My first serious 'bike accident

It occurred on Friday 9th. April and the following is what I posted on the Canberra Riders forum....... 

Less than two minutes after having the bike inspected and passed (Discount Tyres, Erindale) and on my way home (another two minutes away) I am laying on the road at a roundabout, having given way to a driver on my left who was entering said roundabout....or so I thought.

"What the ???????" I say to myself as I lay there, bike to the left (still idling), me on my back.

I had the presence of mind to reach out and hit the kill switch as people came from left, right and centre.

Then I thought "Who's going to feed the cat tonight?" Ridiculous thought!! Why did I think that?!

Solicitous people are asking if I am hurting (not "Are you okay?", thank heavens) and, if so, where.

I hear someone calling triple-oh and I hear people talking about moving the bike off the road.

By this time I'm in a sitting position, visor half-connected to the helmet, and I'm nursing my left arm because my shoulder is hurting. I notice blood seeping slightly through the right leg of my jeans just where my knee is.

But - other than my sore left shoulder - I feel fine physically but utterly devastated emotionally. And HUGELY embarrassed. All those people looking at me and doing things because of something I did.

A fire engine arrives from Tugg and less than a minute later the ambulance arrives from Calwell station.

The man who dialled 000 tells me (a little later) that the operator said she'd send "everyone" but the police never stopped at the scene.

They did pass through the roundabout on their way up Erindale Drive....probably to something more pressing.

Single-vehicle accident, driver/rider okay.

But the ambos stayed, expecting the police to come.

Ambo checks me over, including slitting the sleeve of a perfectly good shirt!

At that time I have only a sore shoulder and an abrasion to the right knee - well, that's all that I know about.

"Do you want us to take you to casualty?"

"NAAAA! I'm fine....bit sore in the shoulder and I can stick a band-aid on the knee. I'll be okay, thanks all the same"

The driver I fell over for ended up taking me home (she is a motorcyclist) and a very nice man (Mick...thank you) rode my damaged bike home for me. He was a motorcyclist and used to tutor Troy Bayliss. Small world.

An hour later daughter calls in on way home from work and takes me to the medical centre.

Why? I was fine just an hour ago!

Moving my left arm above horizontal is agony.

Huge swellings are growing around both knees. It is painful to walk as I have to bend at the knees.........and on my right elbow there is a graze and another swelling. (Huh? Right elbow? It wasn't even sore an hour ago!)

I have discovered an abrasion to my right inner ankle. Huh? Where did that come from?!

Doctor (my GP for 26 years) says, "You IDIOT, Bruce!!" (great bedside manner!) when I tell her that I sent the ambulance away.

Abrasions are cleaned and dressed, tetanus shot administered, x-rays taken of left knee and left shoulder.

NO breaks. Thank God.

The swellings are soft tissue damage and should reduce over the coming week but "You are going to feel this tomorrow"!

Left shoulder is rotator-cuff damage due to severe extension of the arm (I held onto the left handle bar and the savage jerk tried to pull the ball out of the socket.)

Three hours after the accident my daughter drops me off at home and I am thankful to be in one piece, without major injuries and able to mentally slap myself repeatedly about the head as I shout "IDIOT!" over and over.

Observations A:

Unfamiliar with the bike, I grabbed too much front brake and literally in a split second I was on the ground.

Speed was only around 40 - 50 kph, as I had just left a 40 kph zone and was actually slowing (engine braking) when I grabbed the lever.

Strike One for Bruce.

Maybe the driver entering the roundabout should have stopped at the dotted line instead of continuing on into the roundabout. As it turned out, she was turning left into Harricks Cres. but she wasn't angling left as she crossed the line. That led my brain to the instinctive conclusion "SHE'S COMING THROUGH!"

Perhaps a Strike 0.5 for the car driver.

Observations B:

PPE works.

I have a graze on the front chin-protector of my helmet right where my lower right jaw sits within that helmet.

I would have facial damage if I had worn an open-faced helmet. Even an ambo commented on that.

Abrasions can occur through clothing.

My jeans have no holes yet I was severely abraded in the region of the right knee.

I suppose the only advantage is no ingress of road crap.

Armour works.

I might have an abrasion to my right elbow but even though I came down on that side, no point damage to the bone or tissue.

My jacket does, however, have some holes.

Armoured bits on gloves work, too.

They are reusable, but there is light grinding damage to the "bumps" on the right hand.

Conclusion:

I am more upset about the damage to the bike than I am to the damage to me.

It's not irreparable, by any means - the headlight & bucket need replacing; the handlebars seem to be slightly out of alignment; foot-brake lever is bent slightly; road-rash marks on the bar-end, muffler, etc. - but I am just so upset that this lovely little machine has been damaged by ME. That's what hurts the most.
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Since writing the above, 3 weeks have passed and, in that time, I have climbed back onto a 'bike (the Honda CM400A) and have ridden it in traffic. It was important - to me - to do that because I felt that the longer I left it then the more my doubts would grow and my confidence wane.

Physically, the healing process is slow; the bruising has nearly gone, abrasions have healed over and the swellings have reduced but the left shoulder is still sore and will take longer to recover than the bruises and scratches.

As for the Renaissa - it is in the hands of the repairers and will be fixed just as soon as the headlight and any other bits arrive from Japan.