Motorcycle accidents=no fun at all

[Jeff Herne]

Anything you need buddy, just let me know. Glad to hear you're on the mend.

 

Jeff

[Guest Peterpools]

Frank

 Great news about your surgery going well and now you're on the mend. Just take it easy, listen to the doc and you'll be back in the fold sooner then you know.

Peter

[scvrobeson]

Get better buddy. I've thought about learning to ride a motorcycle, since the price for gas and parking is cheaper than what I'm driving now, but with my record of injuries, maybe not.  Plus, it would have to be a sport bike or a classic British bike just for self-respect purposes.  

 

 

 

Feel better Frank. Hope you're not out of commission for too long.

 

 

 

Matt 

[wunwinglow]

"........ I've thought about learning to ride a motorcycle,.......  Plus, it would have to be a sport bike or a classic British bike just for self-respect purposes........

 

Huh? I've ridden all manner of bikes, and none has affected my self-respect one way or the other!

 

Tim

[scvrobeson]

Huh? I've ridden all manner of bikes, and none has affected my self-respect one way or the other!

 

Tim

 

 

Eh, when there's a big population of Harley riders in your area, they affect your perception.  Usually not a nice group of people, who seem to think that they own the roads while making as much noise as humanly possible.

 

 

Matt 

[Mikester]

Frank, sorry to hear this buddy!  Hope you're back on your feet soon.

[wunwinglow]

Fair enough, Matt! Funnily enough, I've not ridden a Harley, ever!

 

Tim

[fastzx]

Well Frank,

It seems I escaped by the skin of my teeth.

I rode to work the other day on my YZF R1

As I was getting onto the on ramp to the expressway

Shifted gears and started to wind it up to merge with 80mph cars and tractor trailers

When the RPMs suddenly went waaaay up but no power

Went to the wheels. I thought the clutch had let go luckily i was at the entrance to the on ramp.

So i thought maybe i had just lost a gear also so i tested the shifter

It clicked through all gears and the neutral light came on

Right where it should. So I pushed the bike 1/2 mile back to closest gas station call on my cell

No service cell tower down that day borrowed cell called the wife to let her know Id be late

Finally got tow truck got home 3 hours later Wife was frantic. No she did not listen to the message I sent from

The borrowed cell (a nice couple from Indiana who used Verizon and not ATT) she dint recognize the number.

Well after getting the bike home i started poking around and disassembled the shifting linkage from the rearsets and took

The front cover off the countershaft sprocket. Well there sat the nut that is supposed to hold the front sprocket on in the bottom of the cover letting the front sprocket slide off the splines. Who knows when the nut came off but the chain was still on the sprocket.

If that happened at highway speed it could have been very ugly. I have new steel front and rear sprockets comming as well as a new

chain 530 and new countershaft nut and missing lock washer. Oh snd have to buy new chain riveter just dont trust clip connectors.

When the chain went off it chewed up the aluminum rear sprocket. Im leaving the front sprocket cover off for good so I can keep an eye

On it and keep it cleaner. You would have to really try and get a finger caught in there. All GP bikes run without front sprocket covers or chain guards. Whew just costing money and not my life. That Yamaha R1 almost got me.

Glad you are on the mend.

Jon

[Daywalker]

Jon- Damn!  You got off VERY lucky on that one!  Glad you made it through in one piece, honestly throwing a chain has always been my one single biggest fear when riding.  After seeing the damage that can do to a leg it always scared me.

 

Glad you are OK, sounds like things could have been VERY bad indeed.

[One-Oh-Four]

I've had some close calls and also some relatively minor scrapes in my life on motorcycles, yesterday I was not so fortunate!  I was taking my Honda XR650L to put it into winter storage but a decent road wreck has totaled the bike and left me in rather poor shape.  I ended up in a slide, almost drifting and if I could have saved it would have looked pretty impressive.  In reality, the bike high-sided and sent me over.  It landed on my ankle and drug me a few yards- enough to take the skin and some of the meat off of my foot and ankle.  I broke two toes, and crushed some of those long bones in the top of your foot.  I hit the asphalt pretty hard on my shoulder as well, and slid a bit on the side of my face.  The shoulder should heal OK, but it is the one which has been giving me difficulty the past year or so and was just getting back to normal.  Luckily, I was wearing protective gear and a very good helmet which saved me from any head injuries.  My girlfriend was following me in my truck to give me a ride home after putting it away and watched the whole thing happen.  I feel very bad that she had to watch that.  Today, I am sitting here waiting for the surgeon to call to schedule an appointment.  Sadly, my workshop is downstairs in the basement so I cannot even go down to work at the bench for a while.  I could really use the distraction!

 

Thanks for reading this, and if you ride motorcycles as well I hope you wear helmets and protective gear.  It could save your life, and I am very thankful I was wearing mine.  

 

Cheers!

 

Ouch! I hope you'll be okay soon(est) although reading about your injuries I'm afraid it can take a while... Next time; also wear good motorcycling boots, they probably won't help against braking bones but most probably will save the skin and flesh!

 

I ride a BMW R1200GS Adventure myself but have found myself in the past in a ditch or two, too.......

 

Take care & get well!

Cheers,

Erik.

[Air Fix]

Frank,

 

I hope your recovery continues well.  Crashing just plain sucks.

 

Glad you are here to tell the story, but it does cramp your style.  Back in college I almost got killed by a drunk driver on my 750 Interceptor.  I was not badly hurt other than some bruises outside of major concussion #1, but another 18" and I would have been a goner, as the van ripped the steering head right off of the frame.  That was it for street riding.   Bought a GSXR-750 and went road racing and had a blast!

 

I also destroyed a 750 Interceptor on the street and then went road racing, but on a VF500F Interceptor.  I was never a terribly fast racer (more of a half-fast racer) but it was some of the best fun I've had.  Street riding lost its luster after that, though and I haven't ridden regularly on the street since.   Sure been tempted though!

 

Regarding the street crash (a tank-slapper), every bit of gear I was wearing had damage on it, and the only thing that didn't hold up were the jeans I was wearing.  If I was wearing full leathers I would have been sore but otherwise unhurt.  As it was I got a tendon in my leg repaired and six weeks of house arrest while it healed.  BTW, I'm now also a big believer in steering dampers.

 

I've been stuck in the house twice since for unrelated surgery on the other leg and built a bunch of targets (armor and old AMT truck kits), things I could do lots of assembly on before I needed to paint.  Made quite a dent in the stash but a commensurate increase in volume on the Shelf of Doom.  Might be worth considering.

 

Good luck and hang in there.

 

Walt

[Daywalker]

Thanks everyone for stopping by! 

 

Had a follow up at the doctor yesterday, they took the stitches out and did follow up X-rays.  Everything is healing well and they seemed quite impressed by how well it is healing.  That was a welcome relief!  Without the compression wrap on the foot now, it is able to move a little bit which is good, but the movement itself makes the pins ache.  One pin (which is sticking out the side of my foot) goes through all five of the metatarsal bones so it is like having all of your long foot bones wired together.  When that pin moves, it's a VERY strange feeling inside your foot.  Not horribly painful, but irritating nonetheless.  Three more weeks until the pins come out, then HOPEFULLY will get a walking boot so I will be able to stand and soon after walk again.  I CANNOT WAIT FOR THAT TO HAPPEN!!!

 

I've been stuck in the house twice since for unrelated surgery on the other leg and built a bunch of targets (armor and old AMT truck kits), things I could do lots of assembly on before I needed to paint.  Made quite a dent in the stash but a commensurate increase in volume on the Shelf of Doom.  Might be worth considering.

 

Good luck and hang in there.

 

Walt

 

Great idea Walt, one I was thinking about yesterday.  I have about a dozen armor kits in the stash, may break one out this afternoon to start assembling.  As you said, a LOT of work can be done on those before painting, so I can probably build two or three in the next couple of weeks.  Great idea!

[wunwinglow]

Frank, excellent news! Milestones dropping! Me too; 'I was discharged from the NHS yesterday, collar bone doing just fine, so a step closer settling the insurance, and getting the new bike in February. Nothing like having a definite target to aim for !

 

Keep getting better,

 

Tim

[fastzx]

Hang in there Frank!!!

Just made me cringe a bunch about the metasrsus. Stay off it and get some oob build time in.

Owch!

Jon