I got hit by a car :::UPDATE, CRASH DAMAGE PICTURES:::

[ProfessorRex]

I got hit by a car.  I'm going to be short here because it's a bit hard to type with all the pain killers they have me on. (Edit: the dizzyness subsided so I wrote more)

- Tuesday night, on campus, i was headed south past the entrance to the parking garrage, when a car headed north hooked into the parking lot (no deceleration, no turn indicator, no warning). YEP Left turning car, hit my left side. SOUND FAMILIAR MSF COURSE GRADUATES??? (It's the most common 2 vehicle motorcycle accident)  I've played through it in my head 100's of times, I had no time to react.  He gave no indication that he was going to turn at all!

- My left foot bore the brunt of the impact and was severly crushed.  There are at least 5 fractures, and a "chip" off my heel.  Not to even get into the bruising and massive swelling.  Laying there with my heavy boot all blown apart I though I had lost most of my foot.  It felt like a bag of bloody gravel, on fire, where my foot had been. 

- I was wearing my armored leather jacket, gloves and helmet so thankfully with the exception of the initial impact I received no further major injury from flying through the air (10+ft) and sliding along the concrete (10+ft) into a curb.  Fieldsheer leathers are AWESOME! I HIGHLY recomend them.  Without that jacket and gloves I surely would have major road rash, a shattered elbow, broken knuckles and god knows what else.  Thank you fieldsheer race jacket, thank you tour master race gloves, you were worth ever cup of ramen noodles! And of course the shoei helmet did it's job wonderfully.

- This all occured about 20ft from where TEMS (Tulane Emergency Medical Services) Parks their ambulance, so they were on the scene instantly, stablized me, and brought me to the hospital.

- They rough set my foot tuesday night and put it in a splint while I wait for an orthopedic surgeon to set it properly and put in several pins,  The earliest the orthopedic surgeon will see me is the 24th because of the severe swelling.  (post katrina I'm just glad that I don't have to drive to another city/state).

- The intense pain prevented me from seeing how bad the vision is, the officer said it wasn't too bad, but there were fairing parts all over the place.  When i see it, I'll post pictures.

-  The driver's statement was that "he didn't see me, he thought I was a streetlight" Or some other B.S. along those lines. (##$#$# YOU #$#$$HOLE, YOU COULD HAVE @#$#@$ KILLED ME!!!) (I removed the curse words as I remembered that some of yall have kids and such)

-  All things considered I'm doing ok, my foot is really bad, but the rest of me is relatively fine.  I'm upset about that perfect vision getting whacked, and really though I don't think I could have done anything to avoid it, he hit me perfectly, 1 second earlier or later, and I would have fallen and walked away.  With how much my family has been freaking out I think this marks the end of motorcycling for me.

- So remeber, ALL THE GEAR ALL THE TIME.  ALL THE GEAR ALL THE TIME.  ALL THE GEAR ALL THE TIME.

- AND, remember those jerks in the cars don't care, don't see, and even if the do see, you don't look like anything worth worrying about.

-Rex

[h2olawyer]

Wow, Rex - some story!  At least bones will eventually heal but still, something nobody should have to endure.  At least you were properly attired or it could have been much worse.

Heal fast & don't make any rash decisions about your motorcycling future until you've had time to reflect on the situation for a while.  Hope you had insurance on the V or at least the jerk who hit you has some cash or assets to convert to cash to pay your medical bills & get that V back into condition - not to mention the extra he should pay for just being an inattentive idiot.

H₂O

[kwells]

Do you think that steel toed boots might have lessened the extent of your foot damage at all?  I was thinking of putting a modulating headlight after reading more than one case of the "I didn't see you at all"  excuse. 

[ProfessorRex]

H2O,
TRUST ME! I'm healing as fast as I can!  I have good insurance on the V, heck I had a 50-100 on the old V that didn't even have a plate or title.  The best part is that the driver is very well insured, the car is registered to his Dad, with a $500,000 policy, and they're from some ritzy NY burb.  Plus my Dad is a lawyer and he does a lot of insurance litigation.  Once I'm healed I should be ok financially.  As far as motorcycling... I'm gonna work on it, I certainly don't want to give it up!  Life isn't the same stumbling around without Vision

Kwells,
Steel toe boots may have made a difference, they certainly couldn't have any negative effects.  In my particular case, he hit the center of my foot.  If he'd hit 4-5 inches further forward he would have hit the engine first, and then steel toes would have made a huge difference.  If I'd had a modulating headlight I think he would seen me and maybe wouldn't have thought I was a streetlight.  The better you dress, the more visible you make yourself, the safer you are.  Personally next time I ride I'll have modulating headlights, running lights, and probably some auxiliary lights set as wide as possible.  And maybe even some flashing led lights or whatever else i can get away with.  I want my bike to look like a goldwing with the full catalog unleased upon it.

:::PARTS:::
I know everyone is chomping at the bit to ask me about the mystical '83 parts.  Don't worry, one of my first thoughts while I was sitting in the hospital was "If they scrap my bike I better be able to get the '83 parts off"  FOR YALL! So don't fret!  IF I can't re-build it, the parts will be offered here.  I certainly won't let them go to waste in a junkyard even if they total the bike.  HOPEFULLY!!! I will not be selling anything, HOPEFULLY I'll have her back on the road.

[h2olawyer]

With all those lights, you'll need to put a loud stereo system on it & blast Tijuana Taxi (Herb Alpert & the TJB) for added effect!  ;D  (No racism meant or implied - merely carrying on an old, outmoded stereotype perhaps insensitively.  Purely in fun!  Besides, I like the song.  :D )

Seriously, headlight modulators are a good idea.  Many states will try to give you a ticket for them, but it is a Federal law that states OK their use.  Problem is, they are meant for daytime operation.  Would make your vision (eyesight) worse to have them modulating at night.  That's where auxilliary lighting comes in.  Will try to find the study, but the conclusion was that a triangle of lights seems to make you the most visible.  The headlight at the top & a pair of driving or fog lights near the tops of the fork sliders.  American Motorcyclist has an ad in the back for a light mount that attaches to the brake caliper mounting area.  Could be an option for 83 front ends.

The dual filiment bulb swap that Lucky figured out would also be a good addition.  I'm considering some LED marker lights for the fairing as one way to increase my visibility.  Clothing & bike color can make a difference as well.  There's a chapter about that in David Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling" that is excellent reading.

Mend Quick!  Hope the V is rebuildable.  (But you'll have to name it either Steve Austin or Jamie Sommers.)

H₂O

[Night Vision]

Is it my imagination, or is this getting worse. Seems like alot of misfortune has struck this riding season.

I have the running lights/blinker conversion and think those who don't, ought to.
Nothing against shorty blinkers, but I want mine sticking out there. I didn't think about the "triangle" effect until H2O mentioned it, but I do have them on the shark fairing mount that is lower than the headlight.

Glad that it wasn't worse for you Rex.....

[ps2/bikevision]

sorry to hear about your wreck rex. i think night vision is right. i have heard of alot of people going down this year, including me. you should be able to buy the bike back even if they total it.

heal fast.

[haunter]

heal up man!  I got lucky by the second or so you are talking about, and it still hut..............glad to hear you are in good spirits atleast

[VinceDee]

wow, I can't believe this, Rex!  :o :o Right after getting your bike  :(

So sorry to hear about your injuries. Man, that's tough. Heal up and get back on the road soon.

But enough about you, let's talk about the important stuff: what about that gorgeous Vision of yours? Crunched? Yikes! Now that's a reason why I'm shedding a few tears right now.  :'( :'( :'( :'(  In fact, I'm gonna go crack open a beer right now in memoriam to your V. May it Rest In Piece (or may it Live On In Pieces on other ROVers bikes, if necessary). ;D

Hope you feel better, soon (clinks beer bottle)

Vince

[kwells]

I found this article on headlight modulators and thought I'd share.  I'm getting this at least on my Sprint since that usually hauls two people.  Then I can move on to the visions.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-technical-articles/modulator.htm

[YellowJacket!]

Actually, what parts can WE help rex with?  Rather than thinking about getting parts from rex, lets think about parts FOR rex.  We all pulled together a few months ago for Brian Matthewson to get him running.

What matters most is that you are OK.  Like H2O said, bones will heal.  

Quote:
YEP Left turning car, hit my left side. SOUND FAMILIAR MSF COURSE GRADUATES??? (It's the most common 2 vehicle motorcycle accident)  I've played through it in my head 100's of times, I had no time to react.  He gave no indication that he was going to turn at all!
End quote

Bad scenario.  the driver was probably on his cell phone too.  Its one of my biggest fears.  The V's brakes arent the best in the world, so you either end up turning into his path to get out of the way or going the opposite and into on-coming traffic (swerve).  It takes a split second to make that decision and hopefully its the right one.

I'm glad you are alive and were not more seriously injured.  I wish you well and a speedy recovery.

David

[glennw]

Rex.... we will see you in Colorado...get well soon!
So Pop's is a lawer...? Go get the dip shit....
Was he tested for anything...?
I live in a big college town...(UCSB) and can confirm most
students can't drive worth a s-it.. Even if they think they can.


Guys...
As for "shorty" blinkers... I'll put my $9.95 dual sport blinker up against the stock low grade 70's "blinkers" anytime.
Get well!
GlennW

[Mutt]

I was hit by a hit-and-run driver at a toll booth. I believe he was drunk. We found him later and he paid dearly to stay out of jail. I did a plea bargain with his lawyer just before the judge was to hear our case. He was in the military (army) and would have been processed out and done jail time. SOOOOO...

in exchange he paid my very minor medical bills and very major bike damage. The insurance adjuster came and looked my bike over before we found the guy. The insurance company replaced scratched and damaged parts from both sides of the bike eventhough it only fell on the right side. I got a brand new bike out of it.

Heal up...and go get em!

Mutt

[ProfessorRex]

I'm going to see the vision tomorrow.  I'll post pictures

[Lucky]

we are collectivly crossing our fingers for ya!!

[ProfessorRex]

Sorry the pictures aren't great, the lighting was bad.

Damage: Frame is bent, engine block may be cracked, gas tank is busted open, fairing is pretty much gone.  It looks like there will be some salvageable '83 parts: risers, carbs, petcock, brakes, shock, and maybe forks. the rear sets might be ok, but I'm not sure, it'll be weeks before I'm well enough to inspect anything.

Before:


After:







The Guys car:



The Location (I'm photoshoping one of these right now to display where the impact was, my trajectory through the air, etc)  Basically I was hit near the entrance sign and slid into the curb near the exit sign.  I think.  It's about 40ft total.

His Point of View:


My Point of View:


Side View:

Here's my left boot:

[h2olawyer]

 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(  >:(  :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

How can you tell the frame is bent?  Difficult to see in the photos.  I'll call first dibs on carbs & fuel sender from tank if / when you decide to scrap.  Hopefully, it can still be salvaged.

Looks like the boot got nearly as rough treatment by the EMTs / hospital ad it did by the idiot's car.  And they look like ostrich, too - almost as sad as the damage to you or the V!

Now for the important stuff - How are you feeling?

H₂O

[Brian Moffet]

Actually, with some of the stuff that's been going by (on ebay and in the swap shop) it looks like the vision might be rebuildable.  We saw an engine a little while ago, a frame is not hard to get, etc...

Perhaps a little costly, but...

[dminor]

Ok KIDS!!!
  Let PReX heal for a week or so. Then let's get him what he needs to get back to riding.
   I was down once for 6 months, my nieghbor gave me the keys to his bike and said, "you won't be right if you don't ride", 1 hour and 50 miles later I was ready for another bike. 600,000 miles later it is time to help another rider who has gone done.
   Give him time and when PRex is ready, be there to help,
Don
PS  The hurt will heal, but the need to ride will not go away unless YOU make it go away. Then you will 2nd guess yourself for the rest of your life. Don't give up just yet. ???

[YellowJacket!]

Oh man, I'm Crying!  It sucks that you just got that beautiful bike and that idiot had to go and destroy it, not to mention bang you up pretty bad too.  I'm glad you are going to be ok and heal, but the bike..the bike.
:'(  :'(  :'(  :'(  :'(

David