| Author | Message | ||
     Froggy |
OK I'm posting this here because many of you haven't heard, but i wrecked my Ulysses on Oct 17Th. I posted this on the BB&D section but many non-Uly riders haven't heard. My original thread is here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?142838/313684 This might not all be in the correct order, I'm remembering things as i type Long story short, i was riding my Uly on the Saw Mill Parkway north just after the intersection of Readers Digest Road. I was still pulling away from a light and was only doing about 50mph at the time, when the bike suddenly went into a skid, and i low-sided. It happened very fast, I'm not even 100% sure what happened but i ended up tumbling, rolling and sliding down the parkway. After i came to a stop, i got up and saw my bike was lying in the road 150ish feet in front of me. I started to run over to it and i noticed part of my tank bag in the road so i grabbed it quick, then ran over to the bike quickly and picked it up and tried to push it off the road. At this point a few people had stopped to offer help (Thank you whoever you are). Someone said "I thought you were dead". I was struggling to push the bike, someone even said "Don't try and start it!", i replied that i was trying to get it off the road. The bike wouldn't budge, i was squeezing the clutch and it felt like it was clutching like normal, but i still couldn't move it. I figured that it got stuck in gear or something so i tried to click it into neutral. The shifter broke off after that but still it wouldn't move. I take a closer look at the bike and i noticed that the rear shock broke off from the swing-arm and was stuck against the tire, therefor acting like a brake. One of the people that stopped lifted the back end and helped me push it onto the grass. After that, i took off my helmet and started to take a better look at the damage, trying to figure out what to do from here. Somewhere along the line, the police was called. Everyone that had jurisdiction showed up. Not sure in what order but i had spoken to officers from North Castle police, Westchester County police, and NY State Police. One of the officers called an EMT who checked me out. At the scene the only thing that hurt was my left foot. I saw i had some road rash on my left wrist but i didn't see or feel anything else till later. I turned down the ambulance and waited for my dad to come with his pickup to haul the bike to Danbury HD / Buell. I sat in the back of the police car for a few minutes because the officer didn't want me sitting on the side of the road. He took some info, asked questions and filled out an accident report. My dad eventually came, and with his buddy's help they loaded it into the back and off we went to the dealer to drop it off. When we got to the dealer, i limped into the service department and the guys at the desk saw me, and made a comment along the lines of "Oh great, what did you do this time?". So I replied "I really did a number on it this time". They came out with a forklift and hoisted it out of the pickup and into the shop. The next day i went back to the dealer to take some photos. For your entertainment ill post a few right here but all of them are at: http://froggypwns.com/images/Bike%20wrecks/2007-10 -18/index.html    So that's basically where my last thread left off. I have since gone to the hospital, they X ray-ed me and found out i have a broken foot. They gave me an appointment for the orthopedist in the hospital for a few days later, and he ended up putting me in a cast (which I'm in the process of uhh... performing a "weight reduction"  ). I go back in 2 more weeks to see how I'm doing. Just about everything is done insurance wise, they are totalling the bike. I still need to get a few tidbits off the bike but that shouldn't be an major issue. My big issue though, is the loan. I owe about 15k on the bike. Yes, it sounds high but i had bike $9k, Saddle bags + GPS 2K, extended warranty + service contract 4k, tax, title, loan interest and everything else you can think of makes the rest. I only had the bike a few months so i only had made a handful of payments on it already. The insurance is going to pay off just under $10k of the loan, leaving me with $5k left to worry about. I'm going to have to get a refund for the warranty and service contract, so that will get rid of most of it. So in the end ill be a few bucks in the hole, and no bike. It looks like ill be saving my pennys for now and ill see what happens from here. I will probably get a bike in the spring, as i should be all healed by then and financially stable enough to start over. This will give me plenty of time to uhh "demo" other peoples Buells.  Again i want to thank you all here on badweb for your support. I received numerous emails from many members including Al & Joanne from American Sport Bike, and Keith from Dark Horse Moto wishing me luck. Remember, if you don't get back on a bike after a nasty wreck like this, then the terrorists win, or your dead. -Frank, Ex-XB12X owner. | ||
| Ulywife |
Froggy - sorry to hear about the foot and financial issues. Hopefully the refunds from the warranty and service contract will help lower the final debt. Hang in there, rest and take care of that foot. You know you don't have to have a Buell to post here! We expect to see you posting until Spring when you tell us what you've bought. At least you're going through this in the winter and not prime riding season. All things considered, you were very lucky to walk away with only a broken foot and a little road rash. Kristi | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
We are just glad you are ok. The world would be a darker place without you! We hope you are back together and on two wheels by MBV. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
I'm not trying to stir up s#!t here, but that failure of the rear shock mount seems to have caused your mishap. If a defective product is to blame then I'd say you need to examine the liability in this situation. I'd say contact with the NHTSA is in order. I hope you feel better and are back on 2 wheels soon. | ||
| Glitch |
Johnny, you haven't kept up with Froggy's adventures, so telling him he needs to contact NHTSA is a bit foolish. Since I doubt you'll do any looking, Froggy wrecked his bike a few times before any failure. I like Froggy, he's a great guy, so this isn't a dig on him at all, just letting you know, you don't know all the facts. Not knowing all the facts before advising someone go to the Feds, is pretty poor advise. But, like they say, advise is cheap, and there's a pretty good example as to why that's true. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Somebody oughta buy that helmet and put it in the middle of the half helmet racks at the chrome and leather stores... Wonder what the buyback will be on that Uly. Looks like it could be fairly straightforward to restore. Glad you are OK Frank! Anything different you will be doing with gear in the future? Any advice born of experience? | ||
| New12r |
Frank, Heal well and I look forward to getting to ride with ya if you come to MB5! I am surprised you did not get sold gap ins. | ||
| Swordsman |
"Somebody oughta buy that helmet and put it in the middle of the half helmet racks at the chrome and leather stores... " I was just thinking that same thing... talk about a face plant! A cruiser guy would have had a pizza face, and that's if he was lucky! 3 cheers for full helmets!  ~SM | ||
| Road_thing |
Heal fast, Froggy! Glad you're gonna be OK and back on two wheels. You sure got your money's worth out of that helmet! rt | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Glitch, I didn't know that a BadWeb requirement was to read and memorize each and every single thread on this board. I was merely responding to what Froggy posted in this thread. Without knowing anything else about the situation other than the facts presented in this thread, I still stand by my advice. So spare me the self-righteousness. | ||
| Glitch |
I'll spare you nothing! | ||
| Trac95ker |
Glad your ok Froggy. Maybe you could buy back the bike and either fix it and ride it or part it out and make some money back. Everyones opinion on why the shock mount broke is just speculation. You have every right to call NHTSA, Buell or a lawyer and that aint foolish. Why the shock broke needs to be figured out. Nobody wants to se this happen again to anyone. You got real lucky. IMO you should call Buell. A swing arm failure shouldn't happen. I would think buell would want to look into this. (Message edited by trac95ker on November 02, 2007) | ||
| Sanchez |
Glad you're doing alright, Froggy. Can you walk on your foot, or did you get crutches? | ||
| Froggy |
Johnnylunchbox, I don't know if the shock caused the wreck, or if the shock broke from the wreck. Harley sent out a guy to check it out and investigate it, but I don't know the outcome. Glitch is right, I haven't exactly been gentle on the bike, but all my "wrecks" were just minor spills, mostly offroading and nothing worse than new frame pucks and sliders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUe7fdvSJt4 I am working on finding out the cost of the buyback from the insurance, but even if I did I doubt I would be able to do it. I lack the mechanical skills to get it back up and running, which also means that parting a bike that I got no clue how to disassemble wouldn't be that great of an idea either. Honestly, I wouldn't ride a bike that was built by me As for future gear, I honestly don't know yet. I guess I can start saving up my cash and get something nice because I got no reason to forward my paychecks to American Sportbike anymore. About my foot, they gave me those crutch things, but I only use them for getting sympathy from the ladies | ||
| Dbird29 |
Froggy, I bet there are some Badwebbers around that would help you on rebuilding your bike. I would not be shy about asking for help. Good luck! DBird | ||
| Buellgirlie |
yeowch, check out that helmet faceshield!!! glad you're getting better, D | ||
| Ulywife |
Froggy - when Carlos had his mishap last March, the insurance company also covered the tow and his helmet. I'm sure they would have covered his gear had it sustained damage. Just a reminder to add it to your claim since you're going to file it. | ||
| Trac95ker |
Froggy, there is help available if you want it. If you buy the bike back, haggle with them on the price. It might work. | ||
| Andrejs2112 |
Glad to hear you are all right. That helmet makes me want to start using a half helmet again. | ||
| Court |
Froggy . . . for what it's worth, I broke a shock "at speed" (mile post #186 - I-35) and the bike remains quite controllable. IT WAS NOT A STOCK SHOCK OR ONE FOR SALE TO THE PUBLIC. I'd concentrate on getting yourself well first then get the bike back in order and let's go get BBQ . . . I've been to the Dinosaur since we were there . . .but it was more fun with you and Crusty! Get well . . . I'm going to give my helmets a close once over. . . wearing a half helmet is like Russian Roulette with only 3 rounds in the revolver. | ||
| Mikexlr650 |
frog, you've got plenty of mechanical help if you want to rebuild it. i've seen our guy's swap heads on xb's in a half hour. keep the bike, you'll be glad you did. | ||
| Ulywife |
Froggy - we bought back our Uly for $3,000, after about $1,500 in parts, it was back on the road. The only thing we haven't replaced yet is the bags. Along with the service manual, get a parts book. They are both money well spent. Take these guys up on their offer...you've got all winter to buy parts and fix it. | ||
| Mikexlr650 |
court, his swingarm broke where the shock mounts to it. whether it broke first and locked the rear wheel, or broke as a result of the accident is unknown(the tire may be able to tell the story best?). the amount of force required to break the shock mounting point must be substantial, maybe the company would like to look at the bike? the way frank described the incident to us was "an instantaneous sideways slide". diesel fuel, or locked wheel, something kicked his rear wheel out very quickly. | ||
| Hammer71 |
i've seen our guy's swap heads on xb's in a half hour I think he was there also. Heal up and let us know if we need to rebuild that thing, March is right around the corner. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Hey Court, I think controlability goes out the window when the shock body goes through the rear tire, assuming that the shock went through the tire before Froggy went down that is. There are a lot of variables in this and we don't know for certain what happened when, how, or why. Further investigation is warranted in my opinion, but I think that it's something that would be best done by professionals than through guesses via a message board. I also believe that there is nothing that can be done that govenmental involvement won't make more expensive, and slower to reach resolution. | ||
| Court |
Perhaps. I left (and yes, I have all the photos) about 1/8th mile of black stripe on I-35. Buell does lots of testing and has a pretty good handle on what the various components are capable of AND what happens at failure. Interesting enough all manufactures have fairly extensive crash testing and destruction test protocols but there are no industry standards. Essentially the purpose of the program is to insure that in the event of an accident no part of the motorcycle makes anything worse. Mirror stalks, as you might guess, figure in a big way. Buell, and all the others, have teams devoted to nothing but testing and analyzing motorcycles. The govt has no such expertise. They are in the compliance business and are fully capable of telling you if your taillight filaments are 26" from the road. It's an interesting discipline. Glad Froggy is okay and bikes are easy to fix. | ||
| Froggy |
Guys, thank you for the offers for the help. I will let you guys know what I do. Court, technically it’s not the shock that broke, it was the swing arm. It broke at the part where the bottom of the shock mounts to the swing arm. It looks like The Hulk grabbed it right at the joint and gave it a good yank. I forget who, but someone at my dealer said the tire has a flat spot on it. If I ever see the bike again, I’ll try and take more photos. I am not sure why I couldn't control the bike when it happened. I'm not some rookie rider, but I got nothing compared to you Court. It happened fast, and left a decent skid mark. Diablobrian, Harley sent out someone to investigate it, but I do not know the results of it. About the Gap Insurance, when I bought the bike I thought I was getting it, but somewhere along the line, somehow they thought I didn't want it. I ended up signing the paperwork stating that I declined it, but because I signed 9000 other things that night, I didn't notice it or think twice. Oh well lesson learned, make sure you read everything, even if the bike will rust away while you do. | ||
| Slowride |
As I was riding home on Saturday night through DFW, TX traffic from one side of the metro to the other with my 1st born (13yr)son on the back of the Uly, this thread popped into my mind. I was in a pissy mood due to my Stat/Reg going out on me and I was riding through traffic with pulsing headlights and a dimming dash. Well anyway I was thinking about the ramification of what would actually happen if the shock broke on my Uly. For some reason I thought that in the first post or picture, you could see where the shock broke off at the swing arm. So I was prayin all the way home that nothing else went wrong and Murphy stayed in the rest of the evening. I don't scare easily, but when you got your 1st born on the back of the bike, you mind can start going down rabbit holes like nobody's business. | ||
| X1glider |
froggy, the insurance company should do their best to make you whole when they total you're bike. This also includes resistration fees, dealer setup fees and sales tax...at least that's how it is in Texas. This should also make a dent in how much you have left on that loan. Good to hear you got out of that incident in decent shape. | ||
| Diablobrian |
I'm glad that someone from Corporate came out to look at your bike. It honestly gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing that they are responding to what happens to us little guys. I know the guys at BMC care and are involved with us, but it's nice to see the mother-ship taking actions out of concern for us too. Knowing that, in my mind at least, precludes the need to get any government agent involved at this juncture. After all, what can they do? As Court pointed out all they can do is force compliance with codes. There is no code that I'm aware of that covers freakish failures like this. I've seen race bikes that have literally been through a dozen high speed crashes that have not exhibited any weakness at the swingarm shock mount. This is an odd duck. Sorry it had to happen to you Froggy, but I am glad it happened to someone that wears their gear so that we can discuss the bike's mechanical failure not another rider down. The insurance should cover any and all damages to your gear and bodily damage as well. It does not make it hurt any less physically, but mentally it can make a difference. |
