Well, I knew the odds of me going down in the first six months were pretty good. Sprained ankle, rashed up fairings, broken LED blinker on the left side. Nothing too serious, this is why I hadn't repainted the fairings already, I knew I'd do something eventually. (I was on the CBR, headed to bike night for the first time..of course! Had been riding the Ninja to work and back earlier in the day.)

Worst part is the sheer embarrassment. I was leaving our house, making a left out of the driveway that I've done every single day I've ridden, and...all I remember is oh **** that throttle sounds high.. BAM. Wound up in the storm drain on the other side of the street with the bike on my left leg going "Well...that wasn't good." Wish I could remember more clearly so I don't do whatever I did in knee jerk reaction again. I don't even remember if I braked or just let off the throttle or what. I *think* what may have happened is I hit the storm drain/gutter at the end of our driveway and leaned on the throttle too hard to get out since my feet wouldn't touch the ground; then I panicked, didn't brake at all and tried to turn the handlebars rather than stop. Already being in a left turn, wheel went sideways. It was just all so damn fast.

Learning sucks >< Sprained pride is the worst part, seriously. That and the scratches on my baby :(

One thing I will say is I'm *amazed* at the amount of scuffing that can happen at low speeds. I'm glad I was wearing my leathers. The bike landed square on my left ankle, I banged up my knee- knee is swollen, ankle's not swollen but hurts to flex, nothing broken though, toes can wiggle.

I'm just really pissed at myself, I'm so cautious and I try to be so careful. I really can't even reconstruct what happened. I guess the lesson is stuff can happen anytime, anywhere, and to never go out without gear.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g204/elfling01/photo-2.jpg

Pics of scuffed gear later, it really held up well though- yay leathers!

Bummer to hear! Hope you heal up soon...

Glad you're OK! Hope your ankle recovers soon.

glad you are ok. it could always be worse.

:( Very sorry to hear that. I'm glad you're not too banged up though.

Me too :) Thanks. Hope I don't get too skittish about getting back on.

:( oh dear...i'm so sorry for your accident.

hope all our accidents to be so harmless..:)

get well soon!;););)

I'm very glad you're ok.
I've dropped my bike twice.
I was turning into my driveway at low speed (probably 2-5mph) and the bike just dropped over to the right. It was like a slow motion kinda drop. I was surprise there wasn't even a single scratch.
From my experience (not much at all) turning at low speed is more dangerous.
Hope you recover soon.

Glad you are okay!

>_<

I've gotta watch myself too from becoming overconfident. I haven't fallen while riding my Ninja yet after 2000 km of mainly twisty country roads, but as ones driving style changes - perhaps becoming more aggressive and daring - accidents become quite possible on roads which ones already very familiar with.

Yep. And low speed manuevers will always be touchier than moving at a good clip.

Sorry to hear about your accident. Mine was pretty much completely stopped when a gust a wind blew her over and did $2K worth of damage. Amazing.

Haha ya it's a total ego burn to bail when going slow. The only times I've ever crashed was at extremely low speeds and completely by surprise. Once in front of my house with the neighbors watching, and once in a library parking lot with what felt like the whole world watching.

The first time I laid a bike down was my Kawasaki Vulcan 800 cruiser in front of the whole City of Pittsburg if felt like. Even had a couple other riders who were right there in the commute stop and asked me if I needed help. It was at a busy intersection during rush hour traffic. The second two was during MSF class in front of the whole class, and the fourth time was on the side of the road when a wind gust blew me over after I had almost completely stopped. GRR!! Each and every time my ego was bruised more than the bike... except for this last time... the bike got pretty F-d up.

Glad to hear you are ok. Get well soon. This is a good lesson for those of us who say "I don't need all that gear, I'm just going a couple of miles". Case in point it can happen anywhere. Thanks for sharing with us.

the fourth time was on the side of the road when a wind gust blew me over after I had almost completely stopped. GRR!! Each and every time my ego was bruised more than the bike... except for this last time... the bike got pretty F-d up.

Awww :( that really, really sucks to have it not even be your fault.

Becca - very sorry to hear about your crash, and was equally sorry to hear about Katlyn's incident; especially considering she was on her way at the time out to a ride I had put together for bay area ninjettes. I hope you and your bike, as well as Katlyn's machine are all back to 100% as quickly as possible.

But I regrettably feel I have to post that I disagree a bit with your last statement. The minute we swing our leg over the bike and get that thing moving, everything that happens is in some sense our fault. Are there external factors sometimes? Absolutely. But the way I look at it is two-fold: Is it possible that someone of greater skill on the machine could have gotten through the same situation without a crash by doing something different on the bike, even with all of the identical external factors? and the second (but similar) question: Was it possible for me to have done something different on the bike, which would also have avoided the crash?

If the answer to the first part is yes, and the second part is still no, then I better learn pretty darned quick what I need to know so I don't make the same mistake again. If the answer to the first part is yes, and the second part is also yes, then I better learn to keep my head in the game and not make the same mistake; I already had the skills but I didn't use them.

"Fault" has a different definition in motorcycling as in just about every incident, we end up losing. :2cents: Glad you're all OK, and get some ice on the ankle. And backrubs. And ice cream. At least that helped me when I broke my ankle up but good a few years back. ;)

:D Ice cream always helps!

And I understand what you're saying- I was just sympathizing that a strong gust of wind+ tiny girl is less of a "fault" than say, braking in a turn because you went in too fast.

Sorry to hear about that accident. Be sure to ice down your ankle almost 24/7 (not direct ice, but ice over a damp cloth). That will get the swelling down dramatically. Sports doc's do this with pro athletes. Your doc won't b/c of liability.

bummer on the ding but damage looks/sounds very minimal. better watch out for foot fetish guys from the pic you posted heh heh

Sorry to hear that. Wrecking really sux. At least you still have nice legs! ;)

Well. I'll be a monkey's uncle. Josh forced me to go into the urgent care clinic tonight. Turns out I have a broken leg- I fractured my fibula. Have to go see an ortho and find out if I need a plate or just a cast or what.

I'm FLOORED. It doesn't even really hurt. The doctor was poking it going "How are you not feeling pain?" and I'm like..well it hurts cause you're touching it but...I've been sitting at home thinking I just had a sprain. He told me he wished all his patients were so stoic, lol.

So yeah:
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g204/elfling01/photo2-1.jpg


Not sure what kind of heal time I'm looking at on this but...damn. Going to be an interesting few weeks for sure.

Broken? OUCH
Sorry to hear about all your bad luck ... I just hope you heal fast and get back out there :)

So sorry about the leg. Reminds us all of how vulnerable we human types are. It can be rough but then again you may have more time to catch up on some reading and open one of those bottles of wine. Save a good one for the day you get out of your cast, if body plaster is your fate.

Take Care

I'm just trying to look at it as more time to read up on technique and mod my bikes :D Thanks guys.

Glad he convinced you to go in. At least you've still got 3 extremities to work with in the meantime! :p

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/35012718_mpKxK-L.jpg

And you can always have sliders mounted on the cast just in case your lean angle gets up there... :D

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/41105992_q5x3M-L.jpg

Hang in there...

omg, sorry to hear about your mishap and the broken leg. They heal quick and you will be back on the back in not time. I know about broken bones, I've had a few.

nb

I hope you heal quickly and do not need a plate. keep up your great attitude and get back on a bike asap when you can.!!!

Get well soon, hope all goes well!

Ditto.

Ahahaha- Alex, those sliders are TOTAL win.

eq2 time :P

Crashin sux

Glad he convinced you to go in. At least you've still got 3 extremities to work with in the meantime! :p

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/35012718_mpKxK-L.jpg

And you can always have sliders mounted on the cast just in case your lean angle gets up there... :D

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/41105992_q5x3M-L.jpg

Hang in there...

I don't want to derail her thread - but I've got to know the story on this!

Becca - Hope the healing time is minimal.

Nice color on the nails! :)

I don't want to derail her thread - but I've got to know the story on this!

No seriously, me too. That is you, right Alex?

I don't want to derail her thread - but I've got to know the story on this!

No seriously, me too. That is you, right Alex?

It's all up here (http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18128). Threw myself down the track pretty well at Thunderhill a few years ago... Good times... :p

Ooofdah. I can only imagine the sheer split second of "Ahhh hell" that went through your head taking that tumble.

Mmm, delicious!

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g204/elfling01/fibulafrac.jpg

Oh dam!

Do you know how long it will take to heal?

sorry to hear about your accident, hope u have a speedy recovery

Ouch! Heal up quick... you'll have plenty of time to think of cooler stories to tell your friends for when they ask you how you broke your ankle? ;)