Fender Bender

[steezyvt]

Well, it finally happened. Was at an off ramp waiting my turn to merge into traffic coming home from work today when a minivan rear ended my FZ and rested it's bumper on my rear tire. It's an intersection that's pretty notorious for accidents. Scared me pretty good, but just glad it was low speed and I wasn't even moving when he hit me. Didn't even end up dropping the bike throughout the whole process. Luckily the only visible damage is a cracked tail light and some damage to the plastic fenders around the rear seat.
 
Anyone else ever have this kind of experience? Is there additional damage I should be concerned about that I can't see? I was able to ride home which was only a 1/4 mile away and didn't feel anything unusual at low speeds. I'm worried that the tire or wheel could be compromised, or that my front forks got overly compressed on the impact. I'm a pretty new rider as of last year and only have 1000 miles on the bike, and this is my first accident, riding or driving. Already filled out a claim with my insurance, and the guy at fault gave me all the info he could and we got a police report as well.
 
Moral of the story, be careful out there and always keep an eye on the traffic around you.

[YZEtc]

Back in 1993 while on my 1993 Yamaha XJ600SE (AKA Seca II), a mom with a minivan full of kids hit my rear tire with her front bumper and shot the bike right out from under me.

[steezyvt]

That's crazy! Hope you didn't get hurt and that the bike made it too. Something about minivans I suppose

[jbone]

Back in 1993 while on my 1993 Yamaha XJ600SE (AKA Seca II), a mom with a minivan full of kids hit my rear tire with her front bumper and shot the bike right out from under me.

Impressive! I would have liked to see that. I say this assuming you were uninjured. If you weren't, I take it all back!
 

[YZEtc]

I was unhurt, and the bike simply shot forward about ten feet and fell over with minimal damage as you would expect from such a fall.
The minivan driver looked like she'd seen a ghost as she came to realize what had just happened.

[ShiftHer]

Well, it finally happened. Was at an off ramp waiting my turn to merge into traffic coming home from work today when a minivan rear ended my FZ and rested it's bumper on my rear tire.  
Anyone else ever have this kind of experience? Is there additional damage I should be concerned about that I can't see? 

Maybe check that the rim is not dinged or bent? Not sure how hard they hit you or how far into the tire they made it. Obviously check tire for any kind of scrapes or scratches in the rubber, as well. Not sure if brakes can be affected by that? Can they get bumped off their "track" (I just made that term up)? 
 
Check wheel alignment. Again, kind of depends how hard you got bumped. Probably would have felt if this was off on the way home, but I'm just throwing out everything that I can think of that would bother me until I checked it.
 
Glad you made it out unscathed, and didn't drop the bike, to boot!  8-)

[Beemer]

Keeping an eye on the traffic around you, damn straight! Glad you're alright. Just yesterday while stopped at a light I saw in my mirror a guy in a big flatbed truck charging up on me, not paying attention, so I bolted forward to go between the two cars in front of me but he then got on his brakes hard and stopped before hitting anyone. Watch your 6 constantly at stops. Stay frosty!

[USMCFieldMP]

If the rim was bent, you'd know it.
 
The thing I'd be most concerned about are the connection for the tail section. Cracked welds, etc. There's a framework there, and if it absorbed a lot of the impact, that could mean damage.
 

[steezyvt]

Just an update: Insurance was real easy to work with so I won't be paying a penny for repairs. Rode the bike to the shop a few miles from my house and left it over the weekend. Insurance sent an appraiser to the shop as well earlier this week to go over the bike. Long story short my frame was bent, and while they said I could probably ride it, I'm going to end up getting a new frame which means I won't be riding for another month or so. Luckily I'm going to be traveling quite a bit the next few weeks so riding time would have been limited anyways.
 
The wheel and the tire seemed fine according to the shop technician. I could probably get away with claiming the tire could be compromised internally and get a new one covered by insurance as well. Other than that, there appeared to be no other significant damage, though they'll be replacing all the gaskets on the bike and checking the front suspension a little closer as well.
 
In the meantime, I'll be dreaming of riding. Stay safe out there everyone

[DewMan]

Just an update: Insurance was real easy to work with so I won't be paying a penny for repairs. Rode the bike to the shop a few miles from my house and left it over the weekend. Insurance sent an appraiser to the shop as well earlier this week to go over the bike. Long story short my frame was bent, and while they said I could probably ride it, I'm going to end up getting a new frame which means I won't be riding for another month or so. Luckily I'm going to be traveling quite a bit the next few weeks so riding time would have been limited anyways. 
The wheel and the tire seemed fine according to the shop technician. I could probably get away with claiming the tire could be compromised internally and get a new one covered by insurance as well. Other than that, there appeared to be no other significant damage, though they'll be replacing all the gaskets on the bike and checking the front suspension a little closer as well.
 
In the meantime, I'll be dreaming of riding. Stay safe out there everyone

I'm glad you're OK, and that the insurance is working with you. I'm just surprised that the impact was able to tweak the frame but not effect any other components. I suggest getting a second opinion, if only for peace of mind.