HELP! Tornado blew bike over (while I was on it) - need insurance advice :)

[Shredbaron]

Hi folks,

Looking for some advice. I had the misfortune of being in Goderich right by the lake at the time the tornado hit on August 21.

My bike fell over (with my wife and I on it) due to the ridiculous winds (since trees were snapping and flying by me, I'm not surprised.)

I got the bike up, and we rode it back to Toronto. Close to home the engine started making a funny noise.

I parked the bike and didn't touch it for a couple of weeks, mainly because my wife and I went to Jamaica for a vacation.

I came home, tried to start the bike - it wouldn't start.

Finally had it delivered to a shop - they checked it out - said the oil pump failed and that the bike's motor is toast. Cost to re-build: $5000

The bike is insured for $7200 - it's a 2000 Yamaha Road Star.

QUESTION: Can I claim this on my insurance? It can't be a coincidence the problem occurred after the bike fell due to 200km/h winds...

Would love some insight from someone who knows a bit about insurance. I'm going to call my broker tomorrow but his office is closed tonight and I'm curious.

Thanks!

[DoubleJ]

Wow!

[Gary]

Fell over, while riding, is an accident, regardless if trees were flying by.
Whether it was the storm's fault, or yours, you should have left it there, and reported it.
Insurance? Not much chance they will buy you a new engine.
Cosmetic damage, yes, after you eat your deductable.

Let us know what the Ins Co. has to say.

[LiNK666]

Insurance company is going to say "Act of God" and it be at fault accident.

[2live&ride]

Try and source a used motor with decent k's and see if somebody on this site can help you put it in...
I wouldn't get your insurance company involved.

[Stewart]

nice clean bike with lots of bling, less then 20ks on the clock. the oil pump is behind the crank (pop the jugs and spilt the cases, no pan excess, big job!!! plan b is ?

[Shredbaron]

Plan B - used engine off eBay or from a salvage yard, and I'll try to install it myself...thanks for the advice folks - only reason I didn't report it (and leave it at the scene) was because we would have been stranded there for a couple of days (Goderich was shut down - no power, gas lines turned off) and we were also scared out of our minds and just wanted to get home...oddly enough there was no cosmetic damage, nothing seemed wrong with the bike at all until about 25k out of Toronto when the exhaust got a lot louder, which I assumed was something that got loose as a result of the fall...

[Brian P]

It's fairly unlikely that the oil pump failure is related to the tip-over.

The only thing that might have happened, is that the oil pump could have sucked in air for a moment when the bike was tipped over, until such time as the engine either stalled (which normally doesn't take very long) or you switched it off. But, the oil pump also sucks air for a moment every time you start the engine after an oil change, and this shouldn't make it fail.

If the engine somehow stayed running with the bike on its side for a long time with the oil pump sucking air and the throttle stuck open so that it's running at high revs, that will cause a problem, but the oil pump is the least of your worries. How long was the engine running with the bike on its side and was the throttle stuck open at the time?

[VifferFun]

Whoa -- crazy story.

I'm not a claims adjuster, but what others have said would likely be true -- if you were in a collision (or dropped your bike) and no one elsewas involved, then it's an at-fault claim as far as insurance goes. You can't blame a collision on rain, ice, wind, etc.

I suggest you send a PM to Platinum_Cycle (a claims adjuster) and he will help you out with more accurate advice.

[Platinum Cycle]

If you in fact got blown over by the wind, the wind would be the proximate cause of the loss and it would be a comprehensive claim. But, if you were caught in a Tornado I would expect that you and your bike would blown clear down to Kansas, not just tipped over.

The evidence is a bit odd here, a tornado has 300 km/h winds and you just "fell over".

Okay, if we believe it, this is a comprehensive loss.

Now fast forward several months later, your motor is pooched, despite riding home after the tip over. And it's pooched because the oil pump failed from the tip over, from the tornado????? This may be a hard one to prove.

A lot of stars will need to line up perfectly for an adjuster to accept the story as presented.

[Shredbaron]

Platinum, thanks for the feedback (and the healthy dose of cynicism LOL).

I'm inclined to think something was wrong with the oil pump and it just happened to fail on my way home, coincidental to the timing of the fall.

I didn't make up the story. I've got pictures taken in Goderich about 10 mins after the funnel passed. We didn't get caught right in the twister (if we did, we would be dead) but the winds were so strong that I couldn't keep the bike up and we fell over. We missed the actual path of the twister by about a 60-second margin.

I wouldn't dream to make this kind of stuff up. My wife still has nightmares about it. I can't believe neither of us were hurt when the bike fell.

I'm not filing a claim - I'm going to do a motor swap once I locate a suitable used engine.

George

If you in fact got blown over by the wind, the wind would be the proximate cause of the loss and it would be a comprehensive claim. But, if you were caught in a Tornado I would expect that you and your bike would blown clear down to Kansas, not just tipped over.

The evidence is a bit odd here, a tornado has 300 km/h winds and you just "fell over".

Okay, if we believe it, this is a comprehensive loss.

Now fast forward several months later, your motor is pooched, despite riding home after the tip over. And it's pooched because the oil pump failed from the tip over, from the tornado????? This may be a hard one to prove.

A lot of stars will need to line up perfectly for an adjuster to accept the story as presented.