bit it

[Honey Badger]

Glad you're mostly okay - that's the important thing here!

Families can be an interesting bunch, and I think their take on protecting their loved ones can make a big difference. I grew up riding horses - suprise, suprise, accidents happen there, too, so my family was used to the idea that your hobbies can hurt you.

My mom doesn't like me riding the motorcycle, but she has only ever had words of caution for me, even when I finally told her about my lowsides (injury free, however). I knew she wanted to say more, but she knows that A) I love the bike and B) stuff happens. And trust me, my mother is not one to keep her mouth shut if she feels strongly about something - but she knows saying something like your FIL said won't get her anywhere other than tuned out.

Same went with my hubby's family when he crashed - they were worried, but no one tried to shock him/us into fear. Granted, it may help that we BOTH ride, and so we make a united front as opposed to the other spouse freaking out, but those boundries are still there.

 

[pepperell]

just got back from surgery. they put a screw in my wrist.

to add insult to injury, i got a call from the insurance lady informing me my bike was totaled.

i also promised my wife i would stop riding. i might have been able to put off the decision had my bike been reparable.

 

[flying_hun]

Sorry to hear about your wrist, but the good news is that will probably assist the healing process in the long run. The bad news is that surgery irritates tissue, so it might hurt for a while.

The bike is only a bike. Insurance will settle. The fact that the bike is totaled only decides that the bike is totaled. Only you can decide whether you do or don't ride again. As long as you're ambulatory you get to revisit that decision.

Best wishes,

 

[scalvert]

Each situation is different and I'm certainly not encouraging you to choose my priorities. That said, I've never met a woman that did for me what motorcycling does. Just the physics of the situation, any wife/lover/gf that tried to get between me and riding would either end up 1) deeply resented, 2) ignored outright, or 3) eliminated. For your marriage's sake I hope you find something else that replaces whatever it was you found on the bike.

 

[nvp]

Glad you going to alright...

I live at the base of Tam and ride HWY1 year round. The road conditions vary dramatically from month to month, and sometimes from week to week. I have done two things to better my chances of coming home in one piece. One, I tend to hang off even more when things get slick, unpredictable, dirty, or whatever. I have saved many a bikes from going down this way. I was riding my R6 one morning and the front went on a offramp. Only because I was hanging off I was able to get "back under it" and get the front to grab again. On a recent road trip up the coast on the R1150GS, my brother and I were going up 128 through the woods (read: slick) and the bike, with full bags mind you, pushed both wheels. I was hanging off and was able to drift the bike until it caught again. And it was AMAZING how my body position made that possible.

Also, I tend to wear WAY more gear than the average guy. I sport my fulll leathers when sport riding on the mountain, even on the GS. Fact is, we are still hauling ass, and if something happens I don't want to get more hurt than necessary. I broke my knee cap at Infineon a couple years back and realized that if I had had better leathers it wouldn't have happened. And I also realized getting hurt sucks!

So, be careful. And if you see a guy wearing full Dainese leathers on an old man bike, that's probably me. If you think that's lame... that's your right. But you have to catch me before you heckle me

 

[shw911]

Good luck with everything and heal fast. Families and bikes don't mix well.
Your family situation needs to be a fair solution to all parties. No one will get exactly what they want without some compromise/resentment. I've stopped riding the street due to the danger (and to compromise) but I've started racing minis (Honda NSR50)

My reasoning... paramedics are standing by and I can't hit any cars, poles, curbs etc.

Compromise for my family - they know that I really enjoy motorcycling and can compromise knowing that I'll be less likely to get hurt on the track.

Compromise for me - not riding those sweet bikes on the street and sight seeing, but I can flog the crap out of my mini on the track and drag my knee safely. Seemingly slow but fun as hell.

That said. I may move up to larger faster bikes later on when I get faster on the track.

 

[PorradaVFR]

One of the reasons I married my wife was that when I hit a tough spot career-wise and contemplated selling the bike to get some cash she insisted that DIDN'T since she knew it made me happy.

Does it scare her? Yes. Each and every time I leave she tells me to be careful and I know she worries about my safety. But...she also loves me and that's trumps it.

I'm not passing judgement, but IMO your mate should accept you as you are, not conditionally. If not riding is your decision, then fine. If you're making it to please others it will likely create resentment that is poison to a relationship.

I don't want to miss my son growing up and I certainly never want to hurt my wife - but riding is also a part of my life, one that I want to share with my son and one that helped make me the person my wife fell in love with. Simple as that.

Heal up soon and talk it over with the wife. Maybe she just needs to know how much you care about them and that you take precautions since you want to be around as much as they want you there.

 

[shw911]

BTW pepperell,
Your cause can be helped depending upon what you were wearing. Full suit? T-shirt? CE approved armor in jacket/suit? Back protector. I always tell my wife that I try to buy the best equipment I can afford. I add a soft chest protector and shorts with padding on the hips (b/c I have no meat on my hips) which shows her that I'm being a responsible rider. You always tell her where you're going and with who...You get the idea.

It was good that you were riding with a buddy too. Imagine if you were riding alone and no one saw you crash in an isolated area.

Take your time to think about what you're going to say to your wife and father in law.

 

[pepperell]

great replies.

no real update. trying to negotiate with insurance right now for bike value. i added all the upgrades i've made over the years and they conservatively total about $2,000 without labor. these were light mods too (suspension, brakes, exhaust). can't imagine what the big spenders are dropping. i hope to get half of that back (+ plus value of bike itself). will have to wait and see.

the current situation with the wife (and with the injury) seems like it will be a good time to take a rest from biking for awhile. i told her i could buy it back from the insurance and fix slowly but you can imagine how that went (ie not well). i'm just sad to lose a bike that i felt was finally dialed in perfect for me. i'd JUST put on a fox rear and gotten emulators in the front. not to mention a fairly new set of rubber. bike was in great shape. sucha bummer. someone will pick a sleeper, especially when and if they find out the cams are switched. its at a salvage yard right now. if info becomes available i will post to BARF.

i wear full gear almost all the time. i have full leathers but crashed in: fieldsheer leather jacket + text pants, w/ ce approved armor, back protector, daytona boots, rev it gloves. i'd post a gear review but it really didn't suffer much damage. i think i would have been slightly more injured with less gear (more road rash) but moto apparel really isnt designed for accidents like this. without getting license2ill started, moto gear (leathers and helmet) help in a slide and a slight bump on the head. any real impact force and you are going to be hurt. if this can happen at 25 mph, what would an accident at 3x or 4x the speed look like? (obviously a rhetorical question- i realize all accidents are different and someone might walk away from a 100+ crash just as easily as at 30 mph).

my level of protection and riding attitude (fairly tame) does not put her at ease. my accident was at a very low speed and look at the outcome. therein lies her concern.

i am crossing my fingers that in a few months this will blow over and i will be able to have a mature, rational conversation with the wife. then i can start shopping!

 

[nvp]

You obviously have a good head on your shoulders for both motorcycling and being married - both technically difficult tasks with a potentially high risk of injury.

Glad to hear you were wearing good stuff. BTW, I was going about 110MPH when I had to "part ways" with my 2-month old CBR100RR (nicely tweaked) and I feel VERY lucky to have "walked" away with only a broken knee cap and torn ligiment in my thumb. Honestly, when the tank slapper ensued and I had that moment of realization that I had to get off, I thought "well... at least I won't remember any of this." Thankfully I was wrong.

Take care of yourself. And your wife.

-N

 

[shw911]

True that every accident is different. I know that some don't want to go overboard on wearing too much gear...but often after an accident we might say,
"If only I was wearing my full suit."
"if only I was wearing hip protection."
"if only I was wearing my hard back protector." etc.

and our excuses...
it was too hot.
it was too heavy.
it was too flashy.

I was told to always dress for the crash not the ride. Obviously, you cannot prevent some injuries. Whatever you're wearing will result in the same injury. Broken bones may not be preventable in certain crashes, but large abrasions/road rash is the most easily preventable (ie. T-shirt and shorts).

pepperell, good to hear that you're taking your time with everything. You'll figure it out.

Just understand this from the public point of view:
Motorcycles are evil.

 

[FRICKD'UP]

that sucks.

i was up there a few days ago and there was a lot of ice.

hope you heal up soon

 

[Trumper]

This is about the 4th or 5th crash I've heard details about on upper Alpine. That section is super tight and it's common for the road to be "fine," then suddenly have a bunch of junk in one of the turns. I know of two *very* experienced riders who have been caught in that trap.

It's easy to get sucked into a safe and sane pace that is suddenly too much for surprise slippery stuff in one of the turns....

Also, FWIW, I rode it last weekend and the upper section was fine with only tiny bits of debris and water. But the lower section in Heritage Grove was a super slippery mess. I mean like any abrupt or medium input to steering or brakes and you were going down. That section can get uber slippery so careful in there....

What's the update with the wrist? Aren't there like 200 tiny bones in the wrist?

 

[pepperell]

The Wrist and Elbow

I got the cast off Monday. Was a week earlier than scheduled. I'm in a wedding this weekend and have to wear a tux which of course wouldn't fit over the cast. Well I called the doc just to see if I could get it off Friday (5 days early) and they said to come on down right then. I did, they cut it off, x-rayed me, said it was healing well and sent me on my way.

They said no PT was necessary yet. The best therapy would be to start using it again lightly. It is sore and weak but I am getting more range of motion with each day. I won't be hitting the weights again any time soon but I can at least run with stinking my cast up.

The Bike

The motorcycle stuff on the other hand (no pun intended) is not going well. I signed over the title to insurance and took a check for it (~$4800!). I thought about buying it back. I could have for $1300 which I think would have been a steal as the motor alone might have fetched a grand and there really wasn't that much significant damage to it. A new tank and brake MC and it would be fine. But it would risk my marriage.

Simply suggesting getting a bike again brings on tears. She even gets mad if she sees me on BARF. I have tried to compromise by suggesting a 3 month or longer waiting period so we both can see where are heads then. Again, no dice.

I'm stuck because I love her. We haven't been married a year yet (though have dated for 8) and I wouldn't want to jeopardize it right at the start. Maybe in a few years she'll WANT me out on the bike, but right now all she can think about is our future together and to her, the bike represents an early end to that.


EDIT: Was thinking some more about this and what pisses me off the most is that this crash was so unspectacular. It was really a minor and relatively avoidable crash. I'm not wishing to have gone down in a ball of flames but for a career ending accident, this one BLOWS!

 

[GiorgioFurioso]

Sorry to hear this dude. But you should have bought the wreck and fixed it just to sell it!

Best of luck with the marriage etc. I hope I never find myself needing to make this kind of decision.

 

[zeefrenchspy]

EDIT: Was thinking some more about this and what pisses me off the most is that this crash was so unspectacular. It was really a minor and relatively avoidable crash. I'm not wishing to have gone down in a ball of flames but for a career ending accident, this one BLOWS!

I agree that it is a pretty shitty way to end your mc career!!! maybe you can get her to compromise on letting you ride track only?

 

[ColinP]

pepperel you need to either admit that you're too pussy to ride again or you need to check your wife. its not like youre some irresponsible kid consistently fucking around and endagering yourself. it's one crash. does your wife not understand the concept of 'shit happens' or does she think that your an idiot?

 

[NVRIDER]

Redwood is hella hot now. Cops are always up there. Glad your okay man. I hate how cops are sometimes DICKS! Like we're all racers or sumthing.