Probably need to establish all that before it's written off. Also look at buying the wreck and part it out. Though with a bit of work it could be made road ready again. All depends on jurisdictions

Ron (Waterbottle) purchased a statutory write off and this is now his track bike. The Possibilities!

Hi GuZee,
terrible to see and read but glad you got away with some "rainbow" bruises. If the insurance writes it off I would definitely buy it for the scrap value which should be low. In my case it would have been the value of tyres and rims but the assessor didn't tell. Depending on where your bike went and if it is not too late, you may be able to swap the parts for the originals. I was lucky and able to do that at the repair shop before the assessor came. All the best and a speedy recovery, Stefan

Sorry to hear this mate. Hope you and your girl are fixed in double quick time.

To fix it 100% would mean replacing the “transmission” (actually the shaft drive cover at end of swingarm) and the bike would be a write off. But there are just a few tiny scratches there that can be easily fixed up, so insurance paid me $500 to live with that and I can get paid for everything else and the bike isn’t written off. So I’ll take the money and fix her up! With some cool improvements I have planned

Sounds good.

Excellent!

Thanks everyone for your support here, it's good to be able to talk about the bike with people that understand

I ordered the parts from AF1Racing which is my go-to place for parts: I find them to be excellent for anything I need. Unfortunately I just got an email saying that the valve cover -- the most important and only VITAL part -- is back-ordered and has to be ordered from Italy. So who knows how long it will be before I'm back on the road again

(Counting the minutes until a "Duct-tape" joke... )

I think we've got one in stock, either new or refurbished by Michael. I sent a CARC over to a bloke who Guzzi Steve is working on his bike and it took TWO DAYS to get from Canberra to Georgia! I dunno how they sent it? Rocket Mail I'd guess!

Pete Roper wrote:

I think we've got one in stock, either new or refurbished by Michael. I sent a CARC over to a bloke who Guzzi Steve is working on his bike and it took TWO DAYS to get from Canberra to Georgia! I dunno how they sent it? Rocket Mail I'd guess!

Oh wow, could I buy one from you Pete? I can cancel the order on the one I've got. It's a 2009, VIN ZGULSU0019M112095. I need the cover and the black plastic part too (although that is of course less vital). Right-hand side.

Pretty sure we have both, I'll check this morning. Anything else you might need?

Oh, and new or second hand?

Pete Roper wrote:

Pretty sure we have both, I'll check this morning. Anything else you might need?

Oh, and new or second hand?

Awesome! I would prefer new if possible, might as well take the opportunity to spruce the old girl up a bit. And I have insurance money burning a hole in my pocket.

I could also use an oil cooler cover if you have one.

Once you confirm that it's available (and let me know the price) I'll cancel the order with AF1.

Thank you!!