Crashed, could use a little help

I had a motorcycle vs elk collision Tues night. It cracked my helmet and trashed my leathers, which were then cut off of me by emt's.

I only remember a few details.

I have a decent concussion, a broken left scapula, stretched ligaments in my right knee, and a swollen left hand that looks broken but the xray showed no broken bones. My jaw joints are sore and my head aches a little. They lifeflighted me to monitor for left lung failure, but nothing happened and now I am fine. Lucky.

I didn't lock up the rear. It's not an abs bike. I'm going to see it later today.

I have a tiny mental "video clip" just before impact. I remember doing a radical dive right to miss an elk on my left, and then seeing more elk and thinking "oh sh*t". That's all I remember.

It all happened really really fast, like hmmmmmelkshitbang!

I have 32yrs experience. If I intentionally drop a bike, it would reflexively be on the bike's left side.

I did a right dive at hwy speed and straightened up to brake. There was no time. The next elk had turned to run away (down the highway). The bike went between her rear legs. I'm pretty sure I had begun an attempt to jump. I have no tank or handlebar damage to my wrists or hips or legs. My left leg was smeared with elk poop. So I think I jumped, my leg hit her ass, and then I ragdolled over the the top of her as the bike took her down.

I estimate my speed was 60mph on impact. Maybe 65.

Nearest witness was a mile back. All they saw was my taillight go crazy.

When they drove up, I was methodically log-rolling off the pavement into the borrow pit. I have zero memory of that, but it is pretty cool that your mental autopilot can work that way. They said I was babbling nonsense.

Anyway. Maybe, just maybe it's better to jump over a large animal than drive straight into it at high speed. Maybe. Sometimes. Depends. Who knows?

I broke two rules: don't ride at night, and don't drive faster than your headlights. I broke those rules and I paid the price.

My helmet saved my life. My leathers saved months of recovery from skin grafts. I don't have a scratch on me, but I am beat to hell. everything hurts.

State farm told me to compile some comparable recent sales of similar bikes so that I am equipped to argue for a higher settlement price.

I would be grateful for any help from this group. I can search ebay for recent vfr sales, but I've already been on the pc too long. I'm supposed to be resting in the dark.

my bike was an undamaged stock 2007 red vfr, no abs, 12k miles. I bought it used 3 years ago, it only had 3k miles on it. I have the honda luggage, but it was not on the bike when i crashed. I will find out if the adjuster will let me remove the luggage bars so that i can try to sell the set as a complete kit.

If you can provide some reasonably solid evidence of 2014 or 2015 selling price of an 07 or similar vfr, it would be helpful. Links, bill of sale, ads, personal sale, whatever.

feel free to use my email link associated with my user account here. Or IM or whatever.

Thanks! I'll post some pics if I get a chance to snap a few.

The state police were forced to dispatch the elk in the borrow pit. bummer. they considered also putting me down, but changed their mind I guess.

atgatt.

DCS

 

DCS

Phew - you are still with us - thank heavens for ATGATT.


Hopefully folks your side of the pond will be able to offer some pricing information.

In the meantime its probably time to give the PC a rest and focus on getting well. Its amazing how much adrenaline can mask bumps and bruises which you only start to become aware of days after a crash, so listen to the docs and don't be tempted to rush things or you may end up putting back your recovery.

Good luck.



SkiMad

 

I think sometimes the State of Oregon cares more about the fucking elk than they do bike riders. They act like they are spotted owls or some lizard whose distant relatives made it through the Jurassic.

For those who have not encountered a live elk crossing the road, they do not taste like, or cross the road like chickens. The are big and most of the time pissed off.

The guy is very lucky to be still with us.

 

Sorry to hear about your crash. Glad you came out relatively ok. I've had 3 friends crash in the last couple months...all survived, but went to the hospital. One was pretty serious. Seems to be a big year for crashes. Anyway, I traded my 36k mile red 07 w/ABS back in Aug 2014 for my current bike. It sat at the dealer with a price tag of around $6500 for many months. Last time I went by it was gone. I'm guessing it sold during the spring or summer of this year. If you want to contact them to find out what they sold it for, it was Fay Myers Motorcycle World in Aurora, CO. 303-744-6632. My salesman was Brian Penny. Hope this helps and wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

You live in Murika. Sue the estate of the dead elk for injuries and damages.

Ya. You see one deer, there is likely another very close by. You see an elk, there could be a dozen nearby. You are extremely fortunate you survived a collision with such an animal. People in cars have been killed by elk. Then again, the fact that you were on a bike and not confined in the seat of a car could have been your saving grace.

I don't think you should be giving any consideration to your insurance claim at this time. Too soon after the collision. Your injuries may be affecting your thought process. Wait a while yet for your settlement decisions.

Happy you were able to post up. We could have been reading your obit.

 

Holy shit are the first words that come to mind.

Glad you are OK, all things considered. I have seen what deer do to a car: Can't imagine elk versus bike.

Heal well.

 

Whoa, as Pliskin said. I had a nasty run in with a deer a while back still very fresh in my mind, , whew, an elk!!! I've seen what happens when a car hits em, they are just tall enough to blow through the window of most vehicles. Last year a Sheriff deputy was killed hitting one. as it went through the window it gutted it's self and the deputy, so yes you had an angel. Pay no attention to you broke two rules riding at night, this is just an unfortunate accident, don't beat yourself up mentally. Driving faster than your headlights? Come on, even 70 isn't to fast for the lights on a VFR, unless other conditions played a factor. that being, It's Good you can still be around to talk about this. Play it out, don't be to much in a hurry, it will work it's self out in the long run..

 

Glad you are OK, I guess you're glad you hit her in the softest spot you could have!

 

Hey DCS, well done on surviving a nasty crash. I managed to do the same thing on Sunday after hitting a spill of either diesel or oil, probably at the same speed as you, but in broad daylight and without any elk-impact. My advice is don't bother playing the blame game with yourself; it's happened, just move on. Hope you heal quickly.

 

I think riding at night within headlight range is not any more risky then in daylight, in fact sometimes more safe. the vfr has good headlights-oem-i made them about 65% better by upgrading the lights with premium blubs. I have trouble with turkeys flying over my head-they will wipe out a rider too. a elk is bad. But consider a half a ton Moose might be the worst with 200 pds of horns.

 

those are some serious injuries! Not as impressive to write about as broken bones but probably more threatening to your health. It takes a lot of energy to crack a scapula, usually implies a bad lung injury - glad you didn't have one. Also glad you're around to tell the story. and as RVFR said, just a freak accident, not the fault of dark or breaking your rules. Don't think about the accident too much, you may undo some of the 32 yrs of riding experience doing that.

It's interesting your insurance is making you do the leg work on recently sold bikes in your area but atleast its better than just an arbitrary value you have to fight over. I think you'll need to see local prices, that's how it worked when USAA totaled my work truck. Good luck with everything. Safe riding when you get your replacement!

 

Good God, thats some scary shit there. Alive and no broken bones..
You are one lucky SOB.
Concussion and your on the computer....bad boy...
Slow done and take it slow bud.....count your lucky stars ( what ever that fucking means)
Must be worth it.
Heal up ta ride again.
Scares me to think that I have to deal with this when I move to Colorado in 5.

 

Glad you're still here.
I have no info on another bike, but I suggest you start taking arnica montana. Is an herbal supplement, not a drug, useful with internal injuries, swelling, joint healer and bruising. I've used it since I was a kid.

 

For sure your gear saved you a lot of trouble. As much as I'm a gear nut, I know when jello hits an unmovable object it will get nasty real quick like. meaning gear will save you from a lot of rash, broken bones maybe not so. On the other hand Helmets are worth their weight in gold. On my get off it quite frankly made 90% of the difference from more or less walking away in an ambulance. I have the helmet sitting on a back shelf for the stark reminder just how lucky, if you can call it that, I was. When I came back from the hospital and the kids handed me my helmet, I lost it. the deep scratches on the face shield was the road, so are all the chain saw marks. counted at least 8 impacts.

 

Most sadly, a local rider was killed recently by hitting a COW !

 

^Holy Cow :loco:

Mend fast and get another bike...

I hit a deer in NJ with my knee, did'nt crash...I would not ride at night in certain areas too.

I got elk-skin gloves...think elk burgers could be successful in South FL ?

 

Another instance of hitting a cow.

http://www.rarebeatles.com/benefit.htm

 

Your lucky to be alive. ATGATT is the only way to go AFAIC. Came close to hitting a deer, never anything as big as an Elk. Just take it easy for now and don't worry about the insurance. You can take the luggage mounts and any extras off your bike. It's still your bike and not the insurance companies yet. They may not pay well for extras anyways.

Hope you heal fast and right.

 

Thanks for all the kind words.

My head was whack for a week, but I'm fine now. My shoulder is barely sore.

I live in the mountains and try to never ride at night because of all the deer and elk and bears. I broke a coupla rules and got caught. Fortunately, life goes on.

I've been using arnica cream for years. Yep - it's good stuff.

Bike is totalled, and I'm cool with that. It was a good machine. I'll prolly pick up another vfr some day.

I'm going in to get the luggage bars next week. The suitcases weren't on the bike when I crashed. If you know anyone looking for an oem set, steer them my way. Obviously mine are 2007 red, but these things could be painted easily.

I just made that seat cover about a week before the crash, only used it twice! We buy and harvest 2 lambs per year in a normal year, and i picked that black sheep out specifically to learn how to tan a hide and make a seat cover for the bike. It's pretty damn comfy. And a little ugly.

 

Glad your ok. 2007 red vfr800, 8000 miles 5,600.00 Stock. Bobz bikes Kingman,Ks