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Son of a......Mother....Piece of .....ARRRRGHHH (long)

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4x4dreamer

1/2 ton status
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Jul 8, 2002
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St. Petersburg, FL
okay, here's the story of the lousy day I had yesterday. It's about 4:00 PM. I'm at work, talking to the wife on the phone. She hears a loud noise and says, "what the hell was that?". She says she heard a sound like somebody crashed into something, so she went out to look and promptly informed me that I needed to come home as somebody had run a boat trailer into my motorcycle. So I jump in my Jimmy and haul arse (as much as a 6.2 can haul arse anyway) back home and see a tow truck, with a boat behind it. The boat appears to be jackknifed into the motorcycle next to mine which has fallen on top of mine. Somehow, mine managed to stay up. They guy is trying to reattach the boat to his truck so he can leave, so I park my Jimmy nose to nose with his Powerstroke F*rd. My wife says that he's trying to leave and I say he ain't going anywhere til the cops get here, (they've already been called at this point). Now I park my bike in covered parking so it's nice and protected from stupid stuff...or so I think.) The story behind this whole cluster F*** is as follows. The guy behind me owns the boat..he bought it from his brother and purchased a spot and the apartment complex to park it in. However, he ended up in the wrong spot. The complex asked him to move, and he said he would next week when his brother got back with the truck so they could do that. The complex said that was fine. Then, they changed their mind and called the tow truck company who came out and started to take the boat away. The guy who owns the boat came out to see what was going on, they exchanged words (and this is where it gets fun). The Driver of the truck says he had the boat hooked up and tried to leave, but the guy ran alongside and unhooked it while it was in motion and it hit the bikes....the owner of the boat says that he interrupted the tow truck guy, who got all pissed and jumped in his truck and left without hooking the boat up all the way. That story makes sense. The driver then tried to pick up the boat and move the bikes, which amost dropped my bike on it's side on top of my wife's car. My wife came up and slapped the dude across the chest...she's so cool...and told him to back off. I showed up and started snappin pics like mad with my digital camera...including the license plate of the truck, the driver's face and everything, he wasn't too happy about that. The cops show up and take all the statements. Get this.. They say because there were witnesses from both sides saying different things, they can't place blame on anybody and nobody is responsible, HOWEVER, the two truck guy is entitled to half of the rate allowed by law, so the guy with the boat had to pay him 100 bucks to leave his boat where it was...on top of my neighbor's motorcycle. In the meantime, I have damage to my bike that nobody is going to pay for...what the hell. It was okay with the truck driver I guess that I wasn't even home and his incompetence left me with damage that he wasn't going to pay for. I'm PISSED!!! Florida doesn't require you to have insurance on your bikes, so I didn't, but I wasn't even on the thing, it was parked for cryin out loud. GRRR...
Okay, so I've vented...I'll see about gettin pics up if anyone wants to see 'em.
Eric
 
By the way, the company was called Black Jack Towing, they are out of Clearwater, Florida. 6820 150th ave N. Phone 727-531-0048. Don't use them, don't recommend them, put them out of business.
Thanks again,
Eric
 
I'm thinking of sending letters to the tow company and the apt and saying, "one of you is going to pay, you have until such and such a date to pay up, or I'm taking you to court and you can pay your Lawyers 300 bucks an hour to deal with me" They have insurance, it shouldn't be a big deal. The damage isn't that bad, but it's the principle...and the more I think about it, the madder I get. My friend thinks I could get 800 bucks for it...a torn seat and a scratched tank...but on bikes, they always replace parts with new...so he's probably not far off.
 
tow truck drivers fault... a tow company just broke my roomies car and had to pay 450 to fix it...

If they touch it an dit breakes, and your not being towed, it's there fault... aka it has to be a private tow for them to pay for damages.. which this was.. and so was yours... the apt people called it, so it's the towtruck drivers fault!!1
 
IF THE DAMAGE IS UNDER LIKE 3 TO 5 THOUSAND JUST TAKE THE TOW COMPANY TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT SOME BODY IS TO BLAME AND IT SHURE AN THE HELL CANT BE YOU. YOUL WIN AND LET THE TOW COM PANEY DEAL WITH IT
IM NOT A LAYWER BUT I SLEP AT A HOLIDAY INN ONES
90 JIMMY GOOD LUCK BUD.
 
I think I'd call that towing company and ask to speak to the owner. He/she might just pay for the repairs to your bike to avoid anny leagle action, or bad publicity. If the owner is a prick, go very public with the story. Newspapers, TV news, ...ect.
 
You should have a good shot at some money either from the tow company, or the appt. complex. The accident was a result of their call to the tow company, and it was on thier property. Essentially, he was a contractor of theirs at the time. As far as the tow company goes, if the boat was hitched to his truck when it came loose, it should be his fault. Making sure that a commercial vehicles load is properly secured at all times is a legal responsibility, at least here in Ca it is.If he took off with out having the boat properly secured, regardless of why it wasn't secured, then it is his fault. And if that was his exuse for the accident, as he told the police, he knew he was at risk of loosing the boat,and proceeded to take off anyway. At least thats how I would see it. But again, that's based on Ca laws. As far as the cost of fixing the bike, depending on how old it is, it can get REAL expensive in a hurry. My buddy has a brand new bike, which got knocked over at the mall while he was shopping. Damage was minimal... a couple of small scratches on the ferring, motor, and behind the seat. Small enough that you had to look for it to notice. The tab came to over $3000 /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif ...And the damn bike only cost $8000 new /forums/images/icons/confused.gif Good luck, and remember to mention your lawyer /forums/images/icons/wink.gif
 
Well it seems to me that the neighbor is responsible for the damage to your bike. He unhooked the trailer and caused it to roll into the bikes. Grab the guy that owns the other bike and take that idiot to small claims court. You have pictures of the boat unhooked from the truck. You have whitnesses that saw it happen you probably even have that noted on a police report.
Approch the neighbor and let him know you understand that he was trying to protect his property but due to his action of both having it in the wrong spot as well as unhooking it without the hweels being choked that your property was damaged as a dirrect result. He may be reasonable and agree to pay to fix your bike. If he isn't then inform him you have enough evidence to take it to court to gain compensation. Be nice about it.. If you don't getanywhere it sounds like court will. A picture of a parked bike with a loose trail smashed into it is pretty solid evidence.
Let him take it up with the apt complex for screwing with him after they said it was ok..
 
I don't think he unhooked it...It justw wasn't possible with the type of hitch this guy had...it was on a big hydraulic arm and it had 4 ft chains looped through everything. The driver would have had a good 5 minutes or so to stop and smoke a cigarette while it was unhooked. From what I understand, once he takes possesion of a vehicle, whether it be a truck or a boat or whatever, it's the driver's responsibility to make sure it's secure and not endangering anybody. I'm probably going to go after the tow company and score some new Blazer Bucks /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
 
ok, here is the scoop...... the tow driver should of had safety chains and a lock, he didnt, he is responsible, they will get thier money reimbersed to them from sueing the idiot who unhooked it. cops and judges opinions are not the same.
 
Man Bike parts are and work can be some $cash$. Depending on the type of bike, condition, if it had custom paint and seat. My knowledge is of V-twins but if the tank isn't damaged, basic paint, removal and installation after paint is going to run $140, paint if lucky $200, but plan on closer to $450. Seat is the one that is going to really run the total up. H-D you can spend up to $600. Take it to a shop and get a estamite on cost of damage befor you talk to anyone on what it is going to cost for repair. Let me know how close I am on the cost of repairs. What kind of bike is it anyway?
 
it's an 89 Yamaha FJ 1200. I love that bike. The damage was minimal to the tank and the seat, but I priced them out at Bikebandit.com, and the total came out to about 735.00 bucks. It's more of a principle thing than anything, all this crap happens, I end up with damage as an uninvolved third party, and I just get screwed. Yes, the tear in my seat is annoying, but I can get it recovered. Or just drop 300 for a Corbin. I just got the tank last year, it's still pretty much new...that's the annyong part. It's got some deep scraped and a bunch of little dents in it now. My wife thinks that if I got to small claims court, I'll end up putting out a bunch of effort and it'll take years to get these bastards to pay, if they do it all....so I'm probably better off just grabbing my ankles and takin it up the Hershey Highway there. What do you guys think?
 
Dont forget to include labor to fix your bike in the settelment price. Usually $60.00+ per hr. Also your bike should be restored to its condition before the wreck. Or to your satisfaction. If it was scratched or dented then a complete paint job is in order. personally I woulsd ask for a lot more than 800 bucks. I would go to a few Bike shops and paint shops and get estimates for all repairs and use that as a basis for a loss claim in court. Always ask for more than you think you should recieve because the judge, after all things are considered may reduce the settelment ammount.
Also there is an emotional loss because you state you love that bike. /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

If you do decide to go the small claims route. You will need to beable to take the time off work and out of your life to file the claim and all that BS. Then be prepaird to spend half the day in court.
If the judgement is in your favor the loosing party will be compelled to pay or be held in contempt of court.
It would also help greatly it win your case if you can find a witness. I'm sure with all the commotion that went on somebody saw exactly what happend. You may have to go around the apartments and knock on a few doors. Maby someone will step forward to help you out.
If you can prove someones at fault you will most likely win the case.
Either that or you can just eat the whole thing. And just chalk it up to experence. It depends on weather you think its worth the time and hassle or not.
 
My advice is.....Go door to door find as many witnesses as you can. Get before and after pics of your bike. Get about 10 estimates for the fix and pick the 4 highest. Get copoes of every report the police took. Go to the tow company and take picks of the tow truck it's boom/hook ups in particular.

The object is to build a really strong case against the company. I would not mention anything about a law suit until I was ready to file.

Good luck.
 
Corbins are great seats! And the tank being new also, it sucks. I would go to the police station and ask to talk to the officer that took the report. Ask him what you can do. He is an out side party and would help if you had him in your corner if you go to court. From the sounds of it it was incorrectly hooked up and the driver of the tow truck is to blame. Most trailers it is hard to unhook when there is pressure on the tunge (someone driving) I have pulled a trailer and didn't have the trailer locked around the ball went about 5 miles befor we pulled over to check. What about the run away chains? They should have stopped it from running away. Have you talked to the Apartment Complex yet? To make sure their aware of the problem. The tow truck driver may have been repo-ing it. I asked one of the tow truck drivers I see all the time and he said it's his resposability to make sure that he can move it safely.
Ask to find out who the tow truck company wasworking for. Notify that there was damage done to your bike and see if they will step up a fix the problem.
 
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