Knocked off my pride and joy
Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 6:30 pm
[size=00]In early July at 6.30pm I was riding with a friend on a deserted dual carriageway in Belgium. I was leading on my Quartz Blue (fast colour) 2014 R1200RT LC and he was following some distance behind on my ex Honda Pan European ST1300. We were riding at about 60 mph and when my Nav5 advised me to turn right at an approaching exit I indicated right 300 metres before the junction and was travelling at about 15mph as I started to turn off at the exit. [/size]
[size=00]My friend explained what happened next. ‘I had lost concentration and was miles away (I think the technical expression is ‘off with the fairies’) when I saw you indicate right and then brake but thought you can’t be turning off this nice straight road. After some seconds I realised that I was catching you up at a rate of knots and panicked. I couldn’t take my eyes off the back of your bike and because I was braking I couldn’t steer. As you were about to turn off the dual carriageway I hit your bike on the inside of the left pannier and the front of my bike knocked off your top box. You were high sided off the left of your bike and your top box went off to the right. Your bike hit the ground on its left hand side and then bounced back up onto two wheels and carved out a reverse S shaped curve before falling on its right hand side in the fast lane of the opposite carriageway’. [/size]
[size=00]Bit of a shame really as if he had released the brakes and looked where he wanted to go he could have avoided me as the road was deserted.[/size]
[size=00]We estimate that my friend was travelling at about 25-30 mph and did well to keep his bike upright although it suffered damage to front fairing, screen light etc. but could be ridden after copious amounts of gaffa tape were applied. My bike couldn’t be ridden as there was a hole in the left hand cylinder head. I ‘phoned BMW assist who arranged recovery of my bike to a safe holding area and its subsequent repatriation back to my local BMW dealer in the UK. The bike arrived in the UK about two weeks later and the repair estimate took about another four weeks to complete. The outcome was that the insurance assessor considered my bike to be beyond economic repair. I was somewhat devastated and admit to being a bit OCD as regards the condition of my bike which was in excellent condition. [/size]
[size=00]I took another friend who had installed the Autocom, PMR radio and Clearwater lights on my bike to look at the bike with me and assess the damage. His initial reaction was that the bike looked in great shape apart from the obvious visual damage to top box, rear brake light, panniers and left hand cylinder. There then followed a conversation between me, my friend and two BMW technicians along the lines of the films ’12 Angry Men’ (showing my age here), [/size]‘Dirty Harry’ and a Donald Rumsfeld speech. I was Henry Fonda arguing why the bike shouldn’t be a write-off and the other three guys were Clint Eastwood, saying ‘do you feel lucky if it is repaired?’ and Donald Rumsfeld saying in relation to the damage ‘we know what we know and we don’t know what we don’t know’. Their collective view was to take the money and get a 2017 or later bike that has smoother gearbox etc.
[size=00]In a nutshell the points raised were that the left cylinder head and internals had been badly damaged, that when the head was taken off there was no evidence of grit or asphalt inside but even with flushing oil through there was always a chance that a speck of grit was in the engine. Same with the final drive which had a nasty black mark and friction mark most probably from my friend’s front tyre. Again the stance was it might clean up ok but it’s taken a whack and might have sustained damage which we can’t see.[/size]
[size=00]I slept on my decision and reluctantly decided to take the King’s (Queen’s?) shilling and accept a payment from the insurance company for the write-off amount. Repair estimate cost was £8,900 and I was offered £12,750 for my bike.[/size]
[size=00]There have been many discussions on this forum about the benefit or not of cylinder head protectors (my bike didn’t have them) and engine and pannier protection bars. I’m in the process of ordering a new 2018 BMW R1200RT LE and at the moment am expecting to put the BMW cylinder head protectors on it. [/size]
[size=00]I’m more than happy to listen to suggestions about bike protection second time around. In previous threads there has been reference to ‘I’d like to see the damage to a bike that has been down the road’ so I am obliging with some photographs.[/size]
[size=00]Photos 1 and 2 are taken from the junction I was turning right into and show the line of oil from when the bike hit the road on its left hand side and then stood up and carried on its way before falling over on its right hand side. The volume of traffic in these photos are as it was at the time of the accident. [/size]
[size=00]Photo 3 which I took as it was being unloaded at a safe storage area was just me getting documentary evidence that the bike had Clearwater lights and a Ztechnik screen.[/size]
[size=00] [/size]I agreed with the assessor that the non standard parts could be removed from my bike and it returned to ‘stock’ specification. Photo 4 shows the bike after my friend and I had very carefully and methodically removed Clearwater lights and harness, Autocom, PMR radio, Ztechnik screen, Machineart fender extender and Wunderlich side stand enlarger. The BMW service manager found us a place to work under cover and as he wheeled the bike over there he was astounded that the bike had been written off and was muttering ‘this is insane, the world has gone mad’.
[size=00]The other photographs (not mine) show the bike at the auction site and whilst not of great quality do show the damage to the left hand cylinder head.[/size]
[size=00]My friend explained what happened next. ‘I had lost concentration and was miles away (I think the technical expression is ‘off with the fairies’) when I saw you indicate right and then brake but thought you can’t be turning off this nice straight road. After some seconds I realised that I was catching you up at a rate of knots and panicked. I couldn’t take my eyes off the back of your bike and because I was braking I couldn’t steer. As you were about to turn off the dual carriageway I hit your bike on the inside of the left pannier and the front of my bike knocked off your top box. You were high sided off the left of your bike and your top box went off to the right. Your bike hit the ground on its left hand side and then bounced back up onto two wheels and carved out a reverse S shaped curve before falling on its right hand side in the fast lane of the opposite carriageway’. [/size]
[size=00]Bit of a shame really as if he had released the brakes and looked where he wanted to go he could have avoided me as the road was deserted.[/size]
[size=00]We estimate that my friend was travelling at about 25-30 mph and did well to keep his bike upright although it suffered damage to front fairing, screen light etc. but could be ridden after copious amounts of gaffa tape were applied. My bike couldn’t be ridden as there was a hole in the left hand cylinder head. I ‘phoned BMW assist who arranged recovery of my bike to a safe holding area and its subsequent repatriation back to my local BMW dealer in the UK. The bike arrived in the UK about two weeks later and the repair estimate took about another four weeks to complete. The outcome was that the insurance assessor considered my bike to be beyond economic repair. I was somewhat devastated and admit to being a bit OCD as regards the condition of my bike which was in excellent condition. [/size]
[size=00]I took another friend who had installed the Autocom, PMR radio and Clearwater lights on my bike to look at the bike with me and assess the damage. His initial reaction was that the bike looked in great shape apart from the obvious visual damage to top box, rear brake light, panniers and left hand cylinder. There then followed a conversation between me, my friend and two BMW technicians along the lines of the films ’12 Angry Men’ (showing my age here), [/size]‘Dirty Harry’ and a Donald Rumsfeld speech. I was Henry Fonda arguing why the bike shouldn’t be a write-off and the other three guys were Clint Eastwood, saying ‘do you feel lucky if it is repaired?’ and Donald Rumsfeld saying in relation to the damage ‘we know what we know and we don’t know what we don’t know’. Their collective view was to take the money and get a 2017 or later bike that has smoother gearbox etc.
[size=00]In a nutshell the points raised were that the left cylinder head and internals had been badly damaged, that when the head was taken off there was no evidence of grit or asphalt inside but even with flushing oil through there was always a chance that a speck of grit was in the engine. Same with the final drive which had a nasty black mark and friction mark most probably from my friend’s front tyre. Again the stance was it might clean up ok but it’s taken a whack and might have sustained damage which we can’t see.[/size]
[size=00]I slept on my decision and reluctantly decided to take the King’s (Queen’s?) shilling and accept a payment from the insurance company for the write-off amount. Repair estimate cost was £8,900 and I was offered £12,750 for my bike.[/size]
[size=00]There have been many discussions on this forum about the benefit or not of cylinder head protectors (my bike didn’t have them) and engine and pannier protection bars. I’m in the process of ordering a new 2018 BMW R1200RT LE and at the moment am expecting to put the BMW cylinder head protectors on it. [/size]
[size=00]I’m more than happy to listen to suggestions about bike protection second time around. In previous threads there has been reference to ‘I’d like to see the damage to a bike that has been down the road’ so I am obliging with some photographs.[/size]
[size=00]Photos 1 and 2 are taken from the junction I was turning right into and show the line of oil from when the bike hit the road on its left hand side and then stood up and carried on its way before falling over on its right hand side. The volume of traffic in these photos are as it was at the time of the accident. [/size]
[size=00]Photo 3 which I took as it was being unloaded at a safe storage area was just me getting documentary evidence that the bike had Clearwater lights and a Ztechnik screen.[/size]
[size=00] [/size]I agreed with the assessor that the non standard parts could be removed from my bike and it returned to ‘stock’ specification. Photo 4 shows the bike after my friend and I had very carefully and methodically removed Clearwater lights and harness, Autocom, PMR radio, Ztechnik screen, Machineart fender extender and Wunderlich side stand enlarger. The BMW service manager found us a place to work under cover and as he wheeled the bike over there he was astounded that the bike had been written off and was muttering ‘this is insane, the world has gone mad’.
[size=00]The other photographs (not mine) show the bike at the auction site and whilst not of great quality do show the damage to the left hand cylinder head.[/size]