Topic: Bronco Bike Bucked me Off today! (Testimonial to helmet and engine guards!)

[smithrelo]

OK, I know you've all been waiting for this...(keep the snickering and laughing down to a low roar,  please!)

Today, up near Red Rocks, Bronco Bike and I took a spill.  Actually, we parted ways!!

Somehow, while fiddling with my camera (this was the FIRST mistake!) and coming to a stop on an incline(2nd mistake!) ...Bronco Bike and I parted ways! 

I had come to a stop, and before I could even realize it, the bike started to go BACKWARDS!  Meanwhile, my right hand is busy fiddling with camera, and when I put my right foot down (NOTE to Linda - no matter how hard you stomp on the shifter lever...it will NOT STOP the Bike)..

anyway, I put my right foot down and there is nothing there...

Somehow, I've managed to get myself stopped on the Crest of the road, and  as bike starts to roll backwards... and fall to right....the next thing I know...I'm  flat on my back, seeing stars and THANK YOU GOD I HAD MY HELMET ON!  Otherwise, you'd probably be crying over comatose Linda in hospital!!  The really scary part is, not less than 4 minutes earlier, we had stopped, and I ALMOST didn't put on my helmet!!! Can you imagine - Linda's brains splattered all over Red Rocks!!

Anyway, my riding buddy, hears the SPLAT of the helmet hitting pavement, and looks to see me laid out and babbling but not making much sense!

Bronco Bike is leaking gas EVERYwhere! and I'm unable to sit up without my head EXPLODING!!

Anyway, I'm OK - Massive Headache, right shoulder bruised, HELMET looks like CR*P -, but BB only has slight scuffs on right handgrip, right foot peg, and plastic covering is broken on right brake lever.    Also tinsy,tiny scuff on rear turn signal.  It appears that the Engine Guard took ALL the shock of the fall- tank is fine, everything else is fine.  Engine Guard has scuffs on bottom...but that's what it's for?  Right??

Anyway, I'll be looking for those "lowering Shocks" for this winters project - Perhaps if I could have gotten right foot down more solid, ...perhaps, if I had not been messing with camera...perhaps if I had a BRAIN!!, things would have worked out better.

Anyway, that's "Linda's Great Adventure" and I sincerely hope NEVER to have one again!

Linda
Trying to appologize to BB - "I'm sooooo sorry!!"...She's sitting in garage, ignoring me!!!!

[Terry in Australia]

Sorry to hear about that Linda, but I'm glad that you're ok. I've got a spare set of lowering blocks for a 750, dunno if they'll fit your bike though? Cheers, Terry.

[Buffo]

glad you  had your helmet on...

did you take any "on the way down pics"?

If you did you should post them. 

Don

[smithrelo]

No, I did not think to take photos- but they would have been extraordinary!

I'm still trying to figure out what happened.  But I do know that bike is going to get lower to the ground, or I'm getting a new bike!

Linda
(Hurting----so BB can take a flying leap  right now!)

[Terry in Australia]

BB can take a flying leap  right now!

What, another one? Ha ha, er, sorry..................... Cheers, Triple S.

[78_SaltLick]

i did that once on a dirt bike. Went up a really steep dirt hill, got to the very crest of it but didtn make it over, started to roll backwards and same as you put the hand brake on but it didnt stop it. I rolled so fast backwards i fell off and the bike and i went rolling down the hill, bike fell on top of me a couple of times then landed in some mud with the throttle stuck full bore open in the mud. Ill never forget that panicked feeling when i realized i was actually rolling out of control backwards. That sucked.

[oldbiker]

Glad you're OK and BB. We can't afford to lose any girls with enough sense to like bikes.

[Raul CB750K1]

Yeah, glad that you can tell the story. I've been through it a couple of time. I've been lucky that I had the right -no pun intended- foot in the right place, as I use to put always the left foot on the ground to stop.

I don't like the looks of crash bars, but your story is another reason for re-thinking about fitting one.

Best regards

Raul

[mcpuffett]

glad to hear you are ok linda and bb, dust yourself down and get back on bb hope you stop hurting soon    mick.

[smithrelo]

Raul and McPuffet-

I'm still hurting...and wondering if I'll ever get on any bike again!  !

I wouldn't be so shook up, except I cannot remember anything beyond looking down, realizing the bike was rolling backwards, and I had NO brake (because of my right hand on camera and right foot looking for the ground!)  I can remember realizing it had rolled about 5 inches backwards...and then nothing else!

I have NO recollection of falling, taking left hand off clutch, ...NOTHING!  That is the problem..I can't quite figure out how I ended up 3 feet from the bike, and I was at a 90 degree angle to the bike, with my head fartherest away from bike. 

NO injuries other than left shoulder road rash (thought my shirt-didn't even tear shirt!)

Anyway, until I can get lowering kit and get it installed, I'm VERY hesitant to even get on it. 

I took time this morning and studied it from one end to the other- everything is fine, nothing scratched except what I initially saw.  AMAZING!

I have not told my DH (who does not ride, and does not LIKE me riding...).  He just doesn't even need to have that worry on his head, right now.

Linda - who is still trying to figure out what happened!
PS - Terry-you are sooooooo cruel- I had that camera out to take photo to send to you....

Here it is!  This was taken about 5 minutes after my fall- you can get a feel for the slope of the rode.  Second photo is of "dinasaur Ridge" near Denver, where 3 different types of dinos walked on a riverbed, and it fossilized!  There is a fossilized egg, but I didn't get photo of it...will get it next time.

[mcpuffett]

you will be ok linda just get back on bb  mick.

[Bob Wessner]

I wouldn't be so shook up, except I cannot remember anything beyond looking down

Linda, I'm sure this is a common response. My first spill many years ago (my fault by the way) was going around an unfamiliar exit ramp too fast at dusk, got off on the shoulder too far in some gravel and that was that. It happened in an instant. The only thing I distinctly recall is my helmeted head bouncing, every other detail is non-existant. These things happen so quickly your mind does not have time to absorb the details. Glad to hear you are OK.

[smithrelo]

Bob,

Thank you for that info, it is soooo helpful. 

I've been wondering for over 24 hours if I'm too old, or too or what, because I cannot remember what happened. 

So, I guess I just have to "dust myself off and get back on the horse" kind of thing!.  (And I have been bucked off of real horses, too!)

Just leary of bike, until I can get lowering shocks - looking at them right now on-line!

Thanks for the advice!

Linda

[Buffo]

I am not saying that your bike is not too tall but maybe you should get a wrist strap for your camera if you dont have one already...

You could also have the seat shaved and thinned a inch or two without comprimising comport on your caboose.

[Terry in Australia]

PS - Terry-you are sooooooo cruel- I had that camera out to take photo to send to you....

Sorry Linda, I really am an insensitive pig!

Geez that's beautiful countryside you've got there, I'll mark Colorado down as another "Must See" destination when I finally make it over to the US, I can almost hear the late, great, John Denver singing "Rocky Mountain High" as I look at those pics, magnificent.

The weather's warming up here now, so as soon as I pay the annual registration fee on my bike (I always let it lapse over winter) I'll go for a blast and send you some pics of the Aussie bush.

Don't give up though, as John Baker rightly points out, we need more ladies who enjoy riding bikes, you're a very rare commodity. Like Raul (one stone) I always stop and put my left foot down, Cheers, Terry.    

[smithrelo]

Buffo (aka:  Cornswaggle III...aka Horny??)  and Terry:

Buffo,errrhh. (Perhaps I should call you Mr. Horny?)   I had it on a strap around my neck!  Soooo Camara is fine, but I have a very strange bruise...in the....midchest.... area!  DH may notice that...hmmm...gotta keep the light off!!

And, if you notice my photo, I've actually had the seat cut down almost 3 inches already....I'm just short! 

Terry, I actually went to the same middle/high school as John!  (He was the dorky kid with stringy blond hair, THICK glasses, and he always sang and played accoustical guitar in our little variety shows!  He was talented, even at 12-13 years old!  AND he was MUCH older than I!!)

BAck to motorcycle stuff:  I'm trying to figure out which lowering shocks to get.  It's confusing, lots of different brands.  I may post a question "what type of shocks to get?? for 550K??" after I've studied up on the different brands.  $$$ is not much of an issue, but I'd like "safe" ones!

Any recommendations?

Linda
Starting to begin to fogive BB...but still hurting!

[Buffo]

I am just glad you didnt crack your cantalope.

[hillbillychoppers]

Glad to hear you're alright, I'll amen the fact that these things happen so fast you never really understand what happened. have you thought about getting one of the lowering kits from JC Whitney, it'll lower the bike 2 1/2" uses your stock shocks, and cost $48, I've got one on my 550, they seem to work good. I noticed your seat, looks nice like that.

Jeff

[cb650]

There is a get back on the horse joke here somewhere.



                               Terry

[GoatBaSS]

Might be none of my business but I think a "check-up" might be in order. Had a friend a while back describe a similar situation after hitting his head on a soccer goal (sans helmet/ while playing soccer). A neuro surgeon friend of mine thinks it is a good idea. Be safe, be confident, but be respectful. L

[smithrelo]

Yes, the old "get back on the horse" joke is appropriate.

Unfortunately, I've had many head injuries, such as - car wreck, golf ball hitting me on course, fall down stairs so I'm aware of some of the things to watch out for.   I did check my eyes for dialation, and the guy I was riding with checked me several times.  Plus we went though the "what day is it, what is your name, how old are you, where are you, etc." routine.

I took tylenol the first day, and didn't sleep until 12 hours after the injury, so think the noggin is OK.

I did get on the bike today and rode it for about 24 miles around my sub division, stopping at LOTS of garage sales.  It was good for me to do that, so I could take it easy, and not challenge my abilities yet.

Yes, I am buying the lowering shocks tonight.  THanks for the info-JC Whitney-I didn't know exactly what to get or where.  I'll go there, and I think once those are on it, I'll be 100% safe(r)!

Thanks for all the advice, and, as I said, that helmet definitely saved me from MAJOR injury - I have check the helmet, the styrofoam is intact, no cracks...is it OK to wear this helmet, or should I get another one?

Linda

[Bob Wessner]

Linda,

My two cents worth, replace the helmet. You may not see the damage and we/you are worth the cost of the helmet. Hang the old one in the garage near where you park your bike as a little reminder of how it saved your bacon. 

[TwoTired]

Thanks for all the advice, and, as I said, that helmet definitely saved me from MAJOR injury - I have check the helmet, the styrofoam is intact, no cracks...is it OK to wear this helmet, or should I get another one?

The styrofoam liner is what compresses to absorb the energy your noggin would receive.  Once compressed, it does NOT spring back and looses some of its ability to aborb impact energy.

If your think there is a chance that the styrofoam in your current helmet has compressed, replace it.
There was an interesting thread on this list about helmets and Snell approval that you might want to peruse if you think you might buy another helmet.
Glad you and bike are okay, (in that order).
Cheers,

[Jonesy]

Depending on the make of the helmet, some manufacturers (I think Arai is one) will inspect it after it's been involved in an impact. (This may only apply to Snell-rated helmets). This way, you know for sure it's OK, but the downside is you could go without it for a few weeks and if it failed the testing, you went without a helmet for a few weeks when you could have bought a new one and been out enjoying your bike. This works OK for someone with a few helmets, but if you only have one, you're probably just as well getting a new one. You don't want to take any chances and it's cheap insurance.

[smithrelo]

I've got another helmet, but this one is NOT my favoriate, so I think I'll go get me another one, I like 3/4 with face shield..I have a full helmet - top of the line, but can't HEAR anything coming up near me on either side.

Thanks for all the info!

Linda