Wiped out on Big Red

Had a great time apple picking with the family on Saturday morning. As we left the orchard, this is what happened ...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1856407665008.78123.1685361941

I never even got onto the pavement. The sand/gravel was as slick as ice and took me down in a heartbeat. I didn't goose it, just a normal pull out, but never made it!!

I have a broken right leg, possible broken left elbow, and 8 stitches in my left elbow. My bike days are done this year. I'm afraid the insurance will try to total the bike and I will have to screech at them (again!) not to total it, FIX IT!!!

Finding an orthopedic doc tomorrow for the elbow and the leg. I AM NOT A HAPPY CAMPER!!!

But at least I survived and will be relatively ok....

Oh No! I hope you make a speedy recovery. At least you're 'relatively' OK which is good. Best of luck with the insurance boys. Bob

Very sorry to hear this, Jo. I know how easy that is to happen though having seen it a few times. Get well soon and best of luck with the insurance folks.

Bad news. Hope you fix very swiftly. Rest up and do what the medical professionals say.

Jo "they" say things come in threes, so lets hope this crappy luck you have had lately is over. Last year Sept.6 in fact. I was turning right from a stoplight no more than what 2-3 mph.Well they had painted the lines in the crosswalk and not swept up the road afterward. Leaving a powder fine sand like stuff you could not see. I went down and broke both bones of my right leg between the knee and my boot, and cracked the kneecap.The insurance paid over three grand to fix my 08 wing, it don't take much to damage a lot of plastic.So since you have an 03 you may have to fight not to have them total the bike.The quote was all most 4 grand and I was afraid they were going to total my bike.It took me seven months before I could ride again,living in Florida it was killing me to not ride.
I hope you heal quickly and your bike is ready to ride by spring.

Hope you get well fast and the bike is also repaired. I am also in the midst of repair because I yielded to an ambulance on a narrow 2 lane road. At least it is towards the end of the riding season in a lot of places.

Hey Jo. Are you named after Joe Bfstplk? Here's a little sunshine and hope you get well soon.

Sorry to hear about your misshap. Hope you will mend fast. Bikes can be replaced, but not you!

I've had a broken left femur, and a compound break of of my left wrist at the same time, so I really feel for you mate. I hope you're ready to make up for lost time in Spring 2012.

As long as the insurance doesn't try to total the bike out, I plan to ride again next spring. They DON'T want to hear me screech at them to FIX IT!!!! If they try to tell me it's totaled!!! And as for fixing it myself if they DO total it out .... :lol!: :lol!: :lol!: YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING!!! Not me!!! I barely know one end of the wrench from another with the bike.

I will have to get over the fear to ride again, tho. Wiping out will put the fear of God into you, that's for sure! So will take a while to get my confidence back, I know. I had a serious car accident 12 years ago and it took me over 5 months before I could ride without (literally!) a bag over my head and panic attack. Took me over 7 months to be able to drive myself around, and well over a year before I would not have random panic attacks while driving, enough to make me pull over to get over it!!

So I'm just hoping the insurance will work with me.......

When I first got my Swing I was practicing making very low speed U-turns. Of course at one point I went 6 inches into the grass and the rear of bike tried to fly out from under me - at a whopping 1-2 mph. I may as well have been on ice.

The only thing that kept us from going down was pure Macho Ego - I was not dropping my bike at less than 2 mph. The image in my mind was the little German guy riding a tricycle and keeling over on Laugh-In. What really helped was that the 500 lbs on this bike is centered very low. I can't lift it but I can stand it up relatively easy.

My guess is that when you twisted the throttle the bike literally twisted out and flew out from under you, which may explain the right leg.

I'm glad the damage was not worse - and that you can type.

Hi All !!
What is that famous (or infamous) saying??? There are two kinds of riders ???... Those that have gone down... and those that will... or words to that effect. I know. Have been there three times now. No serious injuries and only very minor cosmetic damage. Still, it's no fun when it happens. So hang in there Scooter Jo. Git back on and "git to gitt'n" again as soon as you can. Heal quick and let us know how it's all going.

I understand the fear to ride again thing, it does eat away at you. In early 1988 I'd mostly recovered from multiple fractures sustained in a bike crash and ordered an almost new MZ ETZ 300 from a local dealer. I got myself really worked up about turning right out of the dealers yard, down a long steep hill, then out into town traffic. I had a restless night of the ''what if's'', what if someone pulled out in front of me? what if I panicked and locked the brakes? what if I couldn't handle riding in traffic? I hardly slept that night with those thoughts churning through my mind.

Anyway I was driven to the dealers, tired, a bit scared, and still walking with a heavy limp. After the formalities, I got my gear on, started my bike, took a deep breath, pulled away and turned left instead. This took me along a quieter, flatter road and then to a filling station. I topped up the MZ's tank and set off for home, and within a mile all my fears had disappeared, I'd been off a bike 6 months and it felt to me as if I'd never been away.

Four months later I was touring on the MZ in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, I still occasionally think about that time, and if I could have turned right and rode down that hill without panicking.

Scooter Jo,
Hope you get well soon and the bike is back better than new real quick.
Ishkatan, your experience with keeping the bike up by sheer will resonates with many of us.
Meldrew, yours was a very, very memorable experience, and was well told.

Ishkatan wrote:

My guess is that when you twisted the throttle the bike literally twisted out and flew out from under you, which may explain the right leg.

I'm glad the damage was not worse = and that you can type.

Ya know, I think that is EXACTLY what happened ... the bike flew out from under me ... I have a memory of kind of watching the bike leave me ... I thought I was imagining it - how could I be seeing the bike in front of me doing those crazy fishtails??? while I was still 'riding' him? I think it did take off. It happened so dang fast! Twisting the throttle without even knowing it when the bike started to slide ...

I don't need that memory to stay with me, that's for sure! Seeing Red dance out from underneath me is scary!!

i wish you a very speedy recovery ...

Most people would love to have a week off from work. NOT ME!!! I love my job ... and having to take a week off is tough on me, especially when I can barely move myself around. Hard to do much with one leg, one arm doing the moving! Hoping the ortho will give me a SHORT healing time frame on Thursday. (Well no matter what he tells me, I'll be pushing the time frame anyway )

Just took a week off a month ago because of an emergency surgery I had to have that put me down (don't tell THAT surgeon that I dumped the Swing!! He told me to wait 6 weeks - AT LEAST!) but at least with that week, I could move around once the belly healed a bit.

It has just not been my year - broken left wrist on 4th of July (fell off my 4 INCH front step) - bowel obstruction and emergency surgery on 21st of August - now THIS; broken right fibula, 8 stitches in the left elbow and a possible fracture of said elbow - I AM TIRED OF BEING BROKE THIS YEAR!!!

Hopefully the old adage about 'things come in threes' is true. If so, this is the third incident so (hopefully) you'll be good for a while.

Get well Soon!!!

Good news!!! Im not as broke as originally thought!! My right leg IS broken, but no cast, no real treatment but use the immobilizer when I'm up and around, use the wheelchair for awhile and the cane when I must stump around.

BUT

The elbow is NOT broken!!! Stitches come out next week so just a bandage to cover them. No sling, no cast, no wrap!!! YAY!!


I'm MUCH happier now!

Good news! I bet your still one very sore individual.

Bob

Sore, bruised and still broke, just not AS broke as they thought. I am glad the elbow is ok, I was worried about having MORE surgery if it was messed up.

Bruises will heal, sore muscles will heal, even leg will heal ... but having the elbow worry off my mind is REALLY nice!

Jo, sorry to hear about the spill. Take it easy, get better and find someone to ride with when you have recovered. Panels are pretty easy to replace if you have what you need.

KB

Ouch. Hope you replace it with another, or the new Integra! :D

The Integra bike looks really cool. I hope the price with the automatic is reasonable.