Have you been injured riding a motorcycle (or not injured)?

[nwcolorider]

Started riding in 1970
2 broken wrists, ACL and MCL tears.

My 16 year old, much worse
2 ambulance trips.
1 all was well
other, broke the scapula horizontally, he spent 6 months getting back. Still not 100%

[mtech1950]

first bike (cushman eagle) 1962, one getoff on the street,(1968) no serious injury, oops forgot shunt in copper canyon 2010, t boned kid on a bicycle who turned in front of me suddenly. thousands on dirt. scars, pokey shoulder, creaky knees, no ambulance ride yet. could change at any minute.

[Graywolf11]

Bought my first bike in 1968; a 175 cc Kawi DS, although they didn't call them that back then, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I got side-swiped in Denver in the first couple months.

I swore off riding in cities.

Accident free until May, 2011 when a kid rear-ended me while he was texting. Only a sore hip as I was fully geared up but my bike sustained $3500 in damage.

Not too bad of a record. Riding big dual-sports on forest roads seems safest to me.

[Mechanista]

Not gonna' give gory details...
Just the fact that riding with good people can make all the difference in the world!

[_CJ]

Not really as bad as I expected so far.

I've certainly had my share of injuries in other sports....messed up shoulder from football requiring reconstructive surgery, only 80% use now. Severely broken collar bone mountain biking as well as grapefruit sized ankles, several broken ribs and fingers. Also snapped both bones in my left arm when I was very young.

I think my two biggest concerns are serious life altering injuries (walking with a limp, or worse), and the cost of healthcare. I have a high deductible plan, so I pay the first $10K for any trip to the hospital. I do have $5K in medical coverage from the motorcycle insurance (the most my company offers), so that helps. Thinking about shopping around for a motorcycle insurance company that offers $10K in med-pay.

For sure, riding pavement in the presence of cars/trucks is my biggest concern. I'm way more comfortable on the dirt.

[TNC]

Originally Posted by Mechanista

Not gonna' give gory details...
Just the fact that riding with good people can make all the difference in the world!

Could you define "good people"? You could ride with some of the guys on this forum and end up in the hospital real fast...cough...enduro-ince...cough, cough...Hellsickle...cough.

[Mechanista]

Originally Posted by TNC

Could you define "good people"? You could ride with some of the guys on this forum and end up in the hospital real fast...cough...enduro-ince...cough, cough...Hellsickle...cough.

Yea! Some of my best friends could put me in the hospital, even if I were only sitting on a bar stool!
Riding friends who can keep a cool head when things go to shit, all of a sudden-like and have a little first-aid training. They are worth their weight in gold.

[klr6502k]

Started riding in 1990
Laid down a bike and slid 50 feet or so on my butt. Would have been fine if I was not so stupid to use my hand to lift my self up to look at the bike.
Road rash healed in a few weeks.
Had a few close calls from stupid on my part and more from others stupid.

written in your mud with my stick

[DADODIRT]

I had a pretty good get-off in late April of 2012. I was on the Butler Wash Road along Comb Ridge in SE Utah. By myself, fully loaded KTM950. Picked the bike up and rode the 120 miles home with a sprained ankle and major bruise to my elbow-both right side. I went to see the doc the next day. Crutches for about 4 weeks. And my right arm was pretty much useless for a couple weeks. Still a bit sore on the ankle, even now. I'm able to get the foot into a ski boot, so not too bad...
And just for relative terms (not that it means anything) I have about 130,000 miles (mostly street) since 1990.

[NMTrailboss]

Originally Posted by TNC

Could you define "good people"? You could ride with some of the guys on this forum and end up in the hospital real fast...cough...enduro-ince...cough, cough...Hellsickle...cough.

[oio]

I joined the club 15 years ago...

[TNC]

Originally Posted by DADODIRT

I had a pretty good get-off in late April of 2012. I was on the Butler Wash Road along Comb Ridge in SE Utah. By myself, fully loaded KTM950. Picked the bike up and rode the 120 miles home with a sprained ankle and major bruise to my elbow-both right side. I went to see the doc the next day. Crutches for about 4 weeks. And my right arm was pretty much useless for a couple weeks. Still a bit sore on the ankle, even now. I'm able to get the foot into a ski boot, so not too bad...
And just for relative terms (not that it means anything) I have about 130,000 miles (mostly street) since 1990.

Hey DAD...you wouldn't happen to be the guy I met on that stretch of Butler Wash you describe there while I was going the other way on a green KLX300S during the last part of April last year, would you? I met this guy, and we stopped and talked a bit about some of the rides in the Butler/Comb Wash area. Obviously he was on a loaded, big ol' KTM twin. Just wondering.

[dnorton]

Let's count the near death experiences on a motorcycle.

First bike I personally owned was a 1967 Norton Commando that I bought in 1977. One beautiful summer day in Colorado I was on a state highway east of Fort Collins, wearing shorts, t-shirt, no helmet and probably tennis shoes. I was doing at least 70MPH, engine seized. Rear wheel locked instantly. I left a single black skid mark on the road about 75-100 feet long until I wised up to engaging the clutch. Rolled to a stop on the side of the road. Not a scratch. Should have been a smear on the highway.

Couple years later (1979ish), I was riding bitch on the back of my buddies 1957 pan head chopper, only brake was a rear drum. We were in Phoenix, AZ - going north on 16th Street, leaving a bar after a couple beers to celebrate getting the pan back on the road (he/we had just finish rebuilding the engine). If you've ever lived in Phoenix you know that the surface streets like 16th St. are 4-6 lanes wide and everyone drives 50-60MPH on them. As we approached Camelback (a MAJOR cross street) we had the red light. Funny thing that one rear brake on the pan seemed to stop working. We are approaching 6 lanes of cross traffic at about 50 mph with no brakes. Closest brush with motorcycle death, shooting the gap crossing Camelback on a chopper. I can still see that 3 seconds of terror in my mind like it was yesterday.

Couple years ago I thought it was a good idea to ride my bike into Manhattan. Riding through the Bronx, early one Saturday AM, zero traffic out. I'm looking down at the printed directions I'm holding in my left hand. Look up to notice that I was about 50 feet from entering an intersection against a red light. Slammed on all the brakes hard, putting that MSF class education to practice. Problem is that I was in the center of the lane and streets in NYC have a layer of oil about a 1/2" thick running down the middle. I got the bike to stop before crossing the white line, but I was turned 90 degrees and leaning at about 30 degrees off upright when the bike stopped and because I didn't get my left hand on the clutch fast enough the engine stalled. Needless to say I couldn't hold it and the bike went down (Road King) . I personally never went down, I just stood there, bike on its side under me. I would have run the light, except there was cross traffic, didn't want to roll the dice on that shoot the gap stunt again - see above story.

[Hondo]

I have crashed numerous times off road and have walked away with nothing more than sprains.

Being able to recognize a lost situation and then bailing off the bike seems to work well for me MOST of the time.

I haven't crashed on the street yet- I attribute that to semi aggressive cage avoidance and keeping the A game always a must- and luck. I have had many close encounters with traffic, road hazards and animals and managed to steer clear. Again, situational awareness, intentional technique and luck all help.

And full gear.

[Coloradical]

No road crashes for me in 10+ years. A couple of dumps off road but since I tend to ride fairly conservatively those have resulted in nothing more than a fast pulse and a puckered ass.

I came to riding differently than a lot of people. My dad rode when I was a kid before my parents divorced. While they were still married he took my older brother and I to MX races and we had a Trail 70. Of course being the little brother I only got to ride on the back.

After my parents divorced, my mom didn't allow motorcycles. Her rule was that once we were out of the house we could do whatever we wanted. I rode a couple of friends dirt bikes a few times but the bug never bit since I wasn't going to get anywhere by asking. My brother moved out after graduation and right away bought a motorcycle.

June 24, 2001 I got a phone call from my aunt. My dad had been hit and killed by a drunk driver the afternoon before on his way home from a day ride out in the Texas Hill Country. He was 47 and had been riding since he was about 13. He was on a yellow 2000 VFR - his first new motorcycle.

My stepmom had a 535 Virago that she wasn't going to keep riding so I took it and started riding. I had actually ridden it a couple of times while visiting my dad previously and he always said it was too small. That was true but it got me started and was easy for getting my license on. I definitely had the riding bug and moved up to something bigger pretty quickly. Riding helped me feel connected to my dad and is still great therapy when I need to clear my head.

I always carry a piece of his bike that I picked up from the crash site with me.


I'm guessing that a lot of people would have never hopped on two wheels after losing someone. But like I said, I feel more connected to him when riding.