Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Not if but when

Ok,my turn, I crashed last Sat while on a camp out with the local Triumph group. Nothin special just over a hill into a really tight left hander, Best as I can remeber it started a low side slide and don't know if I tried to oversteer and bring it up or if it snagged and high sided me 16'into a corn feild. Nobody saw it, the last rider came up and said I looked dead, he checked vitals and procalimed me alive. Next thing I remember was sitting in the corn feild talking to the ambilance driver, local deputy. Took me to hospital and had numerous X-rays and MRI's after 4 hrs of this and that they kicked me and one of the Triumph guys from that town loaded me and the bike and drove me three hrs to drop me off home. A king of a guy, I owe him sooo much more than fuel money.
Well after almost a week popin pills and sleepin here's what I think, My saftey gear saved my life, let me say it correctly
MY SAFTEY GEAR SAVED MY FARKIN LIFE!!!!!!!
We all have our choices, however,
"YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE WITHOUT IT"
I had my Nolan full face helmet,Joe Rocket armoured spring jacket, and some adeqate gloves.
The top of my head has bruises from hitting the inside of the helmet,without it I would have deep contusions full of farm dirt. My elbow has deep cuts from hitting the armour so hard, but no dirt. My hands..not a scratch. My jeans and ankle high boots show no worse for wear and tear. Must have come straight down. I have a bloodie red bruise the size of an LP on my right hip and sprained my right ankle.
I have missed a full week at work, hope to go back Mon. I will miss my first BBQ judge gig Sat. just not up to it.
I'm about to go balistic on my insurance kid as he totaled the bike and with buy back he wants to give me $3825. I noticed his hands shake when he tries to tell me somethin I don't want to hear. I 'll have him for dinner later on today..
So as the old saying goes
"It's not if your going to crash, but when your going to crash".
So please listen to this crap one more time, Wear Your Gear EVERYTIME. I can tell you with all my heart, If I had not had it on I would be the dead rider known as...
ModelMaker

Ed,

I'm sorry to hear of this! I hope you're feelin' better very soon. And I know, the bike situation will all work out well in the end too. Been there.

AND...although you're "preachin' to the choir"(well, at least THIS member on that "particular altar") when you warn others about the rambifications of riding without the proper gear, your words are wise and should be heeded.

Cheers,
Dwight
(but alas!...I know the EGO will still get in the way of some members' ability to HEAR your words)

gotta say i'm glad to hear you made it out alive...no one likes to see a brother go down, let alone get iced on a ride. glad to know you're still with us, and with your friends and family...point taken re: the safety gear, damn straight...best wishes for a full revovery asap, bro.

Ed,

Choir member here also...been down hard (65mph) and walked into the hospital with third deg burn on my wrist...but given that I had the "gear" on it too could have been MUCH worse....glad your here to tell the tale...

Now if I may offer some advise to YOU...RIDE...RIDE...RIDE...don't do as I did and "swear it" off (I took 6 years off) and it really affected my ride confidence for awhile...get back on that horse, and remember it was a freek accident not likly to repeat itself...try (it aint easy) not to let it sit in the back of your head every time you ride...

Again glad your OK!!

Ed, glad to hear you're alright and I couldn't agree more.

Hey Ed...

Glad you're still with us in the land of the living. I'm right there with you on the safety gear - my little tumble 6 months ago would have been really bad (like, head trauma bad instead of limping for 6 weeks) if I hadn't been wearing it.

Matt

Ed,
Glad to hear you're getting better, and sad about your suffering. I hope things work out well so we can get you back in the saddle soon. I low sided a while back when I hit some tractor oil in middle of one of my favorite curves. I somehow managed to get under my bike to keep the scrapes to a minimum. I had a scratch on my forearm and a bruised ankle, but my boots and draggin' jeans were trashed. Human flesh on asphalt is like warm butter on a grinding wheel - YES, WEAR YOUR SAFETY GEAR!!!

Quote:

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MY SAFTEY GEAR SAVED MY FARKIN LIFE !!!!!!!

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AMEN
P.S. Been There, Done That...Glad to hear you're still here!

Ed, hope I've already had my only "when" (back when I tried to ram a 74 Gremlin (ok, more like he pulled right in front of me and came to a sharp stop, no warning or turn signals), glad to hear you "walked away" (more or less) from yours! Speedy recovery to you and the bike!

Ed - glad you're too much worse for wear. Another testimonial as to why I have never ridden without a helmet, jacket and boots. Mend fast.

Ed, good to hear you came away relatively unscathed. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the gear. I NEVER ride without it!!

I do respectfully disagree with your comment "It's not if your going to crash, but when your going to crash".

Crashing is NOT inevitable...

You still have all your parts so in that respect its a good crash. Glad to hear you are okay.

Glad you're OK. Any landing that you..... wait, wrong sport .
Good thing that you're one of (us) the smart ones.

Quote:

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RIDE...RIDE...RIDE

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Hey that's BTO, MJ doesn't own their rights does he?

Ed,

Sorry to hear about your accident. But it's good news that you're on the mend.

Thanks for the reminder about wearing your gear.

See you in New Glarus in September?

Dennis

Sorry about your accident. Thanks for the reminder though. It's easy to forget how important protective gear really is when it's friggin' hot out (yes, it can be even here in the north) and you're just going for that short ride...
Speedy recovery!

I'm glad your all right, but i disagree that crashes are unavoidable, I havent crashed in 35 years of road riding, it sounds like you were going to fast for conditions? a hill and a corner shouldn't cause a crash, did any of the other riders crash on the same corner and hill? I do agree that gear is important, but driving within your limitations, and the conditions involved, are very important. Please dont take this personal but every time i hear someone say its not if but when, i know its someone who has crashed, and most times it was driver error. Driving a bike takes total concentration to do it safely.

Stone, I'll give you that. I take full responsability for the crash. I don't remember anything except starting a low side slide. The rest of the group (6 riders) were passing back hand signals to alert them of the situation (I was told at the hospital)but I was out of site of them by a couple of seconds.
A couple of weeks ago I posted to someone who had just dropped his bike going off a ramp I believe, and spoke of 100% focus ALL the time. It looks like this one jumped up and bit me in the arse. I only wish I could replay the last few seconds over and see what caused the problem. I'll really never know.
And good luck to you on your current record. It's not that I truley believe in that statemnet (not if but when) it just seemed like a good heading for the post.
DK I am still planing on New Glarus the bike isn't the problem it's the WIFE!! Seems she doesn't like calls from out of town hospitals..
Thanks for all the good wishes everyone.
ModelMaker