Bike got squashed while parked up... likely damage?

[Guigsy]

I live in a flat and I have a single parking space. The car park is long and narrow with spaces front-to-back running down each side. I've managed to bag a space in the back right hand corner, so I reverse my car into the car park and parallel park with about a metre of space between the rear of my car and the back wall. My 1200GS slots in the gap with the nose pointing out... under a cover and with a dirty great chain to an anchor point on the wall.

From what I can gather from the building's CCTV footage, one late night about a week before Xmas, someone decided to have a go in their mates car. It appears they had no idea what they were doing and managed to ram my car in the car park. They stopped, looked at the front of my car (which superficially doesn't look too bad) and drove off. What they didn't realise is they pushed my car backwards quite a way, crushing my bike between the back of the car and the wall.

I'd fitted upper and lower SW Motech engine bars to my bike about 2 weeks before (lucky?). On the left side, the lower bars are out of shape and managed to puncture a hole in the rear bumper of my car... it was quite a whack. The upper bars are bent towards the cover panels around the tank so they are now just touching, but looks like they did their job. There's also a scuff on the left valve cover. The engine bars on the right side lost the argument with the wall and are out of shape and the tubing is crushed. It also looks like the centre stand is a new shape from being shunted sideways. The bike nearly topples over sideways when lifting onto the stand now.

I've got £400 insurance excess on the bike and insurance isn't nice in the centre of Birmingham, even with 8 years no claims... I'm trying to decide whether I should just bend the upper bars back and live with bent lowers (or take them all off) and just get the centre stand fixed... My biggest worry is if there's any other damage? SW Motech bars mount to the engine, is it likely to have stripped any threads or done any other damage? I've not done anything with the bike so far except wheel it out to take a look. Not tried to run it yet. Anything else to look out for? Anything that could potentially make it unsafe to ride?


Guigsy

 

[dsb79]

If there is CCTV, get their number plate and report it to your insurance company.

 

[seadog]

You might want to check your lower mounting holes as mine stripped on one side and broke a chunk of engine casing around the hole off.



Mike

 

[Tallguy]

What dsb said.

 

[hiup]

Sorry to hear of your problems mate. You need to do some careful inspection of mounting points and stand fixing points to check for damage. No doubt you will be getting advice from more mechanically minded bods shortly.

I would not want to claim on my insurance either but you need to do the necessary checks and decide quickly. Remember, if you notify your insurance company but don't actually make a claim, your insurance will probably STILL go up (Wapping may want to comment/offer advice ).

Did the CCTV reveal who the culprits were?

 

[(RIP) Miff]

Get the CCTV footage.

Make a claim against the fecktard who decided to ram your car. THEIR insurance should pay for it.

Don't forget the damage to your car needs fixing too.

Next time you park, make sure the handbrake is on fully AND the car is parked in gear (1st or reverse) if you don't already.

 

[OTTer]

Had a white van man try and park on top of my GSA while unattended a couple of years ago. Fortunately he knocked on the door to admit liability.
Damage appeared slight with bent centre stand, however on closer inspection it had a twisted rear subframe - end result about £2K.
Hope you fare better!

 

[Guigsy]

It's been reported to the insurance companies (car and bike). They won't do anything until I say I'm making a claim against someone identifiable, or just claiming for damage against my own insurance.

I've got CCTV footage... It shows the car pulling into the car park stopping for literally 5 minutes at the other end of the virtually empty car park. They then attempting to park infront of mine and instead do a good impression of a 0-60 attempt. The driver gets out, looks horrified. The passenger then gets out and parks the car perfectly. I suspect the driver isn't the owner of the car and was just 'having a go' and hence doesn't have insurance.

The CCTV footage shows the front of the car, but it's not that clear. The plate that it looks like doesn't come up on the DVLA website. Went to the police. They have referred it to the traffic division who were supposed to visit me last week to pick up the CCTV footage and take a statement. Nothing yet.

I was hoping people would say, "it'll just have bent the bars"... I'll check the engine mounts and presumably the beak too where the upper bars attach. I assume if the block is cracked it's VERY expensive and could be a write-off? It was quite a punt, I'm surprised the air bag didn't go off TBH... Grrrr.

 

[(RIP) Miff]

The CCTV footage shows the front of the car, but it's not that clear. The plate that it looks like doesn't come up on the DVLA website.

Can you post the front shot of the car on here. Someone will no doubt be able to identify it. If you have the make, model and colour, then you won't need ALL of the number plate.

It was quite a punt, I'm surprised the air bag didn't go off TBH... Grrrr.

GSs don't have airbags

Seriously though, airbags only deploy above 30mph (approx). Your car wasn't even "on" so your airbag wouldn't have deployed. They are an SRS (Supplementary Restraint System) to work WITH the seatbelt. If the accident doesn't warrant the airbag, then it shouldn't go off.

 

[Guigsy]

Sorry. I just posted a picture of the car... then I realised that it might be evidence... so I've removed it.

 

[DrAlf]

Post some pix and we'll do our best to give you an assessment. It's very hard to speculate what could have happened. If the engine block is cracked or damaged the bike will be a write off. As you've probably figured out, the engine is a stressed member and replacement is not an easy job.

Hope it works out for you. Good luck.

 

[Pukmeister]

Airbags only deploy if the switch in the seat pan is made (you sat in the seat) unless you mean their air bags when they hit you.

Good luck in finding and nailing the cheeky bastards, show them no mercy. Hope your bike is okay.

 

[Belper phil]

- bastards, hope things are not as bad as feared .

 

[TLSgazza]

If you can't trace them is it possible to make a claim through the MIB,
Worth enquiring I would think.

 

[trebor]

The driver gets out, looks horrified. The passenger then gets out and parks the car perfectly. I suspect the driver isn't the owner of the car and was just 'having a go' and hence doesn't have insurance..

It shouldn't matter, as long as the owner has insurance for the vehicle it should pay out for 3rd party damage, it just won't pay out for his damage if the driver wasn't insured, unless the car was stolen.

 

[Guigsy]

Small update....

I had a look at the crash bar mounting points into the engine and I can't see any obvious cracking. I'm also concerned by the bend in the upper crash bars that the forward sub-frame has taken some force too. However, I don't want to disassemble anything if the insurance company are getting involved.

Police came to pick up the CCTV footage yesterday. Got a call today saying they think they have a matching vehicle and they are writing to the vehicle owner.

Between the car being hard to identify, the question about who was driving and whether or not my car park is 'private', I'm not convinced this is going to get sorted any time soon, if ever. I want my bike in good working order before the weather gets better! I spoke to the insurance company and they've said that if I make a claim (and pay the excess), it actually helps them to make the claim against whoever is identified as there are hard figures about the cost of repair... If the insurance company do get money back, I'm assured I'll get my no-claims status reinstated and I'll get the excess back. I'm going to bite the bullet and pay the excess now.


Guigsy

 

[Bendy toy]

Sounds like a good plan.

If the steering support frame has been bent, the wheels will not be in line. Is the front wheel straight when the bars are straight? You could sight along the wheels, but a straight timber will better check the wheel alignment.

Enough of a hit to do that would also bend the fork legs so look for creases around the steering yoke above the front wheel.

 

[L]

my bike was knocked over by a neighbour, and other than a slightly dented tank, I thought I'd got away with it... until I tried fitting new panniers, when I realised something else was slightly amiss...

 

[Guigsy]

Update: Police have 'positively identified' the vehicle from the CCTV footage. They are going through process to try to identify who was driving at the time. They said it's going to be a slow process.

Meanwhile, I've pursued the insurance company. They don't have any authorised repairers anywhere near Birmingham, so they told me to go and get a quote. Benhams BMW in Wolverhampton have taken a look at it... The engine bars and stand are bent, which I knew but the rest of the alignment is fine. Problem is that there's quite a lot of damage to the left crank case. Apparently quite a few fins have been bent or fractured. Expensive.

So, it looks like I'm going to pay the insurance excess and get it fixed. Until the other driver's insurance company admits liability, I'm going to lose no claims which means my renewal that's due soon will be expensive. Hopefully at some point I'll get the excess back and my no-claims reinstated (but I'll still pay a higher premium this year regardless). It's going to cost quite a bit.

 

[Aidan1150]

Good news that the police have traced the owner of the car.

Until the other driver's insurance company admits liability, I'm going to lose no claims which means my renewal that's due soon will be expensive.

If the camera coverage clearly shows the incident taking place then I can't see how the other drivers insurance company cannot admit liability. I hope it all get's sorted to your satisfaction.