rumrunn6

sorry about the crash. another way to look at it, is that the OP was actually lucky. time to buy a lottery ticket? good luck w/ the bike!

alo

Another idea is to get it inspected at a different shop. If it is damaged, you can pursue the rider of the motorcycle. If they say it is not damaged, you shouldn't lose your warranty.

MattTheHat 

I’m not worried about cell phone users who are coming from the other direction. I’d rather just exercise more caution dealing with oncoming cars than having to look away and shield my eyes from oncoming cyclists with extremely bright flashing headlights. Flashing red light on the back of the bike? Absolutely.

Why no dark glasses? Because I prefer natural light. I just don’t wear them. Especially after dark when flashing headlights are even more dangerous.

GhostRider62

You mentioned cuts and bruises. Take good pictures. Being left hooked by a motorcycle is not a trivial collision.

Sprains can take days to show up in full force. I thought I just bruised my ankle 5-6 weeks ago, I have been laid up with a pretty bad sprain since then. My sprain took several days before I realized how bad it was. Of course, YMMV.

It would seem to me that the insurance company has a bigger potential liability with the actual damage to your body than the potential damage to your carbon frame. That is why I suggested speaking to an attorney.

jack pot 

... this is an interesting post because it distorts what the search for the truth is all about. If you get hurt and tell your friends about it, no harm can come from telling your friends (or anyone else) the truth. Regardless of legal issues or lawyer issues the TRUTH is the standard. Lawyers who instruct clients to distort the truth or veil the truth with half lies should not be rewarded or championed. Likewise these same lawyers should not distort the facts to secure more than a "fair" result. I may be pollyanna about this and Ole Tom's point may be well taken by the cynical but people who seek gain by hiding in the crevices of legal shenanigans don't deserve to be rewarded. I think it would be better to say that when one posts an anecdotal experience, that person should bear in mind that there can be consequences for exaggerations and outright lies. Lawyers who mine the internet could just as easily find positivity in honest and forthright post and this should not be discounted. In the OPs case if he reiterates the same story that he will have to tell the LBS and others no possible harm would occur AND there would be the subjective benefit conveyed to all that he had consistently AND WITHOUT HIDING ANYTHING had from the start given an honest accounting........................... No disrespect to BF's T memories is intended

zandoval 

Brand new bike... First ride... Crash... RATS!

Long time ago my stick leader told us worms... Never take anything out in the field you can't afford to loose...

So glad you came out of this without major injury. As for the bike, just give it a cry, fix it, or replace it.

You came out of this without major injury... BRAVO!

Edit: Been following the thread. What ever happens, bike shop, lawyer, mechanic, insurance, inspections, and all the trials and tribulations... You came out of this without major injury. You are a winner!

10 Wheels

I was Not asking you. Go back to Sleep.

MattTheHat 

Harsh!

I thought this was a discussion forum.

MattTheHat 

The insurance companies are not searching for truth, I can *assure* you of that! Neither are they searching for fair. If there is going to be fair compensation, a lawyer is going to be required. Asking a lawyer to handle a case where one party has posted about the encounter on the internet is like sending him/her into a knife fight with one of those switchblade combs.

cyccommute 

Decades?! Maybe a bit over a decade. The technology for strobe lights didn’t really exist prior to LED bicycle lights and those didn’t really come into vogue until around 2010. And I really doubt that billions of dollars (assuming that’s the currency you are talking about) have been spent on developing bicycle strobes. I doubt billions of dollars have been spent on researching lights for bicycles since the invention of bicycles.

greysquirrel

Crash your bike into a wall, totally destroy it and use this:
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/composite_confidence

BTW, says only in USA.

MattTheHat 

I hope you heal up soon and that things work out. If I weren't at fault, I'd want a new bike too. I just don't trust that most bike stores are going to have a mechanic that is actually qualified to find damage that isn't obvious. After colliding with a motorcycle, I think I'd want someone to look at the frame who has tools to actually locate hidden damage.

Leisesturm

I am sure that flashing lights have existed since the early 2000's at least. Nevertheless, they are practically expected by the majority of drivers and, more importantly, law enforcement authority figures. I don't use mine in the daytime, because I'd rather save the batteries for when they are really needed.

All that said, I have little fear of riding without lights! 45 years in urban traffic and no serious collisions ... no collisions ever, to date. It ain't luck! You CAN prevent most collisions by riding defensively, and by not putting responsibility for your safety onto the shoulders of total strangers. I'm not telling you that, I figure you know that already. When I turn on the flasher it is so that if I wind up in an accident no one can say "see, if he had had flashers ...", but I would never suggest to someone (as has been done in this thread) that they should use flashers to prevent an accident. They do not, and cannot. Ride defensively.

mwatt65 

Thanks guy for all the advice, I see no reason to keep this bike & to be second guessing it on ever ride, life's to short for that.

2old

As stated above, a good attorney should be able to get you a new bike and a few shekels for your injuries. Locate a good one fast. He'll probably send you too a doctor to be checked.

jack pot 

... so the ******** legal system is a contest between exaggerations and lies to the exclusion of fairness and honesty ... even your cynicism doesn't explain how anyone is harmed by being truthful ...........................................................i don't disagree with what you stated bearing in mind that BOTH sides cheating does non lend itself to a fair and "honest" result

icemilkcoffee 

I don't know why people kept saying 'take it back to the bike shop'. The bike shop guys don't have special x-ray vision to detect hidden damage.
Just jump on the pedals and try to flex the bike any which way you can. Any hidden cracks would manifest itself.

Motorazr

Hiring an attorney (so you can help the attorney live the lifestyle which they feel they have ‘earned’) should be a last resort. Being an attorney in a small or private firm is often a rough way to make a living resulting in some attorneys getting onto the ethically slippery slope of taking personal injury cases. In short - profiting handsomely from other people’s misfortunes (both those who have been injured as well as anyone else involved). The pejorative term for it is “ambulance-chasing”.

Why commit to sharing any compensation received with an attorney before you even know for certain that it would be helpful?

Whenever possible, I make a claim with MY OWN insurance company who will subrogate with the at-fault party or their insurance. If the liable party doesn’t want to pay up, then MY INSURANCE company’s lawyers work to recover THEIR loss without impacting me at all. On a bicycle, you probably don’t have accident insurance so...proceed carefully.

Being party to a lawsuit isn’t great for your credit-rating either. Personal-injury attorneys are best avoided the way you’d avoid a dangerous animal.

Leisesturm

Taking it back to the shop is, indeed, the exact thing he should do. I don't know, or care, what they don't have by way of superpowers, but they've got something and it is more than you or I have, and if they say it's rideable then he's good to go. If not, then their hyper warranty kicks in and he is good to go. Win-win.

kahn

A quick search turns up Tap Testing - which has its limits

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=tap...%3DWkaJSDz8IXM

As I recall my Auto policy covered my injuries in a bike accident (other guy was pickup truck). Home owners covered the bike although I did have to get an estimate on replacing a hand built steel bike. Back then they were not use to EXPENSIVE bikes.

philbob57

Wow, mwatt, I'm sorry. I, too, am happy to read that you didn't experience major damage to your person.

I don't expect it. I do know that when I drive, the distraction caused by a bright strobe coming at me is over in a few seconds. On a bike, the distraction lasts a lot longer, especially when the strobe is aimed at the eyes of oncoming people. I expect strobes have caused more accidents than they've prevented, though I don't know that data is collected that would prove or disprove my belief.

You like and use a strobe on the front? What if every rider coming toward you has a strobe aimed exactly as yours is? Personally, I'll not do to others what i don't want others to do to me....

AdkMtnMonster

Especially on vacant roads!

fredlord

This is my approach and is the advice I have given my offspring when in traffic as pedestrian, cyclist or driver. My father gave me this advice.

GhostRider62

I respectfully disagree. If someone is seriously injured, attorneys take these cases on contingency and they do not always recover damages. In my opinion, they earn every penny of the 1/3 cut....they earn it.

Someone who is seriously injured should not be thinking of their credit rating and besides, most injury cases are either settled out of court or mediated.

Who knows if the OP was injured seriously. But let's say, hypothetically, another crash victim suffers a serious head injury. The symptoms and effects take days, weeks, and sometimes months to manifest and the consequences can last a lifetime. Is your insurance company going to get you the 6 or 7 figures that such an injury might warrant. Or let's say when the motorist mows you down, you "only" break a shoulder, tear rotator cuffs, and it takes a year of surgeries, thrice weekly PT, and significant pain. Is your insurance company going to obtain just compensation? No. That is the domain of the an attorney who specialises in such crashes when motorists negligently mow us down. Or, a less serious situation when muscles and ligaments are torn and the victim loses wages. I would much rather trust an attorney with skin in the game on contingency than "my insurance company"

Troul 

If the vehicle flashes there high beams at me, I take that as acknowledgment they see me & to enable me to continue motion.