Legal advice: Defective goods | more bikes

White Dalton’s expert motoring solicitor Andrew Prendergast guides readers through his legal trials and tribulations…

Question:

I recently bought a used Ducati 748, I’ve wanted one since I was a teenager when they first came out! It’s fair to say I’m a product of the 90s! – While it all seemed generally fine, the previous owner broke off part of the front brake lever and dropped it in his garage. While they were doing belt service etc the motorbike shop asked if I wanted to replace both levers with aftermarket anodized gold versions. I thought it would look good. After about a week, the mechanic called me and said the bike was ready. I duly paid my bill and hit the road. All this went on for about 10 minutes until I slowed down to brake for a roundabout. And with that, the front wheel locked up and I lost the front wheel and went down like a fat kid on a swing. And there I remained in pain until the ambulance took me away with a broken elbow and dislocated shoulder. Thankfully, my partner who was behind me came by and captured the entire thing on dashcam (he had dropped me off at the shop to pick up Duke). My partner also kindly brought Duke back to my house where he has been sitting for the last six weeks. As for what happened, my partner said he had to remove the new front brake lever to be able to push the bike up the ramp in his van. He believes he read about it online earlier. In short, it looks like the new aftermarket lever doesn’t fit properly and doesn’t engage the front brake effectively. I took it up with the shop who said I was talking nonsense, but if that were the case, I would have to sue the manufacturer of the lever as it would be their fault. Are they right? Since I am a carpenter I have serious problems at work. I am very worried that I will never be able to do this again.

Answer:

I am very disappointed to hear such bickering between you and the Duke. As far as you and your injuries are concerned, it is much more important than the bike (to state the obvious). If I were a betting man, I suspect that these types of injuries could seriously impact your career or result in you having to change it. Thus, you need a lawyer who is accustomed to dealing with serious orthopedic injuries that result in career changes, to ensure that you get the right compensation that could result in a major loss of future earnings claim. Don’t leave it to an unqualified “claims handler” who may come with the insurance policy for “free.” Your solicitor will need to instruct an engineer to come and look at the bike and provide a report which will hopefully prove what your partner says i.e. a faulty brake lever caused this to happen. As far as the store is concerned, they got it 100% wrong. They charged you for the levers and fitting them etc. If the lever is faulty, you can sue the shop because your contract is with them (the shop can then decide to sue the manufacturer, but it’s up to them). I would just like to add that I had a lot of these types of cases about 10 years ago. It was discovered that the aftermarket lever casting effectively pushed the front brake master cylinder too far, even when released, causing the brakes to eventually stick. Finally, download and save your partner’s dashcam footage and make sure your lawyer has that evidence as well.