Modern Vespa

After 21,000 miles on my MP3, Thursday I was ready to enter a two lane highway from a side road with a left turn from a dead stop. I started out in usual fashion, but as soon as I did (within 3 feet of starting up) I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye and shifted my attention to see what it was.

I guess I came off my throttle a bit without realizing it and then my foot went down without me even thinking about it. When it touched the pavement of the road, it just kind of stuck there, hyperflexed against the ground, then snapped back hard against the lower side of my scoot. I hadn't even reached the center of the highway when all this happened. Ouch, what instant and intense pain!

I spent the next 90 minutes riding home, dreading every stop/start up I encountered, but I made it home. Went to the hospital emergency room, had x-rays and found out that I had broken the small bone (fibula) in my left leg just above the knob of my ankle.

I am now in a cast and on crutches and seriously thinking about selling the scoot. If this kind of injury can happen by just starting up while turning a corner at about 5 mph, just by involuntarily putting a foot down, I can only imagine what crippling injuries could be like at higher speeds. I have to ask it I want to possibly spend the rest of my retirement barely able to move around the house.

After this happened, I thought back to another similiar incident back when I first started riding 15 months ago...only that time I was luckier and my ankle only got a whack that made it hurt for about 5 minutes, but then everything was fine again. I felt like I had actually run over my leg with the bike. But I had forgotten about it until this happened again.

Just thought I should wart you all that this kind of injury can easily occur.

Bill

Truly sorry and best wishes for a quick and relatively painless recovery.

But you have to admit, that is a risk associated with motorcycles in general, and not just the MP3. I have previously posted how my G/F's daughter failed her MSF final test by putting her foot down for an instant and sprained her ankle...at a crawl on a Honda Rebel (200lbs). The mass of virtually every modern motorcycle means that if she had been driving anything other than a beginner's bike she would have certainly broken her leg or, more likely and more seriously, shattered her ankle. When I tell people to practice in a parking lot, my advice is don't put that foot down, even if it means riding the bike to the ground. I suppose it is inevitable that someday I will be forced to see if I am able to follow my own advice.

That being said, the MP3 IS unusually unstable at slow speeds (I believe it has an odd, nonlinear relationship between speed and the transition between steering and countersteering). I think it is a mistake to gloss over or ignore that when we say "it drives just like any other motorcycle" because it does not, at least not at slow speeds.

Bill, here's wishing you the best.

Yikes--I am sorry to hear that happened to you. It is easy to get hurt on a motorbike of any sort, and as we get older, it takes longer to heal certainly.
I hope you come to the right decision about whether to keep the bike or not.
Hope you heal up soon, in any case. Good luck!

sorry to hear about your mishap. please don't blame this on the scooter though. This could have happened going up or down 1 or 2 steps, getting out of bed, getting in or out of the bathtub, walking and stepping over a curb up or down. Bones in older ages can be more fragile. Ask your doctor to do a density test and how much bone loss you have.

Sorry to hear bro. Sucks no matter how you slice it.

Very sorry to hear about the injury - but you have to accept it was your fault, not the scooter's.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Speaking of recoveries! How are you doing?

DR says I'm doing alright. He's cut my PT back to twice a week. I'm still striving to get my full range of motion back in my midback. That's the worse spot. Thanks for asking.

A gallon of milk a week goes a long way!

I'm still having trouble trying to figure out what happened exactly, did your leg get caught between something on the scoot as you stepped down? Or did you just step down at a near stop and roll your foot in a weird way?

I once met an accident re-creationist for insurance companies who said the most dangerous thing a person can do is operate a motor vehicle. If our bodies were meant for those speeds, we'd be able to run that fast.

That always stuck with me, that and him telling stories of doing whiplash tests with a cadaver head on a wood block with 4 wheels. He said they found getting hit from the rear at anything over 3mph can cause serious neck injuries.

I like to think about all the damage I've done tubing behind skiboats as a kid.

Your lucky, I have a 4" long SS plate with 4-SS screws holding my fibula at that same location. Always worry that one of the screws may decide to back out.

Not restricted to just the scooter, when doing one of my "driving classes", I came close to doing it with the goldwing! As soon as my toe touched the ground, I came to my senses and lifted it. Have to create that instant reaction, balance loss, brakes locked, then feet or no feet vs. speed reaction. When doing this, it still can become a bad move! Hope you recover well!

Glad you are better. I had a similar thing where I stopped because of movement, put my right foot down in a hole and the bike hit my right calf. I didn't break anything but bruised the calf and it hurt like hell. The bike is most likely to have an accident at slow speed or stopping.

It's a natural reaction to put your feet down and takes quite some control to not do so especially when you are first riding.

I would say you were very unlucky to come to harm that way, though - and it could happen on any PTW.

Sorry to hear about your injury, that really sucks. Only you can tell if the risks involved are worth it for you, but if you have ridden 21000 miles in 15 months then that's a lot of riding. Would be hard to give that up. Or maybe your scoot was used and had some miles on it when you started?

We've had this conversation before on here about putting your foot down and some folks seem to think it is an okay strategy. Your accident strengthens the argument that it is a very risky thing to do. If the scoot is still moving and you put your foot down there is a good chance you will do yourself some damage. There is a reason ski boots lock your feet into one position so I invested in a good pair of motorcycle specific boots to minimize the risk of this happening to me.

Thanks for posting your mishap as we can all learn from each others mistakes.

Hope the healing goes well.

Hi Bill.

I know where you're coming from. I threw the scoot down the road about 10 weeks ago. I locked up the front end at no more than 50k (30mi/hr). My fault. Stupid. Fortunately, I didn't hit anything except the road. Anyway, my ankle is still sore and swollen and I think I missed out on breaking it by only a whisker.

For the weeks immediately following the accident I was riding like an old woman. Apologies to any old women members, but you get my drift. I contemplated selling the bike too. Then I snapped out of it and decided '"LIFE'S TOO SHORT", and went back to riding pretty much like I had been, with the exception of trying to be a little bit more aware of my surroundings.

The fact is, as we get older we break more easily and take longer to heal. However, if you worried about this too much, you'd never do anything.

Hope you repair soon. Have lots of vitamin c and calcium. Take the opportunity to do some serious modding to the bike.



Gonzo.

I hope your healing goes well.

Like you I broke my right leg last year in May. I was coming out of a mud puddle on a paved road at a full stop. Started to move and the backend broke loose. I slammed my right leg down to stay upright and broke the tibia platea in seven places. The orthopedist placed four pins and four screws trying to get it back together. I ended up with an artificial knee joint. in December. I've been riding since April this year and will not even consider a gravel or dirt road, let alone creek bottoms. (Kentucky has a lot of paved roads running through creek beds)

Good Luck and hope to hear more of your adventures soon.

It hurts bad; but don't get discouraged, man!
You will recover yourself in time -- body and mind.

Made 20,009-miles yesterday (in two years' ownership); but could have gotten killed earlier in the day...
I credit the MP3's agility for possibly saving my life. 8)

Pretty sure about this one, too: Every time I climb on the MP3, the quality of my life improves.

Sorry about your leg. Last year a guy hit me head on.....on my Goldwing 1800
Leg almost severed at the knee, broken knee cap, femur broke in 2 places, 15
breaks to the rib cage, break to back bone and nerve damage to my eye. At 62
years old I was too old to have a combined speed hit of 80 MPH. I thank the Good Lord each day for giving me another day. 10 weeks in hospitals and 16 weeks of bed rest. Still doing rehab on the leg, I can walk short distances with a cane. Not able at this point to do things like play golf, wash car etc.
I was driving on a country road (daytime 2:30pm) with my brights on and a 21
year kid jumps lanes and starts driving down the on coming lane 150' ahead of me. Took the bike to the shoulder of the road and he still got me.
Should have listen to my dad and stayed off motorcycles. But how do you compare 3 crossings of the Rockies, trip to the Smokies, and circling all 5 Great Lakes. Some 125,000 plus miles in 33 years. I have been thinking of an MP3
if my health returns, we'll see. One motorcycle editor once said "I once went seven years without a wreck, and once seven days." It's a high risk sport and no one is good enough to get out of a wreck everytime. I'm still addicted!
Ted Vonk
Have Bike Will Travel

Can't say I wouldn't feel the same, haven't been there yet. I can say that I did a lot of risk consideration. That said, my grandmother spent the last 20 years of her life limping horribly because she fell the two steps from her back door into her garbage can, managing to crush every bone in her ankle and most of her foot. Hobbling around the week she got out of the hospital, she broke her arm. She looked like a walking advertisement for that colorful stuff they make casts out of . Accidents happen when they happen. Riding bikes is by nature dangerous, and I can appreciate feeling it wasn't worth it. For me it is therapeutic, but it scares me to death to see my daughter learning. My son doesn't want to ride, and we all agree he will never have to. Riding is a risk you choose. Good luck on healing, and make your own decision.

I hope you heal quickly with minimal pain. Part of me wants to say you need to get right back on the horse. Another part of me acknowledges that riding a motorcycle is higher risk than riding a car or going down stairs. Don't make a hasty decision then do what is right for YOU. I'm behind you either way.

In MSF basic riding course, they took off points for putting a foot down, but never explained the dangers of doing so....that's why I posted my experience. I was wearing boots that covered my ankles, genes with kevlar, a crash jacket and full helmet with face shield and gloves.....my typical wear.

My wife says I shouldn't be riding with brittle bones that break easily and with being on a blood thinner after a minor stroke a few weeks back!

Yup, the 21K miles are all mine over the last 15 months, all on MP3's. First 4K on a Mp3 250, then 17K on my new '09 MP3 400.

I get to see the orthopedist Wednesday afternoon for the first time. My wife broke her leg trying to learn to ride a scoot exactly a year ago...and she swore off riding, saying that the valued her retirement to spend it possibly totally crippled up.

Bill

Like computers and all machines they are stupid, they only do what they are told; 'nough said.

On some motorcycle program I saw (Twist of the Throttle maybe) there was a segment in the Alpinestars factory. They showed the research that went into their boots. Basically they are designed to stop your foot from twisting sideways and forward or backward. A regular work boot is just not designed to give you that protection. If you do decide to continue riding I would recommend investing in a pair of dedicated motorcycle boots (actually I would reevaluate all your gear, I was always suspicious of your snow mobile outfit).