Wow... That sucks..

Get well quick both of ya.

rjp

Todd,

Scary story. It reminded me of the time I almost T-boned a cow but ended up dropping the bike avoiding the "bovine that crossed the road".
The scar on my right knee reminds me of it every now and again and the tendons in that knee kick up a fuss after an hour or so of dancing, but I got off lucky.
As Nader's post above reminds us, it's usually best to let go of the bike when we go down. (Yeah, like I remembered to do that!)

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for you and your girlfriend.
Glad you're still with us.

Les

That is a scary story. It's good to read that you are mostly okay. I had heard that your feet take a beating in "get offs" from a friend who has done many. I would not have thought so but, after 4 various track oops moments this season my SIDI's are looking pretty hammered too.
Lesson; wear good gear, head to toe.
I hope you can get back on two wheels, but if not heal up and get on with enjoying life.

I have to say Nostatus that I have kept my fingers crossed for U as well. U made a coupla long rides to SF and LV without mishap., and on those I was worried about U.

I am glad U came to the conclusion to give it up. Life is short enough without taking the additional RISK. Your not invunerable Buddy...as U just found out.

I'm glad you made the ATGATT comment, as I was thinking pretty much the same thing, but thought it would be tasteless to mention it in a reply to your initial post. In a way, its amazing that you went down at 65 mph and had relatively minor injuries-even more amazing that they would have been, probably, non-injuries, if you had real gear on.

Putting leathers on is a pain, particularly if your ride begins and ends somewhere other than home or work, but I won't take the bike without it.

I'm not sure when the free horror movie stops-I witnessed a pretty horrific bicycle crash in front of me 2 months ago, and I get flashbacks every so often still.

Gee, Todd, you do seem to be prone to hitting things on the 405 . . . (I think it was the same fwy last time?)

Sounds like you two got off reasonably lightly, considering the alternatives. Get well soon!

nostatic,

Most importantly, glad to hear you and the GF are relatively OK. What a potentially horrific experience. Don't beat yourself up over it too much--what's happened has happened. But from one (Duc) rider to another, is there anything you could have done differently to have avoided the accident? Any insight or lessons you could share?

Hope you and the GF heal up quickly. Sorry 'bout the MTS.

Man that is one scary way to end a ride. All things considered you got out of it pertty well. It blows me away that all the cagers don't have the decency to stay away from the wreck. Hell a couple of them might even have considered stopping. The truck hitting the bike and turning it into a spectacular explosion is just too much.

Heal well. there isn't much you could have done different in this case. Even if you had better gear it would have still caused you a lot of pain.

Wow! I'm glad you are OK...I can't imagine laying it down at that speed and having that good of an outcome with what you were wearing. Hope you heal up soon.

Pleased to hear you are not dead.

From how you describe it, you took the skin off the top of your foot, be glad you were wearing boots. That is a particularly difficult area to heal, not a lot between the tendons and the skin, makes for a sparse wound bed. Whatever you do, don't "Let it air out", you want a moist wound bed, 100% of the cells doing the repair work are swimming, it will heal much faster kept moist. I personally don't like xeroform(vaseline)gauze. Telfa pads will work well for it, use liquid antibacterial soap to clean it, bacitracin cream(avoid neosporin ointment, too greasy, tends to cause maceration) and I have been seeing a lot of hypersensitivity reactions when people use it for very long.

Everytime I look at these bike threads on here I almost end up at the local Duc dealer. I want a bike so bad and have resisted fro 20 years now. What usually stops me if hearing about a friend one someone I knew getting killed.

I am glad your OK Todd. That was a scary story. I sat with my mouth hanging open reading it. It could have been a lot worse.

Good luck with your recovery.

I used to ride quite a bit years ago. I've had thoughts about getting back into it in recent years. I lost a friend a month ago on his bike. I survived a bad Porsche wreck years ago. I think I'll sit tight.
Todd, I've been reading your posts for years here. I just want you to know I'm glad you're not a statistic, and that you , and your gal are very lucky to not be injured worse than you are.
Best wishes for a speedy,and full recovery for you both.

Will

Wow, what a story and glad you're still around to share it. It could have been so much worse. Hope you both heal up quickly.

Glad to hear you and your g/f are basically okay. What a miserable experience! Get well, Todd.

Congrats on not being severely injured. "Xeroform" gauze is the yellow stuff, orthopedic docs use it the most, with plastic surgeons a close second. One of the active ingredients is bismuth which promotes sterility and healing.


Good to hear you will heal. I had a small slow speed accident that cut my leg just enough to send me to buy a pair of Vanson leather riding pants to match my Hein Gericke bike jacket. Paid off a couple of times. I wore armored boots as well.

You guys are lucky, and glad you are okay.

Michael

You guys are lucky, and glad you are okay.

Michael

You guys are lucky, and glad you are okay.

Michael

Man, I'm glad you are both OK. I tend to ride LD and what happened to you is my worst fear.

That you both walked away means you did a great job handling the crisis - there is no "what if" about it.

Take care of yourselves and heal quickly.

Mitch

Swift healing Todd. Take care and keep to four wheelers in the future. This is why I wouldn´t spend one single minute on a motorcycle. Its just too dangerous.

Mitch is right...your experience and amount of "seat time" surely made the difference in your accident, in both seeing the animal and reacting to the impact.

There is no, "what if" about it.

All the best.

Todd, I'm very glad to hear you are both okay. You have a lot of friends on this BBS - most of whom you've never met. And I am sure we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when you said no-one was seriously harmed!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to you and your girlfriend Todd.


Jim

Sorry to hear Todd, glad to hear you and g/f are on the way to recovery ...

Get well soon

:eek:

Frightful event!, Todd. 'Sure got *my* attention.

I would guess that you feel both out-gunned and smiled upon by the Universe, considering...
going down at 65 mph...
on asphalt...
in traffic...
at night...
w/minimum gear.
I sure would.
That could have been soooo much worse!

"When you lose, don't lose the lesson."
Heal quickly and well...both within and without.

Best,
.
.
ps Thanks for the medical info, Tobra.

there's a reason I walk with a slight limp.

Heal fast.

Wow Todd, I'm so sorry, but glad to hear your OK. Like Speeder, I'll PM you my cell # if you need take out, a ride somewhere, just let me know. 31 years ago, I got t-boned by a Taxi in Boston and it shoved the right handle bar into my scrotum and it came out just below my navel. Lost my right nut, and a couple of feet of intestine. I was out of it, and don't remember, but I was taken to a catholic teaching hospital associated with Harvard, I'm told I was giiven the last rites. Also told I'd never have kids, I have two of my own thank you very much. Any way, get well soon.

For lessons learned, the only thing I could have done differently would have been to have my proper bike pants on (and had some for the g/f too). My boots were Triumph bike boots, but in retrospect I don't think I'd ride in anything but Sidis. I knew I was taking a risk with the pants, but I didn't want to be more geared up than my g/f...stupid maybe but if I had been wearing all my stuff and got away scott free and she had a ton of road rash I couldn't have lived with that. Again, in retrospect, I should have bought her pants and boots and had her head to toe also. Lessons learned, but in this case I got the worst of it so at least I owned the lesson. Hey, I make plenty of mistakes in life and will continue to. The key is not making the same ones over and over again.

As for the actual accident, I don't know that there was anything I could have done differently. Believe me I've run it through my head a thousand times already. But I was doing 65mph at night on a stretch that didn't have great lighting. The coyote bolted from the shoulder of the freeway running a straight line towards the center divide. By the time I saw him in my peripheral vision he was on me. I didn't have target fixation...he didn't stop in front of me. I was steering straight and I broadsided him at a full run. Just very bad luck. And amazingly GOOD luck on everything that happened afterwards. I know we've had the god/no god argument many times, and I've always maintained that I believe there is a higher power and She looks out for me from time to time. This is one of those times. At least that's my take on it. And that's the only one that counts.

I sat there reading the first post with my jaw falling further and further open each line I read.

You're in teh situation, you know whats the best take on it. Don't second guess yourself, what is now is what will be. Unless you wanted to stay home that night or drive a 4 wheeler, there's nothing else you could have done.

All the best to you and your girlfriend, speedy recovery.

DAYAMN. Sorry to read this, though I'm certainly glad it wasn't worse.

I've been spooked about riding since my son was born. Only made a few trips so far, and never at night. I've always hated night riding.

Again, sounds like things could've been much much worse...I'm glad they're not!

Yes, we all know that riding motorcycles is inherently dangerous...made more so by being surprised as you were (coyote)...made even more so by wearing minimum gear.

Not "...stupid...", IMO. I've done the same (as an adult, I've always worn a helmet/gear).
I'd give my helmet - and gloves - to my passenger...same reasoning - I'd feel horrible is she/he came out in worse condition than I.

Your vote was cancelled by the Universe via the coyote.
The good news is that you're still around to mull it all over in your mind.
I'm not sure what it would take for me to stop riding...hopefully I won't have to find out.
.
Here's another fellow whose vote was cancelled - one of my biggest fears. God help us!
.
http://clip.break.com/dnet/media/content/deervsmoto5.wmv

:eek:

In CA I'm surprised that the CHP didn't cite you for killing a Coyote without a permit. Poor Wiley no more Road Runners for him. No body has said a word about the poor Coyote, it lost far more than Nostatus or his GF did... it lost everything, it lost its life.

...the She is cool, as long as YOU are. Your take is what it is; valid, from my point of view.

Without her, from time to time, I'm a dot...

Re: the coyote

I feel as bad as most anyone for the coyote, but damn, wtf was he thinking? Most plain old dogs have more street sense than that. There are at least five lanes he would've had to clear just to get to the center divider. His chances were not good. Not good at all.

Maybe he just helped cleanse the Coyote Gene pool of some stupidity.

I do feel bad for him though. The impact couldn't have felt good.

Todd, are you feeling a little better today? Get well soon buddy.

well, if its any consolation, I think it was an "instant kill". As best as I can tell, my front wheel hit him right in the head or torso and crushed him fast. I saw the CHP officer pick it up and drag it off the road, and it was lying right to the edge of the #2 lane...pretty much where the impact was. It didn't wander around and die slowly...

I feel sorry for the wild life. We have encroached on all of *their* land, and they don't have much of a choice. When it is really hot sometimes they'll come out of the hills looking for water and/or food. When I lived in Pasadena I'd see them on my street every once in awhile...and I was a good 10 minutes from the foothills. We'd see them on the gold course at the Rose Bowl all the time, usually walking up and down the flood control channels.

My body is sore today and I'm noticing some new aches here and there. But the knee isn't throbbing as bad. I changed the dressing this morning and it was ugly but didn't look too bad. Sent email to a colleague who is head of plastic surgery at USC asking for a consult or referral. I'm still very hobbled (can't lift the left leg...just hurts too much) and can slowly get around with crutches. Main thing I'm worried about is infection but I've been on anibiotics since the accident and hopefully I'll get lucky and avoid staph. Rehab will suck, but it would be worse if I had broken bones in the knee. I don't think I can drive a clutch for awhile though...I'm going to either swap cars with the ex or rent an econo box. And who knows, if I really messed it up maybe I'll have to sell the SC and get a tip :p

Well, we nearly did this to a homeless guy last night with the X5. He stepped out in front of us on I-10 and I had to swerve right to avoid him. The VW behind me nearly hit him as well.

Don't keep kicking yourself. $HIT happens!

Hush there Tabby, me and Mrs. Coyote are planning our revenge.

Have hit one myself....on a dirt field. He spun around and almost bit my nose.

Scary business - best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Geez!
 

Todd! Sorry I haven't been on here for a few days, just got back from a bike road trip 1277 miles in 3 days again...

Sorry to hear about the Duc, especially after all you have been thru with it.

Get you and the GF well. Call if I can help. You have the number.

Wow Todd, I just read this. From a fellow rider - holy *****; am I glad to see you two are relatively alright. Take it easy and take the time you need to heal; us old bikers don't mend as fast as we used to. The truck taking out the bike is the scariest part; damn good thing you had parted company with it. I have been down on the freeway in heavy traffic in the past; all you can think about is the relative safety of that shoulder and getting the hell out of the way. Way to focus and keep your head there Todd; too many get hurt trying to save their bike. Drivers are in such a hurry; a dangerous combination of cluelessness, selfishness, and aggression; it's like a bad sequel to The Road Warrior out there. You are indeed a lucky man. Take care buddy, and I hope you heal up soon.