Total damage of my KYMCO Grand Dink 250

[Rudolf]

On the morning of 2nd of June 2015, while riding home from work/night shift i was hit in an intersection of my hometown Hunedoara/Romania, by a 3.5 ton Ford Transit van. The van driver failed to yield to me before turning left. I couldn't avoid the impact and i crashed in to him. The front of my bike bent upwards so the handlebar was resting on the l seat... When the bike crumpled it broke both of my legs (two broken femurs, one broken fibula and tibia and smashed knee joint) i was airlifted for the hospital because of my open fractures and hemorrhage. Was in the hospital with 4 operations. Spent 45 days there. The front end is damaged. In fact the whole bike has 80% damage.

[atxscooterguy]

Wishing you a speedy recovery! A motorcycle driver was just killed here in Austin, TX last night at around 2:30 a.m. Hearing things like this sure does make getting on two wheels all that much harder! I dread those intersections where the opposite driver has a green yield light, you never know if they're going to pull out or not!

[BettinANDlosing]

Wow hope you are doing ok at this point, and the driver of the van (commercial driver or personal?) has great insurance to help you out!!! I have never ever seen a scooter folded like that, must of been a hell of an impact.

[ScooterWolf]

Rudolf,

Happy to hear you survived. I was recently in an accident with a left hand turner back in late May. I managed to turn left in the opposite direction he was coming, but my bike went down and I woke up in the hospital. I know some of your pain and wish you a complete and speedy recovery.

Hope the other guy's insurance covers your bills and loss of bike. I lost my Yager GT 200i in my crash. A GV was my immediate choice, but since it and the Yager have been discontinued I wasn't able to find any.

-Wolf

[AaronPDX]

Rudolf,

Yikes. Very sobering pictures. Wishing you a quick recovery.

Aaron

[Rudolf]

The van was commercial. I'm still in the hospital at a specialised clinic at 170 km from home.

[Rudolf]

I believe it's a design flaw in the frame of this bike. The risk is present to all grand dink/grandvista owners to have their legs crushed in a frontal crash with another vehicle when the front end of the bike folds on their legs.

[bluesin]

Healing thoughts/prayers sent your way !   

[ScooterWolf]

How long will your recovery take? Hope nothing is permanent.

-Wolf

[Rudolf]

Thank you all for your moral support.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Best wishes for a full recovery.
Very tough thing to go through.
We're good listeners - if you need to...
Sincerely,
Stig

[zombie]

First, and foremost, thank god you are alive. Sorry to hear this.

You can't assume the way the bike crumpled was/is a design flaw. There is NOTHING to prevent this on ANY scooter. It is the nature of the beast.
This is exactly why I am firmly against large scooters. They are too weak, and fragile to attain the speeds they do.
That said I realize this accident was not at 70MPh on a highway... Imagine if it was! Large scooters are akin to back yard helicopters IMHO.

Rant over.

Like Stig said, we are a group of good listeners, and we all pray for a fast, and complete recovery for you. As sort of a PS here... all of the accidents that I recall reading in the past 3-4-5-6 years are all the same. Driver turns left in front of a rider.
Perhaps we should all be making left turns on our bikes as a preemptive measure.

[Rudolf]

I'm considering to get myself a touring motorcycle at around 650cc, for offroad and cruising. Honda Transalp, Yamaha Tenere or Aprilia Pegasus. Not too fast, robust, does the job. O, and complete street equipment that i didnt have: boots, pants and jacket with plastic inserts. And alot of awareness.

[Rudolf]

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and moral support.

[zombie]

Buddy up w/ Stig, and Kreps. They'll keep you safe.