Morals or tough tiddy?

Sizzler

A mate of mine has a Honda Deauville, anchored it up last week in the car park as per usual in housing complex. Next morning at 7am he gets a ring at the door from some punter telling him that his bike had smacked his car.(turns out it was a bit windy last week and the bike appears to have blown over).The guy now wants 200 yo yos for the inconvenience of the dint on the car. Does he give him the 200e or does he say "sorry mate it was an act of god, I wasnt in charge of the bike at the time so PFO".

Opinions? Anybody ever been in that boat before?

murphaph

If the bike fell over or blew over it's your mate's problem tbh. That's why you're supposed to insure trailers even when they're parked up (in case they roll into something) on their own. Your mate could say "bike never fell over pal, get me a witness" or smesuch but if my bike blew over and fell on top of someone's car I'd take repsonsibility for it. I really can't see how it blew over though unless it was in that mini-tornado in Cavan, bikes are really heavy, not least a Deauville.

seamus

Yeah, I'd be very surprised if the wind managed to topple the bike over unless he had it parked precariously. Chances are some little scumbags pushed it over for the craic.

As he's guessed, he's not liable for the damage unless the other guy can prove that the bike was parked in such a way that it was likely to fall over.

madrab

who parked first? ie did the car park too close to the bike or did the bike park too close to the car, either way i wouldnt pay unless he could prove that it fell & wasnt pushed (but odds are that if he doesnt pay his bike will be "blown over" again, & possibly at speed)

Drax

And what if yer man had the dint already, kicked the bike over himself and decided to sponge a few green ones off ya. In this day and age, it wouldnt surprise me I very much doubt also that wind 'blew' it over which leaves one possible cause.... scobies...
Personally, unless the guy can prove that it dented the car, I wouldnt give him anything...

Pigeon Reaper

If the car parked after the bike I would say that the car parked dangeriously close to the bike or possibly knocked it over.

KTRIC

Unless there was a hurricane that night then I would say that it is impossible for a bike to get blown over by the wind. Motorbikes, even old ones are really well balanced and it takes some force to push one off the stand.

sutty

is there any damage to the bike? or paint from the car on it? Dont Deauville's have full lift stands? I would be shocked if it could do this. I know there hasn't been a wind in Dublin near strong enough the past few months

Sizzler

sutty wrote:

is there any damage to the bike? or paint from the car on it? Dont Deauville's have full lift stands? I would be shocked if it could do this. I know there hasn't been a wind in Dublin near strong enough the past few months

He left the bike on the kickstand.There was actually a rather windy night there last mon/tues and this is when it happened.And to compound my mates misery the damage to the bike is costing four times the amount the guy is looking for the car damage:(

psicic

I'll post a useless comment just chiming in - I can't imagine a Deauville being easily tipped by a wind - it's over 100kgs heavier then my bike and has a good rep for being steady... Maybe it just happened to be some freakish gust of wind that caught it the wrong way. :rolleyes:

No. Scratch that. It's just not likely.

The guy either tipped the bike himself with his car or some scumbags pushed it over - probably got up on it to see what it felt like, but pushed it too far and knocked it.

Is it a covered carpark or open-air? Most carparks of both descriptions have CCTV - it'll probably only capture the knock from a distance...still worth a look.

If it were me, I've no spine and I'd probably pay out the €200 - but I'd still try and check it wasn't the cager himself who knocked my bike.

faceman

psicic wrote:

I'll post a useless comment just chiming in - I can't imagine a Deauville being easily tipped by a wind - it's over 100kgs heavier then my bike and has a good rep for being steady... Maybe it just happened to be some freakish gust of wind that caught it the wrong way.

i own a deauville it has tipped over in heavy wind while on the sidestand twice. Once doing quite a bit of damage to fairing. Maybe its what happened to this poor dude. It was quite windy last week if i recall. wasnt there hurricanes or somethin in cavan and meath?

As for not payin yer man for his car, if it was a residential estate do u think it wud be wise not to pay? Id pay too, unless it was a public car park many miles from where i live n no one knows me!

Sizzler

faceman wrote:

i own a deauville it has tipped over in heavy wind while on the sidestand twice. Once doing quite a bit of damage to fairing. Maybe its what happened to this poor dude. It was quite windy last week if i recall. wasnt there hurricanes or somethin in cavan and meath?

As for not payin yer man for his car, if it was a residential estate do u think it wud be wise not to pay? Id pay too, unless it was a public car park many miles from where i live n no one knows me!

Face, why dont you just empty out your wallet and bend over and let him take it all lol :-)

a_ominous

"Vehicles parked at owner's risk" signs around?

Mind you, if you parked a car and forgot to put on handbrake or leave it in gear and it crashed into another vehicle, who's liable then? I think the owner would be, as it is their responsibility to take due care. IANAL.

art

K-TRIC wrote:

Unless there was a hurricane that night then I would say that it is impossible for a bike to get blown over by the wind. Motorbikes, even old ones are really well balanced and it takes some force to push one off the stand.

Have to say, whether its just where I live or what, but I've owned a Triumph ThunderBird Sport (which is supposedly quite heavy) and a Triumph Tiger, and both bikes have blown over due to wind. I now sandbag the side stand in bad weather!! The fact that there was a cover over the bikes probably had a lot to do with it though.

saobh_ie

Does he know the guy whose car was damaged? I'd be hesitant to pay up without any kind of proof, or a plausible story, this guy could just be a chancer. I wouldn't put it past people these days.

That said, if the bike really did blow over, and your man hadn't parked ridiculously close to it, I'd pay up. It takes some wind to knock a bike though.

Over a year ago now (my Bandit was 1 was Friday hehe) I had a CBR125. The weather had been horrid for a few days and the forecasts were bleak but I came up to the surface after a nightshift deep underground and found a beautiful morning, still air, sunshine, I took full advantage and had a proper hoon (to the extent a CBR125 will hoon) before coming home and parking up in the center of my driveway seconds before falling asleep.

I was on the couch when I heard an almighty bang, the weather had come back while I slept and caught the bike lifting it clear over the center stand, carrying it in excess of one and a half meters through the air (only way to explain the lack of damage to the bike & ground) and pitching it upside down into a flower bed.

I was out in seconds and it didn't seem windy enough. But freak gusts of wind do happen.

Although in fairness I could grab the CBR by the tail and lift its back wheel to shoulder height, it weighed nothing.

Can't imagine something as hefty as a Deaville getting horsed around. Something would of had to hit it in my opinion.