[Big Bad Al]

My beloved K4 s has been injured after giving me nearly 11 years of dedicated and safe riding. I was sideswiped - can't think of another way to describe it on friday afternoon riding my usual commute home from Ealing. I was going along at very low speed and had almost gone past a junction when it felt like an express train rammed into the side of me. It is difficult to really piece together what happened as the driver has impacted the rear of the bike tipping me on to her bonnet / windscreen. I was running up to nearly 11 years trouble free until then..... I can only assume the lady driver just didn't stop at the give way sign as she wasn't in my line of site as I went past the junction. Anyhow I've ended up with three broken ribs (how can they be that painful!) and a bruised lung. My head didn't seem to have hit anything, she missed my legs so despite the fact I thought I was going to bleed out and die on a pavement in Ealing, I seem to have been remarkably lucky. Suzy looks poorly and I am awaiting the insurance assessors visit. Should be a bread and butter matter with the insurance if such a thing exists. So on friday night I was thinking, well that was pretty random may be it is time to quit biking. I have ridden from day one with a high viz vest, kept the headlight wiring as set up by Mr Suzuki and tried to ride as I was taught, feeling that after 11 year with my SV, I must be doing something right. I get the usual people puling out at this and similar junctions all the time and it's easy enough to slow down, break / stop if needed. But To get hit like this after almost passing the junction - impact point seems to be my nearside passenger foot hangar, seems to be something you can't lookout for. Two days on and the visit to A&E, with the needles, x-rays scans, tearful family members, having your head strapped to a board and unable to move, seems like it happened to someone else and I don't feel too bothered. Selfish maybe? As I nearly passed out at the side of road and when I did pass out and start shaking, complete with open mouth and rolling eyes in the hospital, (much to the alarm of my family) I was thinking, I really should have a list of practical things my wife needs to do to sort out, like contact numbers for life insurance, salary payments etc.... so maybe I will finally put pen to paper now. Seeing my little 8 year old girl so upset, upset me, but we had a long talk the following day and I explained that I wasn't actually badly hurt just probably in shock and not breathing deeply because of the ribs hurting. So after this long rambling post...... should it be a new SV or Pushbike for me?!