Modern Vespa

Today was a pretty bad day on the scooter front because I laid down the GL after getting into a slide and failing to recover while getting on the highway.

The scooter has a few small dents on the left edge of the legshield and the glovebox cowl is going to need repainting.

Through the miracle of adrenaline (and knowing not to look at an injury until you're somewhere you can collapse when you do) I was able to ride home and my wife drove me to the ER.

I was wearing a helmet, jacket, gloves, and boots... And shorts. I have a hell of a gash in my left knee, like it's almost too gruesome to post a picture, and I have some pulled or torn muscles in my left leg, I'm pretty sure. I can't put any weight on it, which is never a good sign, but they already took x-rays and the tech said he didn't see any sign of breaks.

While I'd have the muscle injuries either way, of of been wearing armored pants, I'd just have bruises to go with them. At it is, my days as a Knee Model are now at an end.

I've been sitting in the ER at Vanderbilt Hospital, which is over capacity, so they can't get patients out of the ER and into the hospital, so I'm just sitting and waiting for a slot to get cleaned up, sewed up, and eventually out of here.

So consider this a reminder of the importance of safety gear--ALL the safety gear.

Everyone ride safe!

If people want to see my knee, I'll share, but at I said, it's pretty gruesome.

As an aside, I was testing the theory that I've been having fuel delivery issues. I noticed that at WOT, the AFR was showing increasing leanness while revs and throttle held steady,
followed by climbing temps. I'd just gassed up to see if that was the case, and am pleased that the bike ran great, so I'll reinstall the fuel pump and then can with on the tuning again once I'm back on my feet.

Get well soon buddy.

Oh crap man. Hopefully you are ok and recover quickly. That gl is bad luck

Thanks!

The funny thing is that after I got back to the house, I had that exact same thought.

Heal up soon my dude.

You AND that GL need a limpia pronto, ese.

Sage the garage and salt the driveway man!

Find an Italian who knows how to ward off the mallochio fast!

Gah!

Wtf?!?!?

So sorry hombre.
Heal quick and go buy a lottery ticket...you are due for some good luck.

You have no idea how overdue I am for some good luck at this point.

It could have been a LOT worse, though. If the bike had gone over instead of laying down, I'd have gone into the rock wall that the ramp is cut in to (and that I was siding toward) rather than just gashing my knee and being saved by the elbow armor in my jacket. My new armored leather gloves earned their keep today, too.

Yikes! Good reminder, I’ve had a few days where I said screw it and wore shorts recently, back to the jeans I guess. I hope you feel well soon.

Thanks, John!

Jeans wouldn't have saved me in this case, but I've certainly had some spills where they made a difference. Only proper armor would have saved me this time. It definitely makes me rethink my own risk tolerances, too.

Damn! Glad it wasn't worse, and so sorry it was as bad as it is. Rest up. My accident still haunts me

Glad you're still kicking. Sucks about the scoot but they are easier to repair than our bodies are.

You'll be up and running in no time!

I'm just hanging out bleeding in the ER waiting to get seen. Nothing to do but post on here until much phone battery runs out.

Damnit CM! I'm so sorry to hear this! Yeah, some sage and salt, and pakalolo, then the cleanse to get the negative juju out of that machine, and replace it with excellent juju, throughout your entire space.

I'll be putting some good juju into the ethers and sending it your way my friend.

Heal up and thanks for the dirt.

I'm going to hunt down a pair of armored pants. I've been riding with kneepads, boots, and regular jeans for the lower extremities. Your scene is giving me the nudge to step it up...

I'll post a picture if it'll scare people safe!

I’m sorry to hear that. Heal up quickly.

I ain't scared of no pics of gashes

Damn.
Anyway REALLY appreciate you posting this. Got armored pants in my shopping cart for maybe 10 years now.
You must have a hell of a wife (like mine) since you're still talking scooters there.
Fuerza!

Ray

My wife learned before we ever got married that me turning up bleeding for one reason or another was just part of the deal.

Also, here's the current state of things. Doesn't really do it justice, though.

Def missing a bit of your leg there buddy!

Lil iodine and some super glue will fix you right up.

Usually I'm a "paper towel and duct tape" guy, but this one seemed like it merited professional attention.

I'm kindve curious to see how they patch it up, because I don't think the two sides of that cut are going to reach.

Makes my finger blood fountain accident from bashing my nuckle on the front mudguard on my smallframe yesterday look like a mosquito bite!

You definitely missing a nice chunk!

So sorry to hear that!!



Glad you're (mostly) ok.

They'll reach. Been there.
Sucks how being in pain doesn't get you anywhere in the ER.

Woah that sucks.....

Heal up soon, glad you're ok and definitely could be worse for both you and the vespa.

Wasnt it just freshly painted too (or recently?)?

Always happens when things are in a good state... Makes me not put too much effort on cosmetics for daily/seasonal rides...

Yup. Just painted and rebuilt it a couple months ago. I was getting on the highway to check the carb tuning.

Urgh the worst… sorry to hear that man…

Speedy recovery so you can tune that thing

Yikes! Sobering pic.

So sorry to hear your story, Chandler. Hope you are stitched back together and on the mend very soon. The beautiful GL, too!

Thanks for the post. I’ve been jealously watching “everybody else” cruise around in shorts and t shirts this summer and debating the risks with myself. Reading your scary tale, I can say I definitely will value my knees more than my cool factor.

(Just cross your legs when you knee-model now. Problem solved.)

Sad to hear you got banged up, but glad to know your still have your life. Heal up quick! and everyone stay safe out there

When was being laid down and banged up ever so sad. We've all been there. Will all fix up fine. Riding away from the scene helps a lot with the real scars.

Can't run jets that size without a pump, if doing extended WOT action. Fast flow tap too and keep the suction line as short as possible (pump under tank). Vacuum line will be longer but that don't matter.

ooh, can we compare knees please?

Hiking in the Pyrenees (no pun intended) a couple of years ago, one trip, and I'm still suffering to this day. The fly soon got in on the action though!

Sorry to butt in, as you were

Oh I know what you are going through! Yes, it's amazing what adrenaline can do. I also rode home and the driver that hit me followed with my top case. See how nice Canadians are? In my case my leg was broken and I will not post pictures because yeah... I'm going to be in physiotherapy for a while still but outside of some bruising around my knee and the (now small) hematoma on my thigh it looks way better.

Hope you're feeling better today and heal up quickly! I was wearing jeans when I went down on cobblestone and can only imagine the damage if I had sorts on.

Take care of yourself and like we always say after getting back up, it could have been worse.

Too bad about the GL but at least it appears to not have any damage to the frame.

I'm still guilty of wearing jeans and only put my armoured pants on for long trips.

Sorry to hear this, it sounds like it could have been a lot worse!

Don't look ... don't look ... don't look ... don't look ... don't look ...

I looked.

Suddenly my lobster mac and cheese is hitting a little differently.

Get better, man.

Oof. Glad it was not worse- get better soon!

Hey CM - How are you feeling this morning?
Did they manage to stretch the skin together?
And how many stitches?

Back in the day I was jumping an XR500R (I know, can pigs fly?!), wiped out and caught the footpeg on my knee cap.

Over 70 stitches inside, and over 70 outside. The inside stitches were to tie all the ligaments together. The surgeon was a total dick at first because I did it on a motorcycle, but we exchanged some "words" and he snapped back into being a professional, or he wasn't going to touch my knee.

All in all, he did a great job and I've got full mobility. It tells me when the weather is changing though.

I'm home from the ER after 19 hours. For a town where the entire hospital system is collapsing under load again, they did right by me.

I don't know how many stitches, but there were a lot of them and they're big whip stitches, not nice, neat little ones. He was pulling together any flaps of skin he could make reach. This is going to be a Frankenstein's Monster of a scar when it heals. It's jagged and about four inches long.

I also had one of the most painful experiences of my life when they checked if they cut was into the joint or not. They inject saline into your joint and see if it flows out the cut. They injected saline until my knee looked like a softball. I was literally screaming from the pain, which was like a pressure point hold turned up to 11, and that was with a shot of something in my IV. On top of that, the procedure took several minutes, so it wasn't like a one-and-done, either. Nothing else in the entire experience, including the pain of looking at the damage to the glovebox and legshield , even came within an order of magnitude.

I'm able to gimp around a little after they shot me full of anti-inflammatories, but I'm not going to be on a scooter for a while, as if my wife would even let me right about now.

Thanks, everyone, for your well wishes. I'm going to have to be a Keyboard Scooterist, which really sucks, but I'll get there eventually.

Ouch! I am very sorry to hear of your off. Just wanted to add to the well wishes and hopes for a quick recovery!

Ugh, that sucks for both you and your GL Chandler. Heal up 100% and come back stronger than before! Thank you for the warning about going Toreador Pants. Sometimes i go full armor top to bottom, while other times i just shorts and skate shoes. But the fact of the matter is, that the tarmac doesn't give two cents what you're wearing, when you have an off, it's all the same to 'em.

Remember everyone..."dress for the crash, not the ride".

Cant ride you say? Time to strip the GL down and redo everything so when you are healed up its ready to throw you off again.