MikesVikes Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) Big Ben's accident has reminded me of some accidents that I've known about before or even almost had myself. 1. Just last month, a young man that I know who was a teammate of my kids on the local wrestling team died from a motorcycle accident. He was no older than 21. He is probably the first guy that my kids know and hung out with that died. It made them think. 2. A classmate of mine was involved in a motorcycle accident about 5 years after I graduated from HS. It was around the time of my first reunion. I haven't seen him for a very long time now, but his brother-in-law was on my softball team and heard about it the night that it happened. He had to go home (back in the good old days our teams weren't done until the cards were dealt at 1 am) and tell his wife the news. 3. A guy that was a few years older than me was coming home for the weekend and he decided that not having headlights on his motorcycle wasn't going to stop him from finishing the trip. As luck would have it, the bridge that he had to cross to get home was no longer there and was under construction. He rode right through the construction area and it wasn't a good thing. He turned out ok. 4. A guy that I worked with was riding his bike on a gravel road. I've done this many, many times when I was young. Loose gravel is not a good thing. It gets even worse when a deer decides to dart into your path and you don't have any thing to do about it. That is what happened to this guy. Turned out ok. 5. Before I was married, I decided to buy a Honda. I think it was around a 1100 but I can't even remember anymore. The engine was quite high on the bike and it didn't make the turns very well. One time I was going around the corners too fast and I was very lucky to make it around it. As I looked down into the ditch that would've been a 10 foot drop, I noticed that it was filled with large rocks. The area that I was riding at is known for the scenic valleys and hills. There are lots of tight turns in the area. I decided that falling inot a pile of boulders at 50 mph wouldn't feel too good on even my hard head. It could've been very bad. I sold the bike to pay for my engagement rings later. I no longer ride. 6. My sister-in-law lost her young brother to a motorcycle accident. He was an early teen or maybe even younger, about 4-5 years younger than I was at the time. Like the guy that died last month (see #1) he was a red headed kid with a long ways ahead of him. But another gravel road and the gravel truck that he met on it cut his time way too short. Sometimes I drove my bike with no helmet but most of the time I did. When I was a teenager, I rarely used a helmet. I wouldn't ride one without one now that I know what can happen. Edited June 13, 2006 by MikesVikes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) Gary Busey Duane Allman Edited June 13, 2006 by Chavez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikesVikes Posted June 13, 2006 Author Share Posted June 13, 2006 Karl Kassulke was a Viking from the Bud Grant era. He was paralyzed from a motorcycle accident. I saw him once at a Viking benefit basketball game. He was the announcer of the game. I sat 3 feet from him. He was a great guy. A friend on mine handed his program to have it autographed. The same friend told me that he didn't want to sign anymore programs 10 seconds after he got his signed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Goes Frazia Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) Karl Kassulke was a Viking from the Bud Grant era. He was paralyzed from a motorcycle accident. I saw him once at a Viking benefit basketball game. He was the announcer of the game. I sat 3 feet from him. He was a great guy. A friend on mine handed his program to have it autographed. The same friend told me that he didn't want to sign anymore programs 10 seconds after he got his signed. i remember watching kassulke play...... he was as hard of hitter as there was. absolute shame. Edited June 13, 2006 by Down Goes Frazia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Goes Frazia Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 speaking of accidents..... yours truly crunched a bike when I was 19. long story short..... I was lucky and I was wearing a helmet. i have never gotten on a bike since and will never do so again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proninja Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) My uncle died on a bike when he was 17. Used to go and ride his bike on the beach, one of the homeowners got angry at the noise, and put a log across the path. My uncle hit it at 90 and didn't walk away. My 2nd cousin was going through a windy canyon at about 130 - guy raced bikes as a hobby, it was his first day on a brand new ducati. Laid it down in a corner, slid into the guardrail, and was barely alive when the medics got there. He barely made it to the hospital, and spent 9 months in the hospital, and they didn't know if he was going to make it for the first six. Ended up losing his right arm. What's the first thing he did when he got out? Bought a new bike, retrofitted it to ride with one arm, and still races. Gets pulled over all the time by cops thinking he's screwing around, he just flips them candied yams while they try to figure out what to give him a ticket for. Edited June 13, 2006 by proninja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 My uncle died on a bike when he was 17. Used to go and ride his bike on the beach, one of the homeowners got angry at the noise, and put a log across the path. My uncle hit it at 90 and didn't walk away. Did this homeowner get brought up on charges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaggy Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I hope I am wrong and have no idea what so ever is its true or not but I heard througgh the grapevine that he may never play again and it is more serious that thought ...Disclaimer this was given to me through a friend of a friends sister that works as a nurse at the hospital. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proninja Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Did this homeowner get brought up on charges? Nope. A travesty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSab Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) Me, I had a dirt bike accident when I was 17. Fractured femur,broken collar bone. I still have metal rods in my leg and a 20" scar from my waste to my knee. I had a neighbor and friend when I lived in Ft Lauderdale that tried to pass between 2 tractor trailers on the highway , doing about 110 on his rice burner. He got sucked up under them and that was all she wrote, he was left in pieces. A good friend of mine bit it 2 years ago, he pulled out of his driveway, was only going about 35 mph, when a deer tried to jump over him and kicked him in the head ( novelty helmet) he died on the spot. When I was 25, I had a drink azzhole run into my left side running a red light. I was lucky only ended up with a severly sprained right leg and a trashed Wide Glide. Edited June 13, 2006 by NSab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 My cousin, the one w/ colon cancer, had a bad motorcycle accident about 15 years ago...spent about a week in the hospital. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat2334 Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Bikes are trouble- and I hope Big Ben is ok. No reason on earth to ever be on a biek, in the streets and not have a helmet on- that is beyond stupid. Is the state of Pennsylvania in the dark ages?? how in the world is that not the law??? Ben's own stupidity for not wearing one - but that is shocking to me that helmets are not mandated by law. Contracts being revised all over the country tomorrow am........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chavez Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Is the state of Pennsylvania in the dark ages?? how in the world is that not the law??? Ben's own stupidity for not wearing one - but that is shocking to me that helmets are not mandated by law. Think of it as "culling the herd." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) Me - at the ripe old age of 14 I took a major spill on my dirt bike. I was doing about 30 when I went off a platform that we used to jump from side to side from everyday. This day there happened to be major construction that dug out the other side and left a thirty foot pit. Add the thirty foot to the air that I got from the other side, (about 10-15), and I had a long fall that was fork first. I was life flighted to the hospital with what I basically call a torn off left side of my face. I had major concussion but shockingly not one single bone was broke. I did lose four teeth and I had cuts on hands and arms. I went though nearly 10 hours of plastic surgery to repair the left side of my face. My lower lip had to be sewn back on also. You would never ever know it by looking at me. I can show you the outline of a bunch of the work but no one can see them until I show it to them. This happened to me on a Palm Sunday and within weeks I was playing pony league baseball. I know I didn't have quite what Big Ben has but I sure hope that his youth is going to have him bounce back like I feel like I did. Edited June 13, 2006 by Skippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
untateve Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 pretty much everyone I know who has ever owned one for any length of time. usually not their fault, but dire consequences all the same. There's too many car/truck owners who don't pay attention and when car and motorcycle meet--usually the news is worse for the person not surrounded by a metal vehicle. I've passed on the rule that my mother had for me: My children are allowed to purchase a motorcycle but it will be on the same day they move out of my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grits and Shins Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I had one in college. No other cars involved. I lost control of the bike going around a curve and ran over a reflector pole. I was in shorts with no helmet. Flipped over the handle bars and landed on my shoulders. I got very lucky and my only injury was a laceration to the knee that required 22 stitches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 glad mines gone, i lucked out with only a bad burn from the engine when i layed it down, just started wearin a helmet cause of sunburns.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbimm Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Me. Last Aug I had to lay my bike down to avoid just what Ben had happen yesterday. The difference being? I had a full face helmet on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Me. Last Aug I had to lay my bike down to avoid just what Ben had happen yesterday. The difference being? I had a full face helmet on! perfect example.......Ben may have avoided surgery and just been sore today, bad deal ........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I am not a fan of motorcycles at all. 1. My friend richy's dad hit a pot hole on rt. 50 here in maryland and dumped his bike. Then a dump truck following too close behind him ran him over. he died. 2. My friend Tom's father was killed on a bike but I do not know the details. 3. My step father was T-boned and then hit by another car, it was so hard that the impact knocked all the bottons off of his shirt. 4. My uncle broke his face when he hit a rock in the road and smacked into a telephone pole. 5. The reason I am working in ops today is because a guy named Steve was going 120 and dumped his bike and smacked into a guard rail. Lost his colon, part of his liver, broke both legs and arms. They pulled me over into ops to fill in until he came back to work. That was in 1999 and he still doesn't work. 6. The guy sitting next to me, his brother was killed 2 months ago when a car hit him in D.C. I hate bikes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Row Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) I have been down twice. The first one happened at a crest of a hill, on the other side were concrete blocks that had fallen off a truck. Slid about 20 yds. and ended up on the double yelow line, got away with a sore shoulder and road rash. My angel was watching that morning. Second time, I was 19. I tried to pass a car and they turned left in front of me, totaly my fault , it was a no pass zone. I rode home again with a bent up Virago , but no major injury. The car had to be towed Somehow the cotter pin on my front wheel managed to puncture the cars tire. Lost a good friend, Brian, at the age of 24 to a mc accident, a semi had turned onto the off ramp to a major highway, Brian was exiting the highway on the same ramp. He never made it home, his passenger lived but still suffers with her memory. The truck driver was drunk and had been charged with DWI previously. I hope he likes it in Hell. I ride much more carefully now. Edited June 13, 2006 by Front Row Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 My wife was following a good friend of hers home when he was cut off, ran off the road and headfirst into a utility pole. She can't talk about it to this day. I had a good friend get a motorcycle and die within 2 weeks. I will not ride one. Ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Bikes are trouble- and I hope Big Ben is ok. No reason on earth to ever be on a biek, in the streets and not have a helmet on- that is beyond stupid. Is the state of Pennsylvania in the dark ages?? how in the world is that not the law??? Ben's own stupidity for not wearing one - but that is shocking to me that helmets are not mandated by law. Contracts being revised all over the country tomorrow am........... My ass. What a crock. If you chose not to wear a helmet, it's your decision, and certainly should not be mandated. Ben's a jackass for riding a Hyabusa without a helmet because his entire livelihood depends on his health, but that's where it ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanruiz13 Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I actually saw someone die from a motorcycle accident. We had a house at the Jersey shore, where it was always packed with cars and people. We just got back from the beach, drinking some brews on our front porch, probably 10 of us. We lived in the middle of the 2nd block from the beach, we can hear the bike gunning it as soon as he gets on our street. Speed Limit is 25mph and he was going a minimum of 50-60mph by the time he passed us. But at the same time, a girl driving a SUV was making a left turn onto the street the bike was coming. There was nothing she could do, he hit the front panel of her driver's side. Flew a good 5 feet past her car. Was dead on impact. The girl had to see a bunch of counseling after the accident, and it still haunts her. Another foot and a half, and she would've been killed also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 I heard that 2 old classmates of mine died in separate motorcycle accidents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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