Bike peeps: wear your gear and don't ride on ice
 

So I dumped my bike last night around 11:30pm coming home from a friend's house. Accelerating on a left turn from a light, my rear tire hit a slick patch (possibly a wet/icy manhole cover) and I low-sided on the left. I was going perhaps 15mph. Scratched the engine case cover, left passenger grab handle, front and rear fairings, and bent the handlebar and clutch lever.

I landed hard on my left side. Broke a small bone in my left wrist, bruised a rib, and got some mild road rash on my knees from friction with my motorcycle jeans (didn't even burn through the denim). I think the elbow armor in the jacket saved my elbow, as I know I hit it pretty hard but I haven't had any problems with it. I was wearing my Arai helmet (which has some mild road rash on the left side of the chin bar), my cortech leather jacket (which has some mild scratches and discoloration), Alpinestars gloves, Alpinestars motorcycle jeans (which survived intact), and some combat boots.

Some kindly folk who were drinking on their porch and witnessed me go down helped me pick up the bike and made sure I was ok. I rode the bike the rest of the way home, and then noticed that my left wrist was swollen and painful. I was in the ER until 3am. At first the doc didn't see any fractures and just gave me a splint, but I got a call from the radiologist this morning that she had found a "triquetrem avulsion fracture," but that I'd just need to wear the splint they gave me for about 6 weeks and go easy on it.

I got my bike in May and have put about 3,000 miles on it. I probably shouldn't have gone out last night, as there were still a few slick/icy spots on the road, but I hadn't ridden the bike in 3 weeks and had a craving. Oh well. Time to repair the bike and put it away for the winter. :(

sucks man. good thing you werent going faster. any idea how much all the damage (to the bike and yoursef) is gonna cost?

The ER visit 'should' be covered by my health insurance, even though it was an "auto accident," and should only cost me a $100 copay. We'll see when I get the bill.

I've already got a DYI rattle-can paint job on the bike (Duplicolor bed-liner), and the fairings are still intact, so I should just be able to respray and repair the damage. I've even got enough extra paint to cover it. I've just got a stock handlebar and clutch lever, so I should be able to find those cheap on a Suzuki site I'm a member of. Will probably be only $50 or less and 4 hours worth of my time. Not too bad.

When I went down at 50mph and only sustained minor bruises I vouched that I would NEVER drive knee down without gear, and when wet out to slow WAY the fawk down.

Glad to hear you were only minimal.

And welcome to the club :goodjob: It is a HUGE learning experience

weather is your second worst enemy on a bike :hs: I'm glad you weren't hurt.

Good to hear you are okay dude. I try to learn as much as I can from other peoples accidents, but I know I will inevitably drop a bike someday.

the bike has character now :cool:

wrist injuries are a real bitch & hard to protect against...glad you're ok

I'm a bitch when it comes to riding in the rain and when it's cold out.

Riding in the winter in Denver? Sheesh.

Yeah, well. It was fun until I fell over. :D