Two types of riders

[Gretsch]

I’ve always heard that there are two types of motorcyclists, the ones that have gone down and the ones that will. Unfortunately I’ve joined the ranks of the ones who’ve had that unexpected “off”. The wreck happened as I was turning and hit a slick spot on (gravel I think) the road. I was only doing about 10mph. The bike kicked out from under me and landed on my right leg. I broke both my tibia and fibula in a particularly nasty way. I now have a “bone nailing” in my tibia so that means I now have a rod down the shaft of my bone. I’ll post the x-rays when/if I get them.

The thing that pisses me off the most was that I have a nice pair of Sidi boots that might have reduced or prevented the injury but I was wearing a pair of Dr. Martens instead. So my question is how many of you have gone down, were you injured , and were you wearing all your gear when it happened?

P.S. Please excuse me if any of this is unclear but the drugs are still messing me up.

 

[Speed3Chris]

Shit. On your new Streetie too. Sucks. Man there have been a lot of accidents on here this year.
All the best Gretsch.
Watching for slick road surface is always on my radar but honestly, I don't think anybody is good enough to eliminate the risk of riding...what I struggle the most with.

 

[Gretsch]

Shit. On your new Streetie too. Sucks. Man there have been a lot of accidents on here this year.
All the best Gretsch.
Watching for slick road surface is always on my radar when riding but honestly, I don't think anybody is good enough to ever remove all the risk from riding.

The good news is that the Streetie has almost no damage. I broke her fall with my leg...:crazy:

 

[kinky stunt]

"Y'aint rode till ya been throwed." Or something like that.

 

[mark66]

I guess I'm still one of the ones that will. I've had lots of close calls, even nicked a bridge abutment many years ago, but never left the seat.

Sorry to hear about your leg. That really sucks.

 

[whyme]

I need to be able to vote more than once.

 

[strokerlmt]

I've been down once. In 1975 I was riding my Honda Elsinora 250 in The Cayman Islands. I had gone to town to pick up the mail from the post box. I was 25 yrs old and bullet proof at the time. We had about 14 trillion mosquito's on the island in those days and at 5:00pm they came out to feed. The government control group sprayed with a plane and used what was called fogger trucks. I was coming out of town, the fogger truck had spilled some death spray on the road .....I was accelerating fast when I hit the slick and the bike just flipped out front under me. I landed on my back and head and rolled around. all I was wearing was the helmet, no gloves, boots....jeans and a t-shirt and deck shoes...but a red bell helmet. Knocked myself out and had major road rash......
LMT

 

[musicswapshoppe]

I can tick all options other than never been in an accident. But can only choose one?

 

[koifarm]

Kind of a rough survey/poll.
I had an accident back in 1964 and injured my right knee, actually took out one of those "left hand turn/stop" vehicles left rear tail light with it.
Back in those days safety gear was a helmet.
These days I'm all ATGATT all the time. No accidents though. If and when I have one i'll let you know.

 

[nwraindevil]

No vote for me due to jinx factor!

 

[Hamr Mark]

On the Kawi, both stops I was stopped, and I fell over like a tree. Bike suffered more physical damaga than I. Pretty embarrassing though.

Dirt biking Labour Day 2009 on the '71 Yamaha DT1 250. We were doing timed laps in the woods, I messed up, the bike went right, and I went up up up and then came down and broke my collar bone. I was wearing a helmet, gloves, boots, but not a back protector, not that it would've helped.

I haven't been on the dirt since.

 

[KingBear]

I answered B, but with nuances. I've been in a minor solo accident (road debris caused my bike to slip out from under me at low speed), was wearing most gear (helmet, gloves, jacket, jeans), and suffered only minor injuries (scrapes and bruises, no need for medical attention). Not unlike your accident but I fared better.

BTW, what kind of drugs? Got any more?

 

[Kirkus51]

Oddly enough I too could have ticked off all four accident pips. When I was learning to ride I got off little 80 quite often. I swear I just got done picking pebbles out of my knees a couple of years ago. Now discounting the learning experience, I've averaged about one every ten years.

The coolest one was when I was cooking down the Pasadena freeway and my rear tire went flat. I wobbled over to the side of the road and a Rocker in a Rolls Royce pulled behind me and helped me push it off the freeway. 1970s

The worst one was when a VW pulled in front of me and I went over the handlebars and my helmeted head hit the rain channel and the visor split in two and cut my forehead up and I landed hard on my tailbone and cracked it. 1980s

So no broken bones via accidents. I did break my ankle starting up a Ducati single when it backfired. 1980s

Oddly enough my Brother had a pretty good one within a week of my VW collision.

Gretch.... I hope you heal up good and get back on the bike. I'm sure you will be pretty cautious at 1st so get out there when you're good to go.

 

[fishonline]

I can tick all options other than never been in an accident. But can only choose one?

same here..

 

[sweatmachine]

I ate shit walking my dog last night.

 

[Dave]

I ate shit walking my dog last night.

you know you can pick it up in a baggie instead

 

[Dave]

I've not been down yet, although a few close calls.

 

[sweatmachine]

you know you can pick it up in a baggie instead

(not to thread jack)

haha I kinda set myself up for that one...

 

[bikeypikey]

Gretsch - sad to hear and I wish you a speedy recovery. You seem to be in good spirits (or whacked out on painkillers) and at least when you are fit enough, the ST is ready to ride without a big repair bill. Good luck.

For me, 3 "proper" accidents in 30 years and each of them caused by another vehicle.

London 1988 - a car coming towards us turned into our lane. Wrote her car off with my XLX61 Sporty. Damage to me was fingers got mashed between the bar and clutch lever before taking a trip over the roof. I was wearing a leather jacket, gloves and lid, jeans and DMs.

Chiang Mai 2005 - going to make a right hand turn in a dedicated lane and a pickup is on my right hand side doing straight on as I tipped in. Me and my XJR bounced along the side of the truck and managed to get every panel with either the brake lever or footpeg before hitting the road! Dainese leather jacket, good lid & gloves, jeans and m/c boots. No damage to me.

Chiang Mai 2007 - On my 6 day old Bonnie Black, I was out in the sticks minding my own business when 3 kids on a scooter shot out from nowhere. Almost missed them but hit their rear wheel spindle. We all went for a slide down the road. Faithful Dainese jacket, good lid & gloves, jeans & m/c boots. Busted collarbone, scuffed knee and an almost written off Bonnie that the insurance co paid to get rebuilt. Kid riding was 11 years old - only in Thailand eh?

Cheers & stay safe,

Pikey.

 

[mark66]

An early observation,
Out of 44 total voters only 7 have not been in an accident. Says to me this is an inherently dangerous thing to do. But still great fun. I wouldn't want the insurance companies to see these results. They'd charge the shit out of us for our premiums!