Well, this is about as minor an accident as you could hope for but I thought I'd add it to the growing list. I pulled up at a stop sign on my way to work this morning and got rear ended by a Toyota Camry. Ouch. My two-month-old Monster went down on the right side and is bloodied but unbowed; bent rear brake pedal, tiny tank ding, cut in the rear tire (from the car's now U-shaped license plate, I think), typical scratches on the exhaust can and bar end. I picked up a painful knot on my right shin that I'm icing as we speak, but am otherwise intact.
In defense of the driver (a woman doctor who was suitably apologetic at hitting me and "such a beautiful red motorcycle"), it's a nasty intersection. The road drops downhill to an acute angle merge with a four laner where you need to look way back over your left shoulder to check for traffic. Not easy in a car, and downright difficult when you're wearing a helmet. Ironically, I usually just roll through there with a quick glance and trust to the bike's acceleration to get me ahead of any more distantly approaching cars. Today for some reason I decided to play it safe and come to a complete a foot-down stop. Bad idea, since Camry Woman was busy looking over her own shoulder. Could have been much worse, obviously. She knocked me ten feet out into the road, so I was lucky there turned out to be nothing coming or I'd have been in real trouble.
Guess the lesson learned is _always_ keep an eye on what's behind you when coming to a stop. I do generally watch the mirrors when pulling up in traffic, but in this case was too focused on making the merge. Anyway, ride safe everyone.
In defense of the driver (a woman doctor who was suitably apologetic at hitting me and "such a beautiful red motorcycle"), it's a nasty intersection. The road drops downhill to an acute angle merge with a four laner where you need to look way back over your left shoulder to check for traffic. Not easy in a car, and downright difficult when you're wearing a helmet. Ironically, I usually just roll through there with a quick glance and trust to the bike's acceleration to get me ahead of any more distantly approaching cars. Today for some reason I decided to play it safe and come to a complete a foot-down stop. Bad idea, since Camry Woman was busy looking over her own shoulder. Could have been much worse, obviously. She knocked me ten feet out into the road, so I was lucky there turned out to be nothing coming or I'd have been in real trouble.
Guess the lesson learned is _always_ keep an eye on what's behind you when coming to a stop. I do generally watch the mirrors when pulling up in traffic, but in this case was too focused on making the merge. Anyway, ride safe everyone.
Glad you are doing ok and came out with minor damage!
