Noob drops bike :(

[Ash]

Hello Guys,

Everything is okay now. I will be staying with my gf for a while.

I finished the MSF BRC in the middle of March, and picked up my '08 Ninja 250 the next day, so I am pretty much a noob.

I just wanted to get it off my chest that around midnight last night I lost control of my motorcycle going into a turn. I am not sure what happened - I guess I panicked when I thought I was going into the turn too fast and tried to brake during the turn. That is a TOTAL guess because it happened in a blink of the eye. It wasn't even that fast, I think I was surprised that I fell.

When I tried to pick the bike up I knew I was hurt - something in my shoulder area hurt a lot. My sis-in-law picked me up and helped me gather my stuff and move the bike off the road. My gf took me to the ER. An X-ray showed that I had a broken left collarbone. I have a big bruise on my left hip and a small abrasion near my left elbow.

Thank god for all the gear. My helmet hit hard, the shoulder armor and elbow armor in the jacket (First Gear Mesh Tech) must have absorbed most of the damage, The overpants (Tourmaster Flex) had foam padded hips and knee armor which had abrasions on the material so I'm sure that the armor also absorbed a lot of the damage on my left leg. They gave me a percocet for the pain and immobilized my left arm in a sling.

Today I had the bike towed to the shop, no info yet on cost of towing or extend of damage. In the dark last night I saw that left side blinkers were gone, the shift assembly was dangling and that the shogun frame slider and bar end was heavily abraded. It was hard to see, there was mud covering parts of the bike.

My gf took me to the orthopedist in the afternoon, I am now in a figure 8 brace that pulls my shoulders back. As breaks go, the doc said the bones are still aligned, with a small chip - surprising given my age (41). If all goes well he feels I should have full recovery with no deformation of my shoulder area and with full range of motion. I need to wear the brace for 4 to 8 weeks, and I need my gf to help me put it on. The good news is that because the bones are aligned I feel little pain when I am in the brace so I should be able to get by with just Motrin and not need to get the percocet.

I just wanted to give you guys an update to help me work through what happened. I took off work today to see the doc, and my boss said it is okay to work from home for a couple of days for the inflammation to go down. Then I can give driving a try. The brace really helps free my left arm up some so I can still do some stuff.

It would have been nice to have had a camera on me like in the group ride video so I can at least learn from this incident. Right now I am just guessing.

Thanks for "listening"
Ash

[lavid2002]

good to hear your ok, drive safe. You should go back and check out the road, gravel or something maybe? Thanks for sharing your story, im not a speeder but I certainly like to let the handlebars pull me around corners and stuff : ) Ill slow it down when I get my bike.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Scary. Glad to hear you are ok. It probably doesn't seem like it now, but it's just a bike. Replacement parts can be easily had. On the other hand, replacement Ash's are hard to some by.

[CC Cowboy]

Some guys will do anything to get attention from their girlfriend.

Crashin sux

[tinng321]

Don't think too much about the bike. You can always get another one. However, there's only 1 "u". Hope you recover soon.

[backinthesaddleagain]

glad you are ok and were wearing your gear.

[Snake]

Sorry to hear that but at least you are ok.

I noticed we are getting alot of crash reports here lately. We got to waych out and keep eachother safe.

[backinthesaddleagain]

2 harley riders died here in RI in the last week. both single vehicle accidents, neither wearing helmets. at least those crashing on this forum are wearing gear. now i will confess yesterday was 80s and i cruised by the ocean with short sleeve shirt but no thought about skipping the helmet.

[TnNinjaGirl]

This guy and girl passed me on a motard-ish kinda thing on Sunday. They were wearing helmets, that's pretty much it. The girl was wearing flip-flops and a bikini. I literally laughed out loud. Their friends on sportbike proved exactly why you wear gear in the same turn. Could have been nasty, luck was with them that day.

[talldrink]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you're feeling better soon.

[tjkamper]

Good thing you had your gear. I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder. I hope you fully recover.

Once you're healed, get right back on the horse. Don't let it scare you. I have known too many people who wreck and then just give up.

A Motorcycle is just another vehicle. I'm sure you added your fair share of dings to the family car when you learned to drive just like we all did, but no one gives up driving because they made a mistake and crashed.

Relax a few weeks and then focus on getting the bike back in shape so when you are fully recovered you can go celebrate with a nice, short, easy ride.

[xTKx]

Despite the broken bone, scrapes, and bruises, we're all glad to hear you're ok. I think the best part (if I could even say that) about your accident is that you're eager to learn from a mistake. The fact that you said you "panicked" and that you were in the middle of a turn I think just about sums it up. It sounds like what you're guessing went wrong probably did go wrong.
Hope you have a quick recovery...

[Cali619]

Sorry to hear about the crash, I am sure you have the incident going on over and over in your head, I know I did when I low sided. Get well soon and throw that leg over your bike again.

[BlueTyke]

Wow! Glad you are okay! If you need any help let me know. I am a local gal.

[SpyderGirl]

Dude, crashing sucks. Glad to hear you're okay. Hope you get your baby fixed and have a speedy recovery. Stay safe out there.

[PitBull]

Crashing is no fun...Glad you are okay. I had a similar crash the first day of my MSF course. The instructor said that I used too much front brake. I hope you have a speedy recovery. Don't let it break your spirit!

[TrueFaith]

Glad to hear you were geared up and you're okay dispite the collarbone. It's very easy when you're first learning to run into a corner too hot and freeze up. Instead of looking through the turn and adjusting your angle and position on the bike you can get a momentary target fixation halfway through the turn and that never turns out well. I'll give you a little advice a friend of mine from the forum here once told me that has stuck with me since my accident last year. If you're in danger of going wide in a turn shift your weight off the seat to the inside of the turn and the bike will follow without deepening your lean angle as much as you'd think. It can be the difference between crashing and making it through the turn just needing a new pair of underwear.

[IlBLisSlI]

the real question is, do you plan to mount up and ride again or did this accident kill your newly found riding career?
i know one person who barely laid down his bike at 10mph in the rain and landed in the grass fully geared without a scratch on him and he will never ride again.
and then there are those others who get into major accidents and suffer pretty wild injuries and will keep riding till the day they die.
whichever category you eventually decide you fall in, just be glad your ok and remember to enjoy life

[noche_caliente]

glad to hear that you're mostly ok! there are several of us who have patched our bikes back up, so if you decide that you don't want to go the shop route, let us know and we'll help out!

[andrewwoo]

wow! sorry to hear about that! i hope all is well.. if you want.. we are all here for your support!

hope you get well soon!!!!

yea luckily your gear is on... wow! gear is important!

[Elfling]

*sympathy hugs* I so, so feel you. I hope recuperation is quick and your baby is back in one shiny piece soon.

[Red'09250]

You know the old saying when it comes to crashing: there are those that have and those that will.

Don't let it get to you. Just learn from your mistake and keep on riding.

[ninjablk08]

glad u r ok, and hope you get back on the road soon as you r good to go,im still learning about curves and take them a little on the slow side

[miks]

Good to hear that you're in one piece. Hope everything goes well!

[Al Azim]

Hi, I'm a new rider as well, but I won't say a noob. Crashing sux, and I thought I will in a couple of incidents but I remained focus. From experience, for those who are new to riding...remain focus even close to crashing, remember the lessons in the course, look where you want to go and move. Thank God I have not gone down yet, because I always keep in the back of my mind that, it will really get nasty if you crash in your motorcycle. Slow down on the turn and don't worry about what other people will think...SLOW DOWN and learn progressively. Take care...and oh yea, I'm slowly getting used to the free way speed, short freeway trips for now...

[Nickds7]

Sorry to hear about the slide. Did you have collision coverage for it?

Usually for the drop you took you probably just need the front fairing, side, tail, and a shift lever. Its not too expensive to fix yourself..probably about what the deductible would be. ~500.

For now just worry about getting better

[aquishix]

It's extremely common. In fact, almost exactly the same thing happened to me on the 3rd time I ever rode.

It was back in the fall of 2007...I was learning how to ride on my friend's 2002 Kawasaki ZR-7S, which is a 750CC bike.

I was at the north end of Houston, and was turning around to go back to his apartment at the intersection of I-45 and 1960. I was southbound about to do a u-turn. I approached the turn too quickly and BAM, the next thing I knew, the world was turning and I was smacking and sliding all over the road until the bike and I slammed against the curb.

As in your story, it happened so fast that it was over before I fully realized what was happening. I must've spooked when I knew I was going too fast for me to negotiate the turn.

I ended up in the ER and got x-rayed. I took some serious skin off two places on my left knee and two places on my left ankle where my shoe ended. I've tried to always wear proper boots after that. Thank goodness for the rest of the gear I had on...leather gloves, full helmet, full jacket with pads.

Even with the good gloves, I smacked my hand well enough that it almost fractured. It didn't however, but it still took about a year to feel normal again. I think I bruised the muscle pretty well.

Learn your lesson as I did and slow the hell down on the turns, at least until you get really good. You'll know when you start getting good because your confidence will increase. Your ride should always scale with your confidence. To be on the safe side, you should always feel like what you're doing is a little too easy.

-Former Noob

[addy126]

Ohhh Ash.. just read of your accident. Its so good to see that it was just the collarbone and not anything worse. I went thru my incident last Nov. valet driver hit me head on turning left into my lane. Ran me right over totalled the bike! Walked away with only a broken wrist.. thank god for ATGATT! Most importantly get back on that bike. I think its a good thing to go thru something like this really. It just makes you a little more aware of the bike, your skills, the surroundings and the importance of ATGATT. Get well soon my friend

[BlueRaven]

This thread has me thinking, yes i do think once in a while but not often. If one of us get seriously injured there wouldn't be a way to find out if we survived an accident or are seriously injured unless we have a friend in this forum.

[OldGuy]

Ash glad to hear you only have the shoulder injury - sounds like it could have been a lot worse from what you described. Thanks for crash testing the gear - we wear the same jacket and pants. Get well and get back on the horse.

[Ash]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words of support. It really helps to provide a good cheer!

[andrewwoo]

its okay.. i dropped my bike.. too. no worries... its okay..

[Ash]

Hello all,

I am out of brace and sling, collarbone is mending from 2 fractures. I have about 98% range of motion again - I am still doing PT, with one final visit to the orthopedist in a month or so.

I finally repaired my bike as much as I am going to.

Cost of the accident:
Ellicott City Motorsports: $231.76 for towing, damage estimate and 20% re-stocking on parts when I decided to cancel some repairs and try them myself.
CheapCycleparts.com: $225.01 for mirror(L), turn signal(L), stay step(L), side stand, rear cowling(L) w/shipping
moto911.com: $67 for slider puck (L), slider frame (L), bar end(L) w/shipping
NewEnough.com: $372.17 for Scorpion Exo-700 helmet Tourmaster Intake 2 jacket since my helmet was banged up and jacket torn in a couple of places
Medical Expenses: $210 for ER copay, orthopedist copays, x-ray CDs

TOTAL: $1,105.95

Since my insurance deductible was $500 for the bike - I decided to not to call them in.

I have attached pics of what I decided NOT to repair - and just live with it.

I have a new mirror but decided to leave the old cracked and scratched one on while I try the blind spot mirrors for a while, the end of the clutch handle is scraped, the scratches on the upper and lower fairing, the cracked lower fairing from the bent down Shogun frame slider, scraped left rear spool, the gouges in the foot pedal, the rear left blinker is bent down. To save a few bucks I put the rear seat back on instead of replacing the rear seat cowling.

If you look from far way - it doesn't look so bad . At least it looks a lot better than it did after the accident.

Thanks to everyone for their support!

[Sailariel]

Ash, Glad you are OK. Collarbones are inconvenient and painful--no great way to splint them. Broke mine more times that I want to count--bicycle crashes--lots of road rash. You were smart to wear your full gear--so in my book, you are not a Noob, just smart.You will do just fine. Stick with the Ninjette. It will teach you a lot.

[GreezMunky]

Honestly your bike does not look that bad at all for a crash that resulted in a broken left collar bone.

[noche_caliente]

glad you're doing better. The bike really doesn't look that bad. You might want to do a little fiberglass patch on the back of the crack to keep it from spreading... and a little touch-up paint from color-rite will make the rest of the scratches unnoticeable!

[Greg_E]

Ride it like you stole it, now no more concern about what happens if you crash 'cause it is already all marked up. One less thing to think about while you are learning control, one less distraction.

[JaeL]

Originally Posted by noche_caliente

glad you're doing better. The bike really doesn't look that bad. You might want to do a little fiberglass patch on the back of the crack to keep it from spreading... and a little touch-up paint from color-rite will make the rest of the scratches unnoticeable!

[HKr1]

Originally Posted by Ash

Hello all,

I am out of brace and sling, collarbone is mending from 2 fractures'


Medical Expenses: $210 for ER copay, orthopedist copays, x-ray CDs

Nice update! Glad to hear your better. Now that this is all out of the way, hope you look forward to years of nice rides

Sounds like you had a good deal on your medical. Last year I went to the ER on a Friday and following Monday. $15,000 for Friday, 12,500 for Monday ER's....... Only took $8700.00 for surgery to fix the problem

[Ash]

Here are some photos before the repairs - highlighting the damaged parts. I wish I had a good pic of the bike leaning on the bent side stand - it looked like it wanted to fall over at any minute. Also missing is the pic of the broken rear seat cowling - which is probably what I miss most.

Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement! I am fortunate to have good health benefits - I work for a hospital.