Modern Vespa

I try to be cool in that old school way.

After having a brutal night of pain with the sweats and chills that started with a big puke fest I have reached out to the big local motorcycle accident law firm and am just waiting to hear back from them. It was the "How much would you pay not to have an accident like this" comment that really made my mind up on this. The answer? A LOT. Look I make good money, can't complain there but this pain is at times more than I can put in to words. I'm sure it will get better but that is going to take a while. Funny the site specifically mentions motorcycles and "Vespa".

https://www.preszlerlaw.com/areas-we-serve/toronto-on/motorcycle-accident-lawyer/

*EDIT* Just spoke to a lawyer, stale no point in my suing the driver or Uber unless things get really bad. Our province has some really screwed up ways of dealing with things and while he said it may not be fair it's how it is.

It might be pretty expensive to sue Uber. I wouldn't get too down until you see how much the insurance will push at you to make you whole again. I'll bet the Uber thing will help the amount be reasonable. High probability the guy was looking at his phone while changing lanes and insurance company knows this.

When I was a victim of a car accident in 1987 I went into litigation with insurance for several years; in Italy it works like this: the insurance company tries not to pay you by trying to pass you off as guilty and in this way opens a civil case in court. During the period of the legal process he tries to settle ridiculous compensation even if the insurance policy says something else ....
The legal costs of the court must be advanced by the person making the case (me) against the insurance, if and when the sentence is issued and it will be favorable, the costs are not issued separately but incorporated in the compensation! Incredible but true.
But the tragic thing was that in the meantime the insurance went bankrupt and I was compensated only for the legal and medical expenses (I had also lost my job as well as being disabled) through a state guarantee fund.

Insurance should pay out a reasonable amount in my mind; but might take some pushing, of course I'm not familiar with laws in Canada. What about having the attorney negotiate the claim -- might not be worth his fee, but it could be. I tend to concur, going to court and filing a claim doesn't help in smaller cases, but sometimes the threat can help with a settlement.

Best morning so far. No massive sweats and just a few cases of the chills overnight which is a first and I was able to keep real food down yesterday which is also a first. So a little better and will keep heading in that direction. Oh and here - fun test results.. A few of the medical nerds around here will understand I'm sure.

None of that looks good Harbinger. I don't know much about knee problems but do know that it's a very successful procedure.

Did the car hit your knee or did you hit it when you fell. Or did it occur due to twisting? Glad you're feeling better.
Miguel

Thanks...I'm always curious about what's going on anatomically. I found myself straining to see your X-rays on an earlier post and wasn't expecting a fibular fracture. I have personal experience with a distal fracture.... expecting they're far more concerned about that ACL.....

Glad you're feeling better..

I think a bit of all of that but my Dr thinks the break is from where the car hit me. That's exactly what the fracture clinic said to me on the phone. Yer good they're considered the best clinic in Toronto which is saying a lot so bang on there fledermaus. They also said they hope not but we will have to see how it goes.

Heard back on the first offer for the GTV, close to 7K but they are going to come back with another offer since I have sent all the upgrade receipts to them. They also said I could take off what I want that is cosmetic so the classic racks floor rack at least I get back. I'm way too hurting right now to bother removing the crash bars or I would. They held up incredibly well with virtually no damage. Partially I think because my body was in between the bars and the pavement...

Life sucks sometimes.

very sorry about your crash and very glad you are mostly okay. wishing you a speedy recovery.

Hi Tony,

Here's the link from MotorcycleGear...

https://www.motorcyclegear.com/street/pants/reinforced_jeans_and_cargos/trilobite/micas_urban_jeans.html

They come with the knee armor, I ordered the hip armor separately. They are on sale right now for $90.99.

Hope you heal fast, Tony.

Best wishes,
Jim

On my scale of safety in the pants:
1. Naked
2. Shorts
3. Dress suit (thin) pants
4. Levis
5. Aramid/Kevlar jeans pants (as mentioned above)
6. Textile with CE rated hip, knee, shin pads (anything costing less than $200)
7. 840D Cordura with D3O Level 1 pads (Klim Latitude)
8. Armacor shell with D3O Level 2 pads (Klim Adventure Rally)
9. Two piece race suit (Daniese, Alpinestars, etc)
10. Moto GP full race suit (Dainese, Alpinestars, etc)

Don't beat up the list. It isn't scientific but simply a quickly prepared comparison of different levels of safety in riding gear. Of course each brand has its differences and the marketing words used are often vague. We each have to decide based what to wear based on riding conditions, weather, cost, etc. for every option listed above I'll bet that riders who have suffered a traumatic injury due to an accident would have rather been wearing something lower on my list above. However, that is not always practical. Hope this and other safety threads educate all of us and allow for more informed choices in the safety gear we wear while riding. Be safe my friends!

Mind you the irony in my case is it was exactly what most of us would consider a very low risk ride. Literally a less than 10 minute street ride to pick up groceries on a Saturday morning. I doubt many here would fully gear up for something like that and even the strictest I'm sure are guilty on occasion. Not to mention I could just as easily have been a cyclist in this case.

My kevlar-lined jeans with pads cost a lot more than $200.

There's also PEKEV which is AAA rated. I think Klim gear is only AA.

According to studies, familiar environments close to home is where most accidents with injuries occur. Has to do with the human vision and how we behave if we perceive lower risk.

My jeans, fully cotton woven throughout with kevlar from Alpinestars and with CE I rated knee and hip armor, are so comfortable that I don't mind wearing them even off the bike. After having come off motorcycles many times in younger years (pushing my own boundaries, no one else's fault), I know first hand that even city speeds hurt like hell without protection. Now it's AT THAT for me, even if others occasionally poke fun at me. I'm riding my own ride.

Four months ago I was in a head-on collision and NOTHING would have protected me. Spend as much as you like.

My Motorpools aren't cheap, but they're certainly not the most protective.

Harbinger - I'm sorry to read about your accident. Best wishes for a quick recovery!

I understand how you feel and it's not unusual. In my case knee armour would have saved some dame but much of the bruising would I imagine still be there as well as likely the fractured femur. The fracture is from where the bumper hit me and the side of the leg. Full high end riding suit maybe but nothing urban would have helped much as the side of the leg is not really protected.

Will I consider wearing armour more often from the waste down? Yeah I imagine I will. Will I always got out in head to toe gear? Nah I know me too well... If I was a cyclist I imagine my head would be spinning even more as like I said I could easily have been a cyclist in this case with potentially worse injuries. The modular helmet was really the champ that day and saved me a lot of at minimum jaw damage and probably worse seeing as how my face shield was scraped up.

Ugh. I don't look at Modern Vespa for awhile and then arrive to see this thread. The photo of your knees was harder to look at than the scooter. It's as if some pain signal was transmitted directly from the screen to my knee.

I'm glad you are more or less ok and hope your knee is salvageable. Having returned from the ER last night for a foot injury I'm reminded of how delicate we really are. I took the K75 for a ride a couple days ago and went without the armored pants because I was too lazy to put them on. Your post reminded me that I'm an idiot.

Gear works. And you don't have to be going very fast to do a lot of damage.

Good luck on your rehabilitation -- body and machine!

Oh dear Lord, this is terrible.

I don't hang around here as much as I used to, and dropping in, casually scrolling through the posts to find this is just horrible.

Talk about a tough cookie! I am very impressed, truly I am.

If anyone has any doubts about how tough Canadian hockey players are, let this stand as a case in point. Getting run over by Uber doesn't come close.

Take care Sean. Don't eat too much bacon... just enough

I can tell you how being a cyclist in such a situation would be, because I had a similar incident happen to me over a dozen years back when I still lived in Brooklyn: I was riding home North along 4th Avenue, in the outside lane, and in broad daylight, when I was sideswiped by a Chevy Cavalier changing lanes at speed. Me and bike literally somersaulted through the air, landing helmet-first onto the pavement. I ended up pretty bruised and cut up, but amazingly didn't break or fracture anything, which still amazes me. The driver (an Army Staff Sargeant from a local recruitment center) had stopped about five blocks ahead, then slowly crept backward to where I was. I questioned him carefully, and he sheepishly admitted he was paying adequate attention when he quickly switched lanes. I took down his information (which didn't get me anywhere, ultimately), then managed to hop back on board and hobble home. Besides my helmet, my cycling gloves also saved the day, keeping the palms of my hands from becoming hamburger-and-gristle on impact.

So, yeah: I wear all the gear I can, according to what I feel a given situation warrants: helmet, gloves and footwear always, and the full suit-up for the longer, faster stuff.

Sorry for your news Harbinger. Tough that it happened near the beginning of riding season. Sounds like you have got a good plan with your doctors.

Be very diligent with your Physical Therapy and rehab. That is a big part of long term recovery.

As for gear - there is no way to mitigate all the risks we face when riding. Our gear is intended to minimize but not completely eliminate risk of injury. I've had 3 incidents since I started riding 10 years ago, 2 very low speed in parking lots (one involved ice, the other waste grease from a restaurant) and a 3rd low speed on the street (frost settled on a painted crosswalk line). In each of those, my gear protected me from almost all injuries (I had a bit of bruising).

Best of luck to you and all others in your healing process.

Thanks David, Carl and everyone again for the well wishes.

Yes, hockey players are a tough breed Especially going back to when I played in the QMJHL where goalie creases were a battle zone. Not protected by the rules as they are now.

Anyway I digress... So just got back from hospital and the fracture clinic. After some poking, prodding and a LOT of x-rays the news is pretty good. Just the fracture to my fibula the will heal with time and no further breaks. My knee is still really messed up and the bruising and contusions for the most part emanate from it with some other impact bruising.

Also saw my pain specialist today for injections and medication. He was happy for the news and sort of laughed when he told me he really didn't tell me just how painful the injury looked last week. So we modified my prescriptions a little bit now that we know I had no adverse effects and yeah man they work. In a few weeks we are going to have to wean me off this stuff but by then the pain will be more manageable. I can see how this stuff has taken out so many celebrities with Drs that just keep prescribing it or they get it illegally from someone in their circle. In a case like mine where it's needed to add some quality back to life and allow for sleep it's great. However when the time comes Marcel needs to go to the zoo.

Lastly, man hospitals stinks! I swear I had to tear all my cloths off that I wore today as they reek was so bad. I'm assuming it has to something they are using to kill Covid-19 but it permeated everything I had with me. Not just what I was wearing on the gurney and during x-rays etc. It's also amazing just how many x-rays are required when going from the hip all the way down to the toes.

Harbinger, All that is good news for your knee but sounds you'll be off the bike until well into the summer. That's too bad but hopefully you'll get some riding in during middle/late summer. I had to go to a hospital today (University of California, San Francisco) for a planned outpatient procedure. It went smoothly and I have some tenderness that will take a while to recover. But the hospital didn't have any unseemly aromas at all. They did have a strict covid policy: you had to have a negative covid test within the last 4 days just to get in the door.*

Best
Miguel

*I rode my BMW up there from Santa Cruz on Saturday to get a Covid test, 165 miles RT. It was a cold ride that day tho riding at 65/70 mph with a strong arctic wind blowing down the coast with overcast skies, even with a heated seat and handgrips, 5 layers upper body. Brrr!!

I am happy to read that there is some improvement and that you are combative and not surrendered to evil, the stench in hospitals is also here ... I know, I'm having medical checkups. Get well soon and try to pass the time well, boredom is the enemy of healing.

Could be, but seeing as how I have pretty much every digital toy available you'd think I wouldn't be bored. We're still in a (less strict) lockdown but I would at least have the ability to step out for a bit or go for a ride. The pain is also to say the least distracting but is getting better though it can still ramp up. Yesterday went to sleep at 7 pm , woke up about 9 for a dinner of toast with PB and berries then at 3 to have a snack then back up at 7:30 am.

Attila and I are probably smelling the same thing. It has to be extra strong hospital grade disinfectants being used. Literary permeates everything you bring in with you. It could also vary depending on the ward you are in. I've just been in ER, the fracture clinic and x-ray. All areas that would also see patents from say the ER or other wards that may get exposed to Covid-19. I'd be interested to hear from a few of the medical professionals on here as to exactly what it is .

Very sorry to hear! I know I'm late to the "party" but if there is an option for you to retain the totaled Vespa, you should look into it. When my GT200 was totaled, I had the option of buying it back for junk value. IIRC, it was around $300 which was deducted from my payout amount. Mine was side-damaged like yours, mainly cosmetic, and after replacing the legshield trim and buttoning it up to the rest of the body, I was able to pass inspection and get a rebuilt title. I see you are in Canada so I presume the laws may differ from the US on this front.

also been away from MV and late to this news ....just so glad you're here with us posting - get welll soon!

Retaining it from insurance doesn't seem like an option, I asked. Getting it from salvage though might be possible. The issue I think is the frame is split running along the inside floorboard. I was a little surprised myself when I saw that , guess I went down pretty hard . That would explain the damage to my leg and this incredibly annoying pain I am in. Started PT yesterday and oh boy am I feeling it today and am dipping in to the breakthrough medication.

Do you think a three-wheeled scooter would have been safer? Just an opinion ...
The Vespa also pays for the instability in the event of a road accident with the "relatively" small diameter wheels; about the "armor" i think it is useful for abrasions but it does not avoid broken bones ...

I was offered to buy my totaled 2009 GTV 250 18 months ago from the insurance company for about $1100. I thought long and hard about it. I chose not to do it because all I'd do it part it out and that would have been more work than I wanted to do given all my other obligations and would have taken away time from things I like to do. just sayin'

Best
Miguel

Yeah and a car would be even safer, so would a bus or an urban assault vehicle.The thing is I ride Vespas because I love Vespa and thus the point is kinda moot. If I was on my K1600GT Sport I may have been seen or able to accelerate out of the accident and if I was in my Ural ditto on the seen part and there is a good chance I would have staid upright. At the same time on either of those rides I could have been thrown and had worse damage. Coulda, woulda, shoulda...

If there is an up side, you may have had the accident 'after' you collected the groceries, geez there would have been oysters, truffles and caviar strewn all over the road, not to mention the campagne bottle breakages to clean up.

Good point. Champaign for sure and maybe chocolate truffles. The other type need to be in season and generally order ahead. They'd survive an accident though I'm not sure if be up to making my pasta dish with them. No seafood here, closed we get is sea asparagus which is actually really good.

Ouch, get better soon.

I didn't ask you to do partisanship, no really ... I wanted to be reassured but .... No, you're right: "Coulda, woulda, shoulda..." (fate perhaps).
You were unlucky but also lucky ... it depends on your point of view. Think of it like this, but it's nice not to give up because of a stupid car driver.
If I can afford (delicate to comment in this case, I respect you very much and I am afraid of being indelicate) when I had an accident with my PX years ago, it was the front apron that saved my leg from worse consequences otherwise the bumper of the truck he would have crushed it.

I did have a lap apron on. It might have actually caused more damage as it may have kept me trapped under the scoot. Some of the damage were the contusions to my leg and a hematoma higher up the leg. It did however save a pair of $100 jeans.

I expressed myself badly, by apron i mean the front shield of the scooter.

Ah! No worries man things get lost in translation all the time. In my case the driver hit me from the side and the number did me resulting in my broken fibula.

Here's something funny.. I has an issue issue with an Uber Eats delivery where our order went though twice and we got 2 $85 deliveries . I opened a ticket and a few days later they refunded one of the orders in full so good job there. We still have a fair amount of food left from that so more leftovers tonight. Uber itself? Well from the accident I just got a call from one of their lawyers asking me a bunch of questions. I'm positive I will not get a penny out of them.