what injuries have you had biking?
Discussion
Had a big one in 1994. Riding a ZZR1100 at under 30mph in Cookham, Berkshire. Prat in a Mondeo came out of a pub car park at a rate of knots, clipped the back wheel of the bike and sent me under a Citroen ZX that was coming the other way.
Right wrist, five ribs, sternum, both patellas, right leg and ankle.
The worst of it was the perpetrator drove off and left me there, none of the witnesses got his number and I was only TPFT insured...
Right wrist, five ribs, sternum, both patellas, right leg and ankle.
The worst of it was the perpetrator drove off and left me there, none of the witnesses got his number and I was only TPFT insured...
Mon Ami Mate said: Had a big one in 1994. Riding a ZZR1100 at under 30mph in Cookham, Berkshire. Prat in a Mondeo came out of a pub car park at a rate of knots, clipped the back wheel of the bike and sent me under a Citroen ZX that was coming the other way.
Right wrist, five ribs, sternum, both patellas, right leg and ankle.
The worst of it was the perpetrator drove off and left me there, none of the witnesses got his number and I was only TPFT insured...
i'll quit my whinging now.Dam unlucky on you.I had a major one in Sept 2000 that ended my biking. Some arse in a Peugeot pulled out of a side turning on me while riding me R1. Pelvis broken in four places, left femur in three, two fractured vertebrae in my spine, fractured sternum and a collapsed lung.
Just glad I was wearing decent gear with armour.
The guy that caused this ended up with 5 pts and a £350 fine. My claim for damages is still on-going.
Was side swiped by a woman queing for lights last year. got a tiny fracture of my left foot, snapped off the foot rest and gear lever, so the boots must have taken a lot of the force, got a nice cheque for £1000 for personal injury. And that was classed as 50/50 blame! Glad I got the legal cover now... took a 8 month fight.
MAM and marlboro - ouch isn't the word.
I've been lucky so far - broken clavicle and stitches in my nose this time (ZX10 front sprocket blah blah) from bouncing down the M5. The excellent people at Gloucester Royal Infirmary A+E were pleased to see the amount of protective gear I was wearing: two-piece armoured leathers, armoured over jacket and motorcross boots. I really rate the boots. I bought them for green-laning (seven year old Alpine Stars) but wear them on the road as well. More protective than the most expensive race boots, IMHO. Not the last word in cool, though.
Incidentally, I think the cut in my nose came from hitting the inside of my lid. I was wearing a flip-top touring design from Shoei at the time. The lack of padding around the cheekbones may have contributed to more fore and aft movement than a conventional full-face design. Also of interest, to raise the chin piece my lid requires two independent buttons to be pressed, one near each visor pivot. I have a friend who is now questioning his lid design which only requires one button press, located under the front of the chin piece. He is concerned that an accident like mine might push the button, with gory consequences.
Perhaps it would useful to have a “recommended protective gear” thread linked to this?
I had already decided to get back into green laning, partly because of the safety improvements from having no oncoming HGVs. I don’t mind breaking my collarbone again, but I don’t fancy being run over afterwards. Has anyone got any nasty off-road stories to blow this theory away?
I've been lucky so far - broken clavicle and stitches in my nose this time (ZX10 front sprocket blah blah) from bouncing down the M5. The excellent people at Gloucester Royal Infirmary A+E were pleased to see the amount of protective gear I was wearing: two-piece armoured leathers, armoured over jacket and motorcross boots. I really rate the boots. I bought them for green-laning (seven year old Alpine Stars) but wear them on the road as well. More protective than the most expensive race boots, IMHO. Not the last word in cool, though.
Incidentally, I think the cut in my nose came from hitting the inside of my lid. I was wearing a flip-top touring design from Shoei at the time. The lack of padding around the cheekbones may have contributed to more fore and aft movement than a conventional full-face design. Also of interest, to raise the chin piece my lid requires two independent buttons to be pressed, one near each visor pivot. I have a friend who is now questioning his lid design which only requires one button press, located under the front of the chin piece. He is concerned that an accident like mine might push the button, with gory consequences.
Perhaps it would useful to have a “recommended protective gear” thread linked to this?
I had already decided to get back into green laning, partly because of the safety improvements from having no oncoming HGVs. I don’t mind breaking my collarbone again, but I don’t fancy being run over afterwards. Has anyone got any nasty off-road stories to blow this theory away?
About 10 years ago I had a nice little highside cracked 2 ribs hitting the road. Crossed the road on my front mounted the grass verge still doing about 50 cleared the hedge and landed in a field. Then the bike landed on my legs and broke one and fractured loads of bones in the other foot(ouch).
Yesterday had the classic of passing the line of stationary traffic checking for indicators as I was approaching a junction on the right. No indicators visible so I carry on and then a large silver wall appears in front of me and bang. Im watching the bike hit the kerb on the other side of the road and thinking shit I'm lying face down on the A3 in front of the oncoming traffic. So I'm up like the proverbial starled rabbit and sitting on the side of the road.
Upshot of it is I'm fine but my left leg is now lots of interesting colours ranging from deep purple to a putrid green all the way from my hip to my toes.
Still The ambulance chaps praised me for my protective kit and the guy on the bike behind me said he was amazed I could walk after what he saw. So at least I have a witness to the fact that the nice lady in the 4WD was not indicating.
Still I,ve got to say that the Lexus RX300 is a pretty flimsy piece of kit judging by the sise of the dent I left in the front wing with my hip and knee.
Also many thanks to whoever it was that invented Kevlar.
>> Edited by tomash on Tuesday 29th April 11:57
Yesterday had the classic of passing the line of stationary traffic checking for indicators as I was approaching a junction on the right. No indicators visible so I carry on and then a large silver wall appears in front of me and bang. Im watching the bike hit the kerb on the other side of the road and thinking shit I'm lying face down on the A3 in front of the oncoming traffic. So I'm up like the proverbial starled rabbit and sitting on the side of the road.
Upshot of it is I'm fine but my left leg is now lots of interesting colours ranging from deep purple to a putrid green all the way from my hip to my toes.
Still The ambulance chaps praised me for my protective kit and the guy on the bike behind me said he was amazed I could walk after what he saw. So at least I have a witness to the fact that the nice lady in the 4WD was not indicating.
Still I,ve got to say that the Lexus RX300 is a pretty flimsy piece of kit judging by the sise of the dent I left in the front wing with my hip and knee.
Also many thanks to whoever it was that invented Kevlar.
>> Edited by tomash on Tuesday 29th April 11:57
s2ooz said: Was side swiped by a woman queing for lights last year. got a tiny fracture of my left foot, snapped off the foot rest and gear lever, so the boots must have taken a lot of the force, got a nice cheque for £1000 for personal injury. And that was classed as 50/50 blame! Glad I got the legal cover now... took a 8 month fight.
Blimey, in my off last year for which I got very mild whiplash, a lightly bruised hip and a tweaked thumb (I hurt myself more skiing!) I was offered £800 and my solicitor said it was too low! Mind you, they accepted liability - I should bloody well hope so, given that she was entering into a no entry road, crossed a lane without looking, and I have three witnesses.
Apparently it looked pretty spectacular even though I didn't hit her
Just to show that size doesn't matter I'm ashamed to say I managed to stuff a 50cc scooter 18 months ago! 
Slid off a BT inspection cover on a bend doing about 50. Snapped my left wrist, dislocating the hand completely (pins and plates out next month), dislocated my right shoulder, broke my right elbow and sprained my right ankle. Tried getting back on a bike but unfortunately it seems to put me off for life so I got the Boxster instead for the fresh air fix!
Slid off a BT inspection cover on a bend doing about 50. Snapped my left wrist, dislocating the hand completely (pins and plates out next month), dislocated my right shoulder, broke my right elbow and sprained my right ankle. Tried getting back on a bike but unfortunately it seems to put me off for life so I got the Boxster instead for the fresh air fix!
Has anyone got any nasty off-road stories to blow this theory away?
Not really, I do a fair amount of motocrossing. The worst type of injuries are lots of broken things but I have never heard of anyone being seriously injury or killed.
The most severe types of injuries are knee/ligament injuries. But you can get these doing any active sport.
So far I have just hurt myself hitting the earth at speed, but you're very well protected with MX gear (full body armour including excellent boots, knees,hips,and full body suit) - but its alway just hurt pride more than anything.
I think the big difference (btwn road and MX) is the speed - you never really get that much speed up compares to the road and obviously you dont't get hit/run over by cars! The most speed is during when you're doing the jumps - 30-60 foot , but even then as long as you manged to land on the bike on inital impact - the suspension will take all the force, and if you thrown after that then its a lot better...
If you're doing more greenlaning/endro type biking then the worst that can happen in my mind is if you are pelting along a lane at 40-50 mph and come off and hit a tree/rock or something - I imagine that's going to be very serious indeed
Rotaree said: Just to show that size doesn't matter I'm ashamed to say I managed to stuff a 50cc scooter 18 months ago!
Just because the engine's only 50ccs doesn't make the tarmac and road furniture any softer. I hope you make a full recovery. I'm new to all this lark (rider of a few months) but I'm already noticing how many incidents occur and also how a very low speed incident can have very painful consequences.
On a related note, London scooter riders continue to amaze me in terms of how they ride and more significantly what is deemed appropriate protective clothing. Typically I see slip on loafers, office trousers and an open face helmet with no eye protection. What the f
k is that about?!!! Steve.
I was offroading in the Atlas mountains 4 weeks ago I come over a crest and hit a rut that everyone else managed to miss. Back wheel decides its going to go perpendicular to the normal, bike hits the deck and i go flying. We were doing about 65mph so they tell me. Rolling down the track i go.
We were in the middle of nowhere, I broke my left shoulder blade (scapula) at the socket(glenoid, nasty injury they tell me), and a partial dislocation, as well as being knocked out for 10-20s and I badly banged my right shoulder too.
Mate following behind me said he thought he was gonna be picking up the pieces. Thank God I didnt hit anything. Had a 2 hr landrover journey to get an X-ray and it was another 9 hrs before i got painkillers, but hey....
Our guide was a Paris Dakar rider. She is quick. Apparently the top riders touch 120mph across the piste. Mental. We were riding Honda XR400's and were almost going flat out at the time in top.
Up til that point i was having a superb time.
I definately reccommend Morocco for offroading though the country is made for it.
I did 20k mile on road in uk last year no accidents.
Three days of offroad riding in 6 months, come off 4 times in total..dont understand it.maybe i should slow down off road. all good fun though(except the fracture)
Got a nice 1st Class flight home via BA through my insurance company though. They flew a nurse out to pick me up. I was gutted when a bloke turned up.
Amazingly it was 2 weeks before the NHS put the arm back in its socket. They were on about taking bone from my hip and putting in in the socket etc and then putting my arm back in its socket, but when i'm on the operating table they put manoeuvre the arm back in its socket and find all is stable, so no need to open me up.
HURRAGH is not the word. Im having physio now, and drove yesterday for the first time since the accident. Not sure when they the docs will let me back on a bike.
Edited to add i am glad i was wearing all the proper gear, armour, boots, helmet knee and elbow pads or it would have been a lot worse.
>> Edited by dimmadan on Tuesday 29th April 21:44
>> Edited by dimmadan on Tuesday 29th April 21:48
We were in the middle of nowhere, I broke my left shoulder blade (scapula) at the socket(glenoid, nasty injury they tell me), and a partial dislocation, as well as being knocked out for 10-20s and I badly banged my right shoulder too.
Mate following behind me said he thought he was gonna be picking up the pieces. Thank God I didnt hit anything. Had a 2 hr landrover journey to get an X-ray and it was another 9 hrs before i got painkillers, but hey....
Our guide was a Paris Dakar rider. She is quick. Apparently the top riders touch 120mph across the piste. Mental. We were riding Honda XR400's and were almost going flat out at the time in top.
Up til that point i was having a superb time.
I definately reccommend Morocco for offroading though the country is made for it.
I did 20k mile on road in uk last year no accidents.
Three days of offroad riding in 6 months, come off 4 times in total..dont understand it.maybe i should slow down off road. all good fun though(except the fracture)
Got a nice 1st Class flight home via BA through my insurance company though. They flew a nurse out to pick me up. I was gutted when a bloke turned up.
Amazingly it was 2 weeks before the NHS put the arm back in its socket. They were on about taking bone from my hip and putting in in the socket etc and then putting my arm back in its socket, but when i'm on the operating table they put manoeuvre the arm back in its socket and find all is stable, so no need to open me up.
HURRAGH is not the word. Im having physio now, and drove yesterday for the first time since the accident. Not sure when they the docs will let me back on a bike.
Edited to add i am glad i was wearing all the proper gear, armour, boots, helmet knee and elbow pads or it would have been a lot worse.
>> Edited by dimmadan on Tuesday 29th April 21:44
>> Edited by dimmadan on Tuesday 29th April 21:48
I managed to high-side a mini moto last week. Doing about 30 and the next thing I know is that I'm rolling down the track at a great rate of knots. Only damage was a few bruises, a sore hand (maybe broken bone) and a severe dent to my ego. I was lying in the middle of the track laughing my head off and the guy who runs it said it was one of the most spectacular crashes he has seen. Good job I was wearing my 2 piece leathers and gloves. Brilliant fun though.
Pegs down on a local roundabout on my daily commute on a TDM850 and a mixture of diesel and black banding saw me surfing facefirst down the road. Fortunately the only injury was a bruised leg.
Next up, travelling along the inside lane on the Chiswick flyover on a Triumph T595, taxi beside me decides to dive into the gap to his left.... which I was in. Smacked straight into me, I went down like a sack of spuds and ended up in the armco. First thought was 'gah, I'm lying on the M4 flyover in rushour traffic!' got up pretty sharpish and my only thought was to get the bike out of the way so I didn't cause a huge tailback ('cos I'm nice like that
). Daft what goes through your head. Lots of witnesses including the cabbies fare who was a lovely lady. She said 'I heard a bang and then saw you tumbling down the road like a rag-doll'.
Extensive bruising and torn knee ligaments. Couldn't walk for a few days and knee swelled up to titanic proportions. Again, good quality kit saved me from a lot worse - two piece leathers with armour, boots, gloves etc. Wrote off bike and got injury compensation (after 18 months!).
Next up, travelling along the inside lane on the Chiswick flyover on a Triumph T595, taxi beside me decides to dive into the gap to his left.... which I was in. Smacked straight into me, I went down like a sack of spuds and ended up in the armco. First thought was 'gah, I'm lying on the M4 flyover in rushour traffic!' got up pretty sharpish and my only thought was to get the bike out of the way so I didn't cause a huge tailback ('cos I'm nice like that
). Daft what goes through your head. Lots of witnesses including the cabbies fare who was a lovely lady. She said 'I heard a bang and then saw you tumbling down the road like a rag-doll'. Extensive bruising and torn knee ligaments. Couldn't walk for a few days and knee swelled up to titanic proportions. Again, good quality kit saved me from a lot worse - two piece leathers with armour, boots, gloves etc. Wrote off bike and got injury compensation (after 18 months!).
Fortunately no serious injuries on an motorcycle, but did far more damage as a teenager on my push bike.
On one occasion got concussion when I lost control on ice (no wussy helmets in those days). Another time I hit a tree (while under the influence of alcohol) and chipped a bone in my foot when the toe clip dug in, it also tore a ligament and punctured a vein. Couldn't walk for a month.
Lesson 1; don't ride and drink.
On one occasion got concussion when I lost control on ice (no wussy helmets in those days). Another time I hit a tree (while under the influence of alcohol) and chipped a bone in my foot when the toe clip dug in, it also tore a ligament and punctured a vein. Couldn't walk for a month.
Lesson 1; don't ride and drink.
Fortunately in 27 years and just over 2 million miles only 1 bad accident when I was taken out by a stolen vehicle which left me in a coma for 4 months. Legacy is a crippled left leg which will require amputation within the next three or four years and associated back problems, but it hasn't stopped me riding.
t-c said: Fortunately in 27 years and just over 2 million miles only 1 bad accident when I was taken out by a stolen vehicle which left me in a coma for 4 months. Legacy is a crippled left leg which will require amputation within the next three or four years and associated back problems, but it hasn't stopped me riding.
Sir you have balls of steel
havent had an off yet , Had a few nears worst being on sandbanks roundabout by the carpark where i got the ZX6 fully sideways off the roundabout then it decided to up its front wheel
must have looked good to the yoof's in the car park but i was bricking !!! with biking its not if your going to have an accident but when .
t-c said: Fortunately in 27 years and just over 2 million miles only 1 bad accident when I was taken out by a stolen vehicle which left me in a coma for 4 months. Legacy is a crippled left leg which will require amputation within the next three or four years and associated back problems, but it hasn't stopped me riding.
T C,I'm stunned,it sounds like my worst nightmare.A PH bravery medal indeed should there be such a thing!
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff