Well.....it finally happened!

drclarksmith

drclarksmith

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I was coming back from an awesome ride through some beautiful North GA mountains and Hwy 129 which is part of Deals Gap. I was coming back into town in Blairsville GA when I come across this "round about" in the town square.

Round About's are those things that they have in france where you don't stop going around until it's time to split off, and CARS are SUPPOSED TO YIELD to you. Well this time it didn't happen! A car failed to yield and shot out right in front of me.

I ended up smacking into her right tail light with the left side of my 08' FZ1 because I was able to maneuver from hitting her in the side.

I was so shakin up by the impact, that because I ended up hitting the back of her car and there were not any witnesses, that I was not wanting to deal with the police and be the one that got the ticket. So I ended up telling the lady that I would just pay for the tailight on her old buick. (Don't Need Insurance Rates to Rise)

So anywayz, I was able to keep the bike upright and only scraped my ankle up a bit, and have some minor cosmetic damage to my left headlight and front fender and front wheel guard. I was going about 10mph and could have lost a leg had it gotten in between my bike and the bumper, but instinctively I lifted my leg off my peg right before impact. (Not sure how the hell I did this, because it happened so fast.

I just wanted to post and see if anyone could relate or know of anyone who has any gen II parts for sale or salvage. The bike runs fine and believe it or not held up very well, in fact I think her car took the worst of it.....

I know someone is looking out for me, because it could have been so much worse.

Please post comments,
CJ (drclarksmith)
 
Well the main thing is that you're ok. Any accident, no matter how small or big, that you walk away relatively unscathed is a win in my book.

The problem is that those traffic circles are very confusing. A driver that is not familiar with them doesn't know what to do a lot of times. I am always extra careful when entering or exiting one of those.

Sounds like the damage to the bike is relatively minor, but you may want to check it over carefully or take it to a shop just to have them look things over. You want to make sure you didn't damage the front forks in any way.

As for parts check on eBay as I always see lots of Gen II parts on there. Oh and just so you know a front fender from an 04-06 R1 is the same as the FZ1.
 
drclarksmith said:
I was coming back from an awesome ride through some beautiful North GA mountains and Hwy 129 which is part of Deals Gap. I was coming back into town in Blairsville GA when I come across this "round about" in the town square.

Round About's are those things that they have in france where you don't stop going around until it's time to split off, and CARS are SUPPOSED TO YIELD to you. Well this time it didn't happen! A car failed to yield and shot out right in front of me.

I ended up smacking into her right tail light with the left side of my 08' FZ1 because I was able to maneuver from hitting her in the side.

I was so shakin up by the impact, that because I ended up hitting the back of her car and there were not any witnesses, that I was not wanting to deal with the police and be the one that got the ticket. So I ended up telling the lady that I would just pay for the tailight on her old buick. (Don't Need Insurance Rates to Rise)

So anywayz, I was able to keep the bike upright and only scraped my ankle up a bit, and have some minor cosmetic damage to my left headlight and front fender and front wheel guard. I was going about 10mph and could have lost a leg had it gotten in between my bike and the bumper, but instinctively I lifted my leg off my peg right before impact. (Not sure how the hell I did this, because it happened so fast.

I just wanted to post and see if anyone could relate or know of anyone who has any gen II parts for sale or salvage. The bike runs fine and believe it or not held up very well, in fact I think her car took the worst of it.....

I know someone is looking out for me, because it could have been so much worse.

Please post comments,
CJ (drclarksmith)
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear that you've suffered your first one. The good thing is that your okay and hopefully, now that you got that one out of the way, you can continue on without anymore incidents. Let's hope so at least. I'm glad your okay Doc!
 
Man, that sux. Glad you're OK though.

We have loads of roundabouts here, and they are awesome. They are quicker than lights, and really easy to use. Unfortunately, some people are too stupid to figure it out or too lazy to try. Some people stop before entering them without a single other vehicle in sight on the road anywhere, but behind them. Some people just haul out in front of you. Some people try to race you through in the inside lane, and get crossed up, and nearly take you out as they enter your lane.

The roundabout is definitely not the problem...lol.

Once again...glad you're OK.
 
ozzieboy said:
The roundabout is definitely not the problem...lol.
Once again...glad you're OK.
Click to expand...

Glad you are OK, shame about the machine. At least you can buy new parts for it.

One of the members was selling a bunch of parts including the front fairing assembly, Check the classified section. If I remember who I'll attach the link.

I was in England a few years ago and got to do all the driving, and we did LOTS of travelling. I loved the roundabouts (My passengers thought a little too much!):laugh2: In England there was no problem as everyone knows how to use them and things flowed well. They are not for the meek though. You definately need to "get with the program". In Canda the roundabout is becoming increasingly popular.The driver education has not yet caught up, so they tend to be aggravating when full of ignorant, under-skilled drivers. It makes them accident factories.:banghead:
 
glad your OK and had the instinctive reflex to lift your feet. In nowadays traffic NEVER EXPECT A CAGE TO YIELD and only roll on when it actually rides off...roundabout here in Europe are indeed to many cagers still new and confusing, especially the ones with multiple lanes.
 
Well, guess somehingnis in the air....no accident, and the FZ was running in exceptional form today. But a turn into my subdivision, 30ish, caused the front end to lose traction.

No debris/oil/spills that I could visibly see, but made it exciting for the last mile.....


Guess we are both lucky, because mine was about 200yds from a round-a-bout....
 
Well, I'm going to avoid the round-about on the way home tonight. ;)

Glad you came out of it OK and the bike suffered little damage. It is too bad there wasn't a witness available to step forward and point out her fault in the matter!

Any accident you walk away from is a good one in my opinion. Glad someone watcheth over you!
 
Glad to hear you are doing ok after the accident, I hope your ankle heals up.

I loved driving in round abouts (reminds me of a YES song :) ). I lived in the UK for 3 years so I really got used them and got very annoyed when I came back to the USA and we just had stop signs.
 
Glad you're OK! Those roundabouts are very difficult. I very much rely on the speed of my bike in the roundabouts to dodge errant drivers. But sometimes it's just impossible to avoid someone jumping out in front of you, so good for you for minimizing the damage. Heal well my friend.
 
Glad your ok. I hear ya on those round abouts and stupid drivers. But we live in stupididy, so that's just one of the dangers. It took me a long time to beable to see some cager do something stupid, and NOT get very pissed off.
But I'm older now. I can handle my anger. really ...no really!

Brohay, you may have hit coolant. It;s tricky stuff and hide well. All you can see is a shean on the pavement. Slipery as all hell too.
Thats why they do not like you having it in cars or bikes on the track.

on a side note, I do have a red fairing and a black fender I could part with. If thats what you need.
Was saving them for a trackday. But would rather see them going to someone in need.
 
awe sucks! yeah, I hit a cow at about 60 mph and did over $4000 worth of damage..... somehow i walked away too though without a scratch. I got tons of stock parts leftover if you need any.....
 
Good to hear you emerged from the collision without any major injury.

One of the biggest problems with those damn roundabouts is the fact they have no specific laws about how they are used. We have one in my local area of Northeast Ohio where any vehicle already in the circle has the right of way, and merging traffic must yield, makes sense. Last week my wife and I are in Columbus approaching a roundabout and I just happened to notice a small sign that states vehicle's in roundabout must yield to traffic entering the roundabout. Wow, completely opposite from what I was used to, and an open invitation to a collision had I not seen that sign. Each State should have standardized rules for these roundabouts so they are the same everywhere within the same State.

We did our honeymooning in Turks & Caicos in the Carribean and every major intersection was a roundabout, they did not have traffic signals. Traffic drove on the left side of the road and the roundabouts were clockwise. Drivers always had to yield to cars on the right (therefore cars already in the roundabout always had the right of way). It was scary at first but we got used to it.
 
Good too hear you came out OK.

We have quite a few up here in Mass, but I think most are considered rotaries.
The Mass "Rule of the Road" mentions both and states:

"You must always yield the right-of-way to vehicles already in the rotary (unless directed differently by local signs or police officers) and to pedestrians."

It can be and adventure though!
 
Good to hear you are well.

bsly said:
One of the biggest problems with those damn roundabouts is the fact they have no specific laws about how they are used.
Click to expand...

In the whole Europe the Roundabouts are very popular, and let me say they saved many lives. Actually people don't know perfectly how to deal with them, also because the law is not clear at all regarding their use (lawyers love them so much!). But they popped out a lot of time ago (I guess more than 20 years) and so now people are used to them. But sometimes, especially when you are riding, some stupid guy makes a bad move and you risk to crash. The advantage is that facing them with a very reduced speed even if you have an accident usually the speed avoids that you injury yourself badly. This argument doesn't apply to the bikes, which get out from the accident at least with bended forks (if you are lucky). Anyway I repeat, I don't like them so much, but they have became day by day more popular because they are a good way to save people lives.

My sister who leaves in CA told me that in America they are so infrequent, but I guess soon or later you also will have a plenty of them. Trust me, in "just" 20 years you will be able to drive/ride into them without any problem...
 
I was doing about 65 when I first saw him, but by that time it was too late. i scooted over to the other lane (this road is very desolate with hardly any other cars) to get out of the way but couldn't do it. he hit me between my front tire and radiator. I didn't crash right when he hit me, but he pushed me off the road and up this hill. i somehow managed to keep the bike up. I was riding along the hill with barbed wire for about 100 yards. I finally hit a dip then got airborne and landed in the barbed wire. I couldn't get out, but luckily there were some guys working on some train tracks that saw it all and came to help me out. somehow i managed to walk away without a single scratch on me. the wire completely tore through my jacket, helmet, pants and my bike.... this happened on superbowl sunday too so i had to miss the game! hit the cow so hard he pooped on my pipe
 

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