My motorcycle crash at 100mph - A must read for anyone who rides

[Aharami]

wow thats one crazy story. so this happened two years ago. how much have you recovered so far?. Do you have a left arm but just cant use it? or did the docs have to amputate it? sorry to hear about your situation.

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12
Live and learn though. I have a stronger appreciation for life now and met my amazing and beautiful girlfriend while i was in the thick of my recovery. If i save a life through retelling of my pain, it was worth it.

Wait a sec, your girlfriend was at your side the whole time in recovery, but you *just* met her? That seems odd. Maybe the pain killers are kicking in? 😀

You sounded like a great rider that let the "limit" catch him. I definitely know what thats like in many arenas. Good luck on the recovery. Keep your chin up, sounds like that is what you are doing. :thumbsup:

 

[Mursilis]

Originally posted by: Jmman
Glad you are doing OK, but your title is misleading. I ride bikes but I don't risk anything because I am not an idiot on my bike.......

"Don't risk anything?" Just getting on a bike is a risk. Any experienced rider will tell you that even if you're perfect on your bike, you can't control the other idiots on the road. Two of my brothers ride, and one of them was in a crash last Easter (totalled his bike but he was relatively unhurt) just because someone merged into his lane suddenly without looking, running him off the road. Can't control for that.

 

[Bumrush99]

I can barely ride a scooter without crashing, I can't imagine the dangers of riding a sports bike on an highway, let alone doing wheelies or other crazy stunts.

Great story OP, I hope everything turn out fine for you... And please don't post two years from now on being fully healed and ready to ride again.. Motorcycles are a death trap, I can't comprehend how people justify riding, IMHO the dangers far outweigh any rush you could get.

Good luck, from the sounds of it you are well on your way towards recovery.

 

[imported_Imp]

Not to downplay how dangerous motorcycles are since I've ridden one and have a starters license (too poor to get one yet, plan to though), but your story is more a lesson on how not to be retarded than about motorcycling. You don't need another lesson, so I'll just end it with wheelie/showboat @ 100MPH = stupid.

Anyways, before going forward with beginning the licensing process, I read up on a lot of accidents, and know exactly how unpredictable motorcycling can be. Just recently, a local biker who was well respected and was probably one of the best/safest riders (a 50 year old) out there got killed. He didn't get killed by another rider, just lost control on a turn, despite his skill. In the future, I'll probably avoid the highway like the plague to take some of the speed factor out. Then watch me get nailed at a left-turn or rear-ended while stopped.

Edit: Thought I'd also add that I've dumped a 300lb (dry) bike at 5-10Kph in a parking lot during a course, and my gear saved me from a lot more hurt. Landed on my left so the elbow armour and jacket took most of it, only had a small 1cm diameter abrasion (very shallow) on my arm. The bike landed on my legs (lower portion), but my leather shoes saved my ankles. The jeans, well they did NOTHING. There's only a 1.5cm diameter hole on my jeans, but there were 3 huge (3-5cm diameter) abrasions on my left knee. The skin was gone, but there wasn't much blood (lots of pus). Had to put alcohol on it for a week: burned like hell since I did them one at a time to control the pain.

 

[Turin39789]

Low speed hijack


Monday, 07/23/07, I had my first real fall. This was on tucker station rd in Louisville, it has a quick S curve up a short hill, and as I was coming out of the final turn at about 25mph(I wasn't staring at the speedo, but it's a good ballpark), the minivan in front of me slammed on its brakes to make a left without signaling and I don't know if I was following too close( I dont think I was) or I wasn't paying enough attention and didn't brake in time, but I locked my brakes, or locked my brakes and tried to swerve. End result is that I went to to the right of the van, my bike fell and I did a superman/slip-n-slide manuver down the driveway that happened to be there.

My passenger followed, on my back, and didn't really touch the ground until we'd stopped. Thankfully I had on my full face and armored leather jacket, but unfortunately I haven't bought gloves or pants yet so I have some road rash on my right knee and both palms. The jacket saved my chest and shoulder, and the helmet has slight scraping on the shield and just above it on the right hand side. Luckily it is really nothing worse than what you would get falling of a bicycle as a kid, but it sure scared the hell out of me. I'm still amazed that I got away with just some scrapes, as it felt like I fell pretty hard, and I'm glad my passenger who was wearing a textile jacket and half helmet(a loaner until she finds the right full face) didn't get harmed at all.

The minivan drove off, a pick-up stopped to make sure we were still alive but we both stood up and assured him we were okay. The owner of the driveway came out as I was picking up the bike, but I was feeling a little embarrased/in shock/adrenaline rush and just wanted to ride the extra mile to my parents house to bandage up.

I get there and find that my sister was just in a 5 car accident in her geo metro, and got pushed on the grill of a semi. The semi that started the chain by fishtailing, drove off. She came out with no injuries and drove the car home. After bandaging up I met friends for dinner, and as soon as I got on the highway to come home, witnessed a semi cut in front of a suburban with about a foot between them, causing the suburban to swerve, go up on two wheels , slam the barricade and spin around. The driver of the suburban was the only one in the car and was fine, but the suburban lost two tires that I saw and was beat to hell. The semi kept moving, don't know if he even saw it happen. I stuck around for the police report and then called it a night.

 

[Phokus]

marked for later. jdogg stories tend to be great 😀

 

[waggy]

glad you are ok. but i am also glad you are off the road.

edit: but a good story on why you should wear all the gear!

 

[sponge008]

So, they were unable to reattach the nerve to your arm? Or is it more complicated than that?

 

[IceBergSLiM]

a guy passed me at 140 the other day helmet no leathers. moderate traffic.

 

[markgm]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
a guy passed me at 140 the other day helmet no leathers. moderate traffic.

I see people doing this, and suddenly I don't feel so bad riding a motorcycle. I hear the statistics and then figure these are the kinds of people that are inflating the numbers.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: markgm

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
a guy passed me at 140 the other day helmet no leathers. moderate traffic.

I see people doing this, and suddenly I don't feel so bad riding a motorcycle. I hear the statistics and then figure these are the kinds of people that are inflating the numbers.

yeah i think you are right.

i have been rideing for about 20 years (well started at 12 so not sure that reallyl coutns heh).

I have NO need to go 100+. i wear full gear. BUT i have had a few close calls. wich is why i sold my back a few years ago.

 

[ValValline]

Sorry to hear about your pain and loss, but your story is so full of bad judgment and irresponsible riding, that I can't help but feel that you brought it upon yourself.

Riding has it's risks, but a tale like yours is more about using common sense than it is about the type of vehicle a person drives.

I sincerely hope that you make the best recovery possible and that the rest of your life is pain free and happy.

 

[nweaver]

I would like to see this stickied in The Garage for the noob riders looking to get a 'Busa for a first bike.

Glad to hear you are OK, thanks for sharing your pain, and hopefully helping someone before they die

 

[pravi333]

thats really sad. I hope you're compensated with happiness for the misery you went through. Accidents happen its how we use that to our advantage matters, i know its easy for me to say that and difficult to actually go through.
Cheer up its thursday, weekend is here soon, have a beer & enjoy the evening with your girl friend. 🙂

 

[ric1287]

motorcycles sound fun.

 

[halik]

Did you bike have a steering shock? Landing a crooked wheelie is good way to get thrown off.

No offense, but your story has less to do with riding and more to do with stupidity during riding. I've been riding since I was 10 and I've yet to go 100mph on any bike.

<- rides gixxer 600

 

[jdoggg12]

For those that say the title is misleading, it's not. This was written to show the danger of riding a bike. Period. MY example was b/c i was riding like an ass. I'm not excusing what I did, I made a mistake and I'm sharing it to try to make people see the consequences of what crashing on a bike can lead to. I have friends who got wiped while out doing NOTHING wrong and suffered similar or worse injuries. You just gotta know the physical risk you take when you get on a bike. My crash could've happened at 65mph next to a guard rail doing nothing wrong and have the same guard rail.

FWIW - I had been riding for over 4 years at the time with over 50k miles under my belt. I had just gotten my racing license and was about to give up street riding except for parking lot stunting on my stunt bike.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Captante
Dude I'm sorry you had to go through all that pain & I'm also really glad you survived to heal up, but as a 20+ year experienced motorcycle rider myself I'd feel a whole lot more sympathy for you if you got wiped out by some idiot in a pickup truck turning left in front of you or some other mishap that wasn't 100% your fault like this was.

Riding a bike is dangerous enough without doing 80+ mph wheelies around a turn on public roads & the first lesson to be learned from you beyond always wearing a helmet & leathers is that this type of riding belongs on a track or in a stuntshow only!

I'm sure you've beaten yourself up plenty about this already ... hang in there & keep healing, but be sure to pass along this story to anyone who will listen.

I had a whole reply in my head, but Captante summed it up nicely. There is no reason at all to be going 30-40 mph above the speed limit on a motorcycle. You rode irresponsibly and ended up with the inevitable payment that results.

Stories like yours are why even responsible riders get flack from everyone else. Wanna-be stunt riders that fly around on public roads or pass on double-yellow lines are the reason that pissed off idiots in cars harass responsible riders 5 miles later on down the road.

I'm glad that you lived, but the style of riding that you used to be a part of really, really pisses me off. I, and other responsible riders like me, end up paying for the ill-will that squids generate and I don't appreciate it one bit.

ZV

 

[jdoggg12]

^ I posed no threat to anyone but myself as we always made sure there were no other cars on the road, which there wasn't in this case. We never brought the front end up when there was a possibility of injuring an innocent bystander. Like I said, i'm not saying what i did is right, but i'd like to let potential/newer riders see what can happen.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: nweaver
I would like to see this stickied in The Garage for the noob riders looking to get a 'Busa for a first bike.

Glad to hear you are OK, thanks for sharing your pain, and hopefully helping someone before they die

Seconded! :thumbsup:

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
We all know that motorcycles are objectively very dangerous. Insurance rates are high, accident and mortality rates are high. Some bike riders pretend otherwise, say that they're careful etc. but the reality is that it's not a very safe activity and its dangers are massively compounded by people doing stupid ass stunts on sport bikes.

Insurance on my last motorcycle was $200/year (16-year old male). Yeah, very high insurance rates. :roll:

Granted, that was for a real motorcycle (a "standard", a subset of cruiser) and not a crotch-rocket. Yes, it's more risky than driving a car, but it's less risky than riding a bicycle if you subtract the single-vehicle accidents.

A motorcycle in the hands of a responsible adult is not an inherently unsafe method of transportation. I see a lot of people who've never ridden one claim that they are, but I've never seen that claim from riders. If you haven't ridden, you really have no authority to speak on the subject.

ZV

 

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Skoorb
We all know that motorcycles are objectively very dangerous. Insurance rates are high, accident and mortality rates are high. Some bike riders pretend otherwise, say that they're careful etc. but the reality is that it's not a very safe activity and its dangers are massively compounded by people doing stupid ass stunts on sport bikes.

Insurance on my last motorcycle was $200/year (16-year old male). Yeah, very high insurance rates. :roll:

Granted, that was for a real motorcycle (a "standard", a subset of cruiser) and not a crotch-rocket. Yes, it's more risky than driving a car, but it's less risky than riding a bicycle if you subtract the single-vehicle accidents.

A motorcycle in the hands of a responsible adult is not an inherently unsafe method of transportation. I see a lot of people who've never ridden one claim that they are, but I've never seen that claim from riders. If you haven't ridden, you really have no authority to speak on the subject.

ZV

When was that? because I ride a standard 550cc and I'm in my mid 20's and I pay more than that.

 

[dugweb]

edit: I thought you were someone I knew for a second, but the time-line doesn't fit.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12
I have friends who got wiped while out doing NOTHING wrong and suffered similar or worse injuries.

Unless they were hit by another vehicle, they did something wrong. You cannot have a single-vehicle accident while doing "nothing wrong".

I still maintain that most multi-vehicle accidents can be avoided by proper levels of situational awareness. I am never "just riding" my bike, I'm constantly rubbernecking, checking traffic, watching to see if I'm "in range" of other vehicles. I slow down at intersections even if I have the right-of-way.

That's not to say that motorcycles aren't dangerous. They are. But the risks can be, for the most part, mitigated by proper attention to surroundings and not doing stunts.

ZV