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...So I wrecked a dirtbike...


Escariot
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The only reason I'm making this thread is so that I don't have to keep typing things out on IRC.

I was riding a 250cc dirtbike around a track on a farm around my school area, when I hit a jump. Shortly after the jump is a turn down a hill (ramp at the top of a hill). When I turned, my right hand slipped a bit and cranked down on the throttle, and it stuck, causing the bike to go into a wheelie while barreling downhill. Being my first time riding a bike, I panicked, and forgot about the rear brake pedal, and tried to squeeze the front brake handle. As soon as the throttle got unstuck, the bike came back down on two wheels and the front tire was locked up, so it launched me forward, and came flipping after me. After a couple of mid-air flips, I landed on my head, jerking my head to the left. Shortly after I landed, I felt the bike (over 220 pounds, or 100kg for the non-Americans) across the right side of my back and up past my shoulder. If I weren't wearing a helmet, landing the way I did would have snapped my neck instantly. I also missed a 100ft ~ 150ft deep trench (Where my left shoe was thrown) by about 3 yards. As it stands right now, I'm 99% sure I have two badly bruised ribs, and possibly a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder, which makes doing most everything really painful and slow.

But yeah... tips for those who want to start riding...

- Start on a bike smaller than 250cc... They have a LOT of balls, and take A WHILE to get used to the power

- If you're going to wreck, have the common sense to bail so that the bike doesn't land on you.

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Ouch.

I remember when my fried got his first dirt bike. His was a 250cc, I don't know what his parents we're thinking. The first thing he did when he cranked it up in the field was flip the bike. He had no idea how much power that thing had lol. He hit the gas and there it went, and there he went. :P

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Ouch.

I remember when my fried got his first dirt bike. His was a 250cc, I don't know what his parents we're thinking. The first thing he did when he cranked it up in the field was flip the bike. He had no idea how much power that thing had lol. He hit the gas and there it went, and there he went. :P

One thing about 250s is that you have to have the weight to keep it from ripping up like that if you're going to quick accel. I weight 190, so I was fine for the most part. But yeah, even in the higher gears, those bikes have balls... giant balls...

Side note: I took pictures of how swollen my shoulder is, and the marks on my back, and the cuts on my arm, but forgot the USB cable, so it'll have to wait until this Thursday

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I also wrecked once, though it was on a normal dirt bike where you have to pedal. I had the classic Huffy, and that thing was a beast. I got together with my friends, and of all days to jump off a ramp and land on a downhill, we thought it'd be cool to do it on a rainy day. Yeah, I was just finishing elementary school at the time, so nevermind. *ahem*

Anyway, as I pedaled down the parking lot towards the ramp, my feet slipped off the pedals right as I was about to hit the ramp. The bike had no hand brakes, so my ability to brake (not counting with my own body) was lost. I went up the ramp, feet dangling, and landed on the front wheel while I was still seated. The bike cartwheeled, and I kept going forward a few feet, but the bike hit me once (I don't remember where) and then flipped towards the left. That's one way to get an enema! A little bruised (ego more than anything) but nothing broken, I got up and checked out my bike.....only a few scratches. Nothing was bent. That bike was a tank!

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Wednesday update:

It still hurts like hell, and the swelling has gone down a bit. From lying down, I can now lift my head a bit on my own, without using my left hand to pull it up. My right shoulder now has infinitely more positions to which I can move it without a great deal of pain, but I still have a lot of limitations. I haven't been able to move at all while sleeping, and because of the bruising on my back, I can't stretch properly, so my back REALLY needs cracked, as well as my neck, but that will have to wait. And as long as my back can take it, I should be able to drive again by tomorrow.

Thanks for the wishes, guys.

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It happens to the best of us.

I've been riding my KLR650 for a while now, mostly everywhere(college,work, etc) since gas has gone crazy. I remember when I first got it, I was running around on some dirt roads way out in the country(where I live) and was goin' just a little bit too fast and the gravel pretty much owned me. The bike didn't have a scratch on it but I did(several). I took it as a valuable lesson learned as far as gravel goes... but I've never quit riding. One of my favorite things to do.

Anyway, glad you're okay, but I must say that would've been funny as hell to see the bike own ya after you flipped off it.

Here's to healing wounds.

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Thursday update:

My landlady called up a nurse friend today, and the final assessment is that when I landed on my head, the helmet didn't jerk to the left, stretching my neck, it jerked to the right, slamming the bottom of the helmet into my neck and shoulder, deeply bruising both. That means that nothing is torn or popped out of place. The bruises on my back are definitely from the bike landing on me.

So I should be all healed up by next week. =D

Thanks again to everyone that wished me a quick recovery.

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Oh. Crap.

Sooo... Yeah, the swelling went down today, and I drove home and had my mom check it out, and you can VERY clearly see a bone pushing against the inside of my skin... Went to the emergency room and had some x-rays... I broke it GOOOOD.

I'll get a picture up sometime, but it actually snapped completely through, and there's about... an inch and a half of "overlap" where the bones should be connected... Hard to describe in words..

Ex: Take two pencils, put them together point-on-point at the erasers... This is a normal collarbone

Now take the pencils, push them together with an inch and a half of overlap, and the right side of my collarbone...

Emergency Room gave me a sling and some Tylenol with Codeine (Going to mess me up for a while), and referred me to an orthopedist. At the moment there are two options for fixing it.

1) Shoulder brace and stretch the thing to get the bones into position, then sling it for 6 weeks.

2) Surgery to replace the bones, secure them with a pin, and sling for 6 weeks.

As much as I hate surgery, I REALLY dread them spreading my shoulders to get them back into position...

Either way, my arm is out for at least 6 - 8 weeks, but I'll still make it to the Philly meetup if I have to pay someone to pick me up.

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