+- Welcome to The Australian Hayabusa Club Forum - ARCHIVE ONLY VERSION - NEW REGISTRATIONS & POSTS DISABLED (https://www.australian-hayabusa-club.com/MyBB)
+-- Forum: Bike Discussions (https://www.australian-hayabusa-club.com/MyBB/forumdisplay.php?fid=35)
+--- Forum: General Discussion (https://www.australian-hayabusa-club.com/MyBB/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Thread: Safe riding & accidents (/showthread.php?tid=8826)
Safe riding & accidents - Louwai - 21-12-2007
HERE'S A FEW WORDS I READ ON ANOTHER BUSA SITE. I THOUGHT IT WAS WORTH COPYING. SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THE ORIGINAL, I'M PUTTING THIS HERE FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T. VERY INSPIRING WORDS & THOUGHTS.
I guess I will jump in here and spew forth my 2 cents.
As some of you may or may have not noticed. I am not around as much lately.
All the accidents that have happened over the last year or so culminated with my father in-law losing his leg when he was riding his less than a month old Harley Davidson and a cement truck hit him pretty much head on and ripped his left leg off.
He is alive, but has been in a medical rehab facility for the last 3 months. He almost didn’t make it. he was bleeding out on the road. someone at the scene was able to pull it together emotionally long enough to place a tourniquet on his leg (above the knee, nothing but a mangled mess below the knee) which saved his life.
The final result of his accident is that his left leg was amputated just below the groin area. There is a small stump there but it is so small they are having a difficult time getting a prosthetic limb to attach to it properly.
My father in-law was retired, had no bills, was working as a camp site maintenance person. Had his trailer on the site, had a girl friend, lived up in northern California in the mountains. Life was pretty good for him. And in a blink of an eye his life is forever changed, I guess the bright side is at least he still has a life, even though he has 100’s of thousands of dollars in medical bills which he will probably never be able to pay off and his entire life style for the most part will have to change, some changes will be short term, some long term (try getting into a bathtub / shower with one leg. Try sitting on the toilet with one leg, etc.)
Up until this accident I had been slowing down a bit, this accident pretty much put me over the top.
I still have my Busa, and I still ride it (mainly to and from work at the moment) but have pretty much lost all desire for high speeds and adrenaline pumping rides.
The only ride I have been on in the last 6 months I think was with a group of cruisers last month. There were about 8 cruisers and me. I pretty much stayed in the back the entire ride and just cruised on the Busa.
It was a bunch of Christians on cruisers and it honestly was just a real nice relaxing time.
My wife asked me if I were going to trade the Busa in for a Cruiser and I said no, I was used to sports bikes and have been riding them for over 20 years, if I tried to get used to a cruiser I told her I would probably kill myself.
I guess my main point is I am lucky (in numerous ways) I have been able to control my throttle hand and control the bike and not let the bike control me. I have known a few peeps over the last few years that could not control themselves when they got on their sports bikes, but felt their riding style was going to get them killed so they actually got rid of the sports bike and traded them in for cruisers.
I am thinking if I was having a difficult time controlling my throttle impulses I would probably have got rid of the Busa already or would be close to getting rid of it.
As others have eluded to.. way too many people going down lately, some for permantly. And it has hit close to home for me.
With Busabru…. I never knew the guy, but thinking he just came from a cruiser, was excited and stoked about his new Busa and just over extended on his riding abilities (that is what it possibly sounds like)
Almost teared up when I first read the post about Busabru, came close.. kept thinking about his wife and his unborn child.. and more about his unborn child. Those of you who know me know how important my children are to me.. cant imagine making them grow up without me, or putting my wife in a position to have to raise 3 boys by herself.
People, wear your gear, control your throttle don’t let the bike control you.
Know when and where to have fun, ride UNDER your abilities not over your abilities.
Don’t EVER ride to impress ANYONE, people need to realize when a person is riding to impress others, it is usually obvious, especially to veteran riders, and all the person ends up looking like is an idiot AND places themselves and others in danger.
When a person is doing a 130mph wheelie on a freeway, people that are watching will go “MAN THAT IS FRICKEN AWESOME!!!!. Hey whats for lunch? What are we doing tonight?â€
Get the point? 30 second adrenaline rush isn’t worth a lifetime of change for numerous people.
If you have a bad accident on the street and take yourself out, best case scenario is you only take yourself out and no one else. And even then you have an entire group of family and friends who lives will forever be impacted, some of which could be severely impacted.
Worse case scenario is you take someone (or multiple people) out. Then you have changed the lives of countless people. All for a quick adrenaline rush or even worse just to show off to your friends, who wont really give a crap anyway.
Sometimes we push the limits to have fun, sometimes we miss judge the environment and sometimes accidents happen, but there would be a lot less deaths, a lot less accidents as of late if people were more conscious of their surroundings and more importantly their own personal riding abilities.
RE: Safe riding & accidents - Astro - 21-12-2007
Amen.
I've lost two good mates to bike accidents. Neither were at fault - but the outcome was the same. So while you're contemplating the above (which is excellent advice and something we should all take to heart), remember that apart from keeping yourself under control - watch the other bastards like a hawk.
Travel safe everybody.
RE: Safe riding & accidents - NEMESIS - 23-12-2007
Very well said louwai...
Mate i know how it feels,im still here healing an will
be for a while an they cant guarantee il get full
strength back an its a pain cuz im left handed as
well...
Man i look back now since i got the bike an from
start to finish its just all happend so quickly..
What do you do,i got told,you get told an the sad
thing is by the time it happens,its too late..
You live an you learn i guess.
*sighs*
RE: Safe riding & accidents - Madmax - 23-12-2007
NEMESIS Wrote:Very well said louwai...
Mate i know how it feels,im still here healing an will
be for a while an they cant guarantee il get full
strength back an its a pain cuz im left handed as
well...
Man i look back now since i got the bike an from
start to finish its just all happend so quickly..
What do you do,i got told,you get told an the sad
thing is by the time it happens,its too late..
You live an you learn i guess.
*sighs*
Hey Nem, at the risk of being a little pragmatic - You can still learn because you're still alive. The guys and girls who don't live don't get that opportunity. You're among the lucky ones mate, as am I and a whole heap of your brother's and sisters. We'll carry our injuries as lifetime reminders of how close we came, and the lessons we have learned as a result.
Ride easy guys and girls, the roads dangerous as usual.
Max
