Wrecked '05

[DesertWR]

Very bad experience. My buddy & I were riding from Randsburg to Johannesburg yesterday. They have an asphalt road that you travel from Randsburg for about 4 to 5 miles (not anymore!). My friend was coming over a peak when I heard tires screach. As I turned around a Ford truck collided with him. This was some scary sh#$%t. Fortunutely, he was OK, he broke his foot ? & it certainly could have been a lot worse. He is home healing so I wanted to try and evaluate his bike for him. He was on his brand new '05 WR450 (181 miles) and it didn't fare too well. Think the frame is bent. What is the best way to evaluate the condition of the bike? Strip it all the way down? I know the swingarm is gone. The motor still cranks and runs fine. Not sure how to go about it. Thanks for the help

[ToooFaarOutt]

Sorry to here about your friend .... I guess it could have been worse. How fast was the truck going? How fast was your buddy going? If they were going at a pretty good clip it might be best to strip the whole bike down and check it out. Talk to your friend and tell him to tell you exactly ( if he can remember ) how he and the truck hit. Who knows my buddy had an accident and it looked like his swing arm was trash but it ended up being the rear wheel just got knocked out of whack. Give it a good look over and then figure what it will take to fix it with parts and labor if you cant do it yourself. It may be best to part it out.

Sorry

P.S where do you guys live? I was just up there last week.

[DesertWR]

The truck was going probably around 15mph, he was traveling around 30. Looks like the hard hit was on the left side. The swing arm is badly dented in near the pivot so I know its thrashed. The seat and left side plastics are bulged out so I'm sure the subframe is tweaked. Just not sure about the main. I guess I'm going to learn how to tear down and repair a bike the hard way ? Good thing is he is OK, foot looks jacked but it will heal ? We live in Visalia @ ride CA City quite often, Told him tonight I need to find some new guys to ride with since he is layed up and probably won't ride for about 6-8 months ?

[farkawi]

The best way to check a frame is in a jig. There are several good frame shops in CA that will tweak the frame back to straight. They will also check the swingarm. The sub-frame is probably a toss away unless you know a good fabricator/welder/machinist dude. The forks and triple clamps are also suspect...sometimes they can be straightened and sometimes not. Good luck!

[DesertWR]

Tore the back end apart last night and the frame down by the chain roller is tweaked pretty bad(pushed inward). Can this be fixed or is it toast ?

[bottomfeeder2]

This might be a dumb question, but whose fault was it? If it was the truck's fault, then don't bother fixing it. Let the truck's insurance buy your buddy a new bike.

My heart sure goes out to your friend. We were just up there this weekend. I hate to hear about accidents like this.

[DesertWR]

This might be a dumb question, but whose fault was it? If it was the truck's fault, then don't bother fixing it. Let the truck's insurance buy your buddy a new bike.

My heart sure goes out to your friend. We were just up there this weekend. I hate to hear about accidents like this.

Well, he was on asphalt so you know whos fault is was. Just talked to a frame shop. It sounds like the main, sub, swingarm and fork tubes are pretty much through. Not sure if it will be worth fixing but the motor is good. This really sucks!!

[doctorchopper]

There is a frame and tripple clamps on ebay.co.uk going cheap, seen it today, 1 day left for bidding. Frame is for a 02 wr426 ebay item #7957346226, it was going for 20 pound sterling, would be around 40 usd. It says he'll ship to europe, not sure if he'll ship to the us, but if you want you can ship it to me in Ireland and i'll ship it to wherever you are. There is also a set of stock triple clamps for a yz 426, not sure if they wouldfit, but i'm the winning bidder so far, for a penny, don't really need them, but for a penny why not, anyway the item #for that is 79562412729, hopefully this stuff can help you out

[bottomfeeder2]

Well, he was on asphalt so you know whos fault is was.

Wait a minute, that's not how it works. I was an insurance claims adjuster for years. I can tell you for a fact that if the other driver caused the accident, then he is liable and his insurance will pay for the whole thing (including medical). If the guy gets POd, then he may report your friend to the cops and your friend will get a ticket. Big deal though; the ticket is cheaper than the bike.

It's called a "tort." If my memory of my college Business Law class is correct, there are three elements to a tort:

• A duty is owed: The other driver has a duty to drive safely (that is, not crash into anyone or anything).
  
• A duty is breached: The other driver somehow is at fault because he [fill in the blank with whatever the guy did].
  
• Damages result: Your friend is injured and his bike is trashed.
  

If I back out of my driveway and hit a kid on a bicycle or a mother pushing a stroller, then I am liable. Hitting a guy illegally riding a dirt bike is no different. I don't know if they exchanged information or not, but your friend might want to think again about this. HOWEVER, if it was your friend's fault, then he is out of luck. ?

Bottom line, if the other person caused the accident, they are liable for the damage. Complain about Kaliforniastan all you want, but that's how it works here. ?

[barefootbob]

TTrs a group of people from all walks of life, ? man we are so lucky to have such a cool and informative web site.DesertWR I'm so sorry to here about your buddy,hope everything works out for him good luck.Bob

[cali450]

Whats up everyone.....

Thanks for everyone's support. I'm doing pretty good now. Sucks being laid up like this though. As far as who's fault it was ... mine. I was on that road and point blank... I shouldn't have been. I know that its stupid stunts like this that get our riding areas shut down. I am just glad that the guy I ran into didn't have anymore troubles than he did. I'm sure if it had been some uptight a**hole and wanted to raise a stink he would have easily had the ammo to do so. I was in the wrong and am paying the price, hell it coulda been worse. I think GOD was watching me on this one. I was told that I almost tore the left front wheel off the guys truck with my bike.

MORAL: Lesson Learned!!!! (the hard way).......again

[ToooFaarOutt]

What you going to do with the bike? If you decide to part it out let me know.

thanks and Sorry

[mjslim]

As far as who's fault it was ... mine. I was on that road and point blank... I shouldn't have been.

Hey cali450, it's refreshing to see someone take responsibility for their actions. ? Way to be a man and not default to the weenie-lawyer "I'm-a-victim" mentality.

Hope the foot heals fast...........

[DesertWR]

What you going to do with the bike? If you decide to part it out let me know.

thanks and Sorry

The bike will be rebuilt. We can do it. We have the technology. It will be faster and stronger than before!! ??

[trailriderjoe]

Ah YES...But...Will it make that cool sound Steve Austin used to make when he would run! ???

[DesertWR]

Ah YES...But...Will it make that cool sound Steve Austin used to make when he would run! ?

It will sound like Steve Austin farting when he runs ??

[chiefsfan.58]

Hey cali450, it's refreshing to see someone take responsibility for their actions. ? Way to be a man and not default to the weenie-lawyer "I'm-a-victim" mentality.

I completely agree with slim! I don't feel like someone should have to pay for someone else's wrongdoing. You shall be rewarded for your honesty and integrity, I beleive strongly in Karma (and I hope I spelled it right ? ).... Get well.

[MortgageRider]

DesertWR & Cali450,

I found this on ebay might help with the rebuilding?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10066&item=4533397702&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[bottomfeeder2]

I completely agree with slim! I don't feel like someone should have to pay for someone else's wrongdoing. You shall be rewarded for your honesty and integrity, I beleive strongly in Karma (and I hope I spelled it right ? ).... Get well.

Hey - I'd like to set the record straight on this. I never meant to suggest that the driver of the other vehicle should pay for cali450's bike if it wasn't his fault. I also agree that someone should not have to pay for "someone else's wrongdoing." Not that it's really any of my business, but the circumstances of the accident were never explained beyond the fact that he was on the public paved road when he shouldn't have been. That in itself doesn't make cali450 100% at fault.

I'm all for personal accountability. The only reason I mentioned involving the other driver's insurance was because it sounded to me like cali450 was taking on more than his share of accountability. But as I mentioned in my original post, I don't know the facts of the accident. What I do know is that if I had been the other driver, I would have turned it over to my insurance company if I believed that I shared any part of the fault for the wreck--that's part of the personal accountability.

Again, please don't take what I said to mean that he should go after the other guy's insurance regardless of who is at fault. If cali450 caused the accident (beyond just being in the wrong place at the wrong time), then he should do like he's doing and fix his bike and count his blessings that it wasn't worse. But if his only mistake was being on a paved road and the other driver did something wrong (ran a stop, didn't look before pulling onto the road, drove too fast, etc.), then that driver is shirking his responsibilities by putting all the blame on cali450.

I couldn't be more disgusted by our "sue thy neighbor" mentality these days. However, accountability goes both ways. If something like this happens to me, I own up to my share of the blame and make sure that everyone else involved does the same.

Most importantly, as cali450 already said, God watched out for him that day and saw to it that it wasn't worse.

Cali450 - I'm impressed by your integrity. It's a shame that it's often too rare. I also hope that the other driver hasn't taken advantage of your moral fiber if he shares any responsibility in this. I hope your wounds heal fast and you get your bike put back together as soon as you can. Maybe I'll see you out there one of these days.

[chiefsfan.58]

Hey - I'd like to set the record straight on this. I never meant to suggest that the driver of the other vehicle should pay for cali450's bike if it wasn't his fault. I also agree that someone should not have to pay for "someone else's wrongdoing."

I hear ya, I wasn't tryin' to call you out. I just agreed with what slim had to say..... Sorry if I accidentally offended ? .

peace