RANT: Hey, that's *my* motorcycle you just hit!

sorry that happen to you . i see many motorcycles that way on the streets. they should allow motorcycles and scooters park on the side walk for this reason.

That sucked. Sorry it happened. Nobody saw it occur?

It's just a part of living in the city and parking on the street. My car has numerous dings and embedded paint from things that happened to it while it was parked. It sucks, but that's just the way it goes.

Testiculon wrote: It's just a part of living in the city and parking on the street. My car has numerous dings and embedded paint from things that happened to it while it was parked. It sucks, but that's just the way it goes.

That is not the way it should go. If you ding someone's car or bike, you should leave a note. It is the right thing to do.

I rode my FatBoy to work and had it on the sidewalk in front of my job when a ticket agent told me that if I didn’t put it in the street I would get a ticket. An hour later some idiot backed his Jeep SUV into it cracking the front fender and tweaking the front end. :shock: The guy stayed around and apologized so that was cool but he’s still a moron. Said he did not see it. Waiting on his insurance. Next time I'll take the ticket.

swngnmonk wrote: Carmen,

I understand where you're coming from, and getting dings on your bumpers is definitely part of life in NYC. I've owned cars in NYC, and you expect it.

But when you hit a motorcycle hard enough to knock it over, destroy the radiator and the oil cooler, see liquids pour out all over the street, and then upright it like nothing happened, that's not a "ding". That's hit and run.

I'm not totally disagreeing with you...however its kind of like the dangers of driving in the city. I mean, my mirror was sideswiped and no one left me a note. Was I pissed? Of course...but I think it's kind of part of the "luxury" of having a car here.

And, while we're on the topic of motorcycles parking- to those of you who own them, please don't park 4 inches from my car. If I'm pulled up all the way to the white line, you cannot fit because even if the car behind me is 2 feet away NOW doesn't mean that it'll be two feet away when I go to move my car. I've been boxed in a few times by bikes before who clearly shouldn't have wedged in front of me. This counts for vespas, too. I am a nice person and those times I actually opted to take a cab instead of risking knocking over the bike, but I can see someone with a larger/more aggressive car or a bad attitude just plowing it down out of spite. I'm not saying that the OP was one of these people...I just notice it happening quite a bit.


I have sympathy for you though, dealing with car related repairs sucks. The first time my car was seriously damaged (a giant chunk was taken out of the side of y front bumper by someone who clearly couldn't park) I literally cried. I'm glad I didn't opt to fix it then, however- I'm just waiting till I move out of the city and I'll replace both bumpers and get the whole car repainted. LAME!

ringrunner wrote: FYI

From today's F.Y.I in the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/nyregion/thecity/24fyi.html?_r=1&sq=fyi&st=nyt&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&scp=1&adxnnlx=1219583743-ZG0V+ELsf3Cc+LKEzk4+xQ
Department of Dream On

Q. A friend of mine, who owns a motorcycle, told me that if he covers his bike with a motorcycle cover and parks illegally, he cannot be given a ticket, because a police officer is not allowed to pick up the cover to read the license plate. Is this true?

A. Your friend, not the officer, would be breaking the law.

Paul Browne, the deputy police commissioner who is the department’s chief spokesman, has a word for claims like these: wishmyth, a combination of wishful thinking and urban legend.

“In other words,” Mr. Browne said, “it is lawful for an officer to remove a vehicle cover of an unlawfully parked vehicle for the purpose of determining whether the vehicle has a vehicle identification number and plates and, if so, to issue a summons.”

Furthermore, he said in an e-mail message, the law prohibits a vehicle from standing or parking while it is covered with something that obscures the make, color, vehicle identification number, plates or registration and inspection stickers.

the times asked the wrong person. police officers can remove the cover, ticket agents can't. they have different responsibilities and authority. also, ticket agents are under the department of finance, that is who trains them, not the nypd. i think you are pretty safe covering your bike if you are either on the sidewalk or are not in a "no standing" zone

joncane wrote: [quote=vidro3] also, ticket agents are under the department of finance, that is who trains them, not the nypd. i think you are pretty safe covering your bike if you are either on the sidewalk or are not in a "no standing" zone

Traffic Enforcement Agents are in the employ of the NYPD. It is a civil service title and they are civilians members of the service.

that is correct, however, TEAs are not police officers. They have differing levels of authority; e.g. TEAs cannot write tickets for moving violations, (though this rule may have been changed recently.) Most TEAs cannot arrest someone, only TEA level IVs have that power.

In any case, the actual training on how to write parking tickets is done by the department of finance, because that is who is in charge of parking tickets in new york city.

Carmen wrote:
And, while we're on the topic of motorcycles parking- to those of you who own them, please don't park 4 inches from my car. If I'm pulled up all the way to the white line, you cannot fit because even if the car behind me is 2 feet away NOW doesn't mean that it'll be two feet away when I go to move my car.

omfg this happened to me recently.
dude was literally 2 inches from my front bumper.
i dont know from bikes so
finally i just picked the dam thing up and moved it 3 feet away.
better than hitting it.
but
I was kind let down that im not more malicious.
"evilfunky" has been having dreams of running back and forth over it a few times :twisted:

it doesnt take a bloody mensa IQ to know you shouldnt park your little piece of crap 2 inches away from a 1 ton vehicle.

redmenace wrote: [quote=Garfunky][quote=Carmen]
And, while we're on the topic of motorcycles parking- to those of you who own them, please don't park 4 inches from my car. If I'm pulled up all the way to the white line, you cannot fit because even if the car behind me is 2 feet away NOW doesn't mean that it'll be two feet away when I go to move my car.

omfg this happened to me recently.
dude was literally 2 inches from my front bumper.
i dont know from bikes so
finally i just picked the dam thing up and moved it 3 feet away.
better than hitting it.
but
I was kind let down that im not more malicious.
"evilfunky" has been having dreams of running back and forth over it a few times :twisted:

it doesnt take a bloody mensa IQ to know you shouldnt park your little piece of crap 2 inches away from a 1 ton vehicle.

this happened to me the other day. Dear motorcycle riders (and Vespa owners, too)....If I am boxed in bumper to bumper between cars, I must kiss the bumpers of each of the hugging vehicles if I want to get my car out of the space. This is a HUGE DRAG if one of those vehicles only has 2 wheels, and the gall to squeeeeeeze in between the crosswalk and my car.

Dear Red Vespa owner: this means YOU. I picked up and moved your damn bike because it was one inch away from my front bumper. Behind me was an Escalade, about 3 inches from my bumper. I hope you got a ticket when I moved your pretty bike into the crosswalk to keep from knocking it over. The Escalade and I kissed, no harm done.

Good for you, I would have done the same. Motorcycles, bikes, vespa's need to follow the rules of the road and have common courtesy when parking.

new2hood wrote: I totally feel for you, op, unless your motorcycle is one of the monstrously loud ones. Then, I feel differently.

Loud pipes saves lives.

If its too loud, you're too old.

I've seen people jam their cars into a parking spot that someone has already parked a motorcycle in. So it's not just the bikers, drivers are jerks too.

Technically a bike is supposed to take one whole spot. It seems as though it is overlooked because of the lack of parking.

I try to park my bike with others (safety in numbers and all) where I can see it or in a garage…
…it still got hit. :roll: