Wear. Your. Gear.

[ozyran440]

I'm a blessed man.

Let me say it again: I'm a blessed man.

On July 27th, 1:30PM EST, my bike went down. My wife was riding along as a passenger.

Here's how it went. I was riding up Cumberland Blvd in Smyrna, GA after a church service. I was making a legal u-turn to the left, an as I exited the u-turn, I started to accelerate to get up to speed with the traffic that was approaching. As I accelerated, the missus shifted rearward, and she instinctively held tight to me. I shifted with her, and my throttle hand pulled. Hard. The front wheel went up, and as soon as I realized it, I let go of the throttle. That's when things got really, really ugly.

The front wheel came down hard and fast - right on the sidewalk. Then the Versys slammed my wife and I over onto the sidewalk, where I somehow (thankfully) let go of the bike and it slid away from us. My wife landed on top of me (she was holding on tight) on impact and we slid on my left side initially for about 10 feet. She rolled off of me onto her back, and I continued to slide on my right side. Finally, I stopped, with her about 5 feet from me to my left.

I sat up, dazed, and then stood up, feeling light-headed and woozy. My wife was conscious as well. By this time someone had stopped and called the police, who responded within about 10 minutes, followed by the fire department. My left arm was in great pain and unmovable, but overall, aside from a broken arm, I was ok. My wife also came through ok, since she had me as a cushion. She has a pretty good-sized bruise on her left knee, but otherwise is ok. No neck injuries and no head injuries, and we were both conscious as well. My wife has nothing broken anywhere.

So, here I sit typing this up with one hand, with no road rash and an intact body, giving thanks to Jesus that my wife came through almost unharmed and that all I have is a broken arm, scraped up bike, and a bruised ego.

Now, I went with textile, which I thought would be ok. It did the job (and did it well) but I wonder about the real durability of these textiles in an accident. This wasn't a mesh jacket, but I think mesh would have been even worse. So, here they are, the pictures of my gear:
Left knee panel ripped - right knee had split open 2 weeks before the wreck:


Left shoulder and right breast:


Right breast close up:


Left glove (THIS COULD HAVE BEEN MY SKIN!!!):


Right glove:


Helmet (Note that it's where 1/2 and 3/4 helmets DON'T protect - this could have meant a wired jaw):


Boots (These are $99.00 Belleville leather flight deck boots that come a good 4" above the ankle - do flip flops, sneakers, or sandals protect your feet like this?):



I'm here today thanks to Jesus and my gear. Now, think about this: I was going maybe 20 mph when I landed. If I hadn't been wearing all the gear that they cynics, rebels, mockers, and teasers mock me for wearing, would I be typing the day after the crash, with no road rash and minimal pain?

If you're not wearing the gear, you need to look at mine, think about it, and tell me whether or not discomfort is worth walking away with a passenger in good shape and having only a broken bone.

I'm sorry, but I can't stress enough how important this gear is. *EDIT* Nope, not sorry come to think of it.

On the bright side of things, I can't wait to get back on again - this time with full LEATHER, ARMORED gear. This gear was textile and armored, the next set WILL be leather AND armored.

[Box]

Very Glad you are both ok, and thanks for the Graphic lesson.

[Tod]

ATGATT! Learn it, and Live.

Great testimonial! I'm glad to hear your Wife came away relatively unscathed, and you're not too much worse for the experience, sorry about the arm though.

Heal quickly, and get back in the saddle.

[A2rider]

Glad the gear did what it was suppose to.

But what you're really trying to tell us is that the Versys doesn't stunt well with pasengers?

[CheeseHeadNinja]

Wow sounds like a crazy ride

Glad you made it out (relatively) unscathed. When you tell people you crashed doing a wheelie, they'll think you're a squid! Just kidding.

How badly was the Versys damaged?

[anamosity]

Its not loud pipes that saves lives, its the correct gear.
Hang tough buddy, you did good despite the errors.

[Rad032]

Thanks for sharing, glad you and your wife are ok.

[NCDave]

Glad you came through it without too much trouble. Get well quick and get back on the bike. Convince your wife too as well.

Oh....and your typing is really good for a one-hander!

[Svetlana]

Sorry to hear this. Definitely thank your lucky stars and good for you for going atgatt.

[Dgowan]

Wow!! Thanks for sharing, I think we all learn something when someone shares their mishaps.

[Godsdarling]

Ouch! I am glad you two are okay.

[Ronin47]

Glad to see you and your wife come out of that pretty much intact. Yeah, a broken arm sucks...but I do agree, it could have been much MUCH worse. There is just no excuse not to wear your gear when you ride.

[quantumduck]

You know, it was 95 degrees in Reno today, and I still wore my full face helmet, leather jacket with shoulder, back and elbow shields, jeans (haven't gotten chaps or legs yet) and boots.

I wear the gear for my SAFETY, not for comfort. Reading your story and seeing your pictures just hammers that home.

I am very glad you came through okay.

Thank you for your story. It just goes to show, people don't need luck, they need to think and plan ahead. If you plan ahead and think, the luck takes care of itself.

[ozyran440]

You guys made me laugh pretty well.

And yes, I am a squid.....but only the Navy variety though. No intentional wheelies for me

The Versys came out with a bent shift lever, a damaged front rim, some seriously scraped plastic including a left turn blinker. Nothing broken, amazingly enough.

Externally, that's all as far as I can tell. I don't know if anything's broken internally on the bike.

Thanks for all the warm thoughts. It's great to have all the support

[Ronin47]

Originally Posted by quantumduck

You know, it was 95 degrees in Reno today, and I still wore my full face helmet, leather jacket with shoulder, back and elbow shields, jeans (haven't gotten chaps or legs yet) and boots.

Wow, 95 degrees would be a comfortable riding day for me.

[keyda81]

Glad you are both doing okay. It's one of those fluke things that happens. Hope you both heal quick!

[janeika1]

To God be the Glory! Praise God!! I am happy that you and the missus are well and in good spirits, none the less. I also hope this will be a good message to newbies and those (dumbme's) who wear heels and not proper boots (that would be me, today ONLY) to wear proper attire. I did however, wear my jacket and helmet.

[GeorgiaRider]

Glad y'all will be OK. I always wear my gear.

[ozyran440]

Originally Posted by janeika1

To God be the Glory! Praise God!! I am happy that you and the missus are well and in good spirits, none the less. I also hope this will be a good message to newbies and those (dumbme's) who wear heels and not proper boots (that would be me, today ONLY) to wear proper attire. I did however, wear my jacket and helmet.

Glad you wore the jacket and helmet, but you never know when a "today only" will become a "last time ever."

My wife says she missed seeing the bike parked next to the house. I almost think she misses it as much as I do. She doesn't want me to give up riding (thank GOD for that attitude!!) and she sounds like she's gonna be ready to ride it again when I'm finally able to get back in the saddle sometime in September.

[Rad032]

Originally Posted by ozyran440

Glad you wore the jacket and helmet, but you never know when a "today only" will become a "last time ever."

My wife says she missed seeing the bike parked next to the house. I almost think she misses it as much as I do. She doesn't want me to give up riding (thank GOD for that attitude!!) and she sounds like she's gonna be ready to ride it again when I'm finally able to get back in the saddle sometime in September.

Does she have a sister????