This is how my precious grom got run over.
I was trying to get a duplicate set of keys for my supermoto, because I only had the one. The only place around that could copy motorcycle keys was a stand in the middle of a Vons parking lot. This kiosk was situated in the middle of a row of parking spots, with lines painted around it in a “U” shape as a makeshift drive-thru. I parked the grom in the nearest designated parking space, about 10 feet away.
As I’m waiting for the guy to finish cutting my key, a truck pulls up in the drive-thru. This truck is massive, textbook bro-dozer. So much so that he parks in the drive-thru at an angle, because his truck is so big it didn’t complete the turn. I do notice that his truck is now parked in such a way that its directly facing the grom, but I figure I’ll be out of here before him and if not, his wheels are locked to the left to complete the turn, so if he were to keep going in that direction he would clear the parking space I was in easily.
He goes up to the kiosk and asks the guy a question and holds up a key. The guy is shaking his head no, can’t copy that kind of key.
Dude jumps back in the bro-dozer, straightens the wheel, and takes off square into my bike. Not only did he knock it over, but he scraped it across the ground a few inches and wedged it under his bumper. Immediately he backs up and jumps out to see what he hit, but I’m pretty sure he already knows by the look on my face, maybe even more certain by the way I shout out loud: “What the fuck!”
He’s instantly apologetic and offering to pay for any damage. I pick the bike up and take a look at the damage. Amazingly, the only visible damage is that the handlebar end and front axle slider got scraped, not even the plastic got scuffed!
This is where I made my mistake.
I could see how scared he looked and how much he was apologizing, I softened. I told him I will ride it around the parking lot to see if everything was a-ok and if the only damage was the scrapes then no harm no foul. I looped the parking lot and everything seemed fine. I didn’t get his insurance info, just his first name and a cell phone number.
ALWAYS GET THE INSURANCE INFO! Even if everything looks ok. On my way home I noticed that I had to squeeze the front brake a lot more, and at some points wasn’t working at all. Turns out the front axle and brake disc were bent, so much so that on the move the brake disc would push the brake piston in, giving me essentially no brakes. I texted this guy letting him know the story, thankfully parts were cheap, so all I asked was that he pay me the cost of parts. He agreed, but to this day I have yet to have my venmo request fulfilled…
1/10 wouldn’t wreck again.
