this weekend i let my fiance's little brother who is 17 use my eiger 4x4, he has been around sleds and atv's for awhile now and i know how he drives so i didnt think twice about letting him use it, today i go to pick it up and he comes up to me say hey im sorry i kinda had a accident this morning playing in the snow (its snowing and mixing with ice here in ogdensburg/lisbon area) any ways he is like get the damage esimate and ill pay fully,,, i was like are you ok. he is fine then he showed me with a full walk through of what happened and i see a crap load of skid marks in his driveway from it, he just missed his fathers truck and plowed into a oil drum that is beside the barn, it was full of oil so there was no giving for the drum, the drum was right next to a round bale lifter (the type with the monster spike) he was damn lucky he wasnt hurt or impaled, or impaled my eiger. then he shows me the eiger, i just about cried. the plastics are all torn up, the front brush guard (factory) is twisted, and my brand new winch is snapped in half, the rim is bent like no ones business.

between the urge to strangle the living crap out of him, and the love of my eiger (which i just got done fixing from my last crash on friday, havent even rode it yet) i had to keep reminding my self 5 things, one he is ok, 2 im a emt, 3 i could make his death look like an accident, 4 im also a firefighter its not uncommon for a firefighter to carry axes, 5 most of my friends are emt's , police officers, firefighters, and disbatchers, we are 911 who is he going to call for help. then i went back to 1 he is ok and thats all that matters, and he said he is going to fix it , i trust him cause he is like that if he brakes something he does fix it. he is a responcable 17 year old kid with a job. he father got home from work while i was there and he told his dad what happened and his father blew up at him, i had to calm him down before he had a stroke!

so it looks like no ridey for me for a while i went through and listed the parts that need replacing and priced all the parts, the total comes to 650 bucks also if any one is looking for oem parts i will post a link in this post, they are fair priced (dealer cost for oem parts and ship very well) the are a yamaha and suzuki oem parts. http://www.xtremepowersports.com/./O...oem_parts.html

 

Sorry about the ordeal but you're right, it's much easier, and cheaper, to fix the Eiger than it would be to fix the kid. At least the kid fessed up and showed you what happened rather than just bringing it back to you with no explanation or an offer to pay for damages.

As for the cost, I'd eat it most of it were me if you have the $$$. He'll need that money worse especially if he'll be going to school this fall and you can also get him to help with things to help offset the money. Have him come over and swap all the replacement parts back on.

 

well i know its easier to fix the eiger, thats why he didnt i remained calm. he doesnt go to college for a while, he is in 10th grade, he told me he will pay for it all and do the work if i so wished, i wish i had the money to fix it, but it took me almost a year to get ahead of my bills as it is to get the winch. i told him if he gets the parts ill do the work thats not a issue and i know he is good for it cause like i said im getting married to his sister. i remember when i was his age i distroyed a friends snowmobile, actually 2 in one night my friend and i where had on them, we both paid for our damages and moved on in life, i also told him that if he wants to get a wheeler i would help him get one so he said after he fix's the damage he is going to get one (he'll prolly get his money back lol)

 

Dude, that sucks! At least the kid is OK and tough as nails. Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Eigers are nice quads. I too would eat the cost but only because I would want it fixed ASAP and not have to wait for a 17yo to raise that kinda money on his part time job....................[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Sorry to hear about the machine and glad to hear that the kids was ok. I personally think that the kid (who sounds really responsible) should pay. When I was younger, I paid for all my mishapps, even if they were accidents. Such is life . . . if ya play, you gotta pay.

 

thanks for sidding with me on this muddy, i was in the same boat as he is once and it tought me a lesson,,,, go buy your own toys so if you smash it, you dont feel as bad

 

Man, I hate to hear stories like that. My son borrowed my brothers quad and when he got back he just loaded everything in the barn. a week later my brother wants his quad back. I go down to the barn and find it all mangled up, plastics ripped off, seat ripped up, handlebars bent, etc. I asked why he didnt tell anyone and he says "ERIC did it!" They ran over my toolbox too and said they couldnt find all the tool in the mud, "sorry dad."

Needless to say he don't ride anymore.


Like Andy Griffith once said, "the boys gotta pay for his own mistakes."

 

That story made me want to cry. AND LAUGH! Because my daughter was the first to bang up both our quads and my shin. She ran into me at full speed on her LT-80, the new brush guard I put on her quad dug right into my shin*(the one time I am not wearing my riding boots.) everyone at camp is laughing as they are asking if I am ok. My liitle 6 yr old daughter says'"I am sorry Daddy, but you were in my way"

 

Classic! Kids come up with some good ones.