Crash, Mechanical failure

[AC]

Heres something to think about: you're riding along on your 08 cbr 125 on the highway at 100 kms/h or you're in a turn like you have for the last 19,000 kms you put on the bike. when all of a sudden your rear tire locks and you start sliding and end up rear ending a car or hitting a gaurdrail. you bike is a right off, you might be too, you're charged with careless driving, insurance rights off your bike and sells it. Insurance now goes way up. You have no idea why you crashed.


I buy it from an auction and don't touch it for 7-8 months. When I do the motor with turn over then seize, hmmm. Can't figure it out. End up taking the stator cover off and find the stator destroyed by a bolt that holds the rotor/flywheel on. There would be no reason to have had this bolt out before the bike had 20,000kms on it. So it came loose on its own???


My question for the insurance people here. Should I try to contact the insurance company that wrote off this bike or even the person that owned it before? Will this new info change anything?

[GreyGhost]

Bike had a mechanical failure and crashed so the insurance payout was legit. The only thing I could see changing with the new info is someone (either PO or Insurance Co) attempting to sue Honda for the damage. It would be a very hard case to win given the elapsed time and number of people that have had their hands on the bike since the crash. Whose to say that someone at the auction house wasn't poking around inside (unlikely but plausible).

As far as a potential careless charge, that would be another hard battle. You may beat the careless, but get charged for unsafe vehicle as your bike fell apart because a bolt wasn't properly tightened. I am not sure how the courts deal with mechanical failures that are caused by a mechanic or OEM. Again, it could be argued that the PO messed with it, but the PO should be able to create reasonable doubt. If they rear-ended a car with the rear wheel locked up, the rider was doing something wrong, they would have been slowing down and there is no reason to hit the back of a car. Hitting a guardrail would be an easier situation to beat, most riders would have a hell of a time controlling a locked rear wheel all the way to a stop.

[AC]

I don't think they would have known about the mechanical failure.

I guess the rear ending a car was a bad example. all I know is they hit something with the front end and the motor seized at some point which could have caused the crash.

I also don't know if there were any charges, just saying there could have been.

[VifferFun]

If this is a manufacturer's defect, it could be a lawsuit. Toyota is experiencing this right now. Honestly, I'm not sure how the situation is handled.

[Skurj]

A friend had a front wheel come off her car at 2 am and she went off the road. Even though it was the fault of the shop that had recently put tires on her car the ins company took great pleasure in crediting her with an at fault accident.
There was just no way that she could prove it.

[BusaBob]

A friend had a front wheel come off her car at 2 am and she went off the road. Even though it was the fault of the shop that had recently put tires on her car the ins company took great pleasure in crediting her with an at fault accident.
There was just no way that she could prove it.

how in the world can an insurance company assign her any fault when the vehicle suffered a mechanical failure resulting in the crash?!?!

more importantly, how can the insurance people PROVE that she was the cause of the crash, and not the mechanical failure?!?!

she should call the insurance ombudsperson about this one. damn adjusters....

[AC]

Well I guess I can't really do anything then. But if I was the person that crashed and didn't know why, it would be good to find out it was the mechanical failure.

[BusaBob]

Well I guess I can't really do anything then. But if I was the person that crashed and didn't know why, it would be good to find out it was the mechanical failure.

i would too.

can't you trace the previous owner by the VIN?

[GreyGhost]

You should be able to buy the UVIP for $20 that will have the PO's info (maybe they even already have a copy from when they purchased the bike).

As far as insurance goes, normal law does not seem to apply, the rule seems to be guilty unless proven innocent. It would raise all of our rates if the insurance companies had to prove guilt in every crash. Basically one crash, at least one person at fault to make their lives easier. Before a wheel falls off, there is a lot of shaking, by not pulling over when the warnings signs started, the driver was at least partly responsible.

[AC]

I'm not going to look them up. In case....

[BusaBob]

I'm not going to look them up. In case....

in case of what?

[AC]

in case of what?

they aren't around.

[BusaBob]

they aren't around.

but they may be.

[nobbie48]

I had an engine seize on me once (2 stroke oil pump issue) but no accident.
If it isn't a common problem then recourse against the manufacturer, service company or previous owner would be a waste of time IMO.
If this is a freak event, failure of a part not normally needing service, then it is a true accident and the careless charge shouldn't have been laid. Whether it is worth pursuing depends on the insurance rate costs versus the legal costs of resurecting the issue and getting the insurance company to accept the change. (They don't have to accept the change if I understand things correctly)

[Platinum Cycle]

I hate to disappoint all the people who want to bash the insurers, but if you could prove the accident resulted from a seized engine, which suddenly locked the rear wheel you may be successful in having the liability decision reveresed to a not at fault loss.

But, even if your wheel does lock for whatever reason, that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to crash. Based on the fact that there was a crash likely means the rider did something wrong. i.e. wasn't paying proper attention, was caught off guard and couldn't control the bike.

I'm pretty sure that if I was riding my bike, two hands on the bars, front wheel on the ground and my back wheel locked up I would probably be able to safely control the bike and not crash. Of course weather, rain, traffic conditions etc may also play a part but let's not all conclude that even if the engine seized first there is nothing the rider couldn't do to control the skid.

[johnp]

they aren't around.

ha ha so why did you start this thread in the first place?