Wearing the right gear saved me from massive injury

[BBIII]

As documented here:https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=13949

I went down at about 25 MPH w/ Yamaha GTY-R road racing jacket - and the right hand zipper let go giving me minor road rash on my right arm that went away in 3 weeks. But my cell phone was in the right hand pocket and my kidney/liver was damaged making me piss blood for 2 weeks.

I also had a Scorpion Helmet that was ground down way beyond the paint where my jaw would have met the pavement. Imagine one of those Harley head buckets in the same scenario - it would be massive reconstructive surgery for years and people looking at me saying "BBIII, izzat you?"

I also had on some First Gear Winter Riding pants over my ICON Levi type riding pants with the Kevlar around the knees...that setup didn't work because the pants were too loose because I had lost weight and the over pants were too big...I fucked up because those over pants had been backordered for 5 months while they re-designed them. I wish I had had my Olympia mesh tech pants on, even they were summer type over pants, and they come with a liner that is waterproof. They are FS on this forum.

My Oxtar Matrix boots worked very well, but I still have a strained big toe - remember I was only going 25 MPH. the leather is ground down to the Kevlar on the right toe area...imagine if I was wearing something stupid like some high top tennis shoes - I would be known as stump.

I was wearing Olympia summer gloves with some poly inserts and still got road rash from that. Good gloves saved me from some ugly hand scars.

The interesting thing to me was that I had just changed to carrying my Ipod from in my magnetic tank bag to in my jacket...if that were different I would most likely have some ear canal problems as the tank bag separated from me during the crash and was about 20 feet behind me...we need some type of connector that let's go when you get off.

I didn't have my electric jacket plugged in. what would that have done to me? More left side kidney damage?

I have decided that I'm too aggressive of a rider to continue riding...It is just a parallel with my aggressive cage driving sine I have owned sports cars since I was about 20.

Everyone please learn from my little mishap, which was only a knee injury, but without the protection I was wearing I would be dead or a fucking vegetable right now. Remember that everyone is out to get you when you are riding; including that asshole on the other bike that is just .5 seconds behind you instead of the required 2 to 3 seconds. Old people should slow down even more, because our reaction times are down due to age and prescription drug use.

‘There are those who have been down and those that have yet to go down"

Just trying to help you crazy fools who keep on riding despite the old adage above. Your time WILL come, please be prepared like I was.

BB III

 

[TheAxeman]

BB,

Really appreciate the detailed writeup of your gears performance in the accident. Its always helpful to hear from others what worked and what didn't. I have a very bad habit of carrying all sorts of shit in my pockets (compounded even further with an Aerostich with 300 pockets) when I ride and that habit is about to change after hearing the damage that your cell phone alone did. When I think back on all the times in my youth when I would ride in shorts and sneakers with my GF on the back in a miniskirt its a wonder that I am still here. Your comments about the riding pants was interesting to me because I would think that mesh gear would disintegrate much faster than what you were wearing. I'm going to take a hard, long look at my gear and see how it can be improved....starting with the gloves. Thanks for your input.

 

[Mogan]

Just relieved you didn't incur more serious injuries.

 

[Wolfhound]

Thank You for sharing what good gear worn properly could do for a person, even in a "slow" accident....Wear my gear every ride....

 

[Grievous Angel]

Remember that everyone is out to get you when you are riding; including that asshole on the other bike that is just .5 seconds behind you instead of the required 2 to 3 seconds. Old people should slow down even more, because our reaction times are down due to age and prescription drug use.

So it was another rider? Was it a big group ride? Did you know the person behind you?

I've read safety books where these large group rides with people you barely know are some of the more dangerous events. Just wondering about the circumstances.

Thanks for sharing your story, and I'm glad you're OK.

 

[wheatonFJR]

@GA: Go to the thread he mentions and he gives the whole story there...as much information as you need.

BBIII: Sorry to hear about your mishap and sorry to see you go. As mentioned by others, don't make yourself totally scarce...

 

[keithaba]

Terribly sorry to hear what happened. Glad to hear thats all that happened, and you are not further broken.

I am also very sad to hear you say your done with riding. If you think that is the best decision, then go with it for a few years and see where you at. I got rid of my sports car due to the same issues. I crashed in like 5 times in 2 years and said I gotta get rid of this thing. I got a 05 celica, 1.8L, slow and steady!

Take care, thanks for info and the warnings, they will be heeded.

 

[dcarver]

BBIII - Now more than ever I know you will be back. It is just a matter of time. Mark my words. You will return. Just a matter of time. In the mean time, enjoy... see you soon....

 

[mdisher]

BBIII - Now more than ever I know you will be back. It is just a matter of time. Mark my words. You will return. Just a matter of time. In the mean time, enjoy... see you soon....

I hope that's true

However, I commend anyone who feels they should step away from this dangerous hobby of ours, for what ever reason, and can actually do it. It's not an easy thing to do.

I hope he's not just spooked.

Even so, if the latter is true, then a break is probably in order, you can ride defensive all you want, but you can't ride scared or worried about shit happening either. That takes the fun out of it, and after all that's what this is all about isn't it?

 

[Bull]

rest up and heal well BBIII

 

[Toecutter]

I've read safety books where these large group rides with people you barely know are some of the more dangerous events.

I'll second that, and offer up a story that almost ended in a very nasty accident. Thankfully, almost is the operative term. However, it was one of the instances that drove my pillion off the seat, to this day.
Click for group ride story

Eve's last straw

Bill, and everyone else, imagine how that aparrel would have fared in a high-speed get-off. Not very well, I'd bet.

Anyone considering or reconsidering gear should spend some time reading the "Save Your Hide" page at Cycleport

 

[exskibum]

So it was another rider? Was it a big group ride? Did you know the person behind you?
I've read safety books where these large group rides with people you barely know are some of the more dangerous events. Just wondering about the circumstances.

Bill was alone when he had the accident, and I'll let him tell the story, but it was a stupid cager trick that caused it. We stopped for lunch, he went home to get some ZZZZs before having to go to work that evening, and it was shortly after he left us that he had the accident.

As to riders following too closely, I can only speculate that Bill may be referring to someone that I (and another FJR rider here) had some trouble with during the morning's ride. This rider was riding a V-Strom, a nice enough guy, but his overexuberance riding in a group was not welcome, safe or tolerable to me (I will never ride with him again). The pre-ride talk specifically made mention of NOT doing that sort of thing, but he was falling back, then accelerating until he was inside mirror view, right on another rider's ass (including mine, until I let him by), doing that weave thing like he was antsy to get free to rip (on wet roads), and generally making himself a hazard you had to keep track of from behind as you negotiated the road. I know I mentioned this to Bill, and the other FJR rider and I discussed it. Possibly this is what Bill was alluding to, but it was NOT a cause of Bill's acccident.

 

[TheAxeman]

I generally ride alone for this reason but I am a Patriot Guard Rider and this is an excerpt from a thread that I recently posted on the New York Patriot Guard site:

On a recent mission with a new group of riders I was kind of taken aback that the ride captain didn't mention that we would be riding in a staggered formation on our way to the rendevous point. The majority of the riders being experienced realized that this was the case anyway, but I literally had to wave another rider off who continually kept darting up next to me and, at times, passing by me. This not only made for an uncomfortable situation but, at speed, made it seriously unsafe. I not only had to worry about cages and lane changes but I now had to be concerned about a fellow rider. In conversation I found out that he had only been riding for a relatively short period of time. The reason I bring this up is that I think it is imperative for the ride captains to reiterate a staggered formation prior to EVERY ride to maintain safety. All it takes is for two bikes to collide and we would end up with a pretty nasty pileup.....Just my 2 cents....

 

[Scythian]

Oh, God....

It looks like it happened in one of those trendy little areas where all the drivers are distracted and drinking lattes while on the cellphone....

The cagers will do anything in a place like that; turn anywhere; stop anywhere; start anywhere--and they are too busy looking at the scenery to check the road.

If you look at the stats, you'll see they constantly crash into each other in a place like that.

Riding in/around Santa Fe, NM: the drivers will do anything at anytime....

The danger of the ride is proportional to the trendiness of the area.

 

[rogdeb]

Well thought write-up BB111 -- good info. Deb & I are ATGATT. Hope your absence from riding is temporary.

The danger of the ride is proportional to the trendiness of the area.

There is some truth in that statement unfortunately.

 

[Dan23]

>>I have decided that I'm too aggressive of a rider to continue riding...<<

One really CAN learn moderation with the right hand, you know....?

>>On a recent mission with a new group of riders I was kind of taken aback that the ride captain didn't mention that we would be riding in a staggered formation on our way to the rendevous point. The majority of the riders being experienced realized that this was the case anyway, but I literally had to wave another rider off who continually kept darting up next to me and, at times, passing by me. This not only made for an uncomfortable situation but, at speed, made it seriously unsafe. I not only had to worry about cages and lane changes but I now had to be concerned about a fellow rider. In conversation I found out that he had only been riding for a relatively short period of time.<<

This guy doesn't ride a white sportster, does he?

 

[exskibum]

Oh, God....
It looks like it happened in one of those trendy little areas where all the drivers are distracted and drinking lattes while on the cellphone....

The cagers will do anything in a place like that; turn anywhere; stop anywhere; start anywhere--and they are too busy looking at the scenery to check the road.

If you look at the stats, you'll see they constantly crash into each other in a place like that.

Riding in/around Santa Fe, NM: the drivers will do anything at anytime....

The danger of the ride is proportional to the trendiness of the area.

HAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's too fucking funny!!!! The accident occurred on a windy 2 lane road about a mile from where we stopped to eat in Georgetown. So, where DO you guys get your ideas about the demographics of California???? Surely not from facts or having spent any time getting to know the place.

Georgetown, California (and its environs) as trendy and latte drinking?!? BWAHAHAHA!!!!

It's a rural mountain town, to begin with. It's in the Sierra foothills, maybe 20 miles or so from Placerville in one direction and from Auburn in another, kind of the last little town before heading up into a lot more remote back country area -- just guessing its elevation is around 2500 to 3000 feet. It's an old mining town that is too remote and off any real Highway to have ever become trendy, and the residents are generally very rugged, hard bitten laborers, Viet Nam vets, loggers, etc. Most of the housing around there is pretty old, and you won't find many second homes in the area. Pretty safe bet that there's no DSL connections anywhere close, and cell phone reception is spotty or non-existent. Lots of old beat up pickup trucks and 4WDs. It's one of the least expensive places to live around here if you commute to Auburn or Placerville to work. There are a lot of people who have lived a hard life and survived it, and whose features show it. Most are very independent types who are proud to be as tough as the surrounding mountains and unwilling to be told what to do. It's an area where you'd be smart not to be getting into it with just anybody, or getting into their business uninvited -- you just don't know what you're getting into, and there's a lot of really rugged, remote terrrain all around it where your carcass might not be found for a long while if you happened to choose the wrong fellas to piss off.

I suspect a latte shop or a Starbucks would fail in less than one season up there.

I'm not doing it justice, and I don't live there, but fer chrissakes, when are you guys gonna get over your idiotic biases about what all of California is like??

 

[Scythian]

Ooooooh! I found a sore spot there....

It's not like the asshats from the valley ever drive up the the quaint Sierra Foothill Towns drive like city assholes and crash bikers without looking.

Y'know, it's not like California has little artsy-fartsy towns all over there in the Sierras to try to make up for the lost logging and mining revenue. Half the rich old hipsters in the Bay Area are trying to move into that area....

I travel to CA a lot for work. It full of angry middle-aged women--and some of them are men.

 

[exskibum]

I travel to CA a lot for work.

I'm sorry. Clearly you know or can imagine the specific area of the accident a lot better than I. Thanks for the morning entertainment -- presumed omniscience, ignorance, condescension AND name calling. :clapping: :clapping:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

It full of angry middle-aged women--and some of them are men.

The ones who come from New Mexico with an attitude, you mean?

:lol: :lol: :lol: