Facts: I was traveling south on Lindsay Avenue in Gilbert, Arizona. Traffic on this street flows form north to south. At the south east corner of the intersection of Lindsay and University, there is a Circle K. The light at the intersection turns green and I proceed south bound on Lindsey. A BMW X5 pull out of the Circle K, cross the north bound traffic lane on Lindsay and enter 1/2 of my south bound lane. Obviously, I'm on the left most lane of the street. I had no time to brake or serve. My motorcycle hits his front passenger bumper and I break the fall with my left hand and then do a flip over my right shoulder as my helmet hits the asphalt. I then land on my ass and slide for a few feet and come to a rest.

Injuries: No broken bones (per x-rays), sore and swollen left wrist and right shoulder with restricted mobility, and a pain in the ass (literally...well, the tail bone). I also have two 1 inch scraps on both knees and left elbow. Oh, and pretty much every muscle is sore.

Riding Gear: I had a Shoei helmet with scratches along the visor and back of the helmet. My leather jacket has a few inches of road rash on the shoulder. Fortunately, I was also wearing Kevlar riding jeans, so I had no serious injuries to my legs. The scraps are from the friction between the Kevlar lining and my skin. The paramedics, police and ER staff seem fascinated with the Kelvar jeans. Fortunately, I've always been dressed for the accident even though I haven't had a single one since 1989. Yes, '89. So, if anyone is wondering if Draggin jeans work, YES, they do! There's hardly a scratch on them. I hit the X5 at about 30 mphs and slide about 10 feet.

The Motorcycle: Here's the really painful part. I think the motorcycle is totalled. The left fairing has friction burns going through it, the engine mount and frame are bent and burnt, the left headers bent, fork is bent, swing arm is scratched, tank is scratched, tail section broken off, radiator pipes bent and clutch line severed, left peg and clutch are gone.

Does anyone know how many MV Agusta are currently in the U.S.? Or how many are produced a year? In the event the insurance company refuses to total the bike, I will have to try to assert a claim of diminished value. I mean, would you like to buy my bike, once fully repaired for $15,500? I didn't think so.

-- Allan Gibbs (Agibbs996@aol.com), January 30, 2002

Answers

Alan, I'm real sorry to hear it, since pristine MV's with no prior crash damage are selling for 15k used, it sure would be tough asking for 15k for one that has been crashed / repaired. I would let the insurance company fix it (hope you had collision insurance) and then ride it like nothing ever happened. The insurance company will have to replace everthing that has a scratch on it so you would effectively be getting a new bike once it is fixed. Only you would know it was ever down before.

-- Joe Pierzynski (Joseph.Pierzynski@wcom.com), February 01, 2002.

Allan, that really sucks! I'm down in Tucson and I just got mine today. Nice bike, but punishing to ride. My R1 is a couch in comparison... Hope you get it back running, maybe we could ride sometime.

-- Andy (quadreverb@yahoo.com), February 08, 2002.

Dear Allan, Really sorry to hear your lost of the bike... However, just glade you walked away from the crash.

Needless to say.... repaire by your(or the X5 owners) insurance company will be the best way. I had a riding buddy got hit from behand (and run over) while we are in the turns, on a twisty roads here in japan. His 996R was 75% total.... and i think 996R is just as hard to get as our MV.

However, the insurance company was unable to find a red one for him... but did locate yellow one... so the insurance comapny paint it RED and give it to him. All my friend did was say "YES" while he was in the hospital... : )

The story did not end there.... 2 months later... we were out riding again.... this time he red painted 996R was hit from the side... and crashed AGAIN. (NOW both 996R he rode still had less than 500 miles on it before it crashed).

This time, the bike is 60% total... the insurance could not find one at all for it. So, the insurance company agree to repair it to new for him.... ALL IN CARBON PARTS!! Think about it... the 996R has a lot of carbon parts on it already.... now his back seat and other places where not in carbon berfore are all in carbon now!!

Now, this riding buddy of mine... has the 996R all in carbon....and get to paint it the way he likes it.

To make the long story short... just let the insurance take care of it... since its not your fault...and try to get carbon/racing parts for it when they can`t find a MV for you : p

good luck

ken 01F4s Japan

-- Ken (mvfho@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.