BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

This week I had a crash on my bike. I'd imagine a few of you might laugh at that, considering the places I go on my R... But this happened in a parking lot at 10 mph so my riding style didn't have much to do with it....
I was turning around in this small lot next to a client of mine's warehouse, going at a very normal mellow speed, So as I came around in the turn, about half way in it the rear tire went over a small patch of oil that I hadn't seen, sliding the rear out. It happened so fast- first the left valve cover hit, then the rear got traction after the bike bounced of it, flipping the bike onto the right valve cover. (most of that comes from a guy who saw it happen) I remember landing on my back/side and looking over at my bike on it's side running, leaking a large amounts of oil. My attention went back to myself as a co-worker ran up and turned off the bike. Ok, there's a small tear left pant leg by my ankle, the rest of me seems fine - until I tried to get up. My left foot was starting to hurt, after getting some help up on one foot I hopped over the company I was visiting. I took off my left boot to see my foot pretty bruised and swelling. I put some ice on it right away, and within 10 minute I knew I need to go to the ER so off I went. Some friends at the company pushed my bike inside the warehouse and took my gear for me - one thing not to worry about for now.
I sat in the ER for 1.5 hours before seeing a doctor, then 40 more minutes to get the x-ray's done. By this time my foot was huge, and quite dark in color. FInally I was given some morphine, happy places- happy places I kept thinking...
It turns out I broke 3 bones in my foot, and will be needing surgery to put in 3 pins. Hopefully this is going to happen early next week, and then the doc says it will be 4-6 week before i can put weight on it- or ride.
In retrospect there's not much I could change, it's just one of those things that can happen.
However I will not be wearing the BMW City "boots" ever again. I feel that if I'd have had a heavy touring style boot my injuries might not have been as bad. The City "boots" are very thin with minimal protection... I knew better, but had ignored it and now will learn the hard way.

As for the bike, well she's going to need some work. I hope to get it to Chicago BMW on Monday, unfortunately I haven't had time since I've actually been working long shows for the last few days - the show must go on even with broken bones.
I'm not sure if I'll post any pics of the bike, it's a sad looking thing, and I will spare you the nasty sight of my foot..
Of all the places I've been on my R and to get gimped up from a low speed crash in a parking lot is quite embarrassing, but I figured I'd get it over with and share what happened to me.
It just goes to show you... careful out there.
Wish me luck in surgery.

OH NO!

Terrible news ChiTown.
Small consolation, but I'm glad it turned out as it did where you were, instead of happening where you've been (the middle of nowhere).

Best wishes with the surgery.
Keep us posted and if there's anything any of us can do, let us know.

I am really sorry to hear this. It can happen to any of us at any time. I wish you the best in a speedy recovery, and get back to your spectacular rides.

vielzebub wrote: Small consolation, but I'm glad it turned out as it did where you were, instead of happening where you've been (the middle of nowhere).
.

Thanks, I've thought about that, and there's two sides to it. If I'd have been in middle of nowhere, it would have been way more inconvenient, (but would make a way better story) and cost me way more in the end, but would have been done while pursuing what I love to do... versus getting hurt in a silly parking lot. I carry a SPOT transponder for this type of situation...

What I didn't mention earlier, and what really put things into a positive perspective for me was the ER. Big city ER's are like on TV, controlled chaos. After hearing the whole thing leading up to the person 2 rooms down from me dieing( why it took so long to get seen by the doc) and was wheeled out in front of me I immediately stopped feeling sorry for myself and was very happy to just be dealing with some pain, and a temporary inconvenience...

Good luck on the surgery. Whatever they tell you to do for PT - do it, then do it again. Luckily, you're young enough that things heal fast. The bike is just a hunk of metal - and can always be fixed, so don't worry about it. Make yourself well.

Heal fast..

Chi Town,

I hope you heal soon you know s__t happens!

Bummer.Good luck with the surgery and rehab.

Good thing you're mostly ok. +2 on Dons PT advise, it'll suck but it makes things work right in the long run. A little spill like that could happen at anytime, it is just way to easy to not see something like that. Get well soon and get the bike fixed and rolling again

Sorry to hear about your spill.

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Wishing you all the best...

Val & Ellie

Sorry to hear about your accident ChiTown, not more I can add that others have not already said. Hope you make a full recovery and continue to post your adventures.

On a side note, I bet I hold the record for the shortest ownership of a R1200R before it was totaled.... A year ago I rode it out of the show room and on the way home I lost control on a bend that had a 30 foot stretch of green algae underneath a wet road .

Bad news! Sorry you took such a nasty spill. Never mind, you'll heal up good as new and be back adventuring as if nothing happened.

Interesting comment about the boots. Got me thinking... Maybe good, heavy duty boots aren't a luxury.

Wow that sucks ChiTown quite a hefty injury for a minor spill. Hope you will be okee soon after the surgery. Don't know about the boots though. Personally I wear Alpinestar GP techs and they are quite good(same model Doohan used to wear and many many other riders). In the future I will also be going for race style boots as they seem to have the best protection. Don't know though if these boots would have saved your foot from braking in three places as most protection works mostly under slinding conditions but f your foot gets trapped underneath something, witch I guess it has, the protection proably wouldn't help mutch either.
Still investing in some good boots still ain't a bad idea but under the circumstances I doubt it would have nathered mutch.

ChiTown wrote: What I didn't mention earlier, and what really put things into a positive perspective for me was the ER. Big city ER's are like on TV, controlled chaos. After hearing the whole thing leading up to the person 2 rooms down from me dieing( why it took so long to get seen by the doc) and was wheeled out in front of me I immediately stopped feeling sorry for myself and was very happy to just be dealing with some pain, and a temporary inconvenience...

Word. I fractured my ankle in two places in March. The pain was so intense that I almost passed out when it happened. I then crawled onto a bus, rode home, and had someone drive me to the ER. I got to the hospital at 7:00 PM, and left at 2:00 AM. The place was so busy that everyone was being worked on in the hallways. I watched the med people administering shots of methadone, draining lesions, patching people up and working on lots of people in handcuffs. It was chaos; not controlled chaos, just chaos. I had a can of pepper spray in my hand most of the time I was there. The police were all over the place, but I was still pretty worried about something going awry.

I left there completely amazed at the patience of the doctors and nurses. I also think I was one of the few people that had medical insurance.

BTW, your injury scenario was far more interesting than mine... I was waiting for a bus, took one wrong step, had my foot go 90 degrees to my ankle and then SNAP. Good luck with your surgery, and get well soon!

hope you have a fast and painless recovery dude......good luck with surgery.....

Heal quickly ChiTown! I look forward to your next adventure.

Chi-Town.. first, glad to hear it wasn't worse - they always can be. I had a bad "off" two years ago this week just down the hill from the entrance to Deals Gap (right at the entrance to the Tapoca Lodge). I was riding my much-modified '01 Triumph Bonnie street tracker. I got high-sided - same scenario - fluid in the road that I didn't see. I hit the concrete wall that borders the bridge at the entrance to the Lodge with the back of my helmet (roughly 45 mph), breaking my neck (C2), five ribs, and two toes.

Thankfully I was wearing ATGATT, so I survived. I still have lingering affects, but I don't complain much. The interesting part - and there are many - is that the toes took the longest to heal. I was wearing Cruiserworks boots (I still do), and they don't have a steel toe. Had I been wearing my old Harley steel-toed engineer boots, my toes wouldn't have been crushed (of course I wouldn't have been able to shift the Bonnie, but a man has to make sacrifices).

The really bad part is that it's tough getting banged up at the beginning of the riding season. You'll be fine - just take one day at a time. Good luck on the surgery.

Oh... one last comment - If you think quality medical care is expensive now, just wait until it's free!..

Sorry to hear about the fall ChiTown and hope for a full and quick recovery.
Mike...

Sorry to hear about your little accident! I hope you recover soon!

Take care

Gary

Best of luck on a speedy recovery. I will miss your adventure rides and pics for this year, but I know you will be back soon.

Chris

Joe, sorry to hear about your mishap. What terrible timing - hope the healing goes faster than expected. If I can help out, give me a shout.

David