Friday, April 9, 2010

Ottawa – USA Trip 2009 Part 5 of 9



Getting the Yamaha Back
Crash – Boom - Bang
Brad's Arrival in Vancouver

Getting the Yamaha Back

I had arrived in Vancouver safe and sound on June 27th, eight days after leaving Ottawa. Steven has a very nice two-bedroom flat on Hastings street in Burnaby with a balcony that overlooks the street. His roommate, Tanya, is a very nice lady who has been a long-term friend of Steven's. This is not a romantic arrangement. It’s an economical arrangement where each pays one-half of the rent. She has her own boyfriend who is currently doing a job in N. Alberta. Her boyfriend has his own apartment in Burnaby. Tanya offered me her bedroom to stay in while she stayed at her boyfriend's flat during his absence. I chose to limit my stay for just three days though, before I moved to a nice hotel close-by. I didn't want to over-stay my welcome because I didn't want things to explode between me and Steven which they sometimes do (but not this time). I told Steven that I would like to deal with transferring the ownership of the Yamaha motorcycle back to me on the first day of my arrival so that we could then relax and enjoy the rest of our time together. It wasn't until the second last day before we left Vancouver, however, that he finally got around to making those arrangements. That's Steven - the great procrastinator.

Crash – Boom - Bang!

On Canada Day, July 1st, I was waiting for the red traffic light to turn green and then .......WHAM!!.....I was sent flying through the air on my Harley. I had been hit from behind by a Chinese guy driving a Honda Accord. I never came off my bike but I bashed my right ankle against the right foot pedal when I landed on the asphalt...and it bothered me for the rest of my trip. It was my bad foot too. Bloody Hell!!!....Here I was 5,000 kms from home with my beautiful Harley smashed. I called the emergency number 911 and they said that if there were no injuries to just exchange insurance information which is what I did. In the pandemonium, I forgot about my foot injury. I was more concerned about my Harley. The other driver told me that he would pay the costs for repair in full with a certified cheque if I got an estimate and stayed away from reporting it to our insurance companies. I thought it was a good idea at the time so he gave me his three cell phone numbers and asked me to call him with the estimate the next day before noon. I agreed. Then, I had to call a tow truck because my back mudguard was twisted and wrapped around my back wheel so I couldn't move the bike. The tow-truck operator used his crane and hook to untangle the mudguard from my back wheel so that it would rotate and I would be mobile again. It worked great and I could drive the bike again. The very next morning I got an estimate of $1200 to fix my bike and I had the dealer rig-up a temporary tail and brake light assembly so that I could ride legally. Then I made five telephone calls from the dealer's customer waiting room one right after the other. The word “His” ....following hereunder ...being the other driver.

Call 1: To his first cell number.....Woman answered no speak English
Call 2: To his second cell number....Another woman answered...He doesn't live here
Call 3: To his third cell number ....No answer
Call 4: To his insurance reporting the accident
Call 5: To my insurance reporting the accident

My insurance company said not to worry...they would deal with his insurance company (ie: the province of British Columbia) and they will pay all my repair costs when I get home. When I forgot to tell them about my foot injury again, I took that as a sign that it mustn't be that serious so I turned my attention to other matters. It’s starting to feel better now. Because of the accident, I never made it to Lorrie's invitation to their performance on Canada day, but I sent them an e-mail shortly after I got home explaining why.

Brad's Arrival in Vancouver

Brad arrived by plane from Ottawa on July 4th. He had an invitation to stay at his friend Neil's apartment in downtown Vancouver and the same invitation was extended to me as well. So, I moved out of my hotel and stayed with Neil too. I drove the Harley and Brad drove the Yamaha to Neil's place. Trying to find Neil's flat in downtown Vancouver on a busy Saturday afternoon with half of the streets detoured because of construction was a nightmare, but we made it. Two days before Brad and I left Vancouver on our return trip through the USA, Steven and his roommate Tanya threw a big party for us which included a great big BBQ. They invited some of their other friends as well. We said our goodbyes and started on our return trip on July 6th, an overcast Monday morning.

1 comment:

  1. I guess we can show the license plate on the Yamaha, since it was a temporary permit.

    Driving across the U.S with a Labatts bag on the back fortunately did not attract any cops.

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