So I bought it. Loads of paperwork in the German style. I got it home Thursday, 4 May 2006. I rode it to work. Some admired it. I rode over to a friend's place. They suggested I give their daughter a lift to her dance rehearsal as a treat.
On my way down Mahdental Strasse towards the Schatten Ring, I was following a truck and another motorcycle. As we approached a T-intersection where Magstadter Strasse joins from my right, the truck and motorcycle turned on their blinkers to turn right.
In my Mind's Eye, I knew just what was going to happen: The cars in the oncoming left turn lane, waiting to turn left across my path, would see the truck clearing to the right, and launch out without bothering to look for the motorcycles.
Immediately, I checked that my high beam was on (making a total of 4 headlights!) and reached for the front brake and closed the throttle. Then I saw my horror coming true as a VW Golf, without even looking, turned in front of me. In less than 10 meters, my motorcycle was destroyed, not even 24 hours after picking it up.
We were struck by the Golf before I could come to a halt, and thrown to the ground. The bike slid another 5 feet past me. Man that hurt.
After I woke up, I could not breathe. My first reactions were to:
My passenger was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was treated and released to her parents care. Afterwards she went to a concert.
I ended up at the scene of the accident for over 2 hours giving statements to the Polizei. ADAC came and loaded the bike on a truck and we took it back to the dealer where I picked it up. My car was still there, having slept there overnight while I rode my new toy.
I drove myself to the hospital, where I was X-rayed, treated and released. Luckily we both escaped with minor cuts and bruises. A week later it still hurts to breathe, or even sit up out of bed, but no broken bones.
The bike likely is a total loss.
