[JSaarinen]

On 29th December 2024, while riding from Kochi to Trivandrum, at around 10 pm I met with an accident at MC road, some 50 kms from Trivandrum. A white Maruti Wagon-R, parked on the road side took a sudden U-turn without indicating or checking for any vehicles. Unfortunately I didn't have enough distance or time to stop and my Aprilia RS457 bashed into the rear right door of the car head-on. The car drove off without even stopping to check on the wreckage it caused. First reaction was that of shock and a searing pain in between my legs. A kind stranger named Ajo who was riding behind me and saw the incident, helped me up and helped pick up the bike. The bike's front forks felt limp, clip-ons broken and coolant was leaking. Thankfully due to my Bell helmet and Rynox riding gear, I was alive and able to walk albeit with pain. The accident happened near a plant nursery and they kindly allowed me to keep the bike there overnight.

Scene of the accident

Went to the police station and gave a written complaint and then Ajo dropped me home. Back home, the pain in the crotch area was intense and there was heavy swelling, so I got admitted in a hospital. Later the ultrasound scan revealed blood clotting in the testicles.

The damages that were noticeable on the RS the next day when surveyed were as below:

From outside it looked mostly less catastrophic, but more surprises were in store. Next day thanks to Aprilia road side assistance, the bike was towed free of cost to Surya Autos in Trivandrum which was the nearest service center. The initial estimate given looked like this:

I knew the Aprilia parts wouldn't be comparable with the Bajaj supported Triumph or KTM, but the parts cost for this made in India motorcycle was an eye-opener! Claim was initiated with National insurance.

The dealer didn't have parts in stock, so order was placed with the factory and a wait time of 2 to 3 weeks was predicted for the parts to be shipped to the service center. Cashless facility was not provided by National Insurance citing Surya Autos was not a cashless garage even though the insurance was provided by the Aprilia dealer in Bangalore, Avant garde motors. Reimbursement of bills was the only option. I paid ₹35,000 advance for the work to start. Problem with faired motorcycles is that the fairing hides a lot of things inside, so eventually when the parts came and the work started, we were again in for a surprise.

Surya Autos has only one bay to service the RS 457, so they didn't disassemble the fairing and check for damages initially even though I requested, citing that bikes even from bordering Tamil Nadu came there for service. When work started in early February 2025, they realized even the exhaust down-pipes was damaged due to the impact from front tyre!

The exhaust muffler assembly is a single unit and costs an eye watering ₹60,777. A supplementary estimate was given which was submitted to the insurance.

There was another agonizing wait of three weeks for the exhaust to arrive from the factory. I shot a mail to Aprilia India by early March in an attempt to speed things up. Eventually the work got completed on 18 March 2025, 75 days after the bike went in for repair.

I came from Bangalore to collect the bike, took a test ride and paid the amount. The final bill including labour came to ₹1,57,317.

Final bill Page1

Final bill Page2

Final bill Page3

Few niggles cropped up like the locking system was not working due to an alignment issue, horn wasn't working and later the radiator fan wouldn't turn on causing the bike to overheat.

Couple more visits to the service center and the niggles got sorted out. Submitted the bills to insurance for reimbursement which I got after 2 weeks for an amount ₹1,38,256.

I rode the bike to the quaint hill station of Ponmudi to make sure no more issues crop up and was blessed with a summer rain which was kind of nature herself washing away the stress and pains of the past three months. I was united with Furiosa again!

Lessons learned:
1. Even while being a made in India motorcycle, Aprilia parts cost is premium.
2. Comprehensive / bumper to bumper insurance is a must.
3. Spare parts availability is a concern, a minimum delay of 3 weeks is to be expected.
4. Aprilia needs to improve their service network especially with the Tuono coming.
5. Aluminum top and bottom yoke are great for weight saving, but are brittle. The bottom yoke breaking was what caused the front wheel to damage the radiator and exhaust.

Shout-out to the service managers at Surya Autos, Mr. Binto and Mr Suriya (who left midway) for their support and keeping me updated on the progress.

Regards,
JS

[moralfibre]

JSaarinen, I'm glad that you are safe. Not too long ago a colleague had asked me for recommendations on a motorcycle. I had apprehensions on Aprilia's after sales service and veered him away from the brand. His experience with getting a refund for his booking wasn't that smooth either.

The eye watering bill of repair is running up to almost 30% of the bike's ex-showroom cost.

Ride safe!

[man_of_steel]

So glad that you walked away safe man! Hope you are fully recovered now. Hope that Wagon-R guy is dumb enough to not learn from his mistake and next time it will be a KSRTC bus or a tipper instead of a motorcycle.

Thanks for sharing the bill. The parts seem well priced.

[t3rm1n80r]

Originally Posted by JSaarinen

On 29th December 2024, while riding from Kochi to Trivandrum, at around 10pm I met with an accident at MC road, some 50 kms from Trivandrum.

I hope you are fully recovered now. I'd suggest slapping on a pair of tank grips. They might not help in case of sudden deceleration (which was your case), but they do help during hard braking.

[mak.prasada]

Really glad to know you’re safe JSaarinen — incidents like this are a strong reminder of how vital proper riding gear and a good helmet truly are. Hope the cops are able to track down the white Wagon R soon — hit-and-run cases are serious and should be dealt with strictly.

As for the 75-day wait, that’s quite a stretch even considering Aprilia’s niche status. While such spares may not be part of regular service cycles, better planning and supply chain management would definitely help. Wishing you many more safe miles ahead — that bike’s a real head-turner!

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by JSaarinen

1. Even while being a made in India motorcycle, Aprilia parts cost is premium.
2. Comprehensive/bumper to bumper insurance is a must.
3. Spare parts availability is a concern, a minimum delay of 3 weeks is to be expected.
4. Aprilia needs to improve their service network especially with the Tuono coming.
5. Aluminum top and bottom yoke are great for weight saving, but are brittle. The bottom yoke breaking was what cause the front wheel to damage the radiator and exhaust.

Good to know that you are okay. Could've been much worse. Head on collisions are scary. Does the RS track straight after the repairs?

BTW, the cost of the exhaust and downpipe is in line with modern BS6 motorcycles. A Dominar exhaust system without the muffler costs 40k + AFAIK. Blame the emission norms and multiple catalytic converters.

https://www.99rpm.com/bajaj/exhaust-...6-2020-21.html

[JSaarinen]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

JSaarinen, I'm glad that you are safe. Not too long ago a colleague had asked me for recommendations on a motorcycle. I had apprehensions on Aprilia's after sales service and veered him away from the brand. His experience with getting a refund for his booking wasn't that smooth either.

Thank you.

It's a pity since the bike is a gem and I absolutely love riding it. Wish Aprilia focussed more on the after sales support and spare parts availability and costing. They would for sure be able to woo more riders to the RS and Tuono if they do that.

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

So glad that you walked away safe man! Hope you are fully recovered now. Hope that Wagon-R guy is dumb enough to not learn from his mistake and next time it will be a KSRTC bus or a tipper instead of a motorcycle.

Thanks for sharing the bill. The parts seem well priced.

Thanks, I'm glad I could walk away with relatively less injuries as well. As for the wagon-R guy, my suspicion is he was driving under the influence and hence didn't stop. Since it was close to the New Year many such cases were there.

Originally Posted by t3rm1n80r

I hope you are fully recovered now. I'd suggest slapping on a pair of tank grips. They might not help in case of sudden deceleration (which was your case), but they do help during hard braking.

I'm planning on getting the tank grips for more support undertaking. Please let me know if you know which ones are good to go for. As you mentioned in case of a head-on collision it wouldn't have enough grip to hold the rider in place and prevent the crotch getting smashed into the tank!

Originally Posted by mak.prasada

Really glad to know you’re safe JSaarinen — incidents like this are a strong reminder of how vital proper riding gear and a good helmet truly are.

Thanks a lot for your kind words. Riding gear was the only reason I'm able to tell this tale. The 75 day wait was partly due to the service center not checking properly the damages that happened in the first go.

Originally Posted by b16h22

Good to know that you are okay. Could've been much worse.

Thank you. I forgot to mention that. My RS initially had that issue of not tracking straight and pulling towards the left. Now after these repairs, it absolutely tracks straight!! So maybe there was some minor alignment issue on the forks or wheels out of the showroom which got rectified now.


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[thehillybilly]

Glad to see that you are fine and the bike is back to its best self! getting parts from Aprilia is always a painful ask, I have been after them for the past two months to source the rear number plate light of the Aprilia SR 150, but to no avail! It took them 6 weeks to get the left mirror!

[after]

JS, relieved to hear you're okay, and that insurance covered most of the cost. Hopefully your injuries are nearly healed as well.

Originally Posted by JSaarinen

Went to the police station and gave a written complaint

Any progress on this so far?

[JSaarinen]

Originally Posted by thehillybilly

getting parts from Aprilia is always a painful ask, I have been after them for the past two months to source the rear number plate light of the Aprilia SR 150, but to no avail! It took them 6 weeks to get the left mirror!

That's unfortunate. I hope they get their act together and make the after sales experience and parts availability upto the mark.

Originally Posted by after

Any progress on this so far?

Nothing. They haven't been able to trace the car. I don't think they're proactively checking it also, since the injuries were minor and I've not gone for a medical claim. Only support they provided so far was to get the accident general diary report approved. Thanks, injuries have healed anz I've recovered well.

[ssathiyanarayan]

Dear JSaarrinen,

Sorry to know about the accident. But glad to know that you walked out albeit with minor injuries. It was really an eye opener on the cost portion. Spares accounting to a good 1.5L lacs is kind of surprise. Maybe the scale of manufacturing (MoQ) makes the parts expensive. Glad you and Furiso are back on track. Happy Motoring. Take care.

With Regards,
Sathiya Narayanan