Comprehensive / bumper to bumper insurance is a must.
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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.
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