My real sad moto guzzi story

[bigbikerrick]

The reason I havent been on the forum in over a month and a half is because I had a pretty serious accident on my beloved v 11 sport naked. I was on a ride with my wife following me on her magna, and white looking into the rear view mirror to see if my wife had made it out of the gas station, onto the highway, the car in front of me suddenly slowed down, and I tapped its rear bumper. This caused me to loose control of the Guzzi. The guzzi slid on its right side( the guzzitech head protectors did a perfect job of keeping the head fins intact) the real bad thing is that I had removed my anti tip over valve no my gas tank breather hose to prevent tank suck, and the spilling gas I guess combined with the sparks caused my beautiful 03 naked to catch on fire! after a few minutes a passing motorist used a fire extinguisher to put it out. needless to say all of the plastic stuff/ and wiring is toast. I suffered 2 broken ankles, a few broken ribs, a broken wrist,and elbow. I am currently recouperating at home in a wheelchair,after a month in the hospital in Tucson. sad to admitt.... after much deliberation,and discussion with my family, I have decided to give up motorcycle riding . at my age , Im just too old to risk another accident in the future. I will be parting out whatever is good on the Guzzi as soon asI get on my feet again and can take things apart. the bike has less than 8K miles on the clock. the engine/transmission should still be good, the brake discs,calipers , rear drive. and driveshaft , clutch lever, shift lever, etc are all good. it has the wide swingarm/rear wheel. I also have the stock cans intact in the garage,as well as the stock ecu as it was replaced with the ti system upon purchase.I also have the stock mirrors in perfect shape as I had replaced them with napoleon barens before the crash. If anyone here can use any of these parts, I will accept your best offer as I dont plan to make a bunch of money on whats left of the bike, I would just like them to go to good use to a fellow guzzisti,as the folks on this forum have been really awesome to me. I would also sell whats left of the bike as a whole if anyones interested. I also would like to sell a 1997 honda magna and a 2001 honda cbr 600 f4i that I have . both bikes are in mint condition as the have always been garaged and ridden by my geezer self or my wife.

[Frenchbob]

Really sorry to hear your bad news, Rick.

 

I hope that the fact you're posting again means that you feel much better. Once a biker, always a biker in attitude, and even though you may have decided not to ride again, you're still that sort of worthwhile person.

 

Recover fully soon, and very good luck, whatever takes your interest in the future.

 

Bob

[Admin Jaap]

That sucks big time... glad you're ok though, and good luck with whatever you're new hobby is going to be!

[Paul Minnaert]

That's a sad story. And reminds me again how small the edge is between fun and misery.

I hope you recover without any leftover problems.

[Martin Barrett]

Sorry to hear this Rick. I hope you mend well and quickly.

[jrt]

Sounds like more than a 'tap' on the bumper. Well- the important part is that you lived and will heal up. I'm sorry this happened- don't jump on selling the bikes, though. Heal up first. I know fellows that are north of 80 that still ride.

[bigbikerrick]

Thanks to all for the kind words of encouragement, I sure can use them as Im pretty much "bummed out" over what happened. Rick.

[Guest ratchethack]

So sorry Rick. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[DeBenGuzzi]

sorry to hear. I know hoe easy this can happen, its good words of caution to all. I hope you feel better soon. I say you sell your bikes and just get an old V7 or something small and managable that can get you around in a nice lesiurely way on a sunday afternoon. I know if you have nothing you'll miss it hard. If you truly never ride again don't worry, youre still the best.

Here's to a speedy recovery

[tomsp]

Hey, one thing is for certain -- stuff happens. From experience (am I not the guzzi crash test dummie?) do not beat yourself up. Hindsight is always full of "I should have done...." or "if only I...." on and on...

 

Thank God for the skill getting you through thus far, I'd say.

 

Get into OT soon if you're not already-- sounds like you are. Work hard on those ankles! Enjoy the family :!:

[dlaing]

Owww!

I hope the pain killers are good and you heal well.

And most importantly, don't be a stranger to the list!

It would not be the same without you here.

[felix42o]

Best wishes, we're all glad it wasn't worse.

[g.forrest]

sorry to hear this. heal up and keep the chin up.

[mdude]

Oh man, sad story. Sounded especially dramatic this one. Hope for a fast recovery for you, both on body and soul. It serves as a strong reminder for me, I keep looking at my wifes bike in the mirrors all the time too.

 

just a story: last autumn I drove to the hangout for a burger and a chat. several bikers there and i started talking to this greyish guy. he was obviously one of the veterans of the lot. what he told me was: he was 73 yrs, and had owned bikes since the dark ages. three years ago he slid his Bmw 1200 Lt on loose gravel at low speed and lost it, he smashed up his knee quite badly and scared the wits out of his wife who was pillion. so he decided to quit biking.

 

when the knee was healed the itch began. he hadnt been without bikes since 1950 or something. so what he did was that he bought a bike, of course. but he couldnt tell his wife (AT ALL!), so this 72 year old little boy had a Honda VFR 800 with ferociously loud pipes and tip top riding gear lurking secretly in a mates garage, and every time his wife was away he snook out and rode it. he told me his knee was still stiff, so he wasnt able to ride for much more than twenty minutes which was exactly the distance on to the hangout. but that was enough to take 10 yrs off his age every time. he just couldnt live without a ride now and then.

as I said, just a story. It gets in the blood.

[mike wilson]

I hope you get back to full fitness, Rick. It's not always easy and often requires plenty of determination. The best advice I can give you, from experience, is never give up.

 

The same advice applies to doing what you want to do.

 

mike