Should not have ridden with out a proper test ride

Here is what I email my coworkers a month and 2 weeks ago;

Hi everybody,



I plan on being back to work as of Tuesday (Doctor released me for Monday but, that is the holiday). I had 6 broken ribs on the back left side, and various other injuries but as much as I am better, my 8 year old son is stronger than me for the moment.



Question and answers!



Q; What happened?

A; I installed a different carburetor on the Harley for more power and had only tested it around the block and it worked really well. I decided to take the motorcycle to work Saturday and left with plenty of time stop by the local shop and talk to the guy about dyno tuning. As soon as I reached the freeway the motor would serge with high power then no power as if full throttle then no throttle, I was pissed but decided that I would drop the bike off at the shop and get a ride in from there. At the Del La Cruz exit from 101 towards Central during the turn, the power dropped and as I compensated for the drop in power in the turn, the power hit and completely ruined the new line in the turn. I am pretty sure the rear tire hit the end of the divide for the turn. The damage on the motorcycle does not paint a clear picture of what happened. I am kind of under the impression that the bike flipped and I was still attached to it and/or it landed on me.

There are scrapes on the dash(how did that happen unless the bike was upside down), left mirror and front turn light broken, scratches on the clutch handle, saddle bag and left highway bar bent. Somehow during the wreck, I managed to pull the left handgrip off.



After the wreck, I gathered my stuff from the road, picked up the motorcycle and after a policeman checked my drivers license and insurance, drove to the motorcycle shop to have the requested work done. It was an act of pure will.



Q; How bad were you damaged?

A; Well six ribs is a starter and pretty important, they had me in the cardiac ward for 3 days because they noticed bleeding into the chest cavity and were concerned the pressure would stop my heart. As the injuries set in the next couple days and they asked me to get out of bed, I found that my left hand was an open hook, I could lift no portion of my left arm, and fingers and wrist were just starting to swell. My glove was torn and the watch ripped a hole in my arm and many small cuts and bruises when it dug into the road and finally broke off. My hip, thigh, knee, calf, and ankle all had mussel damage. I had to use a walker to keep from falling down for a week after I came home. Over 2 weeks I was unable to do almost anything for myself, and even now a lot of normal things that are part of taking care of yourself are harder for me. Everyday I am getting better.



Q; Who took care of you?

A; Well, first the cop asked if I am sure I did not want an ambulance, I said no. Second, the guys at the bike shop convinced me to go to the doctors. Third, my buddy Ray picked me up from the bike shop and took me to Kaiser and stayed with me for the next 12 hours, only calling my wife after the doctor said that I would not be coming home and has been by a lot to check on me and he and his son mowed the front yard and planted a couple plants for me. Fourth, the folks at Kaiser took good care of me once they got me to a bed, they were a bit whiny about how I should have called and ambulance because they do not have a trauma center but, once they got past that they were cool and took very good care of me. Fifth, my wife, for all the reasons that she had to be annoying about me getting hurt on a motorcycle that she did not approve of, she has been very good to me during this time and I even told her that the last couple of weeks she has been the kind of wife the and man would want. Sixth, my many in laws have been doing every thing from helping me out of bed and feeding me to helping me water the many plants that need water. Seventh; my manager Anita has made sure that employment issues are tidied up worked with my wife to keep me from going completely broke while I healed. Eighth; my buddy Marc has helped me water, split my bee hive into 2 hives, fed me and randomly made sure I was being taken care of well.



Random comments;

It is not clear to me that anyone needs a motorcycle and as for me, I am done with them.

Dieing is not the problem, I feel lucky, not that I lived but, that I lived and I am not crippled or paralyzed. Anyone that knows me well knows that I always have things I am doing. The hard thing about being injured is that I could do nothing. Everyday I normally try to do some kind of task like; mow, pull some weeks, laundry, wash a car, vacuum, mop, work on a car, visit somebody, or anything that needs to be done; I could do none of this.

This has been the longest amount of time that I have not had work from when I was about 14. I used to do some piece work for a locksmith/Harley shop and from there, I always had work even if it was babysitting, mowing, or fixing someone’s car, most time off being 2 weeks. Not working has been the hardest part for me and feels totally unnatural.



I miss you all,

Gregory

And the bike is properly dyno tuned today

So, I go to Hardtailz and the bike is ready, I pay the man and go out to the parking lot and straddle it. The weight feels like my arms might get pulled off. I left it for today. I decided that when I get it back it might as well be as road worthy as possible and requested that they also fix the shifter where it comes off the transmission(it is loose, not yet broken). I sure wanted to ride but, I have flashbacks of the noise that was made as the power hit and then the crash sound when the tire hit the curb, when the helmet hit the pavement, my ribs crunching, with what must have been the bike landing. I want to ride, I am not yet ready, and I know I would be better off not to bother and just stay in a cage.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Glad you are healing well.

I promised myself that the first time my bike sent me to the hospital, if I survived it, the bike was gone. I have just over 4000 miles on mine now since buying it (my first bike of any kind) with only one injury. We were two block from the hospital. I flat out refused to stop at the ER, because of my promise to myself. That was 2 weeks of having her on the road, no way I was giving up that soon. NOW I don't think I could live up to that promise anyway. God will have to take my breath away for good to get me off mine.

Be very careful riding scared. Bad case of nerves seems to make me do stupid jerky moves, brake when I should just ride it out, things like that. I am way new with only 4Kish under my belt and still learning, but I have figured out if I get that uncomfy feeling, just pull over and set it out for a while.

For what its worth - I made the EXACT same mistake on carb work about 29 years ago. Still not certain as to what it was that made it do those symptoms. Surge, die, surge - and that last surge was on hairpin turn. Don't know how I made it through that.

Can anyone carb savvy guess what these symptoms were caused by? I've always wondered...

Sounds like you'll ride again, which I think is good. Let me explain that. Ya see, there are these times in our lives when we either face our fears and deal with them, or we don't and die a little. I'm NOT saying you need to ride before you are recovered enough to be ready for all the challenges of riding. I am saying that you will be a lot better off if you choose to ride again, to face that fear and kick it's ass WHEN YOU ARE READY, than if you choose to say all your riding before was a foolish mistake that you won't repeat. Unless you truly believe that.

I wish you hadn't had had this experience. But you did. When I went down a month or so ago I lamented everything about it except one - I had an opportunity to once again face Fear and defeat it. Not through reckless abandon, but through knowledge and desire. Made me feel proud of myself and more alive when I did get that bike home. Better than dying a little everytime you think of your days in the wind - either as a joy lost or a stupid risk.

Good luck and take it easy.

Thanks

Hi wvak47, I will take that suggestion and pull over when "things do not feel right".

Hi Red Rider, sort of glad I am not the only one to make the mistake with a carb and sure hope no one else has to deal with it. I am sure I will be riding again, it is not a fear thing, and I certainly do not consider my time on a bike foolish or a waste of time. I would not trade some of the good moments on 2 wheel and expect that anything would be, just as good.

"Not through reckless abandon, but through knowledge and desire."
Good quote there, today with the remaining pain it would suck to only be able to ride the Harley. Even if I would be safer in a cage, I will be considering the quality of life and of not enjoying it as much as taking scooter ride here and there.

I am still convinced that the bike landed on top of me.

Keep your spirits up. All of us have that sixth sense, we just have to learn how to use it and to respect it. It's always better to be late for the party than not get there at all. God bless and ride free.

Yes sir drillsarge, sir. I knew better and I felt it was wrong before getting on that day. Dang me for ignoring the sixth sense again. Last summer I have vacation plans and I had a feeling of a pending disaster and it was eating away at me. The night before I was supposed to leave, I even told my coworkers that I felt like calling some one to pick me up. One block away, almost shivering with fear, the light changed, I checked that the intersection was clear and started to go. I checked again and the car that was very far away was almost to the light and still moving very fast. I slammed on the brakes, my right arm under the steering wheel and the guy flew into the intersection past me and hit the car next to mine and including the guys car totaled 3 cars and damaged 2 others. The next day I found out that I pulled my bicep mussel and that is how I got injured in an accident that I avoided.

Thanks for the encouragement cowboy, does it make you wonder if we really should have 2 carbs and maybe the shetty would not be so shetty? My road rash one the left knee was about 2'' X 3" X 1/4" and that was the worst external injury. Ok, I will wait a little longer to ride, my buddy rode it home yesterday and I was so tempted.
Today, a planter bucket with dirt, water and a small plant felt heaver than a 15 gallon one with a big tree normally feels, I have a way to go to recovery. See my interest for why I use that reference. If anybody in CA needs a guava tree, let me know, I make many of them.

Happy Fourth of July! All.
On Monday my son and grandson are rideing west from Maryland to Colorado. We plan to tour Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and maybe New Mexico.

Several posts on this Thread refer to crashes after carburetor work. Please explain the type of work that was done. My Son has just put new jets in the bike that my grandson will be riding. My son rode the bike to work but after reading about your crashes I'm concerned for my grandsons saftety.

Thanks
Ed

I just saw this. I hope you're feeling much better by now. It's been a tough year for many of us, but it sounds like you got hit harder than most. Have you been able to get the bike back yet? Are you riding? How's it going?

Take care.

friend gregory. i feel your pain. i have been down and felt the same desire to ride and the fear of being hurt again. when i was in my early 20's i had a kawasaki 500 triple. it was way to fast and unstable at high speed. by speed i mean 125 plus, high speed wobble. lots of road rash and broken wrist. another time same thing too fast. not as much road rash and broke other wrist. wierd thought, broke off all four turn signals,but didn't break head or tail light. broke collar bone when a cage turned left in front of me. the first crashes were when i was young and stupid. the last because the driver was old an stupid. i'm 52 now and very glad i had the courage too ride again. you know the reasons to ride. let them help you ride again.

Red Rider, My issue with the carb running that way was the needle jet was wrong for my setup.

EPS, In my case anyway proper test rides on a straight away would have showed that I had a problem, more testing and checking spark plugs would be able to tell me where I needed to make my next changes.

Hot01, I had seen your post on being hit. You were beat pretty bad, sorry to hear, I guess it can happen to the best of us. My handle bar is slightly bent, it is annoying. You might find little issues after you get your bike back like that but I hope not.

fxdxriderleo, I am riding, not much or far. I still have pain. Washing the cars and truck was a killer, the straight out use on the left arm hurts like arm hold. I am working out, it is funny how few push ups I can do recently.