Crashed my Buddy

dnpicardy · Post by **dnpicardy** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:18 pm

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but i dropped my Buddy a week ago. Hopefully others might benefit from my experience.

first, i would like to say ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET! i hit the ground pretty hard and my helmeted head bounced off the pavement. no headache, no nothing. hate to think what damage may have occurred had i been helmetless.

fortunately i was going pretty slow on a two lane country road. it was pilot error. sun in my eyes, a moment's distraction, not sure but all of a sudden my front wheel was in the soft shoulder and in a mega-second i went down. it was like i ran into a brick wall. was able to pick up the buddy and ride it home in an adrenalin rush. collapsed when i got home and had to be taken to the ER in an ambulance. suffererd major road rash, and deep cuts, fractured four ribs, and bruised muscles.

was wearing short sleeves and shorts in 90 degree weather.

many lessons to be learned here. just remember, it can happen to YOU!
I have ridden motorcycles since i was in college, long road trips, and at age 60 this was my first spill.

hope its my last.

be careful, careful, careful.

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:23 pm

Glad your well enough to post your expereince here. Reading things like this is what keeps me from busting out the half helmet and t-shirts during the summer months. Hope you have a speedy recovery and are able to get back out on the road.

Angela · Post by **Angela** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:23 pm

Sorry to hear. I had my crash 3 weeks ago and I know how hard it is. I broke my collarbone. Totaled my scooter.

Glad you are still here to tell us about it.

pcbikedude · Post by **pcbikedude** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:32 pm

jasondavis48108 wrote:Glad your well enough to post your expereince here. Reading things like this is what keeps me from busting out the half helmet and t-shirts during the summer months. Hope you have a speedy recovery and are able to get back out on the road.

I always have the debate with myself about brain bucket vs. full helmet on hot days. Do I want heat stroke or my jaw embeded into my brain?

If I get run over by an 18 wheeler, it won't make any difference.

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:36 pm

I've found a good compromise in my open face helmet with face shield. It lets in enough wind to keep me cool and still provides enough protection that I feel fairly safe (so long as I don't land on my chin).

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:43 pm

Hey man, so sorry to hear. I too rode MC's in my younger years with the only problem coming from the cagers on the roads (had a bad one and spent some time in the ICU and surgery).

Bought my Buddy last Summer at the age of 43 and crashed soon after getting it (and I did take the MSF course!). I hit some weird rippled asphalt in a T intersection that caused my front wheel to bounce and the scooter just folded up on me.

I declined the EMT ride, signed off the waiver and went home in so much pain! I kept it together until I took my wife in the back yard away from the kids and told her what happened. The pain was so bad I ended up going to the Urgent Care Clinic but was misdiagnosed ("Just some bruises. You don't need any X-Rays."). Went back to again on the weekend but was sent to the hospital where they confirmed the broken ribs in my back. I spent an entire month sleeping in a recliner 'cause I couldn't lie down.

At our +40 age, it takes way to stinkin' long to heal!
Long story, but since the story is similar to your own (and reading these helped me during the recovery) I thought I would share/empathize.

Plus, I've been riding SOTGATT lately occasionally instead of ATGATT (no jacket or gloves but keeping the FF helmet) and considering a half-helmet for the hot weather. Now, I'm nervous about that again!

Heal soon, Brother!

Post by **jmazza** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:55 pm

Sorry to hear about your crash but glad you're still with us. Even a low-speed wreck can cause some pretty rough injury.

Thanks for wanting to pass on what you learned to others. Can you please post your crash info in the Who's Crashed? thread? There are a series of questions there to answer and it's where we direct a lot of people to learn not only how easy it is to have a crash (in a mega-second as you said) but also to learn of things to avoid that will make us all better riders.

Speedy recovery!

PeterC · Post by **PeterC** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:04 pm

It's a really tough call here in southern AZ, where the summer temperature has been known to hit the triple digits for more than 30 days in a row. My mesh jacket is great...above 30 mph; not so great when I'm stopped. My FF helmet is unbearable, but the 3/4 helmet doesn't protect my chin. Levis offer some protection but are hot as hell. Any gloves that are comfrtable in this heat offer little or no protection. When I took the MSF course here some years ago, I asked an instructor what sort of protective gear was appropriate or possible when the temperature was over 100. He replied, "I don't ride when it gets that hot!"

narcoleptic · Post by **narcoleptic** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:29 pm

I am sure that I am going to find it hard to ride ATGATT. Once late July and August hits, the weather will constantly be in the high 90's with 100% humidity and to top it off, I sweat year round. I feel like if I rode ATGATT, I would have heat stroke. I haven't even considered buying a full face helmet for the summer months because of this.

Glad to hear you lived to tell about your crash, OP, and for sharing the details with us.

jijifer · Post by **jijifer** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:42 pm

So sorry to hear about your crash. I often see some sand or dust on the road and think, "Man, is this enough to make me go down"? Heal fast!

I'm with everyone on the "it's too dang hot for this stuff" feeling as summer starts to hit.

All the venting in the world doesn't help with the air coming through is 95degrees and sticky. I'm still rockin' my corazzo 5.0 and hope it'll be fine through summer. I love my full face modular. it's got great venting when I ride and I can lift up the face when I'm stopped.

One thing, my whole life, that people have said to me is I have beautiful skin (it's so ivory it's see-through) so my skin in on my mind and my mind is on my skin. My MSF rider coach said something like no matter what speed, if you hit the ground, exposed skin is coming off. (worst nightmare next to the one where my front teeth get knock out - I also have very large teeth so missing those would be a HUGE hole)

I get a shiver when I see folks riding around in flips, shorts and a tank top. Accidents will happen in a flash, like we're reading here and man, all the skin is gonna be on the ground. That coach said ANYTHING is better than nothing so if I'm in a skirt , I've got leggings on for the ride. No exposed skin. that's a rule I'm going to see if I can keep up as August and September hit us.

I was got in capris and tennis shoes when I was hit. screwed up my toes and shins

so not smart.

louie · Post by **louie** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:50 pm

sorry to hear about the crash. i have one suggestion for the road rash, 2nd skin...it's a brand of bandage that has been used for burns for years in hospitals. i used it on some rr a couple of months ago. it keeps the wound moist and allows movement without causing pain...change often and keep it clean, but don't cause further damage to the skin. what a difference it made for me.
good luck on the healing.

chloefpuff · Post by **chloefpuff** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:02 pm

Oh man, sorry to hear about that........

enzomatic · Post by **enzomatic** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:25 pm

First off, I'm sorry to hear about your crash, secondly... YOUR HELMET IS NOW TOAST, YOU MUST BUY A NEW ONE. I understand how it is to ride in hot weather, it sucks. First thing to help is light colors, they even help at stop lights. Mesh material is always helpful and it's just not worth it to ditch the gloves, pulling gravel out of your hands is not a good time, get some nice gloves with solid palms and mesh tops (you can find them for as low as $20 if you look around. A mesh jacket is great, also light colors keep it from building up heat at low speeds. For any kind of distance in heat, I cannot recommend enough having a camel back (preferably put some ice in it and wear it under your jacket), one of those wet things behind your neck also does wonders.
If I had the foresight I would have bought a well ventilated white modular helmet instead of buying both a 1/2 and a FF.

Proficient motorcycling recommends that in 100+ temps you actually close the vents and try more to keep out the heat since your body temp is lower than the air temp, it also helps here if you wear lighter colors that won't build up heat themselves.

I hope to see you around the SFBA at some rallies or just on the twisties soon.