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Eyes off the road for one second= totaled bike
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I am still on LOA from work while I heal so I though I would check in and explain the demise of my CBR...
On Thursday Nov. 14th I was heading to the house after riding the afternoon and stopping in for dinner with two friends to work on some LEDs for one of them. I hit a median at about 40-50 (guess) that I did not see as we were preparing to turn I think I looked in my mirror to see the two bikes behind me to make sure they knew we were turning. The median was not marked or painted and although I knew it was there (in hindsight) I took my eyes off the road for just a second and that was enough to not be fully aware of my surroundings. The bike behind me locked his brakes tried to avoid me and hit the median, went down but he is okay. Bike took most of his damage. The 3rd just pulled over in serious shock, he's only been riding for a month and saw his two friends go flying. Lacerated spleen. 5 broken ribs. Broken right wrist. Collapsed lung (internal bleeding and a puncture in my lung). Thanks to my Icon helmet and Shift jacket and gloves or it would be worse. A bit of rash on the knees and shins since I was just wearing jeans. I have not seen the bike in person but volcom440 has it at his house. I will add pics below. I spent 4 days in the ICU with a chest tube and watching my spleen to decide if they needed to remove it (luckily no). Three days in the PCU to ensure I my spleen was good and wait for my chest tube to stop draining. One more day after the chest tube was removed and I got to go home. On the first day in the PCU my chest tube got clogged and my lung collapsed again and they had to open m up to determine with a scope how bad the damage was. The doc decided that he needed to clean out my chest and repair the damage to my lung. Since he was in there he went ahead and screwed and plated 3 of my ribs. The week after being out of the hospital I had the surgery on my wrist. Doc said the end of the bone was smashed and he did the best he could putting it back in place. More plates and screws. So now I am home recovering spending most of my time in my power recliner- big help as broken ribs are the worst for breathing, coughing, laughing, hiccups and generally trying to move. I am moving around better now but can't walk very far before the ribs take over and I have to sit and support my chest. Looking at about 2-3 more weeks before I can consider returning to work. Pics... Trying to get comfortable Attachment 30396 My left glove split. 0nly damage to my hands Attachment 30397 Attachment 30398 Good thing there is elbow armor in my jacket. Only the elbow damaged Attachment 30399 You can see where I slid on my face Attachment 30400 And finally both knees looked like this Attachment 30401 |
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Here are a few pics of the bike. It doesn't look that bad initially but until I see it in person and see under the fairings...
Attachment 30391 Attachment 30392 Attachment 30393 Attachment 30394 Attachment 30395 So obviously the frame slider did it's job. The mirrors and tail took it hard. Interested in if the subframe is damaged and I'm sure the forks are toast. Both rims are bent and Nick said the front rim is actually split. My foot peg broke off and the handle bars are bent. Have to look at the triple tree and all that but I have full coverage and the insurance says just let them know when I'm ready since I'm in no shape to ride anyway and I'll get estimates and see if it's a total or not. |
As for the actual crash, this is the best to my recollection and feeling:
I knew the instant I hit it what happened and remember thinking "no,no,no that's not right." I remember the impact "crack" of the bike and I know I tumbled because I remember seeing the bike flipping as well. For the rest of it I'm sure I was in and out of consciousness because it was like an action chaos scene in a movie and there are flashes of black then people then black then people and noises fading. I laid there on my back then all of the sudden there are people around. I don't recognize any of them except Nick (volcom440) who happened to be coming home from dinner and came up on the accident. I asked him to turn off the music because my Scala rider was still on. I couldn't breathe and I was so hot I was in shock and asking people to take off my jacket and helmet. So glad Nick was there to tell people not to move me until paramedics arrive (apparently no one called 911) There was some lady talking to me trying to hold my right hand and I'm trying to scream at her that my arm is broken. I remember hearing the train coming then a lot of commotion I think to make sure the tracks were clear. The asshat cop Interrogating me about how fast I was going. Seriously?!! I feel like I'm gonna die here, ****! Can you ask me later?? I said I think maybe 50 and he got all indignant about the speed limit being 35. Um, no, it's 45. But anyway, it was an eternity until I finally got strapped on a board and into the ambulance feeling every bump along the way. Trying to recreate the damage part from talking with Steven (the friend that didn't go down) and looking at the damage is as follows: Front tire slammed and split the rim, popped over the curb and back tire slammed and my weight compressed the rear shock. As the back tire came over the curb it launched the rear in the air, the back shock released and like an ejection seat I flew way up in the air and toppled and came to rest about 50 feet from the impact. I'm fairly certain I landed on my ribs first, bounced up on my face and knees and slid. This could have been where my wrist broke if it wasn't on the initial impact. This tore my face shield from the helmet. I didn't take any damage to my face other than the soreness which I realized later and after seeing the pic I realize why. Somewhere I slid on my elbow but the CF armor did the trick and no rash or even bruising to my elbow. The bike looks like it did a straight endo off the curb and hit the tail, then back to the windshield and handlebars then onto the left side for a slide to a stop. I'm glad it ejected me rather than land on me. Overall I am very happy I had my gear and it could have been worse! A simple mistake and I'm so mad at myself because I am usually so much more aware than that! |
Wow!!!
Firstly, I am so glad that you are on the mend and able to talk about the accident. And thanks for such a thorough report of the accident, how it happened and the consequences. It is an eye-opener and a timely message to all of us. It also shows the ABSOLUTE benefit of ATGATT. If you'd had kevlar jeans or leather pants your road rash would have been minimised or non existant. Best wishes from Mrs SB and myself and get well soon. Cheers, SB |
Damn, dude. I'm thankful that you're still here, with us. I'm kind of at a loss for words... Are you planning on riding still?
I hope you have an easy and quick recovery from here on out! |
Damn man! Sounds like you had a time. Glad to see you're posting and bitching about rib pain. Means you survived :)
Heal up and let us know what's next |
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Agreed on the kevlar jeans and ATGATT. My friends always ask in the 100' summers "Aren't you hot" and I remind them of the saying "sweat wipes off, road rash doesn't". Looking at upgrading gear right now. And of course I will get right back on it asap. Here is my replacement...
Attachment 30388 Attachment 30389 I am moving my wrist to get range of motion daily and my ribs are still sore. I may go back to work in a couple of weeks. It's a good thing I pay for short term disability or I'd really be in trouble. My part of the medical bills will take a while to pay off, but hey they got the majority from the insurance company so my lowly $10k they can wait for. Here was the first bill I got Attachment 30390 Yes that's $200,000 and whaddya mean amount not covered is the whole $200k ??? It's actually just because they were waiting to see if anyone else was involved in the accident to see if someone else had to pay, it's just funny though- glad it wasn't a bill! They say up to two more months before my throttle wrist can grip and rip but we will see. Meanwhile I will sit on the new bike and drool over it- haha |
Dayyyummm.
Heal up quick and get back on soon! |
****. Glad you are doing okay. I highsided this summer and was laid out for a bit. Not as bad as you though. That gear sure saved your ass, as it did mine. I sure hope that hospital bill gets covered. I count myself fortunate that I paid exactly $0 for all my hospital/ambulance care. About $15 of prescriptions for pain and that was it. Could of been a lot worse if my accident happened out of the country.
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Only a measly $200k? See what being geared up does? My buddy's was $800k and he was only wearing a lid :p
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