First off in years (Diesel)

[Drago]

As the title says had my first off since 2006. I was coming up to a junction onto the main road when the scooter slid out from under me. Turns out the junction was absolutely covered in spilt diesel and there was large pools upon the main road as well. There was no diesel on the road I came from so I had no warning signs. The junction is on a slight dip as well, it was wet so my visor was partly covered in rain drops plus I was looking left and right up the main road and not right on the road surface. 'Luckily' I was only doing about 10mph and the scooter landed on my legs. I managed to get out from underneath and a van stopped and the two guys picked up the scooter.

The front side is scratched but the rear panel was not, again thanks to my legs holding up the rear end. Oil was gushing out of the air filter box. The Daelim S1 is oil cooled and I'm guessing as the scoot was still running at first the oil has come out of the cylinder head and down the air filter pipe. Some police in an umarked car stopped and pretty much informed the highways agency of the diesel spillage and told me to go to hospital if I develop any pain. I always wear all the gear and apart from some slight aching I was fine. I phoned work and they sent someone out to help me. We went to a nearby garage to get more oil. I got some cheap £5 semi stuff just to top up the scoot. Luckily the scoot has no oil leak, it was just because it had been on its side. 'Luckily' the only damage is the scrapes to the front panel and the tip of the brake lever. I was able to ride the scoot once the oil had been topped up, all was normal the journey back home to rest.

So a few things to top this off.
- Something needs to be done about diesel spillages, mostly people overfilling their tanks I'd guess. Why would someone brim their tank knowing it's going to splash out?! All they are doing is causing a hazard and flushing their own money down the drain!
- All the gear all the time. Luckily apart from a slight ache in my legs for the rest of the day I was fine. If I'd being wearing ordinary trousers the outcome could of been a lot worse and I was only doing 10mph.
-Repairing the scratches. The panels aren't damaged just the paintwork. What would be the best stuff to use? Plasti-dip?
-Luckily It wasn't my SYM Joymax - That's newer and a lot heavier!

[road runner]

Sorry to hear about your off but at least you came through it relatively unscathed and I hope you get better soon. Diesel is nasty stuff!
With regard to touching up panels I have found that if only lightly scored, then using 'David's' P38 filler and rubbing down then applying a primer, topcoat and then a lacquer this has given me good results in the past. If your Scooter dealer does not do a ready made aerosol, then RS Paints will colour match to your scooter paint code. As for the damaged aluminium lever if it's not broken you can file / emery out the worst of the scratches then polish up with a mop and polish or a bit of elbow grease using autosol. If the lever is bent then try heating it up slightly with a blowtorch and use a piece of metal tube over the lever to pull it back to approximate shape.

[Bluebottle]

Glad to hear you are OK.
All diesel spillers are bastards and should be neutered.


A tip for bending aluminium like Roadrunner mentioned -
It's annealing temperature is the same temp that soap burns at, so rub some soap on it first and when it turns from cleanish to dark brown you know you are done
Obviously you don't want to soften your whole brake lever though.

If the person that spilled the diesel is used to make the soap then that is a win-win situation.

[Ferret]

Glad your ok ,diesel is the worst, there's just no control or time to do anything your on your back before you know it . If you could find out who slopped it sue them .

[Drago]

Unfortunately I can't prove who done it. There's a few farms in the area and often trucks come through. This happened out in the countryside, not in a city were they could be camera's. My brake lever is not bent though, just the end bit the paint has been wiped off leaving an obvious 'this bike has been on its side' mark. I've never come off before due to diesel. Had the occasional slip but that's about it. I was lucky it happened just before the junction at low speed. It's quite a busy road and if I'd been doing 20mph + chances are the scoot would of gone out onto the road with unpleasant results.

[Scootypuff snr]

Pride hurt,scooter minimum damage.

Your OK that's what matters

[SOOTYGULL]

Sorry to hear about you coming off on diesel.

Glad to hear you are ok.

It is worth finding out if the diesel spill had been reported to the council and if they haven't acted quickly enough they may have some liability to you.

[Deleted User 796]

Ouch! Lorry drivers always bitching anout the cost of diesel but chucking it all over the road. The buses here are especially guilty of doing it.