had a bad crash sunday

[portero72]

i hit a deer(or it hit me), south of austin, doing about 60mph. it was a little guy and appears to have run right into the front spokes, locking the front end immediately. i assume this is what happened, as i lost the front end on impact, and he was minus his life and a few legs after it all was over. anyway, i was thrown on my left shoulder and slid on my head and side for a while, breaking my collarbone and earning 2 small spots of rash-L shoulder and hip. my arm's in a sling, my body's swollen and aches all over, but I AM ALIVE, thx to all the gear i was wearing. i consider my injuries minor compared to what they could have been. the gashes on my full face helmet are deep and angry, but NO head injuries. i had on a Kobe armored leather/textile jacket. the left shoulder/elbow were badly scraped, but held up with only 1 small tear under the arm. the inner lining/armor remained intact. i had on Icon kevlar-reinforced jeans. the left knee wore thru to the kevlar, but not to my skin. my left boot wore thru to the steel toe, but stopped there. the carbon fiber knuckles on my right glove wore down enough to now be flexible, but not all the way thru. my gear did its job. i'm getting by on pain meds and the sweetness of my wife, again, feeling lucky to be here. lucky to be alive, lucky to have the support group i have, lucky that one of the ems workers was a friend of mine, lucky to have made the choice to wear ALL my gear. WEAR IT, GENTLEMEN, its cheap, ventilated, and will save you a world of hurt. hopefully, i can get my bike back today and assess the damage. shiney side up, boys. mark

[BOYZSBLUE]

WHAO

GLAD TO HEAR YOU'RE ALRIGHT AND PRAYING THAT YOUR PAIN GOES AWAY FAST! HOPE BIKE ISN'T TOO MESSED UP, LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING. ANY PICS IF YOU CAN WOULD HELP SET REALISM ABOUT SAFETY TO THE YOUNG BUCKS WITH SPEED IN THEIR MIND.......THANKS.

[Oompa_Loompa]

That's some scary stuff. I've run up on deers before but have never had a collision. It's good to hear you're going to be okay. These kinds of things make me realize how fragile we are and how easily a nice ride can turn into something that has the potential to change your life and the life of those around you, forever.

Note to self:
Ride slow and ride defensively

Looking back on the whole thing, was there anything you could or would have done differently? Did you have time to react at all?

[webbcraft2150]

S_____T!!!!!!! Theres a testiment to body armor. I am in Austin, have pickup and trailer and a large garage. If you need some help with your bike, or need a place to stash it for a while just lemme know.

[andreashweiss]

Glad to here the riding gear did its job, I wear the armour and suffer in the heat but your story reminds me why. thankyou. Have front fender,triple tree,gauge cluster for standard. For you if you need it andreas

[orc_lover]

Hey bro

portero72, We need a couple more guys in Austin who have been through this and we can start our own club! "The Austin Motorcycle Hunting Association Wildlife Killers" or TAMoHAWKs!

We can get patches for our very armored jackets and helmets that have the club logo "Fragged Bambi and lived!", We could get little deer stickers and put them on our (next) bike. Maybe occasionally lobby down at the capital to put more animal crossing/warning signs where know they are needed. Heck even a yahoo-group.

My membership application is the small deer I went "through" on 2222 back in the 1990's. Made me a believer in body armor for bikers.


-In all serriousness I am glad your not permently hurt bro, alot of us have kissed pavement to know how bad it is. Not just physically but mentally.

[trbig]

OUCH....

Collar bones and ribs are tough breaks. Nothing you can really do for either one except surgery on some of the worst scenarios. Otherwise, it's a slow healing process. It's going to be tough to get your bike back in shape one handed, so don't be too proud. Accept all the help on it you can get, so maybe it will be ready to ride again when you are. I'm glad you're still around to be telling all of us about it though. I think someone needs to come up for a design for a big brush bumper for these bikes... wouldn't that be a redneck mobile! Take time to heal and take care.

Tod

[strom]

Hey Mark... I'm happy for you...
Dunno, I always smile at this kind of outcomes. I dont want anyone to crash, but lessons learned, and yours was cheap and you can smile and live to tell about it. Most important maybe: all that cash you put into your gear payed off.

LP

[Burly1]

I'm so glad to hear that you came through relatively OK. Good gear does pay for itself, even if you never use it. You are wise as well as lucky. I ran over a small deer about three years ago, she was stretched out, running close to the ground and I never even tipped the bike. Hopefully I didn't use up all my luck that time. Hoping for a quick recovery, Burl

[excess11]

Helmet

Just think if you were wearing one of those bean cap helmets like those Harley riders have. It could of been a different outcome!! Glad to see you are smart enough to wear safety gear insted of being worried about being COOL . You can never go wrong being safe. Hope you can bounce back into the saddle soon!!!!

[GNEPIG]

Glad to see you are smart enough to wear safety gear insted of being worried about being COOL

.. yeah, what Mac said, people who dont wear good safety gear dont look so cool after they have hit the road, no matter how good the mortician glues you back together for the veiwing.
..i think of this kind of the same way that Strom does, bummed to hear about your mishap but real glad to hear about the outcome.
hope you get better soon and keep us posted on your progress.
Gene

[Dragonrider]

Wow! Glad you're in one piece!

Best wishes for feeling top-notch soon!

[HobbyMan]

Best wishes on your recovery. I hope that you can heal soon and get your bike running again. I am a firm believer in wearing adequate protection. Even though I always wear a full face helmet, long pants, and a leather jacket, do you have any other suggestions? I have only been riding for a couple of months and would like to learn everything from those who are "experienced" Well , good luck on your recovery, and if you need anything, there are plenty of people willing to help.

[portero72]

hobbyman....

wear armored EVERYTHING is my advice-carbon fiber gloves, CE approved stuff in your jacket, dedicated riding pants/boots. trust me, it will save your life.
now as to the bike, i got it back from the tow company and it fired right up away! damage was limited to-bent left crashbar, cracked timing cover, both L signals, bar end weight, small scuff on speedo and mirror, bars slightly bent. aside from being covered in deer hair, thats all i can find for now. will have to see how it does when i can ride it.
i went back to the scene of the accident today. scared me to see gouges in the pavement 40 yds long where it slid on the left side. blown away at the lack of damage the bike suffered. seriously, from 10 yards, noone could tell there was a crash.
as for me, i'm healing quickly. i suppose a life of clean living will do that. still sore all over my back and ribs. the collarbone, tho very tender, has fused already. no more 'scrapey scrape OOOOWWWWWW' when i turn my head. abdominal swelling is getting better, as well. hv a bit of mobility in my L arm now. here's to having a good family, mark