I crashed my new Zero SR ZF-13.0 wreck got stolen :thumbdown

[erensi]

Bought a Zero SR from a guy in Santa Cruz and rode it home last Friday.

Alright I made it. 2016 Zero SR ZF 13.0, 72 miles in 1:32, average 47.5 mi/hr. I started at 99% battery and arrived at 10%. Mostly highway miles. Eco mode. I'm surprised how slow the average speed was. It didn't feel that slow.

Going over the mountain on HWY17 was a little nerve wracking because I could see the battery capacity dropping going up the hill. By the time I got to the top I was at 69%. Regen on the way down brought me up to 70%. I came across a logging truck full of logs and tucked in behind it until around San Jose. The battery stayed at 70% for a long time. I was lucky to find that truck because the wind felt pretty strong. I have never noticed wind so much before, except when riding a bicycle back in the day. I'm not sure if there was a headwind or if I was just noticing it more because wind noise was the only noise. But it felt like there was a lot of wind. Maybe also because the bike is lighter. So it was nice to have that truck even getting pelted with bits of Redwood bark. The truck turned off at I think 238 interchange and I went in the wind myself for a while. By the time I got to Fremont I was at 50%. I timries getting behind an SUV but it didn't provide much wind shelter so I abandoned that, and soon after I was able to catch a ride behind a FedEx truck all the way to Hayward , at which point I was at 40%. I was out in the wind from there on. By the time I got to downtown Oakland I was at 20% so I kicked it into sport mode but as someome mentioned, it cuts the power when the battery is low. But still the torque felt great. The next few miles through the city brought me down to 10% and it was done.

The next Tuesday I crashed on my way to DMV to do the registration.

This is about the Zero SR ZF 13.0 that I bought last week and drove back to Oakland from Santa Cruz. I only rode it three times.

Well, I crashed it yesterday on the way to the DMV to transfer the registration. yup, after 5 days of owning it. A guy in a white pickup truck stopped at an intersection bafflingly went ahead and took a left turn right in front of me. What is it with white pickup trucks? I put on the brakes hard but still hit him at about 20mph or so. I'm not sure exactly what happened at that point. I remember being on the ground and getting up a little disoriented. The police report puts him at fault, so that's the first good thing. As for the bike, the front-end took a hit. The headlight and front fairing/"tank" is busted and the left side of the handlebar broke clean off. The instrument console got knocked off its mount and the display was not working when I tried ti turn it on. I don't have any photos because my phone got smashed.

Fortunately I seem to have only broken my right pinky finger. I cannot straighten it, even with the splint. They might need to do surgery. But considering basically a head-on collision that was not bad. I was able to walk a few miles home from the hospital.

Right after the accident I was able to pick up the bike and put it on the kickstand but it wouldn't roll as there was a big piece of something lodged in the front wheel spokes. It was a piece of the truck's bumper or sideboard. A police officer let me use a phone to call AAA and get a tow while I was lying in the ambulance. I tried to get them to tow it to Moto Guild but it was closed and apparently they can't tow to a place with nobody there. I didn't find that out till I was discharged from the hospital. By that time AAA did not have any motorcycle towing equipment available, so I got a ride down to the bike and put a cable lock on it with a note to please not move it.

And guess what happens next...I came back the next morning and it was gone. A local driving by said the police came to tow it, but when I inquired with the police they have no record of a tow. So I think it was stolen.

The irony is that I was on my way to the DMV to get the registration transferred into my name. Luckily I had added the bike to my insurance policy the night before.

Here's a photo of it from a few days ago.

I'd imagine post-accident motorcycle theft is pretty common. How does that work in terms of insurance and stuff?

It appears the bike has been stolen. If I got it back it would need probably new forks, handlebars, left handlebar electronics, console, headlight, and fairing-tank plastics.

EDIT: Just to be thorough and for possible identification of the missing bike, it is a
2016 Zero SR ZF 13.0
"Red" (but the red plastics are most likely gone)

License Plate: 22E7992 (CA)
VIN: 538SM9Z37GCG06655

It has been reported as stolen

 

[Tally Whacker]

Damn. Talk about adding insult to injury.

It's good your injuries were so minor, but otherwise that really sucks.

 

[W800]

Bought a Zero SR from a guy in Santa Cruz and rode it home last Friday.

The next Tuesday I crashed on my way to DMV to do the registration.

It appears the bike has been stolen. If I got it back it would need probably new forks, handlebars, left handlebar electronics, console, headlight, and fairing-tank plastics.

OMG - that's terrible! Well, it sounds like it was a good choice to make sure it was insured!!!

I've never had this happen to me - so I don't have any advice.

I am super paranoid about getting either of my bikes stolen. . .

So, I did a lot of research about locks and chains a couple of years ago. IDK if this helps, but might help in future. . .

CHAIN:

I ended up getting several feet of this this: https://www.westechrigging.com/pewag-security-chain-012-galv.html - you have to tell them how many feet you want, then ask for a nylon cover. There is not a way to cut it unless you have a good angle grinder, a vise, and a couple of disks, and around 15 minutes. Idea is to make it noisy if someone tries to steal your bike. Can't be cut with man-portable bolt cutters.

LOCK:

This is my lock: https://www.abuslocks.com/product/481/3755-ultimate-security-steel-padlock - same thing. It can be picked, but only by people who know how to pick this type of lock, which is generally just locksmiths. Even then, it take a while.

That combo is too heavy to carry with you - it's for wherever you park your bike at night. Just leave it locked there when not in use.

WHY THE ABOVE:

Cables can be defeated with anything that can cut even a single strand of the cable. You just do it over and over. Round chain is easier to cut than square chain for some reason. So go with square or similar shape. But it's got to be chain.

Combination locks are bad, and can be defeated multiple ways:

1) Take two open end wrenches and put one on each side (inside) of shackle. Pull them together to snap shackle.

2) Run a shim down inside the lock to defeat the dogs.

3) Pick them by feel.

4) Hit with hammer and pop off the dial, then just try and destroy lock.

5) Use bolt cutters if the steel is weak.

Most padlocks are crap. So that's why I went with the Abus.

General idea is to either slow down the thief, or make it so they choose someone else.

Anyway, I am really sorry that happened to you. I hope they catch whoever did that.

 

[erensi]

LOCK:

This is my lock: https://www.abuslocks.com/product/481/3755-ultimate-security-steel-padlock - same thing. It can be picked, but only by people who know how to pick this type of lock, which is generally just locksmiths. Even then, it take a while.

First thing I did was look it up on Lock Picking Lawyer. Yeah the cable you see in the photo was just to keep honest people honest. That was good info though.

 

[W800]

First thing I did was look it up on Lock Picking Lawyer. Yeah the cable you see in the photo was just to keep honest people honest. That was good info though.

TY!

LPL is my hero! That's how I learned all this stuff!!!

Him and Bosnian Bill, LOL.

At work we have locks for certain things we do - and I am always telling my boss "that's a sh*t lock." He just looks at me.

 

[Enchanter]

Since you posted in the Crash Analysis Forum...let's bring it back to that topic.

Once you noticed the truck, did you do anything to help the truck see you?

Did you cover the brakes or adjust your position in the lane in anticipation of the truck violating your right of way?

If you find yourself in a similar situation again, what would you do differently?

 

[DataDan]

The left-turner is by far the most common city-street crash in the Bay Area, accounting for 1 in 5 motorcycle crashes in that environment.

In addition to the questions Enchanter asked, could you identify the intersection and your direction of travel? Also, what other vehicles were around that might have complicated the situation?

 

[W800]

Since you posted in the Crash Analysis Forum...let's bring it back to that topic.

Once you noticed the truck, did you do anything to help the truck see you?

Did you cover the brakes or adjust your position in the lane in anticipation of the truck violating your right of way?

If you find yourself in a similar situation again, what would you do differently?

Agreed. I am curious whether there was an exit point.

 

[erensi]

Since you posted in the Crash Analysis Forum...let's bring it back to that topic.

Once you noticed the truck, did you do anything to help the truck see you?

Did you cover the brakes or adjust your position in the lane in anticipation of the truck violating your right of way?

If you find yourself in a similar situation again, what would you do differently?

Hey my bad. I have been thinking about this. I am usually pretty good about being wary approaching intersections. I am not sure what happened this time. I wish there was video footage because I honestly don't remember much.

From the bike's damage and where I ended up, it looks like as he was turning left, I went farther to the right to avoid a head-on collision, thinking I might be able to get around him, and then hit him with my left side. It may have been a better move to swerve left and go around behind him. I don't know if there was enough room to do that, and that might be a better strategy if he continued turning left without noticing me at all. If he noticed me and stopped then turning left might put me into oncoming traffic, so swerving right around the front of him like I did would have been better.

Ideally the whole situation would be avoided in the first place.

One thing I often do when approaching intersections, especially if I see someone waiting there who might decide to lurch out like that, is wave my arm and beep my horn a few times.

I was heading SW on Park Blvd at the intersection of Park & Estates. https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8140003,-122.2136289,19z

The red arrow points to where my bike ended up. I cannot say for sure which lane I was in, but I take that route a lot and usually I stay in the right lane.

I am trying not to speculate too much since there is an insurance settlement in question. I want to avoid inflating the stakes with lawyer fees, if possible. I want this to be as fair as possible.

 

[matty]

I was heading SW on Park Blvd at the intersection of Park & Estates. https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8140003,-122.2136289,19z

Oh that's a bad intersection. The folks coming up Park (the truck you hit) are just cresting a little hill. The people coming down (you) are rounding a bend and just becoming visible to oncoming traffic. And the worst is people trying to make a left onto Park from Estates, they have hardly any time to assess traffic in either direction.

As far as your bike goes, I'd call OPD again, sometimes there is a lag in communication. And I'd call Piedmont Police too, they often handle things right there on their border.

 

[Slow Goat]

Man, that is just awful. Glad you weren’t more injured.

Just curious; did you leave your name and phone number on the note you left?
Agree on checking with the OPD and PPD to see if they might have towed it.

Gonna be interesting to see how insurance handles the loss, as damage or theft. Please update us.

 

[erensi]

Man, that is just awful. Glad you weren’t more injured.

Just curious; did you leave your name and phone number on the note you left?
Agree on checking with the OPD and PPD to see if they might have towed it.

Gonna be interesting to see how insurance handles the loss, as damage or theft. Please update us.

I left my landline phone number on the note. My phone was smashed. Thanks everyone I hope to never have to experience this again.

 

[W800]

Agreed that's a bad intersection! I used to live not far from there, and even in a car that little section there is sketchy.

IDK if this helps or not - when there's a car turning to the right in front of me like that, I aim behind them (to my left) as far as I can. The reason is that they will either stop or speed up.

Rarely will they reverse.

Whereas if I aim to the right, then they might speed up into my path.

Re: waving - if they don't see you, they won't see your arms. If they do see you, then your arms are redundant. I am one of those people who rides around with high beam in day time as well. Sometimes I will flash it at people to get their attention, but even that can backfire.

In some driving cultures, that literally means "go."

I'm not a big horn user in urban areas. Reason is that the sound reflects, so people don't know where it came from anyway. That being said, sometimes I will use it to warn a pedestrian or bicyclist.

Generally, I just always work off assumption that all left-turners will actually turn left in front of me. So I slow down and cover brakes. Then when they do, I tick off a little scorecard in my head. The more points I have at the end of a ride, the better I feel. Each point represents a potential accident I avoided.

 

[DataDan]

That's a kinda ugly intersection, as already mentioned. But it does have two things going for it: Speed is low--I believe the limit is 30mph there, so I doubt you were going much faster than that. And the lateral spacing between the oncoming left-turn lane and the #2 lane where you were is decent. A really ugly intersection is one with a 55mph limit and zero spacing between the two lanes.

If there's a solution--and sometimes there just isn't--it would require identifying the threat sooner, increasing the time and space available to avert the crash. Once you've seen the pickup and recognized it as a potential, actively monitor it. Is it stopped? If not, does it look like it's going to stop?

Enchanter identified two basic steps on approach: Making yourself seen, and preparing for an emergency maneuver. If there's another vehicle nearby, either ahead in your lane or in the left lane, it can either completely block the line of sight as you near the intersection or occupy a position in the pickup driver's field of vision so that you don't stand out. My preference is to increase spacing longitudinally and laterally to keep myself identifiable as a separate thing. You'll know you're doing this if other vehicles aren't crowding the line of sight between you and the threatening driver.

Another tactic to help the other driver see you is the SMIDSY weave. When you're still some distance away--well before an emergency maneuver might be required--weave gently from side to side in your lane. Just once. You're trying to break "motion camouflage", which makes a motorcycle moving straight toward an observer look like a stationary object.

Once you get to a point where, if the truck begins to move you must act NOW, forget about being seen. It's time to prepare. Slow down, move laterally away from the threat, cover the brake, and focus on the vehicle's left front tire so you can tell if it begins to roll.

I'm glad both you and the motorcycle will survive to ride another day. :thumbup

 

[W800]

Someone turned left in front of me today. They were making a U-turn through a space in a low concrete divider that divides two lanes going one way and two lanes going the other way.

I kind of had the feeling they would do it for some reason, so I was already slowing down. They moved into the right lane and I had room to go around them in the left lane.

The only reason they ended up in the right lane was because they were driving a beat up small truck that could not turn tight enough to get into the left lane. As I passed, they started to veer left, but I was already moving pass them. They weren't even aware of me until I was in front of them and they had moved into the left lane.

I think there's some other things going on - and I don't know if they are taught in courses:

1) Some drivers are stoned or drunk, or on pills.

2) Some drivers are just crappy.

3) Some drivers are distracted.

SO - some things I look for are weird things that I just picked up over time:

1) Are they driving a beat up car?

2) Are they driving a minivan?

3) Are they driving a Prius / Subaru?

Weirdly enough - I never have have problems with kids in Camaros, (newer) Mustangs, Challengers, and stuff. My theory is that they are into cars enough to also be into the skill required to drive a car.

 

[tzrider]

While there are no absolutes in these situations, it's often true that swerving is an easier option than trying to stop in time. Getting the bike to move laterally 8 feet or so over the available distance to the other vehicle is typically more realistic than stopping in the same distance. This does assume there is an opening to steer toward.

In a scenario like this, if you steer to the left while the truck is crossing your path from left to right, both vehicles are creating space. If you steer to the right, the two of you are still converging.

We can have a kind of mental inertia, where we remain kind of committed to our original intended path of travel. It can be helpful to rehearse a slow swerve to the left when left turners turn with plenty of space to spare. The more you engrain that response even slowly in a non-emergency, the more likely you are to seize that option when taken by surprise.

The above measure is useful if taken by surprise but of course the best scenario is not to be taken by surprise. You've said you don't recall some of the details, so it may not be fair to ask what your attention was on as the truck began its turn. If you do happen to remember that, this is really where the "what would you do differently" lives.

 

[afm199]

That's a bad intersection, made worse by the tendency of the downhill driver/rider to be going a bit fast as the previous section is not residential. And then you come around the corner and there it is.

Glad you're relatively ok. That's one of those ones where it could go either way.

 

[W800]

I like the mental inertia concept. Someone once told me it's OK to be fast, but not OK to be in a hurry. The reason is that being in a hurry f*cks up your situational awareness.

I think a correlation would be "we are always where we are." In other words, the path we are on is an intended destination. But our minds should be open to other paths if the need arises.

 

[bojangle]

Sometimes I will flash it at people to get their attention, but even that can backfire.

In some driving cultures, that literally means "go."

Yeah, I never flash the lights for exactly the reason you stated. Too many people will think you are signaling them to pull out from the side, or turn left in front of you.

Another tactic to help the other driver see you is the SMIDSY weave. When you're still some distance away--well before an emergency maneuver might be required--weave gently from side to side in your lane. Just once. You're trying to break "motion camouflage", which makes a motorcycle moving straight toward an observer look like a stationary object.

Once you get to a point where, if the truck begins to move you must act NOW, forget about being seen. It's time to prepare. Slow down, move laterally away from the threat, cover the brake, and focus on the vehicle's left front tire so you can tell if it begins to roll.

I've seen that SMIDSY weave video. That's what I do on a regular basis.

 

[ThinkFast]

Given the limited sight lines in this location others have pointed out due to the crest/hill in the road, and the fact that you say you were doing about 20 mph when you hit the truck, I had the following questions/thoughts:
1. The speed limit there is 30 mph, so you were only able to scrub off 10 mph before you hit the truck? Or were you perhaps going a big faster than the posted speed limit?
2. Is this your first motorcycle? How much riding experience do you have?
3. Do you recall whether you established eye contact with the driver of the truck before you hit him?

The first two are related. It’s easy to misjudge your speed on a motorcycle and end up going a lot faster than you normally would in a car/truck/suv. In a situation where there is limited sight distance (hill crest in this case), the truck may not have seen you coming as he evaluated his situation and made his decision to turn.

Add to that the smaller frontal size of a bike and 10-20 mph or more over the posted speed and you end up with the “he came out of nowhere” phenomena that so many drivers report after colliding with a moto.

As for eye contact, it’s something I always try to establish as I approach left turners. It doesn’t mean 100% for sure they won’t still turn in front of me, but it helps me gauge whether they might. Also, if they start their turn and realize their mistake, it gives me the chance to indicate with my head where I’m going, and therefore what they should do. Without that input, they freeze - “is he going to try to go around the front of me, or cut in the back?”

I literally will turn my head and look in the direction I intend to go to avoid them. This gives them a visual cue as to my intentions, and therefore what they should do to help me. This move probably saved my life in one incident in particular.

There’s a lot of psychology and cognitive science involved in riding. We need all the help we can get when it comes to surviving out there.