A psa if you are going for a bike ride today

[ruthabagah]

Heal up quickly man.

I've been in a eerily similar situation (0720, Thursday, August 28, 2000) and still have my destroyed helmet to prove it which I happily show to those who don't find them necessary.

My wreck was @ only 35 mph. I recall a lucid moment in the Trauma Center when the officer who responded to the accident handed my wife my helmet and told her "If he hadn't been wearing this, he'd be dead". While I miss riding, I haven't riden since that fateful day. This was a decision based off of how badly others drive & put riders @ risk and making my wife happy. She gave me a choice - her, or a motorcycle. After what I put her through, I can't blame her a bit.

Even with the helmet, I received a severe concussion which to this day causes me major memory issues, just 2 broken ribs, a hole in my foot where the foot peg went through my shoes, and both hands broken so severely broken & road rashed (ate right through my gloves) they looked like Frankenstein covered his hands in ground beef.

PLEASE, all, if you ride, wear a helmet and safety gear. It may not look cool but it certainly looks better than wearing a pine box for eternity.

wow. Mine hurt like hell right now, but after reading the detail of you injuries I will just shut up and stop complaining.

[XC700116]

Any rider will still roll the dice on a crash in the dirt than on the street with static obstacles! Hope you're healing well, too!

Yes, I'll take dirt wrecks any day over the slab and the moving objects on it. I've had a lot of wrecks on dirt, and a lot of very minor injuries, this was the first major one. I wear A LOT of protective gear on the dirt bike and I'm continuously amazed that nobody thinks twice about it on dirt but on the slab some think a lid is for sissy's. I'll take my sissy pants and wear it all the time thank you very much. A big benefit of it is that I like having a quiet and relaxing ride rather than wind ripping in my face and ears (never had a windshield of any significance on any of my bikes).

My sister is one of the few that rides without that has a pretty compelling argument. She's an RN and has seen most of it all, and she's made a conscious decision that she'd rather die than live with a traumatic brain injury. Which if you look at the statistics of crashes at hwy speeds is more likely to happen with a Helmet and Death without. Since she pretty much exclusively rides on the hwy and not around town it makes sense. And strangely enough, If she is riding in town she'll wear a helmet, but avoids riding in town at all costs. Dunno, makes some sense I guess but I'll take the helmet all the time anyway.

I'm healed up very well, a Fantastic surgeon, a plate and 9 screws, and some time has put me back to what I'd consider about 95%. I gained a lot of weight from not being active all summer (which I'm working on now) and I have some nerve damage that makes my right shoulder fell like it's fallen asleep all the time but I'll take that over loss of any of the function in it any day.

All in all I'm glad with my decision to step away from the street for a while since I was getting way to comfortable with ridiculous speeds on a bike capable of 175 MPH. It was going to cost me big at some point. Someday I may get myself a cruiser or a big bagger, but for right now I'm content on the dirt for my 2 wheel fun.

[theGinsue]

wow. Mine hurt like hell right now, but after reading the detail of you injuries I will just shut up and stop complaining.

Not at all brother. You've got plenty of pain to have to complain about. Reading your OP, I could mentally feel all of your pain.

10 broken ribs is going to be absolute hell for about 3 months, then another 3+ months a good pain and aches. My wife broke 7 ribs on Sep 21st in an ATV accident and watching what she's been going through has made me realize how lucky I was to only have 2 broken ribs.

You'll be out of commission for a while so don't be afraid to let us know if we can do anything for you.

[speedysst]

My "I love my helmet moment" was when I hit a deer going about 60mph last August. I walked away with a shattered wrist and soft tissue damage to my left leg. Bike was totaled though. I did get a $100 gift certificate from Competition Accessories for doing a review of my pants with the title "Yep, they work."

[patrick0685]

ouch...i know what your going through, i wrecked going about 25 broke the collarbone and scapula, went to the ER on a Friday night and they were worthless took an xray and said you might have a broken collarbone if you want you can see someone else on Monday. So still hurting Monday we went to a specialist who said there is something wrong but I'm not 100% and sent us to another place. They did the cat scan found out I had a broken (in 3 places) collarbone and broken scapula. A week later I had surgery. I was told by the DR that the scapula is one of the hardest to break and he sees about 4 or 5 a year, a bunch of plates and screws. I felt better within a week but I didnt have any broken ribs. Have you had surgery or you getting any?

[ruthabagah]

ouch...i know what your going through, i wrecked going about 25 broke the collarbone and scapula, went to the ER on a Friday night and they were worthless took an xray and said you might have a broken collarbone if you want you can see someone else on Monday. So still hurting Monday we went to a specialist who said there is something wrong but I'm not 100% and sent us to another place. They did the cat scan found out I had a broken (in 3 places) collarbone and broken scapula. A week later I had surgery. I was told by the DR that the scapula is one of the hardest to break and he sees about 4 or 5 a year, a bunch of plates and screws. I felt better within a week but I didnt have any broken ribs. Have you had surgery or you getting any?

no, no surgery. I have a collapsed lung too, we are trying to get this back in place first. I may not need surgery, but we will know tomorrow for sure.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Damn, you guys are making me want to sell my Road King and I only ride in fair weather and try to avoid traffic at all costs. Only scary moment (thus far) was riding up a road in moderate traffic when a light misty rain hit just before I got to a major intersection and I felt I wasn't going to be able to stop in time so I hit the throttle only to have the bike fishtail on me. Made it through okay but I think I gained a couple white hairs from that one.

Good luck on healing up, glad you you didn't have anything worse.

[patrick0685]

no, no surgery. I have a collapsed lung too, we are trying to get this back in place first. I may not need surgery, but we will know tomorrow for sure.

Let me know if you want my Dr's number He was amazing.

Here is my scapula:

[gnihcraes]

Glad you were wearing good gear to protect everything. Wishing you a quick recovery.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

Man glad you're ok with all things considered. I'm the only one out of my group that wears a helmet.