Raging Bikeaholic

Well, that was a VERY sucky couple of weeks. I guess I was a little too cocky after my mishap with the deer last year, and needed to be taught some humility.

Right now it appears as though the Wing is totalled, the costs for replacing all the plastic and other bent parts being higher than the Blue Book value.

I had a very embarrassing accident on September 30th on the way to work. Embarrassing to me, because I thought I could ride any motorcycle through any conditions. About a 1/2 mile from home, at about 45-50 mph, in rain and dark, I suddenly encountered a 20-30 yard long stretch of mud/clay on the road (farmer had been harvesting corn, and that was the spot where the trucks left the field). The first indication I had that something was wrong was a violent shaking of the bike with both wheels shuddering and sliding. The back end tried to pass me 3 times and I wrestled it back into line, but the 4th time was the killer, just as I was trying to straighten out the bike again, the front tire hit clean pavement. That sudden gain in traction (loss of sliding) caused the bike to “high side” or throw me off the bike … in front of the bike. The bike and I slid some distance and entered the ditch, and the bike managed to catch me just as I impacted the far side of the ditch. The trunk of the Goldwing connected with my right chest just as I hit the bank and crushed my rib cage (and crushed the trunk as well). The result of that impact was a collapsed lung and 4 fractured ribs, and somehow that force also managed to place 2 small fractures on the INSIDE of the L5 vertebrae. After I managed to stop groaning, I pushed myself out from under the trunk, and sat upright, pulled off my helmet, unzipped my riding suit, got out my cell phone and called 9-1-1. Surprisingly (to me) I don’t remember losing consciousness at all, although I don’t remember hitting the ground from the highside. I have a large bruise from the top of my ribcage down to my hip. But no abrasions as the riding suit did its job.

I spent 3 days flat on my back while they made sure nothing else was wrong … they had me on the heart ward for a day until I managed to convince them the afib was “normal” for me. Once I had the back brace, on day 3, things started to improve quickly. They discharged me to home 7 days after I got there (I think they were tired of me prowling the hallways), and now I’m itching to get back to work and get all this behind me.

I guess the bottom line is that we need to watch out for more than just deer and turkeys … gotta watch for them killer farmers as well.

We took a few pictures of the forlorn bike sitting at the towing yard. Check out “Death of a Goldwing” in the pictures section.