just when it all works again......

[kiawrench]

just when we get our bikes repaired and working right , it seems something new pops up!
 ? ?i got my lil silver v running good, fixed the destroyed starterclutch,rebuilt the starter. and with a call from lucky- remembered why i bought her in the first place.
 rode her to work friday, looking like a newbike , graphics in place, even had god weather . on the way home i stopped to make my mortgage payment, little lady in a land yacht era cadillac decided she needed the majority of paved surface in the parking lot to back out of a parking slot , and since my vision was in the lot, she just had to see if she could knock it over( i was parking other side of lot and 5 slots down )
 i beeped horn, yelled and the tried to escape, but front tire caught edge of huge oil puddle . i went under the left side of bike, hit ground with finger on kill switch and left foot between the can and swing arm.
 ? ?so now i have my back up clutch lever on, and will have to repaint a few sections. the bike was saved by the fast restart and the fact that i was more under the bike when it hit than on it. ?as per normal,, the lady told cops she did nothing wrong ,, that "the biker guy was flying across the lot and cut in behind her" yet the others there,cashiers and a few patrons, all had a different story, (thats why i beeped horn on the bike,,, get someone to see the crazy *@%!!!! trying to squash me.)the Vision will survive,, a few hours work, will never see it . I on the other hand had company coming . so i got home, found another clutch lever, got the bike home, and then noticed my foot was a bit on really painful side .
 being a hard head , i taped it up like a pro football player ,spent saturday with GA WOLF, stripping a parts bike ,getting him the stuff he needs and some for myself.
 ?cut off the tape last night and am now waiting patiently for my ride to ER to get xrays on a foot i cant walk on today.
 ? ? am thinking maybe broke a bone or two,, can stand , but cant go ,,, and it is about 12 different colors !
 ? ? ?but the vision isnt dented, the paint can be saved , and i was able to keep a promise to a fellow vision rider,,, so maybe i did good. will repost when i find out the damage

[Dave T.]

That's not good. WTF? ???? :o I would be very very mad. What a bum deal. So most accidents occur within 25 miles of home? That's where we do 75% of our driving!

Sue the old bag for her life savings... ?>:(

[kiawrench]

cops said ?"it is a public lot, and you did hit that oil spot ,,,, and you know ,, the bike is sort of hard to see,,, they ticketed her for causing mva, and since damage to bike is just a fairing and some paint,,, it would cost more to sue her than to just let it go.
 ? ? GA wolf has seen the damage, he can attest, it isnt enough to sue , and as for the foot,,, just a bone, it hurts, but i can hobble around ,,,, when monday comes, will see another dr ,, maybe swelling down enough to cast it , or get a better x-ray , then see what to do . (i did call my ins company and my attorney. i may have to get another fairing )

[Lucky]

ALL HAIL THE MAN WHO THREW HIMSELF UNDER HIS VISION TO SAVE IT!!

Ok, not a normaly advisable manuver, and I'm sure not intended, but in Little League, it's known as taking one for the team...
To Kia I say HUZZAH!

Feel better soon Buddy, then since your bike is blacked out anyway, go tear up her lawn one night!, lol

[Walt_M.]

Cadillacs and Buicks, I cringe when I see one coming. Even GM knows its customers are stupid and can't drive! Why do you think they came up with 'On star', 'help, my car has fallen and can't get up!'

[kiawrench]

trust me lucky... i wasnt going under for the team,, i hit the kill switch, and was trying to peg my left foot to keep from having her go down,,,, all while trying to stop the slide in an oil slick.
 i just decided at last second, "hey foot already sliding in towards and under bike,,, lets just go with it ,,, make it a full monty",,,,, lol  that and i did just spend time painting and creating my graphics. idont have much bike damage , and the damage to me is just a broken cuboid bone. Now it doesnt seem like much,, but i cant put full weight on foot . Dr says i can get a fiberglass cast and be back to work today if i want. iwant ,,i want , i need the money to buy that vetter fairing from h2o!  that would give me a vetter and a set of secaII saddlebags,,, a truly alien vehicle if i ever saw one . there wont be any mistaking my vision for a dog-gone bmw then.

   what i cant figure out ,, i did this friday, saturday i had it taped up tight and work boots on, and was in no real pain, spent a good bit of the day getting the parts bike stripped down with GA WOLF. but when i cut off that tape,,, all hades was invited into my foot and ankle ,,,
  wife says the tape and boot was just like a cast would be,,, held it all motionless ,,so i guess i need to listen,, she is a nurse after all....
   ok am off to see employer, have to let him see papers from ER then go see if they are going to put on this darn cast, then am coming home ,design myself a heel /toe shifter unit  for a vision,,,, if it works , will send pix to lucky for refinement and posting

[GA_Wolf]

Heel / toe shifter..hmm...find an old junk Honda CT 90 or CT 50..you know the old trail bikes that had a step thru frame like a girls bike..they had heel / toe shifters and I bet they may just slip right on the shaft.

man, I didn't even know your foot was bunged up that bad...otherwise I would have had the "old lady"   ;) out there helping get that carcass in the bed of your truck!!!

[kiawrench]

thats the thing guy,, i never felt it all day saturday,,, had it taped ,sort of like when i played football. it didnt bother me at all until i cut off the tape to shower ,, then was a fright .
 ? old medicine head told me the tape was too tight,, thats why it didnt hurt,, was mostly "asleep" saturday,,
it isnt so bad,, been broken in same bone before,, will be fine , DR said i could ride in 3 days to a week,, just be sure to keep left foot on peg at stops,, dont park in any lot with a caddy and keep air cast on,,,
what really hurts is the damage to paint job i just had done ,, fred came by said he can fix th eleft saddle bag and wont see it ,, but he pointed out fractures in the fairing and the headlight bucket. so i am replacing all of that with the vetter fairing from H2Olawyer, we made deal over mail net today,, sending his stuff out on weds, so it will be there by saturday,,, dont want it sitting on his front step over his time away .

[kiawrench]

steve brought me a heel toe from the 70,, fits except for one thing ,, the shifter on the v has a linkage ,, the one for the 70 is direct mount. but it does present a sweet idea,,, going to be making deal with outr body shop guy, when i can ride again,, hav him weld the rear section onto the v shifter, making a heel toe from the stock parts,, i have a spare out in the shed somewhere,,, just in case it doesnt work,, from the days when i was fixing this thing th efirst time ( is a bit bent, but can tweak it in a vise until working )

[Lucky]

We gotta have pics of that! With a foot in the pic too?.. better your wifes than your wracked-up knarly old paw! lol!!

and, no, no foot fetish here....

--Luckster

[kiawrench]

right now i wish we could put in some sound bytes--- monty python had a good line to insert,,,,,,
   am working the idea for shifter,, right now is sort of bleak,,, will keep at it ,, just want it to work and be safe too.

[kiawrench]

good news,,,,, Mrs. Gant,,, the nice lady with the vintage cadillac, has had her attorney contact me in regards to a certain unavailable parking space at our local dollar general store lot.
 ? ?He has aked me to consider her offer to pay for my medical expenses, missed or lost wages for the next two payweeks , and when completed, she will provide restitution in the amount of my repairs.
So, hopefully i did the right thing again, i declined the medical and lost wages,,,, aflac has me covered there,,, but i did accept the offer of repayment of funds for noted damages .
 ?fairing ,clutch lever ,high boy risers(a spare set saved that cost ), repainting saddlebag and re-cutting of my graphics.
 ? ? ?He only ask that i provide copy of reciepts and or photos of damaged items.
 ? ? ?all in all,, i only expect to ask her to repay me for the fairing and paint . even then, only in the amount i paid wolfman for the shark nose fairing . ?so her cost will be kept to less than 100.00 ? anything else would be wrong in my head .. ? what say ye, riders? ? right or wrong choice?
 ? try to remember, she is over 90 and may lose her driving rights over this,,, cop had to write her up and report it ,, so that i cant stop .

[Lucky]

As any Florida rider can tell you, there should be a mandatory eye test for elderly drivers, hell, all drivers. I don't know about other states, but here in Rhode Island, the only eye test you take is when you first get a state licence.  

I was run off the road in Florida by a "little old lady" into a concrete park bench, hit & run. so MY insurance went up!

I think she should lose her driving privlages, and I believe your due more compensation than you've allowed yourself, but if you feel that how your handling it is the proper way, then you don't really need our opinions. I think if it happened to me the way it happened to you i MIGHT feel the same way, but when it happens to one of my brothers...wel, I get mad...

feel better!
--Lucky

[kiawrench]

last note to add for mrs g, was called by duty officer, they have revoked  her driving rights  due to inability to remain focused on job at hand,,, said she is unable to comprehend imminent danger,,, whatever that means .
     she gets 30 days to appeal , and then it sticks ,, no more driving for granny.   hmm maybe offer her a bit for the caddy . ...................  naw,, always hated those ......

[Lucky]

or, you could offer her a ride!!! ROFLMFAO!

[kiawrench]

ok.. i have this all figured out.
 ?after a week or so of hopping ,limping, and hobbling with a cast on,,, i re-read this whole posting ,and i figured it all out.

 ? if the overwhelming majority of accidents happen within 25 miles of home,,, then i need to move!
 ? get away from this house before something else happens to me !
  on serious side,, was offered better pay and bennies at myrtle beach dealership,,,, but cant make that move until kids are both graduated.

[kiawrench]

ha   ha      look out world ,,, cast is off,,, just have a funny tan line  now  and back on the road full time,
almost ready to close deal on job in myrtle beach,,, went out and did the bike week thing on my vision--- really got some looks from a lot of harley riders--- H2O's old vetter fairing really set the bike off- looks like a cop bike with anorexia now,,, ( the color of paint i have is almost same as state police colors   )
  did all the bike week events,,, no problems from all the choppers or harley only guys,,, seems old was cool, retro was ok,, and a running vision was something for all to ask about.
   no rain, no break downs and no tickets,, even though i did spend a couple of hours convincing a beach cop that the vision was a yamaha , not an amf/harley design . we agreed to disagree and split a six on the sand ,,, she left still squawking about amf.harley design team selling vision plans to yamaha .
   who knows?   any idea guys?   i dont have a clue,, but didnt think the japs wanted anything to do with harley or amf ... never know .

[Walt_M.]

You just have to realize that some people are really stupid! Even the harley crowd will admit that amf harleys were crap! As for Yamaha getting the design for the Vision from harley....Get real.

[kiawrench]

Walt, you have to think of biker week mentality ,, majority of those guys were in no shape to ride, fish or talk bikes,,, good bit of them just hanging onto the balcony rails and yelling at the girls. too drunk to even let go of the railings, lol
 ? Saw a lot of nice bikes, rode a few of the short poker runs, and got to meet Indian Larry down on the boardwalk,, he was just having a good time and goofing on the main drag like everyone else,,, no police escort like the tuttles had to have .( seems paul sr and paulie were worried about "fans and freaks " although mikey and vinnie were hanging out at the freakie tiki club until 3 am )big stars, no huevos?
 ?anyway,, bike week at myrtle beach next year,, wont just be there for a few days, will be living and working the beach around mid july, so wont have to worry with high hotel rates (and that does save a good bit) .
 ?as for the amf idea,,, i dont think even they could build an electrical system like ours,, not on purpose anyway. i think they decided that notion based on the amount of beer input combined with the lack of balanced diet . pizza and beer

[Walt_M.]

I have been to Daytona, twice. I have an idea of harley mentality, scarce. A wise person once said 'harley engineer' is an oxymoron, I agree.