Went down with the bike yesterday....

I went down on the freeway once when my girlfriend caught a jacket she had folded in between her and the sissybar in the back wheel. It locked it up, I kept it up for a moment but the back wheel started to come around and it was all over a moment later. I had sandals on (this was the sixties) and a tee shirt and levis, no helmet. I was't hurt to bad, nothing broken but some road rash and a piece of my heel gone. NO HOSPITAL. Another time I hit a guardrail while racing another bike on a turn and crashed. No helmet or protective anything. NO HOSPITAL. I wear one today but not a good one. Last year my friend got killed with a expensive full face helmet on him that his daughter made him promise to wear. In his crash the bike mirror came off but the mirror stem went under his helmet which of course did not come off so the stem went into his upper neck and severed all the nerves that go from your brain down thru your neck and his heart stopped along with his lungs. He went down at about 25 mph. Point is don't think that your million dollar helmet and armor suit makes you exempt from injury or death. Be aware, leave space, ride crazy at your own risk.
I have destroyed 4 helmets from crashing over the years and in each case I would have been badly injured or worse without them. SO I always wear a helmet and dont feel comfortable without one .
 
I don't ride like I used to when I was younger. If I get in a crash today it probably will not be my fault and will probably be unavoidable. Emphasis on the word "probably" and I enjoy riding much more without all the safety stuff. I am not recommending this to anyone, just stating what is good for me. I am tired of people who don't or never have ridden telling me to wear my helmet etc. I am not to keen on anyone telling me what to wear, I have made a choice, and I will live or die with the consequences. I come from an era where we all made our own choices. We weren't forced to wear bicycle helmets when we was little. We fell down and learned from it. We got in fights, there was no anger management classes, we learned from it.
 
I went down on the freeway once when my girlfriend caught a jacket she had folded in between her and the sissybar in the back wheel. It locked it up, I kept it up for a moment but the back wheel started to come around and it was all over a moment later. I had sandals on (this was the sixties) and a tee shirt and levis, no helmet. I was't hurt to bad, nothing broken but some road rash and a piece of my heel gone. NO HOSPITAL. Another time I hit a guardrail while racing another bike on a turn and crashed. No helmet or protective anything. NO HOSPITAL. I wear one today but not a good one. Last year my friend got killed with a expensive full face helmet on him that his daughter made him promise to wear. In his crash the bike mirror came off but the mirror stem went under his helmet which of course did not come off so the stem went into his upper neck and severed all the nerves that go from your brain down thru your neck and his heart stopped along with his lungs. He went down at about 25 mph. Point is don't think that your million dollar helmet and armor suit makes you exempt from injury or death. Be aware, leave space, ride crazy at your own risk.


A decent quality (minimally DOT/Snell approved) helmet and full gear does increase your odds of survival and decrease the severity of pain and suffering in many more cases than not, however.
 
Everybody has the God given right to choose how they want to be dressed when riding....i'm sure everyone would agree on that. Most of us would be saddened if our friend came a gutser and was torn up. That ashphalt is the roughest grade sandpaper you can get!...it has no friends!.
Superbike riders do not ride in jeans and teeshirt....granted they get busted bones sometimes when they can off, but the leathers take the punishment, not the skin.
All of us who are a wee bit older now have ridden our bonnies, Norton Commandos, Kwaka's, Honda fours...whatever... in jeans, sneakers and sunglasses. Some of us can still manage to scratch between their shoulder blades when itchy...some can't! due to distorted skin growth!
Just make the sensible decision and look after yourself....not only for yourself but friends and family....LETS RIDE!!
 
A decent quality (minimally DOT/Snell approved) helmet and full gear does increase your odds of survival and decrease the severity of pain and suffering in many more cases than not, however.

IT IS TRUE THAT ONCE YOU ARE ACTUALLY CRASHING THA MORE GEAR THE BETTER IN 95% OF THE CASES.
 
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Fvckit! Ride mx baby! :roll: :confused:
Those cammo flip flops don't do a good job of hiding those white pallid feet - looks like your dying from your feet up, which I suppose is better than the other way around.;):p:D

As The immortal Mae West may have said "Is that a Mint Julip between your legs or are you ...."
 
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Superbike riders are riding super bikes in order to go fast most of the time. They ride on the edge and ride a bike that is built to do that. In my opinion their odds of going down are greater than mine as I am not trying to see how fast I can go or how far i can lean anymore. They should dress for the occasion and I should dress for comfort. Both of us have no intensions of going down but there are no guarantees. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CRASH, COLLECT STAMPS!
 
some great news....
I've been told the bike will NOT BE TOTALED!
I will be given a payout of $5500 which I can use any way I choose toward repairs.
I've decided I'll have the bike towed to my place and in an effort to save labor costs ($160/hr), I'll strip the busted stuff myself, place orders for the replacement parts, install what I can, let dealer install the stuff I can't.
I'll focus my dollars on making the bike functional first, then start replacing lost accessories (fog lights, heated grips, crash bars, highway pegs, etc.).
she'll need a lot and I'm guessing wait times on some stuff will be substantial.
Doesn't matter, I'll be on MY bike at some time again the future!!!
My stomach has officially stopped hurting.......
 
some great news....
I've been told the bike will NOT BE TOTALED!
I will be given a payout of $5500 which I can use any way I choose toward repairs.
I've decided I'll have the bike towed to my place and in an effort to save labor costs ($160/hr), I'll strip the busted stuff myself, place orders for the replacement parts, install what I can, let dealer install the stuff I can't.
I'll focus my dollars on making the bike functional first, then start replacing lost accessories (fog lights, heated grips, crash bars, highway pegs, etc.).
she'll need a lot and I'm guessing wait times on some stuff will be substantial.
Doesn't matter, I'll be on MY bike at some time again the future!!!
My stomach has officially stopped hurting.......

Glad they took care of it with little to no hassle!:)
 
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