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Laid bike down when dogs ran into highway

15K views 69 replies 24 participants last post by  jondog9 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys,
Late easter sunday, I was taking a nice midnight ride through Birmingham. I was about to take the exit home but decided that since it was such a nice night that I would put a few more miles under my belt. Anyways, two and a half miles later, as I was passing one of the most affluent neighborhoods in town, three yellow labs came bolting down a hill and straight into oncoming traffic. anyways, I locked up the rear tire and began skidding and then put more and more pressure on the front. The timing was perfect. I was on a collision course. I finally locked up the front brake, flipped, and was tossed onto the pavement. Luckily it wasnt concrete because i would be covered in road rash. The surface was mostly smooth quartz aggregate so i made it through with little road rash. After i quit tumbling, I jumped up as fast as I could because i was in the middle lane of Highway 280 and there were cars all around when this happened. I tried to run out of traffic by my leg buckled underneath me. luckily the people who witnessed the whole thing stopped and gave statements and took care of me until the emt's arrived.
The emt's looked me over, loaded me onto the ambulance and took me to the hospital. Ive got a couple of broken ribs and my knee is messed up. Had an MRI yesterday but havent received the results yet. I'm hoping its not too bad because i can already feel my knee getting better. i'm able to put more weight on it than on sunday without it buckling to the inside. I've just been really depressed since this all happened. I keep asking myself my i didn't take the exit to go to my house and why i just wanted to keep going. The whole scenario puts a bad taste in my mouth. Cant describe it
Unfortunately, my bike has a salvage title and I could only get Liability for it. I drove to the tow yard today and when i pulled up, the bike looked great, UNTIL I SAW THE OTHER SIDE. gas tank is dented in something fierce. One of the two brand new Carbon Two Bros pipes is destroyed, left handlebar and controls are destroyed along with blinkers, and all plastics. headlights are okay from what i can tell. I figure that I'll just take off the messed up muffler and weld a plug onto the connection point and run just one pipe. I'm pretty sure that will work. We'll see
Since I'm going to be out of work for a few weeks and recovering for a few months, I figure that I can rebuild the bike myself. It would be a good chance for me to get fully acquainted with it. I already ordered fully adjustable pedals that i paid 200 for. They are billet aluminum and are comparable to products twice their price. The brand is TECHg. type the name in on ebay if interested.


Sorry for the long thread. :/
 
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#2 ·
I have a list of parts that I will be purchasing in the next few weeks or months. If you have any of them and want to part with them, I may be able to purchase a few this week and if not in the near future.

Here's the list of needed parts

The parts I need are listed below, if any of you have them in stock and feel like selling them, I would be truly happy.

1. Gas Tank of any color scheme
2. Left controls and handlebar and grips
3. upper fairing bracket... the metal bracket that the mirrors mount to surrounding the speedo and odometer
4. new headlamps possibly
5. blinkers - already have
6. Full set of plastics - buying from ebay
7. windscreen
8. screws to attach plastics
9. Rearview mirrors... May buy on ebay.
10. I need the two knobby screws that are right behind the riders butt on either side of the plastic rear plastic that are used to attach it to the frame. They appear to be used to attach a rear bag on top of the rear seat if taking a road trip. I only need one of those.

Will post pictures of my bike tomorrow after i pick it up from tow yard. If you know of cheap used salvage parts, please let me know. Thanks again guys. -Chef Luis A. Pernia
 
#3 ·
found the owners of dogs but they refuse to speak with me or my insurance company. Cops won't investigate either. I'm pretty sure they would not admit to having their dogs off leash anyways. I dont blame them either. This could end up costing the dog's owners a descent amount of cash, especially if i have to have surgery on my acl.
 
#5 ·
yeah, all of the witnesses saw the dogs. I drove through the neighborhood that they came out of and pulled into the first driveway, the house whos yard the dogs came bolting out of. Thats where i found them, wearing electric dog callars. Owners wont man up, though, and just said that their dogs cannot get off the property. I said "what about during a power outage?" and thats when she asked me to leave.
 
#8 ·
Electric fences don't mean a dog won't get "out". It means a dog is strongly discouraged to get near it. If the collar wasn't on there wouldn't be the shock to remind the dog that it shouldn't be going over it. And depending on the breed of dog it could be strongly discouraged in favor of a real fence. Depending on how focused the dog is on what it wants, electric fences are worthless.

I only say this because I work with a local greyhound group, and electric fences for greyhounds are worthless. A sighthound that has prey in focus doesn't care about a split second shock as it tears after something it thinks is interesting.

If you have witnesses that saw the dogs come out, go after it. Get it in the police report. Obviously that "electric fence" isn't doing it's job well enough to prevent the dogs from something they want.
 
#10 ·
Man that does really suck, but glad you made it ok.
I agree with everyone else, lawyer up and hold the dog owners responsible.

I have an upper that's tweaked and it is semi usable. Next time I'm out at the shop I'll see how bad it is.

Also there is a member on here or Zilla that made a jig to straighten the upper stay.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Motorcycle.com App
 
#12 ·
I wish I had some spares to help you out. I will double check but I'm pretty sure I'm taped out. IndyOEM is your friend for those items you can't find used. I just dealt with them and the service was excellent.

I would also see how much Two Bros. would work with you on a replacement. I just dealt with them as well and they fit the bill for overnight shipping and we all over the customer service bit.

I would also get a lawyer. A local firm that deals with injury cases should be decent enough to get the ball rolling. Ensure the witness statements are entered into the report and go get them. I am fairly certain that if you can prove ownership of the dogs and have witnesses to back up that PID then you have a reasonable case to find the owners negligent.
 
#14 ·
Glad to hear you are ok and on your way to recovery. It is unfortunate that happened but dont dwell on the "what if" too much. If your aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle. A legal consultation wouldnt hurt.
 
#19 ·
That sucks man. I'm really sorry about what happened. I was gonna say that sometimes you gotta cut your losses and just be thankful your still here. Anything that ever happens to me on my bike I consider my fault whether it really was or not cause its my choice to ride. "Blame doesn't bring back the dead or fix broken bones" but after reading about the results of your MRI I think you may wanna hold them folks responsible. I bet if you hit one of thier dogs they woulda been after you for some kinda compensation. Good Luck with all that and heal up Quick. and don't beat yourself up over the what ifs. the dogs may have saved you from a texting tractor trailer driver around the corner. you never know. Oh and if all else fails, Dogs love Ex Lax.. ok just kidding ;)
 
#18 ·
Dude, Sorry to hear about the accident...... I am glad you are in most respect in good condition after the accident........ Like everyone I would consult a lawyer and get the police report with all the witnesses. I will look and see what I have in spare parts. I think mostly is stock parts from converting to aftermarket items.
Good luck on the knee recovery as I hated it when I was down for recovery
 
#20 · (Edited)
Thanks all of you guys for being SO supportive. ATVCR500 i really appreciate your support. I really like this forum. I'm so lucky to have joined this forum before my accident. I've received nothing but positive support and certainly owe all of you any support that I am capable of giving. I'm new to bikes and can't offer much but if you need help in the cooking area, I am certainly here for you. I just found out that I have a torn ACL after the accident. Sooo, Basically I'm screwed for the next few month.
Anyways, I'm gonna repair my bike while i'm repairing my knee. While doing that, I would be glad to help out any of you guys. If you need any help cooking or need recipes or anything, i can certainly help you all out. Thanks so much for your support. I am very glad that i joined this forum and will join in the next few minutes. Thanks guys. Chef Luis Pernia
 
#21 ·
Just joined as a full member. I can't offer much in support, but if any of you guys wanna meet up for a crawfish boil here in Birmingham, let me know and I will schedule it. It'll be a lot of fun. I will set up a Thread, if enough people respond. After all, I owe it to all of you guys for the support. -Chef Luis A. Pernia

If interested, my phone is 205 393 1799, just give me a call.
 
#23 ·
Jamer 03 RC, Thanks for your support. Thanks to ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT,
Im gonna have to figure out whether my upper shocks are bent or whether the left grip is bent. If any of you guys live close to Birmingham, Alabama, and feel like having a crawfish boil or cookout, let me know. My email is mynameismud26@yahoo.com the crawfish boil will have to be after my knee surgery which will be a few weeks from now. Just email me if you want to show up. Thanks, Chef Luis Pernia
 
#24 ·
James 03 rc,
thanks for the pointers. Ill figure out eventually. Gotta pick up the bike from the tow company tomorrow. they wanted to charge me 170 to tow my bike from their shop to my apt, which is less than 4 miles. I scheduled a uhaul trailer for tomorrow to tow the bike myself and it only cost me 14.00... a lot better than 170.00

later james. Chef Luis Pernia
 
#25 ·
yumyumchef,

man this suck to hear. I've been reading how excited you were to get the RC and now this... timing is a bitch, ain't it?

The last thing you need to do is question whether you should have kept going or taken the previous exit. That shit will eat you up inside and does no good! I had a pretty gnarly motorcycle accident a little over 2 years ago and I started questioning myself too, "should I have been riding on my lunch break", "should I have seen that guy before he pulled in front of me?" etc.

It's happened and now you have to focus on what's in front of you, which is fixing yourself, then the bike. Did you get a police report at the accident and do you have contact info for the witnesses? Hopefully yes and yes - that will make things go smoother. If a lawyer thinks they can prove who's dogs were loose you may be good. I would be prepared for a drawn out process though so stay strong: mentally and physically.

Keep posting updates so we can check up on ya! When I get to the house tonight I'll look thru my spare RC parts.
 
#26 ·
Hey Yum...PM me your addy, I have a set of mirrors that I will ship ya....may not be exactly what ya want, but you can use them till you find what it is you do want !!

You may also contact your local news ...I know here they are pretty good about getting in folks faces...Police included, especially if you have witnesses and they refused to do anything about it...then again, it is Ala-bammy....you probably were interrupting a Klan mtg and the dogs were your "warning" !
 
#30 ·
Luis, dude just came across the thread. i am so sorry this happened. Everyone has already said it, but don't dwell on it. It happens and there is nothing you can do about it. i will go through parts, and get you what i can buddy.

May take you up on some cooking tips, would love to get some new dishes.
 
#31 ·
Sorry to hear about your off yumyumchef; hope you heal up fast & get the bike back together again.
 
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