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I ’spose it was bound to happen sooner or later, momentary lapse in concentration/error in judgement and down I went.

Wednesday was a nice mild looking day, sunny skies with a little cloud cover and temps in mid 20’s, so decided to go for a mid week ride Dwellingup way, but I didn’t even get out of metro area. I was at a giveway sign cnr Lake and Armadale waiting to turn left; there was absolutely no approaching traffic to the right, and the car in front moved off to the left, so I moved forward at 3-4 km/h checking traffic to right (still none), but car in front decided to stop again … quick grab of brakes, but too little too late … bang !

Bike hit right rear of car causing bumper auto destruct (at about 2 km/h), bike then went down on right side, I went over bars superman style, but landed like a human on left hip/outer thigh … ouch, but otherwise ok.

Exchanged insurance details etc, took some photos of damage and intersection, made some running repairs to bike – gaffer tape for left indicator, straighten mirrors; motor runs, check for leaks … all ok ride home.

At home removed fairing to assess other damage; scratches/gouges to fairing, and some broken fairing mounts (plastic bits), headlight shell mounts broken on left side (more plastic bits), front brake lever end snapped off, rear brake lever toe broken off, some other minor scratches, gouged the new metal trim on recently repaired Roo muffler , rear of tank dented from mobile phone in jacket pocket.

I phoned Suzy dealer, initially looking about $2,000+ in parts to fix (not including tank, or labour). Insurance notified and claim lodged, accident report filed with ICWA. Took bike in Thursday morning for a proper quote, should get cost later today (Friday).

Already had a doctors appoint first thing this morning, so he checked out hip/outer thigh; only a light bruise, no other visible injuries (thanks to Kevlar jacket, jeans & gloves; and Sidi boots) – even though low speed … ATGATT – Can’t remember the last time I came off, but must have been 30+ years ago.

How’s this; exactly 1 year to the day taking out insurance – got TLS 24/11/08, insured on 25/11/08, and claimed on 25/11/09 (glad it was auto renewed).

UPDATE: Just got the quote … $3600 .00 – damn that’s insane; nearly all ‘cosmetic damage’, the only operational/mechanical damage was a broken brake lever and brake pedal – what ever happened to motorbikes being a cheap mode of transport and cheap to maintain ? Now all I’m waiting on is the insurance company approval …