I'm very glad your healing well. I hope your memory has indeed returned
in full. A concussion is not a minor injury. The "chicky" got her do
justice and 21st is now not a consideration for me (if ever). Heal fully
and without anything showing up later in your life. Best wishes to all
that is yours.
Gary '01 St4 Gaston, OR
On 11/6/2010 5:59 PM, huss h wrote:
>
> Some of you may remember that I had an accident last May. I began
> talking about it, but was advised against it due to issues with the
> case. So I waited for things to settle before I told the story.
>
> Riding home from work on my Harley, I was crossing through an
> intersection that was the same as any other in Los Angeles. Two lanes
> in both directions, with a third lane for vehicles waiting to turn
> left, steady flow going through. As always I slowed down a bit,
> scanned the traffic, proceeded through. I was maybe going 25mph.
> Dry roads. Daylight. Perfect visibility.
>
> I am in the outside lane. Next thing I know a red Subaru t-bones me
> from the left. I cannot begin to describe the violence of the impact.
> It took several weeks for my memory to come back. But it did. It was a
> surreal experience, the impact, being launched from the bike, landing
> on my face and left shoulder at the same time. Next thing I remember
> were people talking over me, the ambulance dood asking if I could hear
> him. Then nothing.
>
> I wake up in a dark room and I f-in freak out. At this time I do not
> remember what has happened. But I do know I am in a dark room, I am
> tied down to the bed and there are tubes in my mouth and nose. A nurse
> comes to me and asks me to relax. She holds a notebook and puts a pen
> in one hand and says I should write any questions.
> The reason I was tied down was just so I did not wake, freak out, and
> try to yank the tubes out of me. I guess they've had experience with
> that..
>
> Fast forward. 5 broken ribs. My spleen had to be removed. Broken
> tibia. Broken heel. Broken bones in my left foot. Almost all the
> injuries were on my left side, the side that the car hit me. Both
> hands were swollen to almost double their normal size. I eventually
> lost my right thumbnail and will lose my left big toe nail.
>
> But that was 'it'. Sounds awful, and it is/was but it would have been
> a lot worse if I was not wearing my gear. Full face GMAX helmet. One
> piece Teiz suit. Tourmaster gloves, Sidi boots. Maybe I'm one of the
> few people that rides a Harley dressed like that, but I ride ATTGATT
> not matter what I'm on. Vespa, Harley, Ducati. The road doesn't care.
>
> I had zero abrasions. So why do I consider the gear a success? Let's
> start from the top. Helmet. I landed on my face and shoulder. The face
> shield was torn off, deep gouges in the fore-head and mouth area of
> the helmet. If I was wearing an open face or no helmet, I'm convinced
> I would be dead. My face would have taken the impact of hitting the
> road. This GMAX helmet (I also have Arai, Caberg, HJC) cost about
> $110. So you do not have to spend a lot of money to get a helmet that
> will save your life. Just make sure it is DOT/SNELL etc approved, and
> make sure it flippin' fits! If it comes off, it's useless, no matter
> the price.
>
> Suit. Teiz Lombard suit. The armour in it worked. You can see from the
> pic the circular impact patch where I landed on my shoulder. I had a
> wicked bruise down my left arm and around my shoulder but no breaks.
> No abrasions. I'm not sure how this suit would hold up on a 'high
> speed' slide, but for impacts it worked.
>
> Gloves. Tourmaster leather full gauntlet type (looks like race gloves
> but with no hard armour, just padding). All seams intact, cannot even
> tell if there are any new scuffs due to existing wear. So why were my
> hands swollen? I blame the bike's handlebars. The Street Bob has 'mini
> apes' which puts your hands in a position just lower that your
> shoulders. What this means is that if you are thrown off the bike in a
> forward trajectory, your hands/thumbs will be wrenched by the bars as
> they are in the way. You will not roll over the top of them like on a
> bike with lower bars. They are in the way. Which is why I'd never get
> a bike with bars like that again.
> Either way, not the gloves fault that I got a couple of sprained hands
> from the bars.
>
> Boots. Sidi touring boots. No abrasions. A couple of breaks. But how
> much can you expect when a Subaru finds it's way to your bike blocked
> by your leg? Wink
>
> Anyway, five months later and I'm mostly ok. I can now walk w/o a cane
> and I'm expecting full eventual recovery. So that's cool. But it
> really sucked for my family and gf, more so in ways than for me as
> they had to get 'that' call from the ER, and they had to care for me
> afterwards. It was very frustrating and depressing. But making fun of
> Honda kept up my spirits.
>
> So why did it take so long for me to be able to talk about this?
> Because even though there were two witnesses stating it was the
> Subaru's fault, as well as a 'confession' to the police officer taking
> the report that it was her fault, as well as the police officer
> determining it from the scene in his report statement, the driver
> later changed her mind...
>
> 18 year old girl, had her license for three months. Was waiting to
> turn left when someone apparently honked their horn at her, so she
> panicked and floored it.. That's what she told the officer at the
> scene, that's what it said in the report.
> Changed her mind a few weeks later, claimed she was not moving and I
> swerved my bike intentionally into the front of her car. I'm not sure
> if she was directed to make this change by a 3rd party (guess who..)
> but her insurance company then refused to release any of her policy
> coverage information. Which is illegal in CA, but what do they care,
> they are 21st Century and sh1t like that does not apply to them. So I
> had to sue her and 21st with the net net being they admitted to 100%
> fault etc etc and I got her policy limits. Which was not enough but I
> guess I'm mildly surprised she even had insurance, seeing this is LA.
>
> Her car was totaled by the collision. She won't be able to get
> insurance for a long while now with that on her 3 month old record.
> She does not have the money for another car (it was a hand me down) so
> she's going to be hoofing it for quite a while.
> C'est la vie.
>
> In other news. Happier news. I went for my first ride on a moto today
> since May 10. No, it wasn't the St4s - my leg isn't healed enough for
> the weight just yet. It was my Vespa PX150...
> Hey, she's Italian, she has a manual clutch and 4 speed transmission,
> and she looks good!
>
> Put 34 miles on her. May not sound much but that was lapping Santa
> Monica, Venice, Marina Del Rey. Baby steps, baby steps.
>
> Take care all, and Dennis - you owe me some FO...
>
> Huss
>
>
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