[krishnaprasadgg]

So glad to hear nobody was injured. Afterall bikes can be rebuild to it's previous glory.

And your friend is a pretty nice chap to fully own up the accident and offering to take care of it all.

But what I do have to add is that just make it a habit when it comes to people asking to borrow your vehicles. No matter how hard it feels to say no to someone. I say so because I was also the same before, it was very hard to say no to someone especially if they are a friend or family member. But I changed that, it took some time but I did and for the better.
Now there is good reason too apart from this

1. In the event of an accident where unfortunately some damages are involved and worse even if any injuries or even death comes into the picture. Suddenly you are pulled into a very unwanted situation and your life get altered here on after.

I know it's hard to even think why something like this would happen but it ver

2. I have felt that maybe some friends do ask for your vehicle in a case of emergency and they feel backward to ask for it in the first place but slowly they start feeling laxer about it and it might start becoming a common affair. I have had this happen to me early on.

3. No matter friends or not the way they drive/ride might not be something that you like or appreciate your vehicle be used that way. Some people just do not care or know how to respect someone else's property just because they do not maintain theirs in the way you do.

I know it sounds very negative the way I have typed it but unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world and these are the reality you might face some times.
Now obviously if you have petrol head friends who are passionate about their own machine of course they will be careful, but the points mentioned above are for people who are not petrolheads and they see a vehicle as just a means of transport.

Having said all this, since about 8-9 years my cars/bikes have been handled by maybe 4 people other than me of which 2 are family and 2 are very close friends and all are proper petrol heads too and I have driver / ridden with them for years too and fully trust them with it.

I say the riding/driving together part because you get to see in real life in your own eyes how they treat their machines. That should help you understand who you can trust with your machines and whom you cant.

I apologize for the haphazard way i wrote this post and its all over the place, wrote this in a hurry. Hope this helps.

Cheers
Krishna

[motorotor]

I believe in the adage that there is no friendship in business and similarly, no business in friendship. Since you mentioned the person involved is a good friend I would say keep finances out of it. Think of it as the cost of friendship.

I would only lend to very close friends/ family where naturally the question of payment just does not arise no matter the cost.

So weigh your relationship with this person and take a call.

I am sure with the right workshop your vehicle can be restored back to its former glory.

[xsrahul]

Interesting question.

I wouldn't have asked the friend to pay as long as I can afford it. After all what is some more money between friends.

That brings me to also ask the forum what if you were on the bike / in the car at the moment of the accident and maybe an accident occurs when ur friend is riding / driving. What would one do in this instance - take the money from the friend or just claim insurance and pay up the rest.

[VKumar]

Leave aside friends, till date I have not asked even the owner of other vehicle to pay my bills, if there is a crash.

When it comes to friends, only 3 people are there who can take away my vehicles, no matter if I am present at home or not, nobody else is allowed. When it comes to accidents or damages to the vehicle, there is no scope of demanding the same from anyone. Till date we have never shared any bills, never ever we have divided the bills of groceries etc - it's always like that one guy pays and nobody even asks what the bill amount was.

What matters is the fact that we, as a friend, keep in our minds that no undue advantage of anyone is taken and the person who thinks that he or she has to pay for say dining etc, comes forward himself.

Coming to vehicles, I have overturned Honda City of one of them, one guy once crashed my Laura somewhere, once my Accord was crashed and even returned after a wait of around 2 months, once I had the Scorpio of a guy crashed - till date, it has always been like "gaadi nayi aa jayegi, tu theek hai na? (New car will come, you are okay na?)".

My say is, leave it yaar, 5-10000 rupees of a bill is not worth asking a good friend to be called at fault and made to be paid by him at least!

[InsaneSpeed]

Generally i am very possessive about the vehicles I own and am extremely careful to whom I lend the vehicles. However on one such fateful day, a close friend of mine took my bike for a joy ride and came back with a broken headlight, a broken meter console, one dangling side indicator and multiple scratches on the tank, silencer and the crash guard. He was apologizing profusely and I was glad that he wasn't hurt badly. I wasn't happy about the entire situation but my friend took full responsibility for his doings and got the bike repaired at his expense without me claiming insurance. The point here is that friendship is at one level while your doings are at one level. One definitely has to take the onus of his actions. By diffusing the situation in this manner there is no bad blood between us and we are still friends. The guilt and conscious are clear at both ends. In my opinion your friend can bear the repair expenses if he wishes to while the insurance could be borne by you. As far as the bike is concerned its character may change depending how the bike was worked upon at the service centre and whether every minute detail was looked into.

[sam_babushka]

Make him pay. Even if he was not being careless (in which case, definitely make him pay), your bike was his responsibility while with him. And any damage to the bike while it was with him, is also his responsibility. It is a courtesy he must undertake to reciprocate your gesture / courtesy of lending him your bike in the first place

[akhil_007]

If he is really such a good friend whom you don't want to lose, don't bring up the topic of money. Don't ask him to pay for your insurance ncb loss.
I follow this rule. The friend who banged the vehicle has to take responsibility. Do the running around,talk to insurance surveyor,get things fixed in the svc and deliver it to my door step. It's only fair that he spends his time for the act he got involved in(never mind who was at fault). Only situation I wouldn't enforce this is if my friend himself is injured badly.

[charanreddy]

Originally Posted by Fury

I would very much like the opinion of fellow BHPians here and any inputs that could be done from my side going forward would also be welcome.

I think its simple. It boils down to whether you value the relationship more or the money. If the chap is decent and you are willing to take the Insurance premium hit, and IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THE RELATIONSHIP, I would say forgive (but don't forget as you don't want to give your bike to others in the future).

If you are not too close to the chap, then ask for the money in a polite, non-committal way and see if he takes the hint. No point getting aggressive.

If we think about it life is a series of accidents, some good & some are learnings. No point getting too possessive or bogged down by a single incident.

[imp!]

I had the first gen KTM 390 Duke which a relative requested to borrow about 2 weeks after purchase to go on a holiday with some friends. I reluctantly gave it on the condition only he ride it and no one else. Sure enough, it was loaned to a friend of his who ended up breaking the chassis. I got rid of the bike at a 60K financial loss and wrote it off. I still don't have another bike, that is due to a different set of circumstance, but, I still regret loaning it out. I hope to buy another bike this year, and if I do. I think I will very blatantly just say no although I too find it very difficult to deny someone to their face.

[stormy]

Hi!

I think many of us would have been involved in somewhat similar situations. If we lend our vehicles we need to expect such issues. I have had acquaintances use my bike and not pay for the repairs.

Thankfully no one is hurt, else expect the problems that arise if something major happened to the rider on our vehicle, legalities aside.

I would suggest you claim insurance, and ask your friend to foot the remainder charges as well as the diff in insurance premium. It is your friend's responsibility to oversee the vehicle repairs, insurance claims and delivery of vehicle to you in the condition you lent it to him. IMHO i think is fair deal.

[JojyKerala]

Originally Posted by Fury

I would very much like the opinion of fellow BHPians here and any inputs that could be done from my side going forward would also be welcome.

Is he a habitual offender? Does he do similar actions and gets away with them often? If yes, then you should seek the money so that he learns a lesson.

However, from your post, it is evident that he seems like a straightforward and reliable friend. He even was willing to reimburse the money for any expenses involved. I would say that you should let this event pass and take the insurance hit in your stride.

The only thing you should take from this accident is that you should never lend your bike again - you never know when the next accident can strike!

[vRSiva27]

Ah, a situation that I have been in the past, albeit on the wrong side of things.

Circa 2015 when I used to walk to my office (~1.5 KM from my house shared with my flatmates), I was extremely late to office on one particular day and being late would mean LOP for half day. Since public transport was not an option and I was struggling to find a cab, my roommate (a close friend of mine) offered his brand new FZ15 (~2 week old tops) to be taken since he used his office cab for commute.

I am a careful driver and I had also helped this friend of mine get this bike in the first place. Say whatever, but the kind gods were not kind on that particular day and right when I was returning back home, just 200 meters before my apartment, I took a left turn while applying the back brake at around ~10 KMPH and I had not noticed the fine print of sand which made the bike skid and both the bike and I fell

It was a total shocker for me as I have never fallen off a bike before and more so, my worst fears had come true - I had broken the front left turn indicator, a plastic cladding over the engine, the left RVM and there were a few minor scratches on the leg guard.

With no other option left, I apologized profusely to my friend and to my disbelief, he took it lightly. Say what, but the event still haunts me till date and I made sure that I got the parts replaced (which did give me a bit of a respite) and I went out of my way a couple of times to help him sort out troubles later as well.

So yes, you should let him pay if he insists since that will help take some of the burden off him and you would not have the thought of making a mistake by lending the bike (which it is not)

[VijayAnand1]

The severity of the crash does play a role here. A frontal impact especially bent alloys, bent forks and T stem are easily replaceable and shouldn't cause any handling issues, unless we have a chassis that itself is slightly warped.

The initial prognosis at the SVC plays a key role, and certain parts replaced rather than mending again is key, especially with excessively bent fork and T stem and bent rims. As a thumb rule, bent T stem and excessively bent front forks, rims are better replaced than mended and reused. This can and will eventually cause handing issues, in not in straight line at least in corners, one can feel one side heavy and an uneven drag even though everything seems normal. This is mainly due to a mild bend somewhere which though isn't visible will affect the dynamics of the motorcycle when ridden.

Very irritating, trust me, been there, done that. Tried to save 100 and spent 1000 after learning the lesson. But eventually peace of mind.

Take care!

Cheers!
VJ

[Reinhard]

If you feel like you should get some pain shared & the friend should at least pay the premium for the insurance - I don't see a reason for which you should feel "guilty" here. Its not that you did something wrong.

Whatever you feel - I think you should talk to your friend about it upfront & frankly. That way you'll both have clarity & nothing left in the mind that keeps overshadowing your friendship for the times to come. If the friendship itself gets damaged as part of this discussion - its not a bad thing in the long term.

[Rhik94]

Originally Posted by Fury

I would very much like the opinion of fellow BHPians here and any inputs that could be done from my side going forward would also be welcome.

Isn't it just basic courtesy that whoever had borrowed the vehicle, pay for the complete damages?

You selflessly lent your bike and that is a gesture grand enough. Any damages that may occur to the vehicle while it is in possession of the borrower is completely his/her responsibility. Personally, I am extremely skeptical when it comes to lending my car or motorcycle to someone else but if I do borrow it sometime (even if it is during ride swipes) I automatically assume complete responsibility.

There could be exceptions perhaps when someone else may have hit you and you genuinely had no way to avoid it but ramming into your very own riding buddy is in some part the borrowers fault. One should be babying the vehicle even more when it does not belong to you.