SV650.org - SV650 & Gladius 650 Forum - So then, i have just spent 48 hours in hospital

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viney (Post 2056832)

he stopped, i hit the brakes and down i went clouting the car with my head i reckon, or back, not really sure.

Admited to hospital with brusied lungs and a very sore neck/back. No breaks, or fractures, which is good even after all the xrays and CT scans.

and to rethink my biking carrer for now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fizzwheel (Post 2056870)

No shame it that Viney me old mucka. I think we're all thinking about the reasons why we ride and how we ride to at the mo...

I've been thinking about how I ride since the GMII when I lowsided and had my second accident in less than a year and reading this I thought if you and Fizz are having the same debate with yourselves, maybe the conclusions I have reached on that debate will give food for thought, so I'll post them.

I was pretty lucky to walk out of a field one icy morning last November, rather than be stretchered out by an ambulance crew with internal injuries, and if my textile gear hadn't held up to the barbed wire fence I went through, I'd have had some nasty external ones too (including my male parts if you look at where the rips in my textiles are!).

What I decided on was what I have always said about biking, that I love it so much that crashing is a risk I'm prepared to take. The difference with my latest revaluation is that I now have a wife and kid to think about and that I'm not prepared to take the risk or orphaning them any more that I do by driving the car. So a trip to hospital is a risk I'll take, even a disability in worst case scenario, you can't be put off things you love in life by fear, but doing things that put myself at higher risk of a fatal accident are a no no. With bruising internal and external, no breaks, no punctures, it seems you came out of it OK by those standards.

So my riding has definitely changed and comments such as "You seem quite happy to bimble today? What's wrong?" were made by a couple of folk at the peaks ride-out. I always stick to 30 and 40 limits anyway, but I've decided that just below the ACPO guidelines for a speeding ticket is where I want to ride normally and the guideline for a court appearance is as fast as I really want to go in 50 limits and above. That's not to say that I'll never have a 96mph+ stupid moment again, but I won't be doing it habitually and sitting at the front of the pack in ride-outs as I used to do (and we know what all know speeds the front of the pack habitually reach).

These are the ACPO guidelines http://www.speedlimit.org.uk/faq.html#ACPO

Riding so you can stop in the distance you can see is actually pretty difficult to do unless your down to 15mph in places, but I've decided not to corner faster than the visual limit point (any newbies who don't know what that is PM me and I'll find an old thread on it or start a new one), so even if there is more lean angle to be had and more throttle to be twisted, I'm not doing it if to do so would mean getting any closer to the limit point, I'll hold back.

And otherwise just trying to consciously employ as many road craft techniques as I can, scan and plan, good road positioning, don't overtake near junctions even if it's the only only opportunity you've had for 20 minutes, reading ahead with tree lines, lamposts, following traffic on other roads over the hedges, etc, etc. Any of us can read the book and watch a few DVD's.

I've decided a pre-requisite for my next bike is ABS. From the sounds of it you hit the deck under braking on a wet road and your accident would have been different with ABS.

High on my list of priorities is good fitting leather gear with gore-tex or similar as leather seems to be better than textiles (So T.C taught me something, pity he foxtrot oscar'ed over a bit of a debate) and I've also been looking at Hein-Gericke Oxtan II two piece suit tonight, but I need to find 500 quid! I've also been needing new boots for a while, I'm riding in FT Aqua-boots that are just glorified wellies, so that's another 150 quid for Gore-Tex boots, but I've decided to keep my SV for at least another six months and use the finance payments I'm saving on a new bike to pay for that gear and Hein-Gericke are doing 0% finance so that may be an option.

So that's how I have decided to remove some risk from my riding, and I've been employing it for a few months now, hopefully it's food for thought and it's helpful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiderman (Post 2056896)

Of course if you need any assistance kicking the **** out of the ticket warden, you just let me know mate and i'll happily help out.

Edited for you :D I mean the warden is a :toss:'er. It has to be quite obvious that the bike has just been crashed. Appeal the ticket, mention how they have "adding to your emotional distress" ;) and ask them what corrective training they will be undertaking with the warden to ensure that he is able to spot such situations in future.