In comparison to having $20k invested in a bike and a wicked insurance premium - ahhh yes - no big cost. Please also note - I use the term 'invested' loosely
Whorem Fore
In comparison to having $20k invested in a bike and a wicked insurance premium - ahhh yes - no big cost. Please also note - I use the term 'invested' loosely
Forum whore
Oh Man!!
I remember all these feelings so well.
I've just come back to riding after 10 years (haven't done much lately but that's another story) off.
I had an RC30 that I absolutely adored and as well as being quick and handling beautifully it was very comfortable and I went all over the country on it.
To cut a long story short I got taken out by a 75 year old who'd had a couple of wines at a mate's place in Picton, and hadn't bothered to turn his headlights on (9:30pm), or stop at the stop sign at the end of the mate's road, or check for traffic before he pulled out.
I was in a 50kph zone and according to the TO (this happened the same weekend the Traffic Officers turned in Poolice) who attended I was going much slower than that when I hit his fender and flew over the bonnet. I would have been OK at this point if the stupid old sh_t hadn't run me over twice as he tried to get away. He broke 2 vertebrae in my neck, two in my thoracic spine, gave me a wicked whiplash injury the ENTIRE length of my spine ( tore muscles, tendons, and compressed 30% of the "disks" in my intravertebral spaces.) separated my righ shoulder and gave me a concussion that left me with post-concussion syndrome that I still battle to this day (lack of concentration, lack of motivation, debilitating migraines, and emotional perception issues - loses temper easily in other words).
I was resuscitated 7 times between the accident site and Blenheim hospital and spent 4 days strapped to a board waiting for the bone doctor to fly up from Christchurch to assess me. He'd been operating on someone for 17 hours before he saw me and misdiagnosed the spinal fractures and sent me home. I collapsed frequently at work over the next 3 months and ended up having a correct but too late diagnosis from a Wellington doctor. I spent the next 6 months on ACC having physio and occupational therapy, and psychiatric help for the post concussion syndrome.
My point is that life is precious and wkid has a very valid point also. I still value my ability to walk, play drums, and be with my family. It's taken 9 years for my wife and I to have 2 children, but in the spirit of that "which does not kill makes me stronger" we've perservered and succeeded. I now have a wife and two small children to come home to and this tempers my approach to everything I do when riding a bike. I ride very differently now to how I did then and try to go on rides with at least one other mate.
I bought an old CBR600 from a mate for a small sum and spent the next 8 months riding every weekend and sometimes to work. I visited my dying grandmother in hospital in Tauranga and my grandfather frequently since then. The bike is much cheaper to travel on and a hell of a lot more fun. Hoever the CBR is so old that I wonder what's going to break next so I've parked it and am looking for a newer bike for my own piece of mind.
Wkid - you are most definitely allowed to make your decision. I think that you've evaluated you situation correctly and taken the intelligent approach. You may come back to it one day and if you do get another bike I guarantee that you'll have a different outlook, a greater level of maturity, and different reasons for riding.
Best of luck and remember that you are the only one qualified to make decisions on your behalf. Be proud that you can make a principled stand. Most of all be happy and enjoy your journey.
Jim2
Forum whore
You don't mention what happened to the driver who hit you - so I presume he was fined $5000,had to pay all your medical bills and loss of earnings and has now lost his license forever,never to be able to drive again.Or else you drive past a clump of lush growing trees with a small smile.
In and out of jobs, running free
Waging war with society
Forum whore
HeheOriginally posted by Motu
You don't mention what happened to the driver who hit you - so I presume he was fined $5000,had to pay all your medical bills and loss of earnings and has now lost his license forever,never to be able to drive again.Or else you drive past a clump of lush growing trees with a small smile.
He was fined $600 and disqualified for a month.
Justice!! I was a stinky biker after all
Jim2
Easy Biker
Wkid on my sojourn into Sawyers at about 11.30am today was that your R1 on the footpath? - kinda stripped and from the packaging on it looked like its just returned from the chassis straighteners.
Cheers
Merv
I"M WAtchin YOU Buddy ...
Hey Jim ... I wasn't going to read your post coz I thought it might be a bit windy and know it all (definitely not saying u have a rep for that or that I think that way about you ) hmmmm ... anyway ... just how big IS that hole I'm digging?
Where was I ... oh yeah ... coz it looked big , I wasn't going to read it. BUT once I started, I had to finish. And I gotta say its one of the most intelligent sounding posts I've read so far.
Now I'm not saying other posts on here AREN'T intelligent ... I'm just saying ...
awww heck ... I'm going to jump in my hole now ... someone bury me... please.
THe hand's farster than the eye ... keepan eye onda feet .. .
Forum whore
Originally Posted by wari
LOL!!
And thanks.
I also enjoy digging holes. Check some of my other posts.
Whorem Fore
Na - not mine - it is just waiting on a couple of parts from Yam NZ - then it is ready to be sold.....the frame was unscathed as was the swing arm. All and all the damage was negigible thanks to the crash bungs.....just some fairing scrapes etc
Work? I want to go ride!
how do crash bungs prevent high side damage anyway? I figured they were good for a low side at best but that'd be it.
Whorem Fore
Took the initial impact when the bike flicked over and broke - disipated the energy and prevented the fairing from being smashed to bits. Plus - they protected the frame from being scratched (along with the pick up bobbins on the swingarm).
Ps - saw the R1 back from the Straighteners - older model with the silver frame
Would have worked perfectly in your off CK
Work? I want to go ride!
yes... yes, they would have. Funnily enough, that thought was RATHER prevalent in my mind as I kicked my own butt back into the garage after dumping it!
'some people gotta learn the hard way' - DC Talk
(How true)
Whorem Fore
CK- that is exactly how I decided to get them for the R1. Doing a u-turn - steering lock was considerably less than the VTR and hit the stops, bike dove and luckily I caught it. They were well worth the investment.yes... yes, they would have. Funnily enough, that thought was RATHER prevalent in my mind as I kicked my own butt back into the garage after dumping it!
'some people gotta learn the hard way' - DC Talk
(How true)
Go to www.motrax.co.uk - took them 4 days to deliver mine and much cheaper than NZ
Work? I want to go ride!
how long are they?? I don't want poofy short mushrooms that only stop the fairing getting completely holed after the paint has been left on the road.
Whorem Fore
Long enuf to lie the bike down without any of it hitting the ground other than the tyres and bungs. Would recommend pick up bobbins as well as they save the swingarm.
Work? I want to go ride!
can you get them off the shelf in NZ or do I need to go online?
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