Hello all, I'm typing this with one fewer fingers than usual. A couple of weeks back you may recall that I ventured south for a trip around northern Spain, with a view to meandering back via the Pyrennes. Things did not go quite as well as they could have. On my second day riding around the Picos, I'd finished a glorious hour or so riding up a mountain range - clear skies, good seal, no dramas - and stopped at the top for photos and water, before commencing the run down the other side. About a minute into the downhill run - tracking the white road boundary marking into a mild left-hander - I somehow ran the bike into the roughly paved gutter which was about an inch or so below the sealed road level. Turns out the road marking had a big kink in it to skirt around the drain and I probably fixated on that while already in a lean for the corner. Downhill dynamics versus uphill dynamics; heavy bike and luggage; whatever. I kept it upright for about a second or two then we went down heavy and hard on my left side. I think the front guard touched down first, but because the wheels were lower than the road - albeit by an inch or so at the most - my foot and the left pannier took a wallop before my torso bashed its way along the highway as the bike came to a halt with its arse in the air and engine still running. In fourth, no less! I was helped by a legend of a lad in a geriatric Citroen 2CV, who guided me down the mountain to the nearest regional town (40km away), despite my steering being wrenched to the right, my gear changer being torn off, mirror and guard flapping about the place (cable ties helped) and the small matter of a smashed finger and various torso agonies becoming more apparent by the minute. Long story short, I limped to Bilbao that day then got myself and the bike 'bodged' by the local A&E and Ducati shop, respectively. This got me back to London, where phase two of my bodily repairs are underway - thank you NHS - but the bike work has yet to be addressed. Things I know to be in need of attention include: the spindle hex 'nut' (?) on the left of the front wheel; a couple of panels; left mirror; left pannier (a write off, I guess, as one of the brackets has smashed as well as the cosmetic damage); plastic internal bodywork forming the left pannier stay (ie. under seat storage well), which is smashed; yokes (bent slightly, I think); front wheel setup and brake setup (nothing specific, but it's making some odd groaning noises at ultra low speed when portering the bike, suggesting something's rubbing on the pads, for example). We got off lightly, really, and the bike rode back happily through the Pyrennes for a day then across France on a motorway slog. This is however my first ever crash (touches wood) and I've had two calls so far from Carole Nash's 'approved reparier' wanting to come and take my bike away to fix it for me. Blah bah pre accident condition blah blah try to use original parts blah blah. Surely I'm better to take the bike to a Ducati shop, aren't I? Annoyingly, every Ducati dealer I've tried near London has a backlog and it's looking like a slow process to get it done that way, so the 'approved repairer' approach is sounding tempting, assuming they use Ducati parts. But they've instilled no confidence at all, so far, and my gut feel says stick with people who've been trained by Ducati. Thoughts on the back of an EU health card, please folks. My last pre-crash photo and the scene of the crime are illustrated here, as well as my back-on-the-horse photo, taken when collecting the bike after it's 130 euro interim repair and check over with these guys: Google Maps They're in a brand new retail store with a brillant, spanking new workshop below. They were a great help in my hour of need. Multi brand dealers who know Italian metal (and plastic) and won't mess you about. White side up, people. Mark
The roads can be quite bad in parts in the Picos. Often have large rocks in roads and bad surfaces. The Pyrenees generally has a better quality of road imo, so I try and avoid the Picos generally now. We came across road works there once and they directed us unto newly laid concrete that wasn't 100% dry. We left tyre track 1/2 inch deep in the surface and the rad and oil cooler got sprayed with liquid cement that dried rock hard from the heat. I nearly got wiped out by a random cart horse in the road once too near Rianna. Repairs wise it might be worth looking a bit further out of your area where it may be quieter. If you can get a loan bike the extra distance might not be such a problem.
Sorry to hear about your tale of woe, bit more of an adventure than you bargained for. From our recent trip to the area I agree that the road conditions are quite variable. It seems to be that it changes dramatically when crossing from one region to another, EU funds getting spent on things other than roads possibly... I would be very averse to letting Carole Nash take your bike away. Did that with my previous VFR and never saw it again. I asked to buy the salvage when they wrote it off as it really wasn't that bad but they wanted silly money for it. Resurfaced a few months later with a new owner contacting me for things like the tool kit, seat hump etc. which I had removed prior to them collecting it. He paid less than half what they asked me to pay... If you can get it into a decent Ducati dealership for estimate/repair do that instead. It's your call, not that of the insurance company, no matter what they tell you. P.S. I hope the one fewer fingers bit is due to dressings rather than amputation.
Hope your hand isn't too bad! Bikes can be fixed. I did something very similar in Italy a few years back. On a left curve I ran slightly wide and dropped both wheels into the drainage gully at the side of the road. I thought I could just ride around to the end of the curve where the gully ended, but it ended with a drain and a big edge back up to the road level. I hit it quite hard (I saw it coming and stood up moto-cross style just before the impact). Result - instant front tyre deflation and a wrecked front rim (forged Marchesini) and two dings in the rear rim. So a new set of wheels was required. Now I don't quite follow so hard the mantra 'stay out right for left handers'...
Sorry to hear about this, I've got a bike with CN. Sod letting them fix it get too a dealership way out of london.
Its only a bike. You pay insurance for a reason. They will only bolt on replacements, if they dont write it off, so let them have it Hope you're not too beaten up
Hope you mend soon. When some arse rear ended my car my insurance tried to get me to use their repairer but I refused and spoke to VW who managed the claim and the work but as there was nobody else involved I'm not sure what your position is re using Ducati to repair but I'd certainly investigate Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank you all. Carole Nash have been impressively incompetent in their handling of the claim, so far. Not cynical, just downright useless. Yesterday I had to call from another phone to get another staff member in the claims department to tap his colleague on the shoulder who I'd been on hold with for 25 minutes. Magically, he was of course immediately finished with whatever it was he was doing. Aviva (the insurer) had not even received the claim from C-N until I chased them yesterday, so that's a week lost to bad admin at Carole-Nash. I asked Aviva to tell me what C-N had told them about the incident, and it was the most mind bogglingly half arsed summary of my detailed incident report. Needless to say that half an hour with Aviva itself and things are moving along a bit better. Oh, I was at the hospital's hand clinic about the dodgy digit last Friday. "If it turns green please give us a call". Yep. I'll do that. Pretty sure I'll be right on that one, quick smart.
