Topic: The Motorcycling Thread

[bridgecity]

A friends boy was in a bad dirt biking accident on the weekend.  He collided with another rider from a separate group, ending up with a big laceration in his groin area and broke his pelvis in three places.  He was air lifted out of the forested area by STARS.  Sounds like he's going to be OK but will have considerable recovery time.  If we weren't out of town last weekend we would have been on that ride.  Makes me contemplate selling the bikes.  Be careful out there. 

[ktm525]

A friends boy was in a bad dirt biking accident on the weekend.  He collided with another rider from a separate group, ending up with a big laceration in his groin area and broke his pelvis in three places.  He was air lifted out of the forested area by STARS.  Sounds like he's going to be OK but will have considerable recovery time.  If we weren't out of town last weekend we would have been on that ride.  Makes me contemplate selling the bikes.  Be careful out there.

Great to have medivac. You have to be real careful who you ride with and where and of course GEAR. The number of riders I see without proper stuff is mind boggling.

 

[PJungnitsch]

In the warm weather the last week saw a few people out on motorcycles with sweatpants, light jackets and no gloves, made me wince just looking at them

Myself I wear padded impact shorts while winter biking and skateboarding after a co-worker cracked her pelvis just crashing her bicycle

[Fobroader]

In the warm weather the last week saw a few people out on motorcycles with sweatpants, light jackets and no gloves, made me wince just looking at them

Myself I wear padded impact shorts while winter biking and skateboarding after a co-worker cracked her pelvis just crashing her bicycle

Yeah, I'm one of those ATGATT wenies, I've seen too many road rash and other injuries and want no part in it thanks.

[ktm525]

Likely nothing stopping a broken pelvis. Sounds like a head on collision or the like. The only way to prevent that is SA.

That being said. EVERYTIME I hit the dirt:

Proper boots (and there are really one 4-5 models that properly protect your feet.
Knee braces (learned this the hard way a meniscus removal and ACL tear)
proper hip /leg padding
Full chest protector with wrap around kidney guards.
Plastic elbow guards
proper gloves
and of course a quality helmet.

But yeah if your heart is not in it and you are afraid of hurting yourself it's time to take up golf. That's my plan anyway.

Best wishes for the kid.









.

[bridgecity]

Thanks ktm.

Just got of the phone with my buddy.  His boys own handle bar pierced the inside of the leg and went in a couple inches.  The boy was wearing his full gear, including boots, pants, shin guards, chest protector, gloves, helmet, and neck brace.  There's different levels of protection however my buddy is all about good gear so the equipment he has is above what the average rider would have on.  I would think the neck brace likely helped with preventing a neck injury as this all sounds very violent.  Anyway, one of the riders had first aid and took over while the chopper showed up. It was about 2hrs from the time of impact to the time he was at the hospital. The boy (17) was able to do some stairs today on crutches however he's in a lot of pain obviously.   He should make a full recovery. 

[HeliDriver]

Oh wow, that sounds horrible. I've heard of people getting impaled on the handlebar before. I like to think that having bark busters on the ends helps with that, but maybe I'm just kidding myself. Glad to hear he's expected to make a full recovery though.

Coincidentally, I just listed my bike for sale (again!) 15 minutes ago. Finally serious about selling it though. Not for safety concerns, just that I don't have the time or inclination to ride it anymore. Just got back from two weeks in Moab and I didn't even bother to bring it with me this time. Too much hassle and extra gear to carry. Thought I'd regret the choice when I was there, but honestly didn't miss it for a minute. Mountain biked every day and had just as much fun doing that.

Money from the sale will be going towards a new mountain bike! Not for me, though... wife tried out a new Santa Cruz Hightower down there and loved it. Going to order one for her this afternoon.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

His boys own handle bar pierced the inside of the leg and went in a couple inches. 

This is a fairly common injury on mountain bikes, too.  We call it being 'core sampled'.  Most of us use some sort of bar plug which helps protect against that.  Do dirtbikes also not use bar end plugs?

[Jaeger]

In the warm weather the last week saw a few people out on motorcycles with sweatpants, light jackets and no gloves, made me wince just looking at them

Myself I wear padded impact shorts while winter biking and skateboarding after a co-worker cracked her pelvis just crashing her bicycle

Yeah, I'm one of those ATGATT wenies, I've seen too many road rash and other injuries and want no part in it thanks.

100% agree.

[Jaeger]

A friends boy was in a bad dirt biking accident on the weekend.  He collided with another rider from a separate group, ending up with a big laceration in his groin area and broke his pelvis in three places.  He was air lifted out of the forested area by STARS.  Sounds like he's going to be OK but will have considerable recovery time.  If we weren't out of town last weekend we would have been on that ride.  Makes me contemplate selling the bikes.  Be careful out there.

I hope he recovers quickly.

[aquadorhj]

In the warm weather the last week saw a few people out on motorcycles with sweatpants, light jackets and no gloves, made me wince just looking at them

Myself I wear padded impact shorts while winter biking and skateboarding after a co-worker cracked her pelvis just crashing her bicycle

Yeah, I'm one of those ATGATT wenies, I've seen too many road rash and other injuries and want no part in it thanks.

100% agree.

me too.  never seen road rash, but still don't want no part in that..

[Jaeger]

So I got to take the very orange Triumph Speed Twin for an extended ride yesterday.  Just amazing how different two bikes can be. Torque everywhere, in every gear, all the time - I could probably ride the thing in third gear all day.  In almost any situation, I'd be in a different gear and at very different rpm than I would be on the Honda - this thing redlines just about where my bike wakes the $%#$ up. I definitely get the appeal of a strong twin. Very pleasing shove with not a lot of throttle input, yet very well behaved at low speeds.  No lurching or snatchiness.  It also wasn't nearly as vibey as I expected. Not inline 4 smooth, but pretty damned smooth in its own right.

Compared with my bike, the seat is much more comfortable (translation: it has actual padding of some kind  ) and the ride is noticeably more compliant over crap roads.  Moreover, the rider triangle is certainly much more old-man accommodating, with lower pegs set further forward.  Going through cliche corner as fast as I dared on a not-my-bike, I did notice that a mid-corner bump slightly unsettled the rear, which I'd never experienced on my bike on several trips through the same spot.  That aside, I came away very impressed with the handling - this thing might look like a laid-back retro, but it dances much more like a sport-naked.

What further surprised me is how easy it was to ride (though I did run wide on one turn, that was down to early season rider rust as opposed to any challenge presented by the bike itself).  Hopped on, nothing felt the least but weird, and it was just smooth, strong and responsive from the first twist of the throttle.  I'd have to say that this and the Z900RS are tops in my books for a modern classic bike.

Interesting observations.  That bike (Speed Twin) and the Z900RS were my top two choices too.  At the time, I was able to get a better deal on the Kawi, so that's where I landed, with no regrets. 

When reviewing the Speed Twin against a group of other naked bikes, I found the Triumph's squishy suspension worked in its favour out on imperfect real-world roads.  Where the CB1000R and Z900 both skittered around on crappy pavement due to their stiffer suspension, the Speed Twin wasn't upset by it, enabling me to keep up with faster riders on more powerful bikes.  It's a large part of what really made me fall in love with the Speed Twin -- it looks great, sounds great, is comfortable to ride AND it's real-world quick.  All that torque you mentioned makes it speedy around town, but there's still enough poke to have fun out on the open roads or passing on the highway.

Cheers Jeff.  I did like the creamy ride. It never felt sloppy.  Love the paint on your Kawi!

[Fobroader]

Thanks ktm.

Just got of the phone with my buddy.  His boys own handle bar pierced the inside of the leg and went in a couple inches.  The boy was wearing his full gear, including boots, pants, shin guards, chest protector, gloves, helmet, and neck brace.  There's different levels of protection however my buddy is all about good gear so the equipment he has is above what the average rider would have on.  I would think the neck brace likely helped with preventing a neck injury as this all sounds very violent.  Anyway, one of the riders had first aid and took over while the chopper showed up. It was about 2hrs from the time of impact to the time he was at the hospital. The boy (17) was able to do some stairs today on crutches however he's in a lot of pain obviously.   He should make a full recovery.

Thats good he's going to make a full recovery, poor kid.

[Fobroader]

In the warm weather the last week saw a few people out on motorcycles with sweatpants, light jackets and no gloves, made me wince just looking at them

Myself I wear padded impact shorts while winter biking and skateboarding after a co-worker cracked her pelvis just crashing her bicycle

Yeah, I'm one of those ATGATT wenies, I've seen too many road rash and other injuries and want no part in it thanks.

100% agree.

me too.  never seen road rash, but still don't want no part in that..

Had a buddy, that fell off his bike because of gravel, he slid on the same gravel without a jacket on his right forearm and elbow.....he told me that hot bone that was shaved down by asphalt smells terrible 

[rrocket]

I think the worst recurring injuries I've seen in offroaders with full gear is footpeg injuries. That is to say the footpeg spearing some part of the body (leg, usually) that had no gear.

My worst personal injuries that caused me to rethink and gear differently was:

 Getting speared in the ribs with a bar or tree limb. Ouch. Incapacitating pain.  I may have PTSD from this one as I forget the circumstances...but remember the pain! LOL [emoji38]

The second was a racing low side (slow speed) and a pebble/rock was under my shoulder blade as I hit the deck and slid along. I shuddered to think what it would have felt like on my spine.

My oddest injury (I think) was catching a pheasant dead square in the chest, at speed. 2 noteworthy things: I remember the pheasant hitting my chest then being carried under my chin. I felt as though my neck stretched a foot as my head attempted to be torn off! LOL [emoji38]  And, most miraculously, I somehow didn't fall off!!

The most painful non-injury injury? Hitting bumblebee at speed...usually in the neck.

[dkaz]

Had a buddy, that fell off his bike because of gravel, he slid on the same gravel without a jacket on his right forearm and elbow.....he told me that hot bone that was shaved down by asphalt smells terrible 

What a terrible time to be literate. 

[ktm525]

That was a good list. My top three injuries have been

1) The ACL tear and torn meniscus. In the middle of nowhere BC with two crossing logs. At about 40? km/h lofted the front and hit with the rear like 1000's of times before. Got kicked sideways and had to make a conscious effort to put a foot down to stop the lateral momentum carrying me off a steep/hill/cliff. Despite the injury I think I made the right decision.

2) Didn't make a rocky hill climb and the bike fell over on me. Normally no big deal. This time the bike fell over and a rock took the neck of the radiator off. Boiling coolant flowed into my motocross boot filling it. 3rd degree burn from mid calf to the ankle. By far the most painful injury I have experienced and a complete fluke.

3) Bunch of minor stuff. Typically getting speared by a broken branch. A few stiches here and there and some bruising. I did take a snapped off branch in the neck last year. Just pierced the skin and missed the important stuff but this happened on a real casual ride. This one may have scared me the most.

Lesson learned? Always wear  full gear and carry your activated satellite device.

Going riding for 5 days next week. 

[HeliDriver]

Got a little panicked this afternoon. Last year when I put up the ad to sell my bike, I just heard crickets. This time, I got two inquiries right away. Oh, ! Did I get ahead of myself? I haven’t even started the thing in two years! 

Not to worry, I just dragged it out of the garage, put some fresh gas in it, and it fired up on the third kick. Not really surprised, as I did take care of the thing. Had fresh oil and the tank was drained last time I put it away.

Got three boxes of supplies, spare parts, fluids, etc. for whoever buys it. Wheel bearing kits, caliper rebuild kits, spare sprockets, tires… I like to be prepared. 

Wasn’t sad to finally be selling it… until I fired it up again and took it for a quick spin up and down the alley. 

[rrocket]

Is that a 200? 250?

Either way...world class bike!

[HeliDriver]

^^ 250 XC-W. Yeah, a great bike