....I shall be moving on to brighter pastures.
Saturday night (well Sunday morning) I was struck from behind by a driver that wasn't paying attention. We are talking me at a dead stop, and the driver going full bore 40mph. To put it in perspective, imagine throttling up to 40mph and aiming right for a parked car. Wasn't pretty.
I'll explain a bit more. Was out for a ride, enjoying the perfect temperature for riding, no cars were out(well there was one obviously). Was around 12:20am. Was on a 2 lane road coming up to a side street that I was going to make a left turn onto. I had to make a complete stop due to a car coming the opposite direction. Blinker was on, brake was applied, no cars in sight behind me. The car went by, dropped into first to make the turn, and before I could even give the throttle a twist I was smacked. Was the strangest 1 second of my life. I have never been involved in such a violent experience. Amazing what goes through your brain in that short of time. Basically I saw brightness(probably the car headlights lighting me up before the impact, now I know how deer feel), I heard a roar of the car motor, felt impact, glass shattering, and then I was on my butt on the pavement. During that second, I was thinking- limbs amputated, neck broke, back broke, gonna be blood, etc. After I was on the ground I quickly gave myself a once over as I was yelling a few choice four letter words. Could feel my whole body, had everything attached, no blood. That's when I started to feel the leg pain. Right leg was broke, I could tell instantly. I've you've ever broken a bone before then you know what I mean. Tried to get myself on both feet but that right leg said hell no.
Gave a look around, the chicks car was wrekt. Looked as though she hit a frigging semi truck. There was literally an imprint of my body from the bumper, onto the hood, and onto the windshield. Motorcycle was about 50ft away from me off the the right side of the road, headlight still on and blinker still blinking. Wasn't able to crawl over and look further due to my pain. Main concern was to get to the side of the road and not get run over by drunks leaving local bars (by the way, 3 people went by after the accident happened before the police got there, none of them stopped to help. damn drunk drivers).
Had a few choice words for the driver, bitched and moaned for quite a while. I have a very high tolerance to pain, and lemme tell ya this hurt like nothing I've been through before. Nice lady from a house about a mile down the road came to see how I was, she said the impact woke her up from bed.
To break down how I was hit- when the car hit me the bike kind of went sideways to the right. The leg broke from the impact of the car bumper against leg against bike. No braking from the driver at this point yet so full force of body into the hood and head into windshield. When she applied brakes, momentum from the impact caused me to go flying forward about 30 ft and the bike about 50ft.
Full face SNELL/DOT/ECC helmet saved my life. Full leather jacket WITH CE RATED ARMOR helped with the body impact and road rash. You can see the indentations in the leather where the armor did its job at the impact site. I have no doubt that I would be dead if I wasn't wearing the gear. I'm sure her insurance company is happy too.
I can't really get into current condition of myself(you guys know the drill, lawyers and all that), but my whole body is a freaking train wreck. Worst is the broken leg. But I can tell you guys that I am absolutely thrilled to be alive right now. Life is short everyone, can be gone in an instant, so enjoy the days you have. don't take anything for granted.
I've been riding for a very long time now. First bike was 18 or 19 (can't remember), plus dirtbikes and all that. I consider myself a decent rider, I've been on tracks before, I preach defense riding religiously, and I have saved my ass more times than I can count from being defensive on the streets. I can tell you this- I will never put my body on a motorcycle on the street ever again in my life time. It's just not worth it. You can do all you can to prevent things from happening, but that other driver in a cage will still get you when you least expect it. This really stinks, since riding/building was absolutely my favorite thing to do in life. I put so much into this current build. So many hours, so much blood/sweat/tears. Parts I had to make on my own, parts that I had to pay jacked up hipster BS prices for, parts I had to get from overseas. This thing was down to every nut and bolt, every bearing, every part was touched by me. The amount of time and effort I put into frame mods, swingarm, rims tires crank transmission, carbs gauges, paint, etc etc I can never get back. Was all set for the landspeed event in September finally, now I will never see my name in that record book next to my XS400.
I don't need or want pity from anyone. Shit happens, and I will eventually get what is owed to me for this incident. Financially I am screwed since I will be out of work now for a very long time, and depending on recovery timeframe, I may get discharged from the Army with only 5 years left til retirement. But like I said, I will get it back someday. I appreciate all you guys have done for me with information being here on this forum. I hope that I have at least helped someone over the past few years with info or advice based on my trials and tribulations. I won't be on here much, more likely never, since I no longer have an XS400. I consider all of you vets here friends, even though we've never met, and I will truly miss the tech talk and banter.
I'll part with some advice- Wear good gear.
Buy a full face helmet and make sure it's SNELL rated and current. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a good helmet. Make sure its the right size and strapped tight. If it's super comfortable, you are doing it wrong and setting yourself up for failure. Make sure it's Hi-Viz.
Wear leather designed for motorcycle riding. Not that cheap shit you get on ebay or at the local thrift store. My jacket was $700 and worth every single penny of that. I got crap from so many people for paying that much, but jokes on them. Ensure it has pockets for full CE rated armor in the back, shoulders, and elbows. Without it, you are just protecting your skin from road rash. The armor will save your bones, muscles, ligaments, etc.
Wear full size race boots, no matter what. I bought mine strictly for reasons of impact with automobiles. I've seen what happens to legs and feet without them. In the past I've said at least get riding shoes, but I know firsthand now why they won't do shit. You need something that has a hard impact resistant shield around the full circumference of your leg and ankle. Take this perspective- what sits right between car bumper height and your frame/motor? Your leg. Think about your leg getting smashed between 2 metal objects at 40mph. Keep thinking about that as you go for a ride with your thin leather boots or tennis shoes on.
That's all I have friends. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay safe out there. Always remember that no matter how careful or prepared you are, shit can and will still happen at no fault of your own. And for the love of God, DO NOT TEXT AND DRIVE. Period. I never have, I never will, and I wish something could be done about it. I firmly believe it is far more dangerous than drunk driving. Neither are acceptable, but whatever.
BTW- I want to post some pictures, but the police took NONE. Nada. My lawyer is pissed since he has no clear evidence of the impact other than my bike. I will most likely come back on and post some pictures of the mangled hunk of scrap once the lawyer gets it back to my house. Hopefully it can be an eyeopener to someone. I didn't proofread this post either, so sorry if there are mistakes and ramblings.
Mods, if you want this in a different part of the forum feel free to move it. Love you guys. Keep on rocking.
Saturday night (well Sunday morning) I was struck from behind by a driver that wasn't paying attention. We are talking me at a dead stop, and the driver going full bore 40mph. To put it in perspective, imagine throttling up to 40mph and aiming right for a parked car. Wasn't pretty.
I'll explain a bit more. Was out for a ride, enjoying the perfect temperature for riding, no cars were out(well there was one obviously). Was around 12:20am. Was on a 2 lane road coming up to a side street that I was going to make a left turn onto. I had to make a complete stop due to a car coming the opposite direction. Blinker was on, brake was applied, no cars in sight behind me. The car went by, dropped into first to make the turn, and before I could even give the throttle a twist I was smacked. Was the strangest 1 second of my life. I have never been involved in such a violent experience. Amazing what goes through your brain in that short of time. Basically I saw brightness(probably the car headlights lighting me up before the impact, now I know how deer feel), I heard a roar of the car motor, felt impact, glass shattering, and then I was on my butt on the pavement. During that second, I was thinking- limbs amputated, neck broke, back broke, gonna be blood, etc. After I was on the ground I quickly gave myself a once over as I was yelling a few choice four letter words. Could feel my whole body, had everything attached, no blood. That's when I started to feel the leg pain. Right leg was broke, I could tell instantly. I've you've ever broken a bone before then you know what I mean. Tried to get myself on both feet but that right leg said hell no.
Gave a look around, the chicks car was wrekt. Looked as though she hit a frigging semi truck. There was literally an imprint of my body from the bumper, onto the hood, and onto the windshield. Motorcycle was about 50ft away from me off the the right side of the road, headlight still on and blinker still blinking. Wasn't able to crawl over and look further due to my pain. Main concern was to get to the side of the road and not get run over by drunks leaving local bars (by the way, 3 people went by after the accident happened before the police got there, none of them stopped to help. damn drunk drivers).
Had a few choice words for the driver, bitched and moaned for quite a while. I have a very high tolerance to pain, and lemme tell ya this hurt like nothing I've been through before. Nice lady from a house about a mile down the road came to see how I was, she said the impact woke her up from bed.
To break down how I was hit- when the car hit me the bike kind of went sideways to the right. The leg broke from the impact of the car bumper against leg against bike. No braking from the driver at this point yet so full force of body into the hood and head into windshield. When she applied brakes, momentum from the impact caused me to go flying forward about 30 ft and the bike about 50ft.
Full face SNELL/DOT/ECC helmet saved my life. Full leather jacket WITH CE RATED ARMOR helped with the body impact and road rash. You can see the indentations in the leather where the armor did its job at the impact site. I have no doubt that I would be dead if I wasn't wearing the gear. I'm sure her insurance company is happy too.
I can't really get into current condition of myself(you guys know the drill, lawyers and all that), but my whole body is a freaking train wreck. Worst is the broken leg. But I can tell you guys that I am absolutely thrilled to be alive right now. Life is short everyone, can be gone in an instant, so enjoy the days you have. don't take anything for granted.
I've been riding for a very long time now. First bike was 18 or 19 (can't remember), plus dirtbikes and all that. I consider myself a decent rider, I've been on tracks before, I preach defense riding religiously, and I have saved my ass more times than I can count from being defensive on the streets. I can tell you this- I will never put my body on a motorcycle on the street ever again in my life time. It's just not worth it. You can do all you can to prevent things from happening, but that other driver in a cage will still get you when you least expect it. This really stinks, since riding/building was absolutely my favorite thing to do in life. I put so much into this current build. So many hours, so much blood/sweat/tears. Parts I had to make on my own, parts that I had to pay jacked up hipster BS prices for, parts I had to get from overseas. This thing was down to every nut and bolt, every bearing, every part was touched by me. The amount of time and effort I put into frame mods, swingarm, rims tires crank transmission, carbs gauges, paint, etc etc I can never get back. Was all set for the landspeed event in September finally, now I will never see my name in that record book next to my XS400.
I don't need or want pity from anyone. Shit happens, and I will eventually get what is owed to me for this incident. Financially I am screwed since I will be out of work now for a very long time, and depending on recovery timeframe, I may get discharged from the Army with only 5 years left til retirement. But like I said, I will get it back someday. I appreciate all you guys have done for me with information being here on this forum. I hope that I have at least helped someone over the past few years with info or advice based on my trials and tribulations. I won't be on here much, more likely never, since I no longer have an XS400. I consider all of you vets here friends, even though we've never met, and I will truly miss the tech talk and banter.
I'll part with some advice- Wear good gear.
Buy a full face helmet and make sure it's SNELL rated and current. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a good helmet. Make sure its the right size and strapped tight. If it's super comfortable, you are doing it wrong and setting yourself up for failure. Make sure it's Hi-Viz.
Wear leather designed for motorcycle riding. Not that cheap shit you get on ebay or at the local thrift store. My jacket was $700 and worth every single penny of that. I got crap from so many people for paying that much, but jokes on them. Ensure it has pockets for full CE rated armor in the back, shoulders, and elbows. Without it, you are just protecting your skin from road rash. The armor will save your bones, muscles, ligaments, etc.
Wear full size race boots, no matter what. I bought mine strictly for reasons of impact with automobiles. I've seen what happens to legs and feet without them. In the past I've said at least get riding shoes, but I know firsthand now why they won't do shit. You need something that has a hard impact resistant shield around the full circumference of your leg and ankle. Take this perspective- what sits right between car bumper height and your frame/motor? Your leg. Think about your leg getting smashed between 2 metal objects at 40mph. Keep thinking about that as you go for a ride with your thin leather boots or tennis shoes on.
That's all I have friends. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay safe out there. Always remember that no matter how careful or prepared you are, shit can and will still happen at no fault of your own. And for the love of God, DO NOT TEXT AND DRIVE. Period. I never have, I never will, and I wish something could be done about it. I firmly believe it is far more dangerous than drunk driving. Neither are acceptable, but whatever.
BTW- I want to post some pictures, but the police took NONE. Nada. My lawyer is pissed since he has no clear evidence of the impact other than my bike. I will most likely come back on and post some pictures of the mangled hunk of scrap once the lawyer gets it back to my house. Hopefully it can be an eyeopener to someone. I didn't proofread this post either, so sorry if there are mistakes and ramblings.
Mods, if you want this in a different part of the forum feel free to move it. Love you guys. Keep on rocking.