it's been nearly 3 months since I broke my leg/ankle in a low speed u-turn where the bike's weight crushed my left leg. now that im hopefully a week or so away from being weight bearing ill be getting back in the saddle soon. what i'm wondering is if slider bars would create a wedge of space that would hopefully save my leg in a slow speed crash vs the bike landing on that same area. any other things i should look at? ive really really really missed riding!
On my speed triple, I low sided on a low speed turn due to new pavement gravel (of course the next day the city put a gravel warning sign [bang] ).
Anyhow, one ankle was stuck on the back pegs. In a way, it could have been worse if the bike had slammed on my leg, but instead the frame slider pretty much saved the bike from slamming into my ankle and the back pegs really protected my pipes and legs as the bike landed on it. My foot somehow got caught in the inside of the back pegs and I had to get help from passing car (after flagging about 5 cars that just passed me ). The alpine boots (full boots) really helped . In this instance, I was lucky and since then I invested on a used Sidi vortices boots (full boot is the way to go to minimize certain things) for spirited rides.
Overall, I believe in frame slider which has saved my bike during bike stand failures, low side and me forgetting bike stand when lowering from a rear stand.
The danger of frame slider is during high speed slide. If the frame slider gets caught in a pot-hole, then the frame slider is going to get caught in the pot-hole and then fling the bike and of course that is even more dangerous.
Glad to hear that you are recovering and planning to get back on the bike.
No idea about the sliders but they're for the bike, not you. I doubt you could count on them to prevent your leg being pinned like that. Just get the 14T on there ASAP and don't try tight maneuvers until the engine is fully warmed, or at the least until you have a lot more miles under your belt!
Hope you're mending well! Have a safe and happy new year!!!
After I broke my leg I got the 14T installed, and I hope that will help with low speed control. But I have not yet been able to try it out. The u-turn was the first thing I did when I broke my leg, but I had let the bike warm up for a few minutes. But even with warming the bike up, it stalled many many times at the first stop sign/light on my trips. I had practiced u-turns and I dont really know what happened when I crashed. I'm wondering if the bike could of maybe stalled in the turn being a colder engine? Well lesson learned. I know I'm not gonna do any more u-turns at the beginning of a ride.
fixed footpegs instead of the folding ones...
Is that a generally recommended upgrade?
the speedymoto sliders are the only ones I have FHE with and they will go on every bike I ever own. they saved my bike from being totaled once for sure.
as to your specific question I would say probably. they stick out ~6" which would at least alleviate some of the problems you had.
fixed footpegs are a subjective thing. some people say they do things like catch and flip a bike or subject the frame/cases to more stress in a wreck. Personally I run sato rearsets which have a fixed peg but I like it because of the feel it provides more than anything else. if you want protection frame sliders are the way to go.
I did a slow slide out at the end of my brothers driveway after he re-coated it and I know my sliders saved my knee. I can still see it in slow motion as the bike slides off my leg riding on the frame slider. I have the ridiculously long ones. And then in slow motion it went bouncing down the driveway with only a scrap on the pipes and a busted mirror. A bruise to the knee is all I got because of the slider. Damn recoating stuff is slick.......
Interesting thoughts. I'd always seen the really long sliders doing more damage to the bike than I'd have thought they would. A friend's bike had his frame torn up pretty good after a trackday where he spun out. I didn't even think about the 'protective' factor of the sliders vs. legs.
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=47054.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=47054.0)
Quote from: mrpetebojangles on December 30, 2011, 07:06:01 PM
it's been nearly 3 months since I broke my leg/ankle in a low speed u-turn where the bike's weight crushed my left leg. now that im hopefully a week or so away from being weight bearing ill be getting back in the saddle soon. what i'm wondering is if slider bars would create a wedge of space that would hopefully save my leg in a slow speed crash vs the bike landing on that same area. any other things i should look at? ive really really really missed riding!
sorry to hear. Here's mine.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/Alucardbomb/NatesLeg-1.jpg)
how'd it happen?
Same accident Nate?
Quote from: mrpetebojangles on January 05, 2012, 08:41:10 AM
Same accident Nate?
nah. I just got walloped off my bike by some wreckless idiot in a large sealcoating truck. He just pulled out in front of me and there was nothing I could do.
Quote from: NateNewThread on January 05, 2012, 07:05:40 PM
nah. I just got walloped off my bike by some wreckless idiot in a large sealcoating truck. He just pulled out in front of me and there was nothing I could do.
Ouch. Are you riding now? I'm now able to walk, but slowly, and im wondering when it would be safe to ride my bike.
When your orthopedist says that you've mended well enough not to re-break it and when you have the necessary mobility and range of motion to control the bike. Just start slowly and conservatively.
Good Luck!