Modern Vespa

Unfortunately my year old MP3-500cc, with me on it, was hit from behind this morning by a cager not paying attention. I came to a halt behind about a half-mile of traffic filtering past an accident and the guy behind me had his attention wander at the wrong moment so he didn't see that I had stopped (or the car in front of me had stopped either, I guess) until it was too late. He tried to brake and attempted a swerve but ended up clipping my back left side, tearing off the top case and apparently forcing the back tire up and in. Thankfully, I was mostly unhurt other than being dropped to the ground somewhat forcefully with a growing bruise on my left buttocks (it provoked all kinds of jokes from the folks at work) as it appears that the bike was pushed right out from under me. The other guy admitted he was at fault and was very upset that he had almost hurt or killed me.

The reason that I am posting this is that I need some advice from smarter, more experienced, MP3 and other scooter/motorcycle riders on this forum. The attached photos show the visible damage to the bike. At some point in time the other guy's insurance company is going to talk about fixing the bike. I believe it is unfixable either by price and/or future safety/stability and should be totaled. What say the crowd? I need a counter-point to whatever they say. Also, the bike was a new-old-stock 2009 bought almost exactly a year ago with only 8100 miles on it. What is it realistically worth in Southern California?

more photos

Glad you are (mostly) okay.

Get a couple of quotes from your local Piaggio dealers.

It's difficult to be certain with just pictures but it appears that the frame may be bent. If it is it is not repairable at any reasonable cost. Based on my experience insurers seem to limit expense (total) if the repair cost exceeds 60% of market value.

Tire jammed that far forward...I'd say definite frame warping, definite damage to the under-seat plastics, high probability of damage to the wheel itself and a fair chance of damage to the engine block or parts attached to it.

Good to hear you are mostly OK though!

Thanks. I have a picture straight from behind the bike that the website won't let me post since it seems to exceed 800x800 pixels. However, the back wheel is clearly not in line with the seat anymore. It is about an inch or so too far to the right.

From behind and from the front.

It is too far gone to be in new condition again. Make an appointment with Kevin at Motorsports to get a estimate written so the company can get working on a check. Also since you ride it daily to the base remember to file for loss of use for being without the use of your scooter. There was a company in Los Angeles that rented MP3's for $89 a day. I used their pricing to determine value. I got a check for 5 days. The longer it takes the longer your out using it.

I think you need $6000 - 6500 plus trunk and windshield to get one in like condition. Email me for more info Chris.

As far as dealers go Vespa Motorsports or Vespa Sherman Oaks are the only ones I would have estimate the scoot. I doubt his insurance company wants to flatbed it to VSO so Motorsports it is.

Glad it wasn't any worse!
That could have easily been very bad.

definitely have a dealer do the estimate and repairs.

looks like it will be expensive.

just cause they total it the other insurance needs to pay for a replacement, not just blue book minus a deductible or any BS. they also need to replace any gear that got damaged, helmet, jacket so on. And they need to put you in a rental vehicle till everything is settled.

All of the above - I wouldn't consider letting them just repair it. Now - since these are officially rare birds in the US and if you'd like to stay on with it then I would campaign for replacement. It should be between your insurance and theirs - pray they ain't the same company. Get your insurance company on board with the replacement idea explaining they aren't imported anymore.

Ooof glad it wasn't worse. I like the others think it will be totaled. Good luck.

That is of my biggest fears.. and something exactly like that too.. a few years ago.. the same exact thing happened to Joe Perry (of Aerosmith) who lives (now & again) close to me..His accident was just about 1/2 mile from my house .. He was on one his gorgeous custom choppers.. It really shook him up, he wanted to sell all of his bikes after that ..worst thing is that you weren't even close to being able to control anything about the situation... someone crawling forward.. lapse on concentration and BAM.. we have all done it in traffic.. hopefully without the BAM part..

I am an insurance agent and used to be an adjuster.. cost of repairs vs. total discussion happens all the time & on both sides of the issue...It really is simply a financial decision.. if cost of repairs is even close (60 to 75% depending on Carrier & vehicle) to the actual value (replacement cost less depreciation) it will be totaled. That figure is calculated simply by what you would have to pay to replace it.. so troll the for sale columns and find one close.. An adjuster will use a book value only because it is convenient. Remember all an insurance Co has is money.. they don't have to do the repairs or buy one for you.. add in mods.. and recent (if you did them ) stuff like a new tire or belt.. don't forget the sales tax either... You have an obligation to mitigate your loss so be careful about extra costs for trucking the bike to different dealers and so on.. Because you have a (luckily slight) injury the carrier may be a bit more liberal in the settlement than they really have to be (I always was..) ...
Good luck and try to stay as unemotional aspossible.. the adjjuster's goal is to handle the claim, get it paid and move on to the next one.. some of them are Aholes. but most simply move the paper.. and that is how they are judged.. an open file is a negative.. a settled file is good.. no other agenda there ..

I agree for the most part however they can use some guy that claims he can straighten the frame versus replace it. No way - it just won't work and I challenge anyone to find me a tweaked frame that has been successfully straightened.
You can insist that if they go the straighten route that they warranty it. No warranty no deal. Most will relent after you dig in your heels. Just start muttering words like "safety" and "lawsuit" and they start to see things your way.

glad you're OK - i am 99% sure that will be totalled

how are you feeling? any extra soreness aside from your bruise? Did you go see a dr?

with my recent experience with my scoot getting totalled I guess I got pretty luck -

Geico guy said, "I will relent to whatever Vespa Dallas sez, coz I just do not know anything about these things."

I hope you have the same luck - the hardest part I think is the gap between new bike $$$ and replacement bike $$$ -

I bought mine used - I got to keep all mods that weren't damaged, and they replaced all that were damaged by adding that to the total -- all in all I will get $7200 after helmet and boots replacement - luckily I still had the receipts for the helmet and shoes

I have never seen an insurance company try to have a frame on a motorcycle straightened. I bet you could get the manufacture to stand up and say, "No, you can't do that safely" if they tried, with just a phone call to the manufacture or a trip to the dealership.

The engine and transmission is a fairly substantial unit, so it's very likely that it's the frame that has been bent for the wheel to be out of place like that.

That's a write off, I'd say.

Even to see if the frame is bent all else has to be removed to find out and then see if the frame can be straightened. This is a lot of labor just in removing everything from the frame. It will be totalled instead.

They tried that on my 400. Took a firm stand by my agent to convince them that we would not accept a repaired frame.

BTW - is that you Wayne?

I'm no medical professional but you want to be sure you do not get a blood clot in the bruised area (I think they call it a hematoma-I'm not a good speller either). I would take a coated asprin a day until the bruise goes away. JMHO

Hematoma - fancy name for bruise. Actually it's a tad different a bruise is technically just under the skin...

My neighbor (30 year old gal in perfect shape) slipped this summer getting into her hot tub. Got a large "bruise" behind her knee and had two strokes several weeks later from blood clots. Just say'n.

Thanks for all the good advice from everyone. I will be working this issue with the other guy's insurance this coming week. Ironically, I was just about to add some Barkbuster Storm handguards and a patterned vinyl wrap this weekend but I guess those mods are on hold for a while. I definitely want to stay in the MP3 community so I will be looking for a replacement vice taking a payoff and exiting the scene.

As to my injuries, I can't believe how lucky I am. Just a little residual soreness in my neck and the soreness in my left buttock. Was checked out by a military ER yesterday at the insistence of my lovely wife and had a follow-up this morning. All is fine after a few Naproxen and Tylenol. I am amazed (and thankful) at how little damage I received compared to force leveled on my bike by the impact.

Wow,

So sorry to hear about the accident but glad to see that you are ok. I do hope that everything works out for you. On another note, I think I've seen you once or twice riding on Vandegrift.

spartan

When I last visited Vespa of Portland a few weeks ago they had 3 new MP3's, a red 500, black [may have been charcoal] 500, and dark blue 400. All were priced fairly high but I'd bet they might be flexible on their prices. Oddly the 400 was way above the 500's, maybe because of its rarity? Anyway if you get to that point Portland to Camp Pendleton would make a nice ride on a new scooter.

Good that the guy didn't kill you. Also good he didn't attempt to fix the blame on you, shows he's at the very least a decent guy.

LL75

Spartan1984,
It is very possible that you have seen me on Vandegrift or around the base. I thought that my wife, on her custom pink 250, and I were the only ones with MP3's on base. I know that you obviously weren't riding an MP3 when you saw me or I would have noticed (and probably dropped my bike over in shock at seeing another MP3 in the wild). What do you ride? The Mana 850? I would like to catch up to you when I get my replacement ride.

Yup,

It was you and your wife...saw the pink 250 and your 500...we were heading out and you two turned into the Fresh and Easy parking lot. I use my 500 for the commute in SD and have the Mana up here for getting to the Coaster station (daily) and touring on the weekends. Definitely give mebuzz once ou get your replacement ride.

spartan