Modern Vespa

Good to hear you survived in decent shape. Sounds like it could have been much scarier. Note to self: buy motorcycle pants.

Holy shit! I'm glad you seem to be ok. You can always find another scooter but it's hard to replace our bodies.

I hope you recuperate quickly and without any lasting complaints.

So sorry to hear of the crash.

I am thankful that you emerged relatively unscathed.

Hopefully, Melody can be repaired and back on the road soon.

You too.

Bill

Glad to hear the other driver remained at the scene. This will help keep the Gecko-yakking to a minimum.

Wow, glad you're OK.

If you find out who did it... I know a guy in Jersey that can make him go away!

Sad to see this news but so glad to see you up and sort of smiling. Gotta love the body armour in these cases, and as someone else mentioned, Melody may have paid the ultimate price saving your butt.
Heal well. 🤕

Glad to hear you are mostly ok. If you are looking for new equipment you may want to consider Motocard. https://www.motocard.com/en/

This thread encouraged me to buy two new pairs of Alpinestars riding pants and new Alpinestars Gor-Tex boots. Motocard had some incredible deals. Those boots are listed for $300.00 everywhere else I looked. Never ordered from them before. Shipping takes awhile because they are in Spain but the reviews I read were mostly good. The biggest complaint was from UK customers who now have to pay the VAT because of Brexit which puts the cost back up to what they would have spent in a local shop. I'll do a write up on my experience with them in another thread as soon as I receive the gear.

I'm terribly sorry to hear of you accident, but glad you're in mostly ok shape. Best wishes for Melody since you were without her for a while.

Check with you insurance to see if they will reimburse you for new gear; my Allstate policy will reimburse up to $1000 dollars. I'll be shopping for new gear in the new year.

I'm still recovering from my accident in July, but I'm certain my gear saved me from critical injuries and the ICU. My advice to everyone is to get the best gear you can afford and wear it all every time you go out.

Melody's Condition: Not Good

Just had a look: check out the right footrest.

Yes, it looks like Melody may have bit the big one. Glad to hear your injuries appear mostly minor. Was also interested in how your Bilt Dexter riding shoes fared. That has become my favorite ridng shoe because they are so comfortable, especially as a combo riding and walking shoe. They appear to have done their job in protecting your feet..

Poor Melody.

Unfortunately, I doubt that your insurance company will pay to fix that.

They sometimes total them for what looks like scratches.

I hope that you get a good settlement and back on the road soon.

On Melody II.

Bill

Dude! I'm glad to hear you're OK, all things considered you had some luck on your side, considering the hit.

This is that much worse since you had to wait so long to get Melody back from the last goofball's negligence.

Im afraid that I agree; this hit was a TKO. Poor Melody!

I'm not always good at "me too" threads, when I have nothing to offer but the obvious condolences.

However, I always appreciate the stories you share here, and I catch myself hoping you're okay even when I'm not online. No wonder you lost consciousness with a hit like that. Really sorry you lost Melody, but also happy you'll be okay!

Looking forward to the Melody Replacement Chronicles, and the adventures that ensue.

Of course the main thing here is you are ok. The scoot took a hit - so what? You can get another. That hit looks like a leg crusher for sure. I'm glad it was the scoot and not you.

That'll buff right out.

Poor Melody.

My take is that I'm glad I was riding something like this rather than something else: she took the brunt of the impact and left me pretty much intact. Which is why my next ride will also be a GTS, at least if I have anything to say about it. The Bilt Dexters did their job mostly post-impact, although the hi-top padding certainly helped initially; the other major bit of protection was when I (apparently) went flying. The bike did the big part by taking the brunt my foot (and leg!) might likely have taken had I been on a regular moto.

That's gonna leave a mark...

Looks like you got T-Boned?

On a conventional bike, your leg or ankle might have been crushed.

Score one for the step through!

My feelings exactly. A FB acquaintance was trying to talk me out of getting another Vespa (he had one or two way back in the day…let's just say he's among the few not having warm-fuzzies about them); I told him that observing the hit Melody took was all the convincing I needed to go get another Vespa, hopefully sooner than later.

Even if that was fixed, I'd be very concerned about it steering straight and the strain put on the frame has surely weakened it. I think you'd be better off totaling it. Don't forget to include all the extras and your riding gear when you talk with you insurance company.

Miguel

I'd consider that fact that you've had 2 accidents so far and you've been lucky with your injuries.

Do you want to put yourself at risk a third time ?

I'd count my blessings.

Lightning never strikes thrice.

If you plan to get another Vespa, try to salvage what you can before turning it over to the insurance company. I stripped my GTS down pretty well before turning it over, but didn't take the rear rack for some reason

It's been bugging me ever since you posted the photo of your damaged hand on your damaged helmet. A subtle way to show your physical injury without putting it into words, as its description can be painful also. One sign of PTSD. MVers have been polite in not discussing it, but I'm going to be the insensitive bastard and bluntly ask.
Have the doctors re-attached your missing finger?

On that note, a little personal accident history:

Car > Car: No. of serious accidents: 1

Car > Bicycle: No. of serious accidents: 5

Car > Scooter/Motorcycle: No. of serious accidents: 2

Based on the above, and Bill's (possible) reasoning, this would seem to leave walking as the remaining alternative, but if I mentioned the serious close-calls I've had with motor vehicles while on-foot, I'd then have to reconsider setting foot outside my front door altogether. (Public transport is available out here, but a tad sketchy…and I still have to get to it somehow.

All told, I'm up for another GTS, as soon as the dust clears and my proverbial bumps/bruises heal. (The latter may likely happen a bit sooner than the former, since the Gecko gang are a bit backlogged, even though my claim is already in. No body parts missing or broken (yay!). That somewhat-bloodied finger is the worst of the visual damage suffered; my right shoulder blade took it the hardest, and it's still fairly sore, but my riding jacket kept things from being worse. Feels like it'll be a good week or so till the pain subsides. Regarding PTSD: since I have no recollection of the impact, or even sight of the vehicle that hit me, other than some possible physical trauma, I'm generally fine.

In Other News: Finally got the police report back, and at least one detail IMO is glaringly wrong, even though the report, as written, doesn't directly put me in the wrong. Will speak with the officer who wrote up the report on Thursday, as I wasn't exactly in a position to describe things on the scene. (Raise your hand if you've dealt with this before.)

And: visited my dealer for a chat and moral support…and see which new GTS' might strike my fancy when the time comes. (Right now, is's sort of a draw between the Nero Convito Supertech and Blu Vivace Matt Super Sport, but I could be happy with a standard-issue Super, either in Rosso Passione or almost-Melody-lookalike Nero Lucido. (I'm more partial to gloss over matte finishes for practical reasons, and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about TFT displays, but we'll see.)

The last motorcycle that I killed was a Honda. A car made a left turn out of a driveway in front of me. They did not display a turn signal. My reaction was to lay down the bike. I was straight up when I T boned the car (never left the bike). The first thing that the driver said while exiting his car was, "I never saw you'" Once an officer arrived on scene the first thing that he asked was, "Why didn't you try to stop? There are no skid marks."

Seems like the police still assume that it's the motorcyclists fault. That accident was in 1979

Sigh…

I'll let y'all know what happens when I speak to the officer who wrote things up that night. I know some of the cops in the APPD, and am on good terms with the department in general.

CrazyCarl is right. You definitely want those new rear shocks off Melody and I'd be tempted to get your dealer to also salvage your relatively new belt and rollers. They can all be re-used when your next GTS needs a major service.

If you don't remember the details of what happened before and during the accident how do you know if the details of the accident are glaringly incorrect ?

Something like "The scooter suffered most damage to its left side, almost none to the right", perhaps?

Review his photos again. Most of the damage was to the right side.

Exactly Madison Sully's point.

Just don't bother with the gremlin bell.

I'd assume it's defective.

Also: Big detail regards the traffic signal, which I do remember. That's key, though in either case this one's not on me.

Alas, was never gifted one. Hope that changes on my next ride.

Might as well just post your PO box now, and reap the reward.

Huh.

To be a little more specific I'm talking about the actual accident, not the resulting damage.

If the rider can't remember what happened there's a chance that they may be at fault. Or at least partially.

It's a bit like getting so drunk that you can't remember anything about last night so you end up hearing it from your friends.

Regardless I'll be interested in how this all turns out and I'll wish you a swift recovery.

I'm so glad you are okay. Thanks for the reminder about safety equipment.

All the best,
Mr. F

Wake up on the ground staring at the sky wondering what happened is classic concussion [head injury]