Be careful on those motorcycles !!!

sawmill

Active member

Equipment
bx24 backhoe/fel, 48" Bush mower
Nov 16, 2014
571
142
43
ione, washington
Last August my son (who is 53 years old) was riding his Harley at night and two deer jumped over the guard rail right in front of him. He hit both of them at 60 mph. He got seven broken ribs on the left side, a broken left collarbone, punctured left lung and massive bruises and they found a heart murmur. His bike was a full dress Harley Ultra Glyde with hard luggage. That's the only thing that saved his life. It totaled his bike. Luckily his wife wasn't with him. The doctors wanted to wait until the collarbone surgery was completely healed before they addressed the heart issue. So last Wednesday he had open heart surgery. They found a ruptured valve on the left side of his heart. They got it repaired and it's in good shape now. He's doing great. He gets out of the hospital tomorrow. Sure had us worried. He says no more motorcycles.
 

alansz400

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B7500. FEL, Piranha tooth bar, box scraper, post hole digger, 3 pt. bucket
Oct 26, 2013
265
0
0
Loudonville OHIO
I got hit by a deer in Nov. 2014. Damn thing jumped right into the right side of me. Broke my collarbone, few broken ribs and punctured lung. I was in full gear so no road rash after sliding 50 feet. It was my 2nd crash and 2nd life flight ride in 2 years and thought I might give up riding after that. A few month later I was back on the bike and yesterday had one of the best rides of my life.
 

skeets

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BX 2360 /B2601
Oct 2, 2009
14,702
3,585
113
SW Pa
I am glad he is doing well , Thats one reason I dont ride at night any more, first I cant see at night that well any more and my bagger doesn't have enough light even though lights have been up graded. I just hate to think about these young kids screaming around on the crotch rockets at night,, one deer game over. I did hit a little screech owl one morning on the HD thought it took off the front end, and way back in the day when, I rode a pretty hopped up Honda, had no fairing nuttin and I hit a June bug in the middle of the chest, I just knew someone shot me. I was only doing about 105:eek:

Pass along my well wishes from one HD rider to another, and tell him that he doesnt want to ride right now is ok,,, BUT the next time he hears a big old V Twin,, the urge will come back trust me
 

TripleR

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BX2200, BX2660, L5740 HSTC, M8540HDC and some other tractors and equipment
Sep 16, 2011
1,911
8
38
SE Missouri
I'm glad to hear your son is going to be OK. I've had several bikes wrecks, but really got hurt in a car. I couldn't ride anything for several years while recuperating from my car wreck, but as soon as I could I was back on them. Health issues prevents me from getting on one anymore, so I gave one of my sons my Harley, just had to keep it in the family.

Like Skeets, I quit riding at night years ago and if your son is uncomfortable riding I can certainly understand.
 

Daren Todd

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Massey Ferguson 1825E, Kubota Z121S, Box blade, Rotary Cutter
May 18, 2014
10,289
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113
Vilonia, Arkansas
Glad your son's doing good and is ok.

About 5 years ago, my brother in law had a stray dog grab his pants leg going through a neighborhood. Wasn't going very fast since he had just left a stop sign and started accelerating. Ended up with a shattered ankle, busted arm and collar bone, plus road rash. To add insult to injury, the dog chewed the hell out of him while he was stuck under the bike. Cops had to put the dog down and have it tested for rabies. They couldn't find the owner of the dog.

Then this past september, we almost lost our son in law. He was on his way home from work on his bike. Road was 4 lane with a 60 mph speed limit. Road had a center turn lane. He was headed east in the lane closest to the turn lane. An elderly couple headed west in a ford ranger missed there turn, whipped into the center turn lane, over compensated and crossed into oncoming traffic. He didn't have time to hit the brakes and totaled the ranger between his body and bike :eek: My poor daughter was coming into town (headed west) and came out to it just as they were loading him onto the stretcher.

He ended up with a mid line shift (brain moved), swelling on his brain, both arms broke, clavicle had a chunk knocked loose, busted wrist, and the mother of all concussions and whiplash. Road rash, and hellacious bruising. I saw the truck shortly after, and you could make out clearly where his helmet hit the top of the windshield and v'd in the roof. How he didn't get a broken neck is beyond me. Thankfully he pulled through, and was able to go back to work light duty as of last wednesday. :D
 

Tooljunkie

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L1501,home built carry all, mini plow blade.
May 13, 2014
4,150
33
48
60
Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba,Canada
A guy blew through an intersection and cut off my nephew, he laid the bike down trying to stop but couldnt avoid collision. He cleared the car and tumbled down the street, the passenger almost didnt make it.she was in hospital for a couple months. A sudden stop at 10 mph is bad, cant imagine what 45 mph would do.

He no longer rides a bike.

A gentleman from town was hit by a texting driver at 60 mph. Lost a leg in the crash. Insurance money went towards building a trike, which he rides daily in summer. Texter packed up and left town.

The list could go on.

I wont even ride a dirt bike anymore, too powerful compared to what i used to ride back in the day.
I will stick to my 80 cc motorized bicycle.

All i can do is respect the riders, and hope they stay safe.
 

Dalroo

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MX4800DT
Aug 24, 2015
137
3
0
Brookesmith, TX
To the OP, I am very glad he is on the mend and all turned out okay.

Over the years I've owned more than a dozen motorcycles. Dirt and street - many Kawasakis, a couple of Yamahas, a Suzuki, and three HDs. At one point I owned 3 at the same time, but as of now, I am retired. I sold my last big bike in September, and used the proceeds toward my tractor.

My decision to retire from a hobby/sport I loved for so long were a result of several factors, one being that my interests have changed along with my family growing up, but the major, related factor is texting drivers. Back in the day, I had an accident or two, and a couple of close calls with animals, but the last 5 years of street riding became so much worse. I live in the city, which compounds things, and on almost every ride in town, I would observe someone drifting into my lane, making and unprotected turn across traffic (me) or some other errant act because they were paying more attention to their phone that the road.

Back in the early 90s, after riding with me, my wife made a comment that I seemed to have a "sense" of what other drivers would do - who would cut me off, cut across traffic, etc., but in reality I just assumed that every driver was out to get me. Unfortunately, with the emergence of mobile devices, that sixth-sense is not enough.

It has only been 6 months since I sold my last bike, and maybe one day, when I've left the rat race of the city, I may venture that way again because I miss riding very much. But something HAS to be done about driving while using mobile devices, or to me (and not speaking for anyone else), it just isn't fun anymore.
 

CaveCreekRay

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L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Jul 11, 2014
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48
Cave Creek, AZ
Arizona was the last state to require emission testing of motorcycles. I would have to ride four bikes down every year into north Scottsdale just to have them "sniffed." One of them was my wife's plum-colored Vespa LT150. Talk about putting your life at risk. They finally cancelled that a couple years back.

I stick to town on my dirt bikes where the speed limit is 35 most everywhere and motorcycles are EVERYWHERE up here. I will run to Home Depot but that is 3 miles the other side of town on divided highway. Other than that, my riding days are done. I had a Goldwing a few years back and two friends had riding buddies and their wife killed on a Sunday ride. I got the message.

We have nearly 100 Mule Deer that live in town limits away from hunters. I am constantly looking for those rascals. If you see one, there are at least three right behind him. My Ute may end up being my cycle as I get older.

Bummer.

Hope he recovers fully.

Ray