I fought the dog and the dog won.

[Rookie Rider]

Sorry to hear that. Glad it wasnt worse. Feel better real soon burkes !!

[burkbuilds]

Thanks for everyone's well wishes.
I am in rehab now. The police were called but according to my wife they just filed a report w/o doing any interviews with witnesses and they did not even cite the dog's owner even though my wife requested it. We are planning on hiring a lawyer to investigate our options against any homeowners insurance. I will probably be out of work for a couple of months + and we will have a lot of medical bills to pay and things like a ramp so I can be rolled into our house. While I was lying in the ditch I heard a witness say he saw the whole thing happen and that he's told the dogs owner several times that he needed to keep his dog put up because it keeps running out in the street.

BTW I crashed across the street from a local riders group's clubhouse, "The Unforgiven" and they were great to me. One of them jumped down in the ditch with me before i was even able to take my first breath after the crash. He told me not to move asked me if i could breath, then gently removed my helment and put a blanket under my head and stayed with me until the EMT's arrived. They called 911 and my wife for me too.

I do have crash bars and the right side was slightly bent which may have reduced the amount of damage to my knee but obviously did not totally prevent it.
WW, I was wearing very little gear. 1/2 helmet, leather boots, blue jeans, and a t-shirt. The helmet was slightly scratched and probably kept the side of my face from being scraped up. The jeans kept my legs from road rash but did not provide any impact protection. my armored riding pants might have reduced the damage to my knee if i had been wearing them. The t-shirt did little to protect me from road rash and i have it on my right elbow shoulder and back, but mine is pretty mild since i only slid about 15' before falling into the ditch. I have a really high tech armored jacket that I think would have saved my shoulder and ribs but i only wear it in Winter because it weighs about 15 lbs and it is very hot. We all make choices and must live with the consequences. Given the same weather and other circumstances I would probably make the same choices again. I know many will read this and think i am an idiot but i am trying to be honest and i just prefer to ride with less gear than many people. (BTW please forgive all the typo's I am having to type with one hand in an awkward position,while under heavy painkillers and i just don't feel like taking even more time to correct my errors.)
My son in law was able to drive the bike home from the crash site,but i have only seen a few pics of the bike. my wife took pics of me in the ditch and i will try to get a few posted when i am able.




















i

[burkbuilds]

PICS

[Skunkhome]

Boy, it is good that you did not crash into the face/mouth of the culvert. Culverts are deadly even to belted in auto drivers.

[mole2]

Burkbuilds, you're not an idiot with gear choices. I'm in SC and it does get mighty hot and humid down here. I wear my mesh jack as far into the hot weather as I can and then, like you, I switch to a t-shrit. I wear the full face helmet until I can't take it anymore and switch to the 3/4. It sure beats the guys I see with no shirt, shorts and sandals. It's the choices some of us make. Get well my friend and I'll add you to my prayers.

[Water Warrior 2]

Wow BB, that is one ugly place to land. It is good to hear you had immediate help from the local folks.
No I won't utter horrible words about no gear or little gear. It is your choice as we have discussed before on a few threads. I do know the heat factor can be nasty in some areas and dressing lighter is almost a must or the heat will wear you down very quickly.
Of course I will always continue to advise new riders to wear armor as they are most likely to have an oops on the road and then hope they continue to wear it out of habit the way I do.
Thanks for the update and pics. Our prayers have you in mind for a good recovery.

[mrlmd1]

That's an amazingly nasty looking ditch and you're lucky you only broke a few bones, and that the bike survived too. Could have been a lot worse.
Sue the bastard! When you win, you'll feel a lot better and it won't happen to someone else. He should pay for his carelessness. Do you know who the witness was?

[burkbuilds]

I am not a "sue happy" kind of guy, but this has cost me a lot in many ways. If they have homeowners liability insurance I will pursue it. If not, I don't think the people on this street have much to go after and it would probably be a waste of effort even if we were awarded something because we probably couldn't collect. "you can't get blood from a turnip" scenario. I don't know who the witness was but i think they will be easy to find. My neighbor is a member of that riding club and they sounded frustrated with the dog's owner anyway.

[greatmaul]

Oh my goodness, that looks and sounds so terrible. I'm so sorry that happened to you and hope you heal very quickly. That is so cool that there were biker friends right there and that they jumped in to help and were so kind about everything. Best wishes to you for a very speedy recovery and that you're up and riding again soon.

[jonathan180iq]

Holy Crap!

Like everyone else has said, there isn't a worse place to have gone down, really.

We're all very happy that you're still in one piece.