Bruised ego and sore bits

[Class—]

Hi Folks,
Well another bellend down and another lovely 1400 most likely going to the scrap. Yes, I'm fine apart from bruised shoulder, thumb, knee and kidney area (very happy with my kits performance) biggest thing right now is my ego as that's 22 years of riding accident free gone. Anyhoo, I'm here to see if you have any info that might help me. I'm in Scotland so I don't know if laws are different but I feel there is negligence involved in my crash and I hoping you guys can either tell me there is or there isn't and what I can do. I have made first contact with my insurance and they will no doubt be in contact for in depth story later on. So I'm just here to get info tbh.
I missed the one solitary "10mph grit on road" sign a mile before any grit. The grit is on a left bend that's on an incline. As I came round the bend I'm lent over at the apex in the middle of my lane and that's where the grit is sitting and the front washes out and down I go. This is in a 60mph road and I'm sure at this s bend I was doing 40mph. I had no idea there was grit on this road or "emergency road patching ahead" as in my direction of travel there was only that one little plastic sign zip tied to a post at the start of the road.

So am I doubling down on being a bellend by trying to find someone else at fault or do I have a case?

Thanks for any input.

[gsxbarmy]

Sadly, given you have said that there was a sign (albeit a mile beforehand) I suspect that you don't have a case, as the local council have given due warning that they have been out doing road surface dressing. Whether this varies in Scotland (as you guys have some different laws from the rest of the UK) I have no idea, however I don't think they are required by law to say how far the surface dressing may continue for.

You could try contacting the local county council (if that's the same as in the UK where the county councils are liable for road conditions), but I suspect you won't get much joy.

You could try these guys who are bikers and know Scottish law https://roadtrafficaccidentlaw.co.uk/motorcycle-law/


 

[GSXKING]

Sorry to hear about your off 🤕🤕🤕
So glad your riding gear saved any serious injury.
I always buy the best gear I can afford as it only needs to work once.
As far as trying to blame someone else 🫣🫣🫣 been there done that and unfortunately as a motorcyclist you're ultimately responsible to keep the bike upright.
If you're scrapping the GSX I'm sure plenty of people will take advantage and scavenge anything useful.

[KiwiCol]

What a bugger!!  sad to read about your off, thankful that you've come through it relatively unmangled. It brings back memories for me & my off, same thing, down hill on a bend with grit, difference was I was doing about 10Kph max, but still managed to stuff my right shoulder & collar bone. My bike was written off by ins co, because the local stealership marked everything up as needing new, when it didn't.

My upshot was I brought it back from the Ins co, fixed it for bugger all & I still ride it to this day.  That's how I've ended up with 2 GSX1400's, one black & one blue & white. (Black is faster . . . btw)

I hope they give you a decent payout & cover your gear & helmet (seperately & additionally and reimburse for recovery costs - mine did)

Can't help with the Scottish laws myself, but @seth or @Hooli may have some idea.   There's quite a few members in Scotland, so someone would probably know.  Keep us informed on how it goes and with the search for the next 14 . . .   

[Class—]

Thanks guys I appreciate the reply's. I'm just back from A&E as pain in kidney area was too much but they've sent me home and I'm gonna try and get some sleep. Thanks for the link Barmy I will look it up later.
I'll be honest with you guys I don't think it's anyone else's fault except mine. Onwards and upwards and let's see how much crying I do trying to get out of bed in the morning.

[GSXKING]

Col Col Col

(Black is faster . . . btw)

Yeah faster . .  . than an old lady in a Morris 850 off a cliff    

[grog]

Such bad luck Class. Get better, collect insurance and find another one.Might sound blunt but pretty much your new plan👍👍

[Notty]

What a bummer - could have been a lot worse

[Hooli]

That's a bit of bad news Class. It's never fun to throw a bike down the road.

I'll be honest with you guys I don't think it's anyone else's fault except mine.

Agreed. Sorry to be blunt but if you can't avoid something stationary in or on the road then it's your fault. As much as we can curse the council we all know we should have been able to stop or avoid it but we all prefer to enjoy the roads & take the risk.

In your place I'd have got the bike home & take a pay out, then ride it with most of the damage unrepaired having done what's needed to make it safe.

[gsxbarmy]

I tend to agree with @Hooli - how much damage (realistically) is there? Has any of it made your 14 unrideable such as bent forks or is it superficial like broken levers, scratched casings etc. I agree, given the age of 14's now, any insurance claim in the UK would probably culminate in it being a write off, but if the damage is readily repairable, I'd seriously think about taking the payout, buying it back and then repairing the damaged parts myself - or live with the battle scars as is.

So - apart from yourself - realistically @Class— what damage was there to your 14?

From a personal aspect though, I hope you recover soon, never easy coming off a machine at our age, we don't bounce so well.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Over here they go overboard the other way with roadworks, a dozen signs, all led and flashing, 2 lollipop persons, a truck with all the tools, a front end loader, a crane truck, one lane closed for 2ks in both directions just to install an advisory sign.

[Mick_J]

That's a real pisser Class, I almost had the same accident a few years ago except there was no sign and I managed to keep it up OOOER misses.  I'm still waiting for the insurance to tell me what they are going to do with my bike but I wish I had taken the risk and ridden it home and started from there but with the front brake master cylinder clamp split open I didn't want to risk it at the time as I had my wife with me.
Hope you get it sorted soon but I'm afraid you cant dick the jocks for it as there was a sign.

[Will14]

Sorry to hear of your off, hopefully you have a speedy recovery

While I don't disagree with any of the above, there are regulations which must be met regarding temporary road works to pre-warn other road users, one sign a mile prior to the roadworks certainly does not meet these regulations. I'm sure if you decide to go the legal route you should be entitled to an initial free consultation with a legal representative, alternatively your insurers may to follow this route if they feel there is a case to be answered

I'm not an insurance fraudster either by the way, I work in the civil engineering industry & look after the business insurances as part of my job, we have had in the past people claiming to have damaged their vehicles due to raised iron works etc but have been able to prove our innocence by way of images of the works areas clearly displaying the correct traffic management & trained/experienced staff 

[MickyJB]

Your ok ? That's more important, bikes can be replaced or repaired. 

I'd most likely take the pay out buy the bike and look for another and you have a spares bike should / when you need parts 🤷�♂️

[GSXKING]

How's the bruising and ego feeling after 3 weeks @Class- ?
Any updates on insurance claim etc ?