C-collar free to a good home. . .

[lw]

I have heard there are two kinds of riders, those that have gone down and those that are going to. At about 1725 on Wednesday April 23rd I regretably joined the ranks of the former group. This may belong in the How Did You Crash? thread and if so please dump it in there.

Riding in local traffic after work, the roadway ahead narrowed from four lanes to two due to construction. Posted speed on the roadway is 35 mph, traffic was moderate. I led a group of cars away from the stoplight and entered the two-lane section of the road, and had traveled about 400 yards when I saw the lead car in the oncoming string come into my lane straddling the lane stripe. I steered to the right and the car finally steered back toward his side of the road and I had successfully avoided that vehicle when I saw a suburban stopped in front of me. I hit the brakes (probably too aggressively) and felt the front start to slide to the right in the sand/debris on the road. In short order the bike and I were headed down on the left side. I remember hearing the floorboard and engine guard grinding right before I heard my helmet smack the concrete, then the lights went out.

I don’t know how long I was out, but the first thing I remember was lying on my back with 3 or 4 people standing over me telling me not to move; that they had called 911 and the ambulance was on the way. As I fought to clear the cobwebs in my head I took an inventory gladly finding that I could feel and move my feet and legs, then my hands and arms. I had a hell of a headache (I know, a head that looks like mine ought to hurt) and my neck hurt when I tried to turn or lift my head. I decided that maybe lying still would be the best course of action until the ambulance could check me out, then I could get up and go home. Wrong!! My wife says that I called her during this time and told her I had dumped my bike and I needed her to come get me. She said I sounded “matter of fact” and “no-big deal” and that I told her exactly where it happened. She had almost made it to the scene of the wreck (about 4 miles from home) and could see the flashing lights when the police called her cell to tell her I was being transported and she should meet me at the hospital.

The Medic who was riding the box was a buddy of mine of 25+ years and after doing his assessment he reminded me that I had had a loss of consciousness and the headache and neck pain meant that everything wasn’t necessarily fine and dandy, so I needed to go in “at least for pictures”. I told him do what you need to do and they strapped me to the board and loaded me up for the trip. I had managed to keep my clothes intact up until now, but the long sleeves of my nomex coveralls wouldn’t roll up to allow access to start an IV, so out came the trauma shears. The rest of the ride to the ER is kinda hazy , but I do remember him asking if my bride was gonna make noise about getting rid of the bike. I told him she probably would make noise but there would be no for sale signs on my bike. Arriving at the back door to the ER just as I was being wheeled in, one of the first things she said was “anybody wanna buy a motorcycle?” Bless her heart, she’s too predictable.

The next 20 minutes or so was fast and furious assessment by the ER staff including stem-to-stern poking & prodding and the dreaded trauma shears again as they cut the rest of my nomex away followed by my best Dead-spiral tie dyed t-shirt. The poking and prodding was ok, but the abdominal ultrasound was a bit uncomfortable. I told the doc to not plan on hearing a fetal heart beat since I wasn’t pregnant, I just looked that way. Not much of a sense of humor that one; and I never could figure out where his accent was from either. The “what is your pain level” question was asked and I said 3 to 4 but my embarrassment factor is off the charts. The nurse asked why, and I said “my head’s strapped to a board, y’all just cut my clothes off and ya have me surrounded. I gotta tell ya, I’m feelin juuuust a bit vulnerable about now.”

Did I tell ya I hate CT & MRI scan machines? Well I do. They slid me off of the gurney and onto the trolley for a CT scan of my head & neck. Fortunately they didn’t want to scan any further because that was as far inside the machine as I got before the tube hit my shoulders. Miss Dee Dee the imaging tech got the scans completed and I was parked back in the treatment room while blood was drawn and the scan images were reviewed. After what seemed like forever the doc read the scans and cleared my C-spine and they took the C-collar off and adjusted the bed into a sitting position. It was bout this time I decided that the 3 to 4 pain I had reported might be a little low. Fortunately they told me they were just about ready to release me and said they’d write me a script for pain with my discharge orders. Hell of a way to spend a Wednesday evening.

I was very fortunate in this incident. Thanks to my helmet, long sleeves, and an ample application of Divine intervention, my injuries were limited to a couple tiny spots of road rash on my knees and a little one on my wrist, and of course a good case of “stiff & sore syndrome”. I got to check on Lucille yesterday, and was surprised at how little damage appeared to have been done. The left side engine and saddlebag guards are mashed and ground on the lower bend. The right side guards have the same injury as the left but not quite as severe. The Right saddlebag is scratched up from going high-side after I was bucked off, but I think she landed on the side of the road because the scratches don’t look like they were made by concrete/asphalt but rather dirt and rocks. There doesn’t appear to be any damage to anything else and she started up and appeared road- worthy sitting in the wrecker service shop. A couple of bolt-on guards, a new pair of highway pegs and a little paint on the bags and she should be good as new. Hopefully she’ll be ready to go before I get my next weekend off.

Here are some pictures of the aftermath.
The bike pics are poor quality since they came from my phone.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album...ost=good-times

[Top Cat]

Geeze LW, glad it wasn't worse than it was. How fast were you going when you went down? Do you remember?
By the way, you said the pics were from your cell phone twice. You may want to take it easy till the concussion clears ;)

[lw]

Thanks TC. I was about 30 before I saw the oncoming car and probably about 25 by the time I hit the brakes.

[Scoot]

D A M N !!!! Glad your ok LW.

[cactusjack]

LW, how many fingers am I holding up? You may have lost some dignity in the ER, but you managed to keep your sense of humor. Take it easy for awhile, at least until your brain stops shaking. I'm happy to hear you and the bike were relatively intact.

[audiogooroo]

Sorry to hear about this. Take care man.

[MarkG]

Looks like your guardian angel took a pretty good hit. Hope you and your angel have a speedy recovery. From the pictures, even the bike came out of it in pretty good shape. I hope the rest of us are as lucky when we go down. Take care.

[ringadingh]

Good to hear that your ok, LW. It could have been a lot worse, its amazing how things can change in a split second isn't it. Get some rest, fix the bike and go for a ride. Ride Safe & take care.

[Yellow Jacket]

Glad to hear that you're OK LW, that's the important part.

[kawgirl]

Glad to hear you came out okay.

[nomad1600]

LW Glad your OK. Since we ride the same bike, I know it must be hard to see the damage. But the bike can be fixed. Main things is that your OK. Good Luck on all the soreness that is to follow.

[joesnomad]

LW glad to hear that you are ok. Things can happen fast, you were very lucky it could have been alot worse. Bike parts are easy to replace and they make them everyday. It seems I just told my son the same thing last Sunday after he laid down his new bike. Hope you have a speedy recovery and back in the saddle soon.

[beezer]

I'm glad you're ok LW. Bikes can be fixed.

That really sucks LW. I hope the neck/head pain all clears up quickly and doesn't recur.

I've never been in a CT or MRI before , but I've seen it done and can't imagine anyone enjoying it.

[dantama]

So no broken bones in all of that?

Did you separate from the bike on the low side, or follow it when it high sided?

Glad to hear you are doing OK, I guess for you wearing a helmet isn't a hypothetical life saver any more. From the look of the scrapes, and the fact that the lights went out even with it, you may have had your last day on earth if not for it.

Once again, glad you are alright, and thanks for posting it so that we can all learn from it too.