Don't Crash an F800GS

After only two weeks (I was trying hard to last longer than that) and 1400mi. I laid my brand new 800GS down on asphalt at about 20mph. I was making a left-hand turn and in the middle of the intersection was a bunch of gravel from very recent repavement of the road. The bike and I slid about 20-25ft (luckily I was wearing full gear). I trucked the bike to the dealer the next day and when I called them today I was staggered to hear the estimate. $5400!!!! I know for a fact that if i had done the same on my '02 F-650gs I would have ended up with a broken mirror and front blinker and scratched plastic...maybe a bent handlebar.
I have not received at itemized list from the dealer or my insurance agent for the parts that need to be replaced, but from my brief examination of the bike this is what I noticed:
- all left side plastics
- left mirror
- left front turn signal
- radiator mount/s
- plastic instrument console/windshield mount
- bent shift lever
- scratched muffler
- handlebars (maybe bent)
- front forks (maybe...the front of the bike did end up the curb but I couldn't tell if they were bent)

Here are some picts I took right after the crash and a few days later



This is the intersection. You can notice that even five days later there is still a significant amount of gravel in the intersection...there were no signs whatsoever mentioning loose gravel or even a construction zone. You can see two scratches in the asphalt heading diagonally toward the curb. The bike went down right about where the seam in the asphalt is and slid to the curb






The picts are kindof crappy but I was pretty pissed off about the whole thing and wasn't thinking strait. Anyways, I'll post the itemized list of parts when I get it. I'd think for a dual-sport bike that is going to be used for adventure type riding that such a small incident shouldn't be such a big deal.


***EDIT***
I called the dealer today and got the parts list along with prices:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][/FONT]

1. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
   [*]- 1 Mirror ________________________________ 67.88 ___________________ 67.88
   [*]- 2 Sidestand ____________________________127.11___________________ 254.22
   [*]- 1 Rear Frame __________________________ 950.11___________________ 950.11
   [*]- 1 Center Stand _________________________ 176.95 __________________ 176.95
   [*]- 1 Wheel Cover, Wheel proximity__________ 56.56 ____________________ 56.56
   [*]- 2 Sports Rear Silencer __________________ 981.00__________________ 1962.00
   [*]- 1 Radiator ______________________________439.52___________________ 439.52
   [*]- 2 Bracket Upper __________________________9.89_____________________ 19.78
   [*]- 2 Grommet ______________________________ 1.93______________________ 3.86
   [*]- 1 Bracket, Radiator Bottom Rig ____________ 7.42______________________ 7.42
   [*]- 1 Bracket, Lower left ______________________7.42______________________ 7.42
   [*]- 1 Clutch Lever ___________________________81.40 ____________________ 81.40
   [*]- 1 Cover, intake snorkel, left ______________ 21.91_____________________ 21.91
   [*]- 1 Touring Windshield ___________________321.40____________________ 321.40
   [*]- 1 Footrest, left ___________________________49.35_____________________ 49.35
   [*]- 1 Set of foot peg rubber cover ____________ 24.43 _____________________ 24.43
   [*]- 1 footrest, rear left _______________________37.17_____________________ 37.17
   [*]- 1 Rubber_______________________________ 10.65______________________ 10.65
   [*]- 1 Turn Signal LF/RR _____________________ 18.85______________________ 18.85
   [*]- 1 Bulb 12V 10 Watt ________________________1.74 ______________________ 1.74
   [*]- 1 turn signal lens ________________________ 12.15_____________________ 12.15
   [*]- 1 Reflector ______________________________ 23.08_____________________ 23.08
   [*]- 1 Turn Sig MNT__________________________ 11.46 _____________________ 11.46[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]
Those are the parts...the labor is listed at 690.69. Add sales tax of 379.49 and subtract the 176.93 for the 600 mi. service and you get 5,496.50

Whats with the difference in price between the list price and extension price for the side stand and silencer? Why are there 2 of those? I got the fax after COB today so I haven't had a chance to ask them about that.[/FONT]

Glad to hear your alright first of all. I wouldn't worry about the dings and dents, it builds character on any GS! Ps. Do you have gap motorcycle insurance?

Oh yeah, I'd make up a BS story and say that I cheated death with a Mack truck and tell everybody that the 800GS won!

This appears to be a dealer taking advantage of your slow slide
replacing repairable damage with new parts.

Depending on your insurance policy
I would seriously investigate the cost/benefit of having the damage repaired by a workshop,
where you are not going to get scalped.

My GS12 & Triumph Scrambler have been over a number of times



As the previous post says - such scars only add character.

You might want to add some engine bars.

Good luck.
Rhodie

I completely agree with the line of thought that scratches add character etc. I was just staggered at the estimate. I have a $500 deductible and the insurance company will pay anything over that. I'm definitely going to invest in some SW Motech or Adv-Spec crash bars. I've dumped my 650 several dozen times and it has been to hell and back and it seems like the only things that need replacement after a crash are the mirrors and blinkers...Just wondering why the 800 is so "fragile". I understand that the dealership is gonna try to take the insurance company for all they're worth though...who knows...I'll make up my mind when what I'll do when I get an itemized list of parts that "need" to be replaced.

The BMW is not the only one, I dumped my 05 Triumph Tiger down on its left side on a diesel spill a month or so back at about 25mph and repairs have cost £3,200 (fortunately all covered by insurance).

Lesson learned, I will be fitting some Touratech crash bars when the bike is returned on Friday.

I'm guessing your 800 isn't much worse than the 650. Did you replace the muffler on your 650 if it had a scratch on it? Probably not. That's about a grand right there. Remember, your shop is probably going to charge insurance retail prices on parts, not the good online prices you would pay. I really wonder how bad the forks are, are they really bent, or is it again just scratches? That's a couple of grand. If they are indeed bent, then you really did a number on em, and those are some stout forks, no doubt the forks on your f650 would have been the same or worse.

All the little parts add up quick an as others have already pointed out your insurance will get milked to make this a showroom bike again. This is pretty typical insurance work on about any bike that still has a high book value, and a good markup on stock parts, it's not like the insurance company will total it for five grand. Easy money for the shop.

Of your list there about the only things that I'd say are fragile are the bodywork panels an radiator. IMO BMW screwed up an didn't give us dirtbike plastic, which scratches an looks fine, same color just scratched. The radiator is exposed as well. This is why guards are pretty much essential on this thing, which can protect the radiator well, an minimize the plastic damage, although I'm sure some touch up will be in order.

Sorry to hear about your get-off. Maybe the shop will work with you an let you put on some aftermarket parts instead of just replacing stock, exhaust, stronger shifter etc.

+1 on what Dave said.

The dealer isn't looking to 'soak' anybody here. They are simply trying to make a 2 month old bike look like a two month old bike. If you didn't have full coverage insurance you could prolly live with most of the scratches and get out for a lot less coin. There was another thread in which the vulnerability of the Radiator was discussed. Did your broken Rad mount cause the bike to be inop due to loss of coolant? From what I have gathered that radiator appears to be the weakest link on this bike and should be addressed with bars.

btw: Glad you are ok.

Was way cheaper (and I didn't report it)
When my bike went down, the only hard parts really damaged were the left front turn signal lens, and, somehow, the side stand and the bracket that holds it and the foot peg, at 127.25 and 131.75 each. I had a lens already.

No crash bars, yet, but a cheap Wal-Mart ATV pannier bag set saved the faux tank plastics, and the SW-Motech bag racks that I had put on to test fit saved my Akro.

The reason I am riding an F800GS is because I low-sided an 08 KLR650 at 25MPH (sand in a corner). Repair estimate was $6300 (including bent frame) which was a $1000 more than I bought the bike for new.

I was using SWMotech crash bars. They worked great. Front end was relatively damage free. The car coming the other way did a number on my swing arm though.

Don't assume the F650GS would've faired any better. I slid mine down some gravel after hitting a deer at less than 60 Km/h. It appeared to be mostly scratches and broken parts, yet the total damage was over $6700. I even had crash bars on it that helped reduce the damage. The thing that finished it off was that the pannier mount dug in and bent the rear subframe.

I'm now waiting for my F800GS to come in. One of the first thing I will be installing is crash bars.

I'm not so sure. I had a very minor accident on an F650GS a couple of years ago and the estimate from a dealer to bring it back to "new condition" was $2k due to scratched exhaust etc. You really need to distinguish between what the bike needs to return to "new condition" and what is really necessary for safety. The last figure will be way less. On the other hand, insurance is there for a reason. If the damage is substantially above the cost of your deductible, I would use it - not least because you may find unexpected damage when stripping the bike down properly. The dealers tend to want to cover their asses on that part, hence a high estimate.

Two '08 bikes trashed, first on sand on the roadway, then on gravel? :eek1 I see a pattern here. Any reason why this isn't just going to happen again in the near future?

PS. Glad you're OK, sorry about the bike, but worried a bit for both in the future.

If you've reported the accident to your insurance company you might as well have it fixed because they are going to charge you with an accidednt whether they repair it or not.

IT cost a lot to fix a bike now.

Ins companies generally have an obligation to make the bike as it was before the accident. This means that if a part has a little scratch they've gotta replace it. Personally I'd just fix the functional stuff and ride it with scratches. Doesn't sound like much is harmed that cost any significant amount and is ride-critical other than perhaps the forks (and I'd be highly suspicious of whether they are actually bent - might just be a scratch somewhere on them or they may have twisted in the clamps a bit).

oh, and aren't those things made to go on gravel

Not necessarily. Depending on the company, if a claim is below a certain amount, points are not assessed. For example, Progressive do not assess points for reporting an accident that results in a claim below $500.

Okay, which was it? The low side or the car running over your bike that did the damage? Sounds like the car running over the bike was the problem. Don't blame the KLR for that.

This statement is correct for virtually EVERY insurance company. the threshold differs company to company.

Oh, the cause was a localized gravity storm.

The major damage was impact of bike to car.

The mermite cans saved my bacon by absorbing a large portion of the kinetic energy transferred.

Blame the KLR? :huh

Wanted to get some SW motech crashbars on mine but they are back ordered. I am hoping that early into my journey south, I can find some at a Beemer dealer in say, Portland.

Noticed you scratched the Rondel. That's probably half the repair costs right there!