Chris's Bike Blog » Uncategorized

Accident Prone – or just stupid?

chris — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:44:43 +0000

I guess I am just accident prone, or perhaps merely a crap rider. Which ever it is, my rally in Wales came to an abrupt end when I had one of the biggest crashes I can recall.

The accident occurred whilst I was riding my little TTR along a deep rut on a green lane in mid Wales. My handlebars caught some undergrowth and the next thing I knew I was flying through the air before hitting the ground very hard. My shoulder took the brunt of the impact although my right wrist and left elbow also got a pounding.

I lay in agony for what seemed like hours but must in fact have been no more than 10 minutes or so. Eventually, one of my riding companions, Nick, returned to see what had happened to me. He lifted my bike which relieved me greatly as it had been leaking fuel and although I could smell it there was nothing I could do about. Nick removed my helmet and helped me to the side of the trail. Soon afterwards, the other member of our trio, and Robbie, also arrived back to see what had happened. It was clear that I was in no position to ride the bike, also we seem to be miles from anywhere. Mobile phones we carried could get no signal so Robbie rode up a nearby hill and finally managed to get a signal. Upon his return he announced that helicopter would come and pick me up.

In point of fact the first people to arrive were a couple of paramedics being transported in a local farmer’s land Rover. Having examined me they realised that I couldn’t be taken by road and they called in the helicopter.

I was taken to Hereford Hospital at about 1830 hrs where I was first seen by a doctor in A&E. After x-rays were taken, two orthopaedic doctors saw me. At this stage a tentative diagnosis suggested that I had dislocated my shoulder, elbow and probably broken a collarbone. It certainly felt like it and in order to take x-rays they had to fill me with morphine, even so it felt as if somebody was ripping my arm off.

The following morning I was seen by a consultant who said that there appeared to be a crack in my shoulder blade but there was no dislocation of shoulder or elbow and no break of collarbone. He suggested that I should seek an appointment at my local hospital to get more x-rays in a weeks time. I have now been for more x-rays including a CT scan, and in a few days I am due to see the consultant once more.

As I write this the pain is much reduced, and although my left arm stays mainly in a sling I am able to take it out for periods in order to move it about a little. This should hopefully prevent the shoulder joint seizing completely.

I normally type with two hands but given my present inability to do so I have started using a dictation program to enter text in the computer. It seems to be working fairly well on the whole, and I can actually “type” faster than I can do so normally.

Green Lane recce

chris — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:45:52 +0000

I went out to do a bit of exploration of local lanes marked on the OS map as Byways. I didn’t have a guide to what might have Traffic Restriction Orders (TROs) applied to them, so it was a case of going to look for myself.

First signs weren’t good! Not only was this lane not a Byway at all but even as a footpath, it looked rather less than inviting. Subsequent meanderings showed that I had misread the map and indeed it was meant to be a footpath rather than a Byway – still..

I did find some lanes later – this one a bit too nice!

This one, very open.

Warm Hands on Order..

Chris Knight — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:57:00 +0000

Well, I hope so at least. I rang Pricedright this morning and placed an order for a pair of the Gerbings heated gloves. I enjoy the cold bright weather we are having at the moment and I stay pretty warm in my Gerbings heated jacket under my riding suit and with heated grips on both bikes, the palms of my hands are OK but the tips of my thumbs get very cold to the point of spoiling the enjoyment of being out on the bike. I can wear thicker winter gloves of course but I miss the feel of the controls with thicker gloves and this always feels a bit less safe than I would like. I am hoping the Gerbings gloves will offer the warmth and the feel I want. They are supposedly waterproof too so I am pretty hopeful they will make an ideal winter glove. I ordered the Large size based on the sizing instructions but Derek at Pricedright assures me that he will change them if they don’t fit properly. I must say, I have always had very good service from them in the past so I have no worries there.

More Bling!

Chris Knight — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:12:00 +0000

Yes, I admit it there is more here than I have previously owned up to. The turndown exhaust tips are there as are the chromed intakes but the back rest has been snuck in. I was put on to it by a new mate, Terry, at the Thames Valley Winding where another bloke wanted to sell it. I bought it sight unseen but I am glad to say the the reality is advertised – in “as new” condition and it matches the seat very well. Terry kindly fixed it for me today and on test it seems to do a great job of offering enough support where needed – just the job for really long rides. Also, it doesn”t seem to get in the way of normal manoeuvres which I was slightly concerned about.

Noises Off ( or more accurately, noise’s off)

Chris Knight — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:21:00 +0000

I have a helmet equipped with an Autcom headset – sadly the Autocom unit is no longer to be found but I figured that all I needed was a 5 pin DIN cable extension and I would be able to connect my helmet to the bike’s 5 pin fly lead. Well, I can but unfortunately it doesn’t really wow me. The volume in the headset is pathetic and the speakers (my lonely pair of front speakers – boohoo) are quite a bit louder. I guess that the missing Autocom unit probably has an amplifier in it but being an electrical nincompoop, I really don’t know if I can do anything short of replacing the headset of buying a new Autocom unit. I really am not keen on the latter option, it seems daft when there is equipment built into the bike for the purpose. All advice gratefully received!

Well done Priced Right!

Chris Knight — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:40:00 +0000

The half cover I ordered the day before yesterday from PricedRight arrived this morning and I am happy to say, fits fine, although it is rather more bulky when packed than I would have liked – it’s a good job I didn’t get the full cover. It covers the important bits – at least those one wants to stay dry when touring, so it should be a boon on the wet days. I have to say I still disappointed that a bike with as many buttons as this Goldwing doesn’t actually have a “Fine Weather” button