Frogfoot

Short version. Ride to work and back on the Daytona last Friday. OMG IT FELT AWESOME to be back in the bike. LONG VERSION. so I spent the week testing my sitting position on the Daytona. It was so tempting with it there in the garage. Doc hadn't given me the all clear but Wednesday afternoon I started her up and headed out. I got down the drive and then pulled my leg up to the peg. That didn't work and there were a lot of weird aches around the knee. I let my leg hang and wobbled back to the garage, defeated. But I couldn't leave it there so the next day I got back on and spent about twenty minutes riding around the neighborhood. The knee is really stiff but not painful. This gave me the confidence to ride in on Friday. The ride in was great. A sunny fresh morning on the open road (work is halfway to the next town along some country roads). I stretched the leg out a couple of times. The way home was more sore - enough that I was nervous I had ripped something open. I got home safely and hoped I hadn't set things back at all. Saturday I saw the Doc and was given the all clear to use my leg fully. So no harm done. It is obvious that I really need to work the leg or it's going to lose a big chunk of range of motion. I have already restarted my fitness and will get back on the bike and the push bike to sort out the leg. Being back on the bike is so amazing :)

Thanks for the comments here and the last entry. Much better now with the doc giving the leg the all clear. Friday I commuted on the other bike. Leg was real stiff but it felt great to be back on the bike. Just got to work on the leg to keep it flexible. I do have a 2 piece (Berik), but as much as they are awesome protection, when the temps are down towards 0 or below (it was 4 that evening) they are no good for keeping you warm. At 110kmh, the wind chill has a massive effect and you can't spend 3 hours at -16 in leathers. I do wish I had been wearing the Dainese pants that match the jacket though. I had bought them about 3 weeks before this crash, but not worn them much.

Its been three frustrating weeks now. I hobble about the house finding it uncomfortable to sit, stand or walk for too long. I count my lucky stars though and know it could have been much much worse. My decision to wear all the gear saved a LOT of heart ache. Here is the bike. Insurance has today told me that it's a total loss. I'm really sad about that, but not surprised when you see the damage. I won't have enough to buy a replacement new VFR, though I could likely afford a second hand one. However, replacing it while I still retain the Daytona is not likely to go down well with the Mrs. I am considering the idea of selling the Daytona and using the money from the insurance and the sale to buy a 2014/5 VFR. I will take some time before I decide that though. And here is the gear. My boots aren't here as they are barely scratched. My Kevlar jeans aren't here as they were cut up by the paramedics. There was a hand sized tear at the knee where my injury has occurred. Weird footnote - when my sister arrived at my place with my ruined gear last week, my wife commented (and she's a theatre nurse in a major city hospital) that she "always thought I was overdoing it with all the gear I wear riding" and that it was a bit silly and over the top really. She's certainly changed her opinion now! ATGATT saved my butt (literally, you should see the scuffs on the back of the jeans!)

That's what my sister and my mum separately described it when I told them. Sunday night, marginally later than usual I headed down the highway from Sydney to Canberra on my VFR. After my usual refuel at Marulan and a text to wife I was on my way again. As I travelled along the edge of Lake George I was passing a car and about level with its doors when it appeared. Ten foot tall with red blazing eyes and a t-shirt that read "death to motorcyclists" the kangaroo leapt from in front of the car next to me and landed in front of me. At 110km/h I had enough time to think "fuck this is going to hurt". Well I probably only thought "f" before I'm tumbling down the freeway. I didn't resist the tumbling, trusting my gear to do the job I spent a lot of money for. It did seem a while but was probably a few secs later I stopped sliding. I could see the wire fence on the edge of the highway only a metre or so away. I was pretty shaken and had no idea if I was hurt but I knew if I could get over to the fence I would be as far away from the traffic as I could get. I didn't want to survive the roo only to get squashed under a semi. I lay in the drain next to the wire letting myself take a few deep breaths and see if anything was hurting a lot. Nothing grabbed my immediate attention so I stood up. Up the road to my left was my bike about three metres away. Past that a couple of people were just getting out of a ute. (They were apparently very relieved to see me stand up) I walked over to my bike with a heavy heart knowing that my bike had seen its last miles this evening. Lying on its side in a pool of oil with the top box burst open I am certain the insurers will deem it uneconomical to repair. I took my helmet off and sat down. The guys convinced me to lie down and it seemed like a good idea. My Kevlar jeans were ripped open on my right knee and a nasty set of gashes poked through. We decided to call the ambulance. As we waited the guys found a few of my things. I took stock of myself and even with shredded clothing the only other injury apparent to us was a light graze on my wrist. But it was cold lying there on the road and I presume the shock and adrenaline as well had me shivering almost constantly (it would be after a couple of hours in Emergency before this would stop) About 30mins later the cops turned up, the the tow truck and then the ambos. I guess about an hour later we arrived at Canberra Hospital. It became obvious that I had been very lucky and that my gear had done its job. I have some deep serious gouges of skin (you can see muscle and bone in the holes) taken from my knee but that's it. Nothing broken, nothing internal damaged. From there it's been a succession of hospital beds and dressing changes. I am supposed to getting a plastic surgeon to look at my knee tomorrow. It's going to take some work I think and lots of time to heal. Some people have gone out and checked out the crash site. They figure the bike slid about 100m. They found the roo, well dead and he wasn't a small one (about 5 feet tall). They found some of the bike with roo hair stuck in it. Most amazingly they found all of my belongings, even down to a couple of USB sticks and my sunnies. Thanks to all my family and friends for all their support so far. Thanks to the guys who stopped (many didn't) and I wish you'd left me your details. Thanks to the ambos and other medical folks. And of course thanks to Dainese (jacket and boots), Draggin (jeans), Alpinestars (gloves) and KBC (helmet) for keeping me so safe. And rest in peace (or pieces??) to my well loved mighty VFR.

Enjoy the bike, 10,000km - its not even broken in yet (that happens about 12,000km, you'll notice it if you haven't got there already) Thanks for reading :)

Ha, yeah, well aware of the proximity of the Police Academy, though thankfully, not through personal experience :) No previous owner on this bike to blame, any troubles are my own doing :) Thanks for the comment.

Honestly, I've kept the chain lubed, the tyres inflated and taken it to my local Honda shop for service in accordance with the book. I am almost totally mechanically inept so I leave to people who've earned my trust over many years.

Here i am, 95km to Goulburn on the side of the Hume Highway. And here's why. Onwards to another 150,000. Though I did drop by the local Honda dealer and checked out the new VFR800. I quite like the look of it in the flesh. I asked about a test ride and the guy almost begged me to take it for a ride - I think he wanted the opinion of a 6th gen owner so he could use it to sell them. I will take it for a ride, sitting on it - it felt very similar. I'll see how it rides...