From: ohrd!jlevine@cs.toronto.edu (Jody Levine)
Subject: Keep your visor down!
Organization: Ontario Hydro - Research Division
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 15:54:11 GMT

I'm posting this for Rich Tweedy, who can read news but can't post.
This is a fairly gruesome crash story. 

----------------------------------
On the horn situation--I tried a so-called 125 db horn on the FJ, it
sounded
no better than the stock one, but was much louder on a car battery with
heavy wiring.  THe problem was voltage drop on the stock light-duty
wiring.
Because of the nature of traffic during commute time in silicon valley,
I am going to install FIAMM's with a relay.  To put this in perspective,
one of my sons was just in a terrible motorcycle accident.  A car pulled
though a stop sign in front of 5 Bikes!  All with headlights on and loud
aftermarket pipes.  Bruce hit the car at between 40 and 50 mph straight
into the side.  They thought he was dead both at the scene and at the 
trauma center, but he survived through a miracle.  Injuries--destroyed
face (all sinuses destroyed, cheek bones and jawbones crushed, skull 
fracture, nose pushed into brain area, etc.) broken left shoulder,
broken left elbow, broken left forearm, broken left wrist, all five
fingers broken out of the joints, broken right leg (femure), no use
at all of upper right arm, broken ribs, punctured and collapsed lung,
punctured heart sac, etc, etc.  He did not come out a the coma at all 
for 5 days, and was mostly in one for 3 weeks.  He has had 4 major
operations so far.  The first one for rebuilding his face took 4 doctors
10 and a half hours.  The good news--the helmet saved his life, and he
has the use of most of his arms and legs--but most of all--no apparent
brain damage!  I was going to post this, but somehow the posting quit
working on usenet, and haven't had time to pursue it as yet.  By the
way, when he was first brought in they could not find a heartbeat,
but one of the nurses saw a foot twitch--so they went to work on him and
the operation took 4 and a half hours just to sew up everything that 
was bleeding!  THe other riders?  One clipped the back of the car and
got a broken leg, another went down with just road rash and burns, the
last two made it around.  Hospital time so far--5 weeks and an
incredible 
amount of money that will not even start to be covered by the drivers 
insurance.  Without my health coverage, it is difficult to think how
it would be paid.

So-o-o,
Be very careful out there, any edge you can get may be very important.

Rich Tweedie

------------------------------------------------
I asked him how the facial injuries occurred, here's his reply. -JL
----------------------------------------------

Bruce was wearing a full face Kiwi K21, with the face shield *up*.  I
had told him repeatedly to ride with it down, but he did not listen. The
reason for the multiple messages was (as you surmised) mail bounce. Anyway,
he slammed straight into the side of the car, with his face hitting the
edge of the roofline.  The helmet did save him and is essentially intact
(the little grey vent underneath the chinbar was broken).  the chinbar
did save his teeth!  However, it came in hard enough to break his jaw
on both sides.  The face in between the chin bar and top was extremely
beat up.  If it had been a flat surface instead of an edge, this probably
would not have happened.  Fortunately, there is no discernible brain
damage, other than the loss of 3 weeks and a tendency not to remeber
peoples names.

Thanks for the reply, and if the message does not appear on the net, I would
appreciate a post.  My rn seems to not post since I got this new sun 670mp.

Regards,
Rich Tweedie

----- End Included Message -----

I recently heard a story at a bike shop. The guy telling the story was riding
with his friend. His friend was on a GSXR and ran off the road into the ditch
(don't remember why). He broke a bunch of teeth on his windscreen. He had his
shield flipped up, because he was going slowly and it was hot outside.

I once borrowed someone's helmet with a very scratched up shield. He said
that he hit a bird and did not get around to buying a new shield yet.

I now ride with my shield down all the time. Get the right sheild colour
for the type of riding you're doing and use it. A good shield can make
riding more comfortable on your eyes (light wise and dirt wise) as well
as protect you in all kinds of ways.

I've        bike                      like       | Jody Levine    DoD #275
     got a       you can        if you      -PF  | Jody.P.Levine@hydro.on.ca
                         ride it                 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles