On September 15, I "t-boned" a pick-up truck that pulled in front of me. He never saw me and I was 20 feet from him when he pulled out. This was 0730 in the morning on my way to work. I went over handle bars, flipped over hood of his truck and landed about 20 feet from impact on my back. Never blacked out. Some might say I was lucky, I say I was blessed. Ended up with broken left ankle and fractured right knee cap. Minimum road rash. Operated on ankle, plate and screws and placed right leg in straight splint. Two weeks in hospital and re-hab. Have been in wheel chair, walker with cast and straight leg brace since then but just got air cast and can now flex right leg. Start re-hab next week. Anyway have had plenty of time to think and am now well on my way to recovery and getting on my Dyna, probably in the spring. (By the way my 2003 Road King was totaled).Thought I would share some lesson's learned and see if anyone has others:

1. DOT HELMET PROBABLY SAVED MY LIFE. Was wearing 7 year old Harley half helmet. It has large indentation on back where my head bounced on the pavement. No headaches and did not black out. I'm all for freedom of choice to wear or not to wear but I will choose to wear after this.

2. CARRY MORE INSURANCE THAN THE MINIMUM BECAUSE THE OTHER GUY WILL PROBABLY ONLY HAVE THE MINIMUM AND WILL HAVE NO ASSETS. Yep, this guy was carrying the minimum liability for Texas. Lucky for me I was covered for 300/500K. It's a good feeling to know your insurance has your back. I have USAA and he has Farmer's.

3. YOU CAN BE THE BEST RIDER IN THE WORLD, YOU CAN SCAN, LOOK FOR ESCAPE ROUTES, BUT.......!!

4. HIT THE GYM TO STAY IN SHAPE. I am gym rat even at my age and in good shape from lifting. MD's told me that if not for this and the muscles absorbing some of the impact more injury might have happened.

5. WEAR BOOTS AND MORE THAN JEANS/TEE SHIRT. I was wearing Ariat's, jeans and polo shirt ....really having to think this one through especially in Florida summer.

6. MAYBE THE ROAD KING WAS BETTER TO BE ON THAN MY DYNA. Have been thinking it took more of the impact??

 

Glad you're gonna be OK man.I don't think it made a difference what kind of bike you were on.I think you hit that truck in the right spot to survive the crash(the hood).I had a buddy that hit a truck that turned in front of him and he hit behind the passenger door,launched into the toolbox.He was DOA at the hospital.Vaulting over the hood probably saved your life.

 

Glad to hear you are healing. I was in almost the identical t-bone crash with a pickup truck as you back in 2004. I flew over the handlebars, breaking the windshield off with my upper abdomen as I went over. Did a superman as I flew through the air and landed face down using my hands to break my fall. I was not wearing a helmet at the time.

Some things I changed since the accident:

1. I now wear a helmet
2. I always wear kevlar lined jeans
3. I always assume that anyone at an intersection can not see me. I thought I always rode like I was invisible before, but I learned that I did it half-***. I really do it now. Guess I got a little complacent after 30 years of accident free riding. DON'T GET COMPLACENT LIKE I DID.

 

glad to hear you are on the mend, the missus and I took a bad spill a year ago. It has taken over a year to feel back to almost normal. You are right, you have a lot of time to go over and over the accident, what happened and what could have happened. We are back to riding and hope you will be up and riding again soon.

 

bama6977, hope everything heals up for you.
As you know, the older you get, the old bones don't respond very fast.

Mine didn't.

Good luck man.

 

One thing good about your accident.....your able to write about it!!

 

I just increased my uninsured/underinsured coverage after reading a news article about people driving with no insurance or just minimum liability. The article said that presently; approximately one third of the vehicles in this country are under inured or have no insurance at all. The article blamed the state of the economy. It said when people are struggling to feed the kids, pay the rent and put gas in the car; auto insurance is considered a luxury.

Maybe this is the reason we are seeing so many auto insurance ads on TV.

Jim

 

I hope you have a complete recovery and are back on the road soon!

Maybe it did.

I know first hand that it sometimes *can* make a difference what kind of bike your on. In April 1995 I had a similar accident as bama. Only the Suburban "T-boned" me, he pulled out from the right and broadsided me, perfectly. The bike and I were punched across the lane into the low median where the bike and I separated. Except for internal bleeding and some nasty looking bruises I was OK and just spent two days in the hospital. My new 1995 BMW R1100GS was destroyed but it is what saved me. The Suburban's bumper did not crush my right leg against the bike because the right (opposed) cylinder and hard luggage bag took the impact. The right cylinder, with its exhaust header still attached, was found 100' down the road, and the right saddle bag and its contents were in pieces. The investigating policeman told me in almost 30 years he'd never seen a motorcycle accident that bad with the rider still alive!
Certainly bikes with crash bars and hard luggage should be more protective in slide-outs. I doubt my FLHT's front crash bar could have offered quite the same protection as the BMW's cylinder but the FL's rear bar and hard bag would help at least as much as the BMW's bag.

 

Glad to hear your getting better. Thanks for the insight on the crash. That was good information.

 

Glad your doing well Bama6977! In michigan, wearing a helmet is the law, but since my accident, I upgraded to a full face.

Can't wait unitl my leg is healed to get out and ride. ...it's been 15 months since I got creamed by a 19 year old girl.

Stay healthy.