August 4th my wife and I were hit by a driver with no insurance, no plates and a suspended drivers license. He was in a big hurry to get somewhere and ran a stop sign and according to the Police report his estimated speed at the time of impact was around 60 MPH, he never even bothered to hit his brakes. It TOTALED my 2001 Durango.Some of you may know I had surgery on my neckon June 28th where they removed a disk and replaced it with a bone chip and then screwed the 6th and 7th vertabra together with a metal plate. We were hit so hard in the SIDE that it actually moved the bone chip, and they may have to go back in to straighten it out.You might say this has nothing to do with Harleys so why am I writing this here.... Well, we actually started to take the bike, but she asked if we could possibly pick up a couple of new lawn chairs, so we took the Durango.

I rode a couple of times after the accident mainly because I had no other method of transportation. I found myself damn near riding the brake lever as I was watching cars come to stop signs, lights and even comming out of a driveway. Honestly it scared the hell out of me while I was riding.

I am currious to see what some of you have to say about me thinking about selling the bikes. I know some of you have been involved in accidents so any insite on how you recover from your fear of getting hit again will be greatly appreciated. I have had a few buddies tell me to just put them up and bring them back out next year, and Ill be fine. As for my wife....... She told me she will NEVER get on another motorcycle again. I have not told her it bothers me to ride, actually I have tried to get her to go on a ride, but she wont do it. It isnt going to be the same without her, I bought the Ultra Classic because she loved to be a passenger. Any ideas??

 

first of all, let me say im glad you and your wife were nt on the bike at the time, and i can understand why you feel the way ya do, that would affect alot of people that way, i cant say for sure if i would be able do this either, but i guess its like they say, ya gotta get back on the horse as soon as ya can or that fear can grow, what ever you decide to do, goodluck to you and your wife!

 

I feel for you both. After all you've been through it is a personal choice that you seem to have already decided to make. You'll have to take into consideration how your wife feels also and it seems like she's decided that she's had enough. You may want to give it a little time and just consider that just because you got hit in the Durango did not necessarily mean that it would have been exactly the same if you had been on the bike. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks, only you and your wife can make that decision. I wish you all the best.

 

I agree that you need some time off to let the dust settle from the accident. This isn't a macho thing where you have to prove anything to anyone. You need to heal my friend & let nature take its course. There isn't any reason why you can't continue to participate here as many of us will be pulling for you & want to know how matters progress.

 

Back in January on a country two lane road, a guy doing 60mph crossed the center line and basically t-boned my truck. $20k worth of damage to a Dodge HD2500 4x4 pick em up. The front end of his Blazer was literally ripped off (suspension and all, even cracked the rims in half). I'm still going to the doc for injuries I got in that accident.

Long story short, that was one of my favorite riding roads and had taken the scoot along that route many times and had even considered taking it that day. I still flinch coming around a corner and seeing another vehicle heading in the opposite direction.

We all evaluate how much risk we're willing to take, and the way I see it is, I can walk around being scared of everything that might happen, or realize that it's gonna happen regardless of what I do and enjoy the time I have here. When it's my time, it's my time whether it's in the shower or on the scoot.


My truck


His truck

You do what you gotta do, but life doing what you don't love ain't much of a life.

 

Tme, it justtakes time. A lady pulled out in front of me and totaled my bike in 99. I wasn't hurt bad but I was extremely jumpy for a long time. I still am to a degree. I think it's made me a better rider in alot of respects. Don't sell it yet. Take it slow, take your time and give your nerves a chance to settle down a bit. If you think about it, you knew what could happen on the road before your accident. Nothing has changed really. You just think about it more now. It just takes some time.

 

Y'all gotta be the ones making the decisions. I've been down several times over the years, but never another vehicle involved. Plenty of close calls; some so close I could smell what they had for lunch. Way I look at it is if it's my time to go it ain't gonna matter whether I'm on the bike, in a car, or hoofin' it. I'dwager that if you'd take the bike the accident wouldn't have happened. Y'all wouldn't have been in that particular spot at that time. But like I writ, y'all have to be the ones to choose. And y'all only have to be satisfied with your choice; nobody else matters.

Good luck & Godspeed.

 

Excellent advise.

 

Go with your gut feeling, It won't steer you wrong. This ones on you bro............Good Luck

 

My best friend was in a cage accident where 2 teenagers lost their lives (not his fault, teens were drunk and speeding). In the end, he sold his bike and has never ridin again. This is a truely personal choice, but I don't think ANYONE would think badly if you decide not to ride anymore. That being said, when it's your time, it's your time. Sitting in your recliner or lovin life on the back of your ride. The big man has his plan.