hahahahhaha WIPEOUT !

[Kerryd]

Sometimes there is simply nothing you can do.

2 days ago I was riding on the Railway Bypass, heading towards soi Boonsamphan after having done some shopping. About 100 meters before the Boonsamphan intersection there was a motorcycle with "food vendor" attachment travelling slowly in the left lane. No problem, I'm in the right lane (which is empty) letting my speed bleed off as I approach the intersection (you have to be careful at all of those intersections along the railway bypass). I'm doing maybe 50 km/hr when a 2nd motorcycle with side-cart attachment pulls onto the road in the left lane right behind the first one. No big deal as I should be by both of them in a couple of seconds, or so I thought.

Suddenly the second moto veers into the right lane directly in front of me. No look, no signal, no warning of any kind. I doubt there was more than 2 meters between my front tire and the rear of his moto when I slammed on the brakes. I couldn't go right (concrete barriers along the road). Couldn't have veered left hard enough (or fast enough) to avoid him (plus I could have ended up slamming into the first moto, or the parked cars on the left. As soon as I hit the brakes I felt the front tire twist and nose-dive. After that I felt like I rolled a couple times. I don't know what the guy was thinking when he suddenly pulled into the left lane. If it had of been a car or truck instead of a my Harley, he probably would have been slammed into and killed.

I stood up and looked around - no sign of my bike ! Looked up the road, the guy who cut me off was motoring through the intersection. The first moto vendor had stopped, looked back, saw me stand up then he drove off. I managed to cross the road where a couple of people guided me to a bench to sit down. I couldn't sit though as I couldn't figure out where my bike had gone. My first thought was that it had flipped up and over the concrete barriers and into the drainage canal. One of the Thais called the police to report the accident. Looking around we saw my bike about 20 meters ahead of where I was, off the left side of the road. Seems after I came off it slide (almost upright !) off the road at an angle until it hit a concrete pole (fortunately missing various cars, shops and people).

While waiting for my buddy to show up we heard sirens and saw a police and rescue car flying down the road. I stood by the road (assuming they were coming to my accident) and they never even slowed down ! Not sure if there was another accident further along the road or they just didn't see me (in all fairness there wasn't really any indication of an accident as my bike was off the road and so was I and no broken glass or anything on the road). Spoke to my former landlord about it later that evening (he's a Sgt Mjr in the Traffic Police) and he just shook his head. He agreed that there was probably little the police could have done anyways as there was virtually no chance they could have found the guy who cut me off.

Fortunately I got off fairly lightly all things considered. A big gouge in my helmet where it appears my head hit the concrete barrier. I think somehow the bike must have went down on the left side initially then flipped over in the right side before skidding off the road, as most of my injuries are to the right side of my body (looks like a broken big toe, a burn and deep bruise to my right calf, sprained right knee, small road rash just above right knee, bruising on right hip, road rash on right forearm. Some bruises on my back, sprained left forefinger and minor facial abrasion. Nothing felt serious enough at the time to warrant going to the hospital and even now (2 days later) other than possibly having a broken toe everything is feeling better.

My poor bike took the brunt of it though. Front tire, fender, fork and crash bar need replacing as well as a light. Good thing I have Class 1 insurance ! Still frikken upset about the cause though. 2 days earlier I had just got back from a trip to Khon Kaen. 9 of us rode up there and back (about 1,100 kms total) without any problems of any kind. One of the best trips we've done as far as weather, traffic, mechanical issues and everything else is concerned. Come back to Pattaya and 2 days later get wiped out because of someone not looking before changing lanes.

I think I've mentioned it in other threads, people failing to look before turning onto a road or changing lanes is one of the biggest hazards I see on a regular basis. I've been planning on getting a GoPro for my bike (though that wouldn't have probably mattered this time anyways as I was just wearing my skid lid and not the full face helmet I normally use on road trips). I want to make videos to show just how often people do crap like that on a regular basis.

I patched myself up and this afternoon have to go meet the insurance people. It'll be awhile before I'm back riding (the Harley) again though. Sigh - like I told the people that tried to help at the scene of the accident - could have been worse ! At least I was able to walk away from it, the bike is repairable and no one else got hurt (not even the $^(*(%#! that cut me off).

[BBJ]

Your ok thats the main thing. For the cost these days, worth investing in an action camera or helmet cam. Won't mention my incident but the cam did its job.

The sirens were probably for the guy who caused the accident after he slammed the back of a truck trying to flee!

[Jai Dee]

Shame about the bike but good to hear you're OK Kerry.

[papa al]

Sorry for your pain and losses.

Kerry on....

5 5 sorry.

[seedy]

Glad to hear no serious damage to you or the bike.

[taninthai]

Fair play you seem to have taken it all in your stride...hope recovery is not to long.

[peterrabbit]

I find that its never just the single idiot that causes accidents as you can spot them and take avoiding action. Its the fact that they seem to get two or more at the same time. They are the difficult ones to spot and avoid.

[MAZ3]

Sounds like it could have been a lot worse for you and your bike,a lot of numbnuts here.

Speedy recovery

[Can samui]

Kerry, you need to go back to afghanistan.....where it is safer!

[BSJ]

Any accident you can walk or wobble or limp away from is a good one!

[Kerryd]

Update.

The bike is fixed and back on the road. However the insurance company is being a bit of a pain. We've done the pictures, finger pointing, statements and mechanic's estimates ages ago. It's almost 2 1/2 months now and they still haven't paid out on the claim !

Went to see them (again) today as I need to renew my insurance and apparently, after taking my Class 1 Insurance money for 8 years now, they don't want to insure me anymore. The girl told me that it was because my claim (which was only for the cost of the repairs, as estimated by the mechanic) was too expensive !

It seems they were charging me Harley prices for coverage, but were expecting Honda Click prices for repairs !

What is really annoying is that I went with that company because they had been a ThaiVisa sponsor and supposedly "knew" big bikes. Apparently they don't actually have a clue as to what it costs to actually repair them, especially if the replacement parts have to be ordered in.

For example, I did not claim the cost of the crash bars I had to replace. I ordered a new set (just over $600 US) and by the time they arrived cost me over $900. It's a fact of life living in Thailand, Harleys (and other big import bikes) are expensive to repair. I figured they knew that when they were charging me over 21,000 a year for coverage.

So off to find a new insurance dealer now. Ought to be fun !

[kannot]

The worst as mentioned is when two bike riders at a junction one pulling out one pulling in look at each other to decide who will go first ( neither know) and in the process dont see the third bike coming down the road towards that junction ie "me" both pull out/ in at the same time

I also enjoy the Thai style of pulling out when they see you coming and doing it so slowly as to cause an accident when with a bit of acceleration it could have been avoided by a mile...............I treat em all as total winkers , they do the same when overtaking, drive like tortoises ending in the normal almost head on collision with vehicles coming the other way.

Edited January 18, 2016 by kannot

[guzzi850m2]

Good to see you got your Softail back on the road again.

How much did it cost to get the bike road worthy again?

Class A insurances on big bikes have sky rocketed the last 2 year because many Thais now also rides them and thus much more accidents involving big bikes because there are so many on the road now.

My Versys 650 from 2015 cost an eye watering 17.800 baht per year for class A and it only cover 230k baht for total loss. Okay I can get a cheaper insurance but then the coverage/deductible is low/high.

[Kerryd]

Good to see you got your Softail back on the road again.

How much did it cost to get the bike road worthy again?

Class A insurances on big bikes have sky rocketed the last 2 year because many Thais now also rides them and thus much more accidents involving big bikes because there are so many on the road now.

My Versys 650 from 2015 cost an eye watering 17.800 baht per year for class A and it only cover 230k baht for total loss. Okay I can get a cheaper insurance but then the coverage/deductible is low/high.

I was paying 21,000 based on what I'd originally paid for the bike (not including the accessories and improvements made since then). I ended up spending 90,000 to the shop for the repairs (fender, forks and tire) and paid another 30,000+ for new crash bars (and a new helmet). I only claimed for the shop repairs though.

I'm shopping for a new Insurance provider now. I just realized that Thai Sri and AA Insurance are the same outfit (I never noticed that during the 8 years I was paying them) !

[soihok]

Sorry to learn of your ordeal Kerry.

It is bad enough to suffer from the incident itself then to be messed about the insurance company, especially after they have been taking your money for 8 years. Disgusting.

Glad to know that you are OK.

Please keep the thread updated about the search for new insurance company.

All the best

Soi6

Edited January 21, 2016 by soihok

[guzzi850m2]

Try Falcon, that's the one I uses now on my V.

AA insurance is just a broker as far as I know? They can offer you different options from many different insurances.

I had AA checking around for a cheaper option but they could only offer me one that is app 1500 baht cheaper per year but then it only cover 1/2mill baht to bodily injury to 3rd party per person, my current one is 1 mill.

On my very soon 3 year old Ranger truck, I pay 19k baht per year and that cover 2 mill baht for bodily injury to 3rd party per person and will cover 700k baht if the truck is totaled.

[Ks45672]

Try Falcon, that's the one I uses now on my V.

AA insurance is just a broker as far as I know? They can offer you different options from many different insurances.

I had AA checking around for a cheaper option but they could only offer me one that is app 1500 baht cheaper per year but then it only cover 1/2mill baht to bodily injury to 3rd party per person, my current one is 1 mill.

On my very soon 3 year old Ranger truck, I pay 19k baht per year and that cover 2 mill baht for bodily injury to 3rd party per person and will cover 700k baht if the truck is totaled.

I had falcon for 2-3 years when my bike was mangled, they paid 170k and then refused to renew it also a couple of months later because I made a claim ...

They must have thought I was paying then for nothing....

[guzzi850m2]

I had falcon for 2-3 years when my bike was mangled, they paid 170k and then refused to renew it also a couple of months later because I made a claim ...

They must have thought I was paying then for nothing....

Seems to be normal here, well at least they paid 1st time.

We had 2 claims on the Ranger, but only small damage contacts so no problems but perhaps if totaled it would had been a different story. (The Ranger is not falcon).

I think in the West, they can't refuse you but they will raise your premium a lot.

[saorsa]

I was paying 21,000 based on what I'd originally paid for the bike (not including the accessories and improvements made since then). I ended up spending 90,000 to the shop for the repairs (fender, forks and tire) and paid another 30,000+ for new crash bars (and a new helmet). I only claimed for the shop repairs though.

I'm shopping for a new Insurance provider now. I just realized that Thai Sri and AA Insurance are the same outfit (I never noticed that during the 8 years I was paying them) !

I had the same issue when I wrecked my night train a few years ago in BKK. Cost the insurance company 600k THB to fix which was paid no problem, but they refused to renew my policy. I spoke to Bangkok Harley and they sorted me out a different provider for the same price.

[NoshowJones]

Update.

The bike is fixed and back on the road. However the insurance company is being a bit of a pain. We've done the pictures, finger pointing, statements and mechanic's estimates ages ago. It's almost 2 1/2 months now and they still haven't paid out on the claim !

Went to see them (again) today as I need to renew my insurance and apparently, after taking my Class 1 Insurance money for 8 years now, they don't want to insure me anymore. The girl told me that it was because my claim (which was only for the cost of the repairs, as estimated by the mechanic) was too expensive !

It seems they were charging me Harley prices for coverage, but were expecting Honda Click prices for repairs !

What is really annoying is that I went with that company because they had been a ThaiVisa sponsor and supposedly "knew" big bikes. Apparently they don't actually have a clue as to what it costs to actually repair them, especially if the replacement parts have to be ordered in.

For example, I did not claim the cost of the crash bars I had to replace. I ordered a new set (just over $600 US) and by the time they arrived cost me over $900. It's a fact of life living in Thailand, Harleys (and other big import bikes) are expensive to repair. I figured they knew that when they were charging me over 21,000 a year for coverage.

So off to find a new insurance dealer now. Ought to be fun !

I don't know if you would be allowed to name the insurance company, I would sure like to know if it is the same as mine, then I will change to another company at renewal time.

[seedy]

PM is the best way - circumvents all the Libel / Defamation laws as is not public

[wow64]

Refusing to insure after making a claim seems to be the norm here then.

Same thing happened to me when my bike was totalled.

Purchased a new bike and could not get insurance through the same company.

This was with the other guy being at fault.. Weird.

Sent from my c64

Edited January 24, 2016 by wow64

[dksharron]

You are reminding the rest of us to be more and more careful every day.

[cgphuket]

Drive in Thailand as if there is a bounty on your head and everyone knows it. Must drive 100% defensively and never assume anything. I have clocked 40,000km in Thailand without an accident but have had 500+ close calls.