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A couple friends and I took a little trip up to Fort Mountain near Chatsworth, GA this weekend to go do some mountain riding. I've been up there a few times before and the mountain's awesome...great riding both up and down the mountain on both sides. Honestly, my biggest concern's always been the sheer drop-offs outside nearly every turn, but as it turns out this was the least of my concerns.
We rode up there earlier in the morning and rode the mountain a few times back and forth, stopping at the lookouts, chewing tobacco and shootin' the chit. We decided to stop at the Cohutta Lodge for lunch. Decent food and a grand view from the wide open windowed restaurant were a serene break from the viscious road carvin' we'd been doing all morning.
Well, we left the Lodge and decided to head down the back side of the moutain, turn around, ride the whole thing, up and down one more time, then head home. So, we turned right out of the Lodge's parking lot. I was still in second gear, adjusting my gear (gettin' my knee portion of my leathers to situate on my legs correctly seems to always be a PITA, and makin' sure my lid's situated right, etc.), and just spending the first few turns at a 'relaxed' pace.
About two or three turns into it, my friend Adam on his '05 ZX-10R was about 100 ft in front of me, then me, then my friend Darrell on his '08 CBR600RR and Darrell was maybe 15 ft behind me. We rounded a turn and I saw a black Expedition or Excursion (I can't remember what it was...) coming off a dirt, service road kind jump in front of Adam, but she stopped when she saw him before she pulled out. He passed...and she decided it was ok to pull out. I saw this, and being used to cars pulling stupid, brainless acts like this, slightly braked and aimed for the back of her SUV with the intent that the 'idiot' would keep pulling out and I'd smoothly pass behind her. Well, that's not what happened.
She pulled out to the point that her SUV took up the entire land, and stopped! I couldn't go into the gravel/dirt road as that would guarantee I'd find my way into a tree on the far side of the dirt road. And I'd be damned if I aimed for the front of her vehicle so she'd shear off my leg. So...I made a judgement call. As soon as I realized she had freaked and slammed on her brakes I did the same, but it was too late. I smashed the front left hand side of my bike right into the back corner of her bumper.
My bike hit the bumper, I hit the taillight and a portion of the rear body with my left arm and body. According to Darrell's account (who was right behind me, and had the room to stop) he said I did a complete flip over the front of the bike, I flew probably 10 feet and did a little flopping on the ground before I came to a rest on my right side...hugging my ribs on my left side.
I totally thought I had broken a rib or three...that junk HURT! I cried out for a couple of seconds, one because my whole damn body hurt, and two because my bike's probably in a thousand pieces! But, all I had was a really sore arm with a little scrape spot where my elbow had rubbed inside my leathers, sore rib cage, and a slightly sore neck. Today, everything hurts worse...of course. Neck, lower left back, ribs, arm, and my ass (probably from where I initially hit the ground).
The bike's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. You can see the pics, but what I didn't get a picture of was the damn tear in my leathers! Right near my left hip...about a three inch hole that started at a seam and tears into the leather a couple inches. Sucks...but hopefully it'll all get paid for.
At first the general concensus among the group (three of us, and like 5 of her and her friends) was that it was her fault. But then she made the remark "Well, I don't feel it's entirely my fault." So I said "Fine...call the cops, get 'em down here...let them figure out who's fault it is!" So my buddy got on the horn and about 20 minutes later a Sherriff and State Trooper were there. At first they gave me hell about the crash because, of course, I'm the guy on the 'crotch rocket'. But after we both told our stories they got a whole lot nicer to me, realizing it wasn't my fault and that she simply made a bad judgement call by one, pulling out, and two, stopping in the middle of the road!
Anyway, she'll be paying to fix everything and I hope to high Heaven it's not going to be a pain in my ass to get her/her insurance company to fix everything. She offered to pay for the repairs, and I warned her it would cost a LOT more than an insurance deductible to fix it, but she said she'd like to entertain the idea at least. Do you guys have any suggestions about this? I mean, if I request that she send me a certified check or money order after obtaining a repair quote from a dealership...would this be acceptable? I was thinking maybe giving he a week or something and, if not received in that time period, calling her insurance. A little advice here would be greatly appreciated!
Anyway, enough babble...here's the damage pics. It doesn't look so bad in the pictures, but when it's your ride all bashed up...kinda sucks...
Right side, this side hit the ground after the left side hit her SUV.
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Left side...it hit the truck directly on the headlight housing.
![]()
Close up of the busted headlight and cracked cowl. Missing windscreen bolts as well.
![]()
Abrasion marks where it hit her bumper.
![]()
Right frame slider. It was bent back pretty bad (kicked straight again), but I think it did it's job saving the engine covers and fairings mostly.
![]()
Right lower side fairing damage. One of the bolts for the engine cover got slightly damaged.
![]()
Exhaust...you might find this thing for sale on the forum here pretty soon!
![]()
Scratches on the tank from what I think was my boot as I flipped over the bike, trying to hold on.
![]()
So that's that...again, some advice with how to deal with the lady that hit me would be appreciated. I should have a copy of the police report in '5 to 7 business days' so I'll have her contact information then. I didn't bother getting it from her because the Trooper told me it'd be on the report.
:jacked
We rode up there earlier in the morning and rode the mountain a few times back and forth, stopping at the lookouts, chewing tobacco and shootin' the chit. We decided to stop at the Cohutta Lodge for lunch. Decent food and a grand view from the wide open windowed restaurant were a serene break from the viscious road carvin' we'd been doing all morning.
Well, we left the Lodge and decided to head down the back side of the moutain, turn around, ride the whole thing, up and down one more time, then head home. So, we turned right out of the Lodge's parking lot. I was still in second gear, adjusting my gear (gettin' my knee portion of my leathers to situate on my legs correctly seems to always be a PITA, and makin' sure my lid's situated right, etc.), and just spending the first few turns at a 'relaxed' pace.
About two or three turns into it, my friend Adam on his '05 ZX-10R was about 100 ft in front of me, then me, then my friend Darrell on his '08 CBR600RR and Darrell was maybe 15 ft behind me. We rounded a turn and I saw a black Expedition or Excursion (I can't remember what it was...) coming off a dirt, service road kind jump in front of Adam, but she stopped when she saw him before she pulled out. He passed...and she decided it was ok to pull out. I saw this, and being used to cars pulling stupid, brainless acts like this, slightly braked and aimed for the back of her SUV with the intent that the 'idiot' would keep pulling out and I'd smoothly pass behind her. Well, that's not what happened.
She pulled out to the point that her SUV took up the entire land, and stopped! I couldn't go into the gravel/dirt road as that would guarantee I'd find my way into a tree on the far side of the dirt road. And I'd be damned if I aimed for the front of her vehicle so she'd shear off my leg. So...I made a judgement call. As soon as I realized she had freaked and slammed on her brakes I did the same, but it was too late. I smashed the front left hand side of my bike right into the back corner of her bumper.
My bike hit the bumper, I hit the taillight and a portion of the rear body with my left arm and body. According to Darrell's account (who was right behind me, and had the room to stop) he said I did a complete flip over the front of the bike, I flew probably 10 feet and did a little flopping on the ground before I came to a rest on my right side...hugging my ribs on my left side.
I totally thought I had broken a rib or three...that junk HURT! I cried out for a couple of seconds, one because my whole damn body hurt, and two because my bike's probably in a thousand pieces! But, all I had was a really sore arm with a little scrape spot where my elbow had rubbed inside my leathers, sore rib cage, and a slightly sore neck. Today, everything hurts worse...of course. Neck, lower left back, ribs, arm, and my ass (probably from where I initially hit the ground).
The bike's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. You can see the pics, but what I didn't get a picture of was the damn tear in my leathers! Right near my left hip...about a three inch hole that started at a seam and tears into the leather a couple inches. Sucks...but hopefully it'll all get paid for.
At first the general concensus among the group (three of us, and like 5 of her and her friends) was that it was her fault. But then she made the remark "Well, I don't feel it's entirely my fault." So I said "Fine...call the cops, get 'em down here...let them figure out who's fault it is!" So my buddy got on the horn and about 20 minutes later a Sherriff and State Trooper were there. At first they gave me hell about the crash because, of course, I'm the guy on the 'crotch rocket'. But after we both told our stories they got a whole lot nicer to me, realizing it wasn't my fault and that she simply made a bad judgement call by one, pulling out, and two, stopping in the middle of the road!
Anyway, she'll be paying to fix everything and I hope to high Heaven it's not going to be a pain in my ass to get her/her insurance company to fix everything. She offered to pay for the repairs, and I warned her it would cost a LOT more than an insurance deductible to fix it, but she said she'd like to entertain the idea at least. Do you guys have any suggestions about this? I mean, if I request that she send me a certified check or money order after obtaining a repair quote from a dealership...would this be acceptable? I was thinking maybe giving he a week or something and, if not received in that time period, calling her insurance. A little advice here would be greatly appreciated!
Anyway, enough babble...here's the damage pics. It doesn't look so bad in the pictures, but when it's your ride all bashed up...kinda sucks...
Right side, this side hit the ground after the left side hit her SUV.
Left side...it hit the truck directly on the headlight housing.
Close up of the busted headlight and cracked cowl. Missing windscreen bolts as well.
Abrasion marks where it hit her bumper.
Right frame slider. It was bent back pretty bad (kicked straight again), but I think it did it's job saving the engine covers and fairings mostly.
Right lower side fairing damage. One of the bolts for the engine cover got slightly damaged.
Exhaust...you might find this thing for sale on the forum here pretty soon!
Scratches on the tank from what I think was my boot as I flipped over the bike, trying to hold on.
So that's that...again, some advice with how to deal with the lady that hit me would be appreciated. I should have a copy of the police report in '5 to 7 business days' so I'll have her contact information then. I didn't bother getting it from her because the Trooper told me it'd be on the report.
:jacked
