Well some of you may have read my threads on ECU problems and changing my front end.
After 12 months of tinkering I got the bike running really well.

Wasnt worried about the time frame because I had an incident at work and had shoulder surgery in February.
My mates usually do 1 or 2 rides a year and today was to be the first day of a ride to places such as Uralla Tenterfield and Walcha.

But it wasnt to be.

On Sunday I went for a short ride to the shops to get a few things for the upcoming ride.
Lovely weather it was too.
On the way home it all came apart.

I was following a couple of cars and was a couple hundred metres from home.
Both cars turned left at the intersection and as I cleared the last car in the intersection ole mate came out in front of me.
I was travelling at 50 km/h and he was there about 3 metres in front of me.

At that instant I knew it wasnt going to be good.

I was right.

My reaction time was pretty good.
Managed to lock up the brakes, but the front went out from under me and I parted company with the bike and ended up checking out the brand of tyre on the front of his ute.

Still trying to work out the next half second.
But in the end I was lying on the road in pain and the bike was on its side not far from me.
Once the stars cleared from my vision i had time to take stock.
My left arm hurt. Little bit of road rash.
My left leg hurt really bad.

Lots of people were congregating and making the needed calls and offering assistance both good and bad.
The driver was apologising profusely and he looked as white as a ghost.
Guess anyone in the same situation has heard the same words.

I didnt see you mate.

Managed to sit up and get the lid off. Lots of experts telling me not to. But they had good intentions.
Besides the road wasnt a very comfortable place to be lying. Nothing like my bed or lounge.
Ambos came and checked me out.
Found I could stand but the knee wouldnt take any weight.
Onto the stretcher and away we went.

Canula in and a shot of morphine and life seemed bearable.
Second shot and I didnt give much of a shit about anything.
Ambo said to take all the painkillers he offered because he could give me better than the hospital.
Apparently once in the hospital they will only give you stuff that you can take home later, so no morphine.
Endone is good. But morphine was better.

Short story is no broken bones, just soft tissue damage.

Had a Ventolin Spray in my pocket. They are pretty hardy items.
Plastic smashed and canister flattened considerably.

Got bruises starting at my hip and heading to my knee.
Knee is rather larger than normal and some lovely colour increasing by the day.
Ankle likewise swollen and deep dark bruising already there.

The bike needs a few things fixed and the driver wasnt insured.
But he said he can come up with a reasonable lump of cash.
Reckoning about 5k for the damages.
Tank has a big dent and the dangly things on the left hand side have seen better days.

Im alive and kind of walking around which has to be a bonus.
Things could have been a lot worse.
If I hadnt done the twin disc conversion I think I may have played Superman over the bonnet of the car.
The result from that would have been likely a lot worse.

Anyway instead of riding today, and the mates should have just finished Putty Road, Im sitting at home licking my wounds and watching TV

I wish you a swift recovery Mate.

No good mate...
But you came out alive and that matters more then anything...
I wish you and your ride a speedy recovery man...

____________

Street Glide....CVO....Sex on Wheels.

Shit, not good. How many times as motorcyclists do we hear those magic words - I didn't see you! Well, open your fucken eyes stupid!

Glad you are OK, sort of, hopefully the bloke will honour his word and pay up and you have no lasting problems.

Good luck with it.

____________
Cheers, Lloyd
FXDC

Sadly this sort of thing happens far too often, and as said " I didn't see you" is the most common excuse   ..... easy to say, can't be disputed or proven in court.....maybe sometimes it is the truth but so many cage drivers hide behind that excuse.
And to be uninsured ......how often is that the case....... hopefully he is true to his word for repairs to your ride

but, the most important thing is, you're still alive to tell the tale.

Pity you missed the ride, but there will be another time.
Can you keep us informed on the outcome of repairs to your ride.

____________
Cheers Peter


I've learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake

I’m only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand

2010 FATBOY, Vance & Hines 2 into 1 Big Radius, Screamin Eagle Super Tuner Pro, Screamin Eagle Heavy Breather, 2" Burleigh Roller Bars with a 10" Rise, Braided Cables, Combination Speedo & Tacho, Progressive RAP & with dreams of more to come

Sorry to hear mate, but least your still in the land of the living hope you have a speedy recovery

____________
Every body dies, but not everyone lives. SHIT runs downhill and PAYDAY is to far away

Bummer . If you're insured should be no problem . If not , CTP should cover it ?

____________
Confucius say ...

" Man who jibbers about how fast and far he goes most likely has tiny dick "

Bloody hell Rockoz .. not good ..

A well written incident report ..

Sorry to read that you & bike are slightly banged up .. but you both are here to continue your story; & the way that you wrote up your post, shows you are in good spirits ..

Which is bloody great thing !! after a downing ..

____________
If I'm vertical... It's time to RIDE.
My Gallery

Well some good news.
I contacted the driver and he is a really nice bloke.
Was upfront about everything and was keen to pay up.
Last night he came around and dropped the cash into my hand.

The swelling is subsiding on my knee and ankle.
Pity I couldnt say the same about the pain.
Going through shitloads of panadol and ibuprofen.
And the odd endone left over from when I had shoulder surgery earlier this year.

Getting some dark patches coming up all around the knee.

Went to the doctor yesterday and got a referral for an MRI next week.
Doc says possible meniscal injury.
Will be looking that one up.

Hip is giving me shit but going to give that another week to settle before I worry too much about it.

Can see me laying up on the lounge for a couple more weeks at least.

Thanks for the thoughts and wishes.

Rob

Its good the guy fronted up with the cash, wouldn't be a problem if you had to use your insurance though, they would have paid up.

Tis good you are alive or not really fucked up, but Im guess it will take you a few weeks to be feeling good again, so who's paying for loss of wages?

____________
O.T. USER

NO FREE RIDES

Harley Forum Australia, HDOZ.ORG.AU


http://harleynswriders.myfreeforum.org/index.php

Mate to get the best out of those ZenFone take them with Panadol. that was supposed to read Endone not Zenfone.

Lost wages will be an issue.
Taking all available leave I have which gives me to the middle of next week.
Have income protection insurance but it doesnt kick in for 60 days.
So will have to go deal with Centrelink in the interim.
Expect to have all sorts of battles with them even though the CTP insurance will actually repay them every cent in the end.
Cant get an answer off anyone as to how CTP will actually compensate me.
Will I end up with a weekly payment while I get sorted, or do I have to wait until the end?
Will income protection actually cover me if a CTP claim is going through?

Many questions and few answers.

Got the result of the MRI on the knee and it doesnt sound good.

Full rupture of the MCL
ACL hanging on by a thread.
Apparently the MCL isnt critical but the ACL is.
But the ACL needs a strong MCL to heal or be repaired.
Some other jibber jabber in the report like minor meniscus damage and an impact fracture at the top of the tibia.

Been trying to work out the details of the crash and it would seem that somehow I managed to kick myself in the back.

Time for some endone.

Contact a solicitor ( one who does "no fault " claims ) and get them to start proceedings . Keep all records of Doctor / hospital / police reports from day one . Might seem like a giant pain in the arse but will be worth it in the end .

____________
Confucius say ...

" Man who jibbers about how fast and far he goes most likely has tiny dick "

Get well soon, gotta love Endone and Panadol.

Bit of an update on my progress.

Had the ACL reconstructed towards the end of November.
They cut part of your hamstring out and use that to create a new ACL.
The operation went  well and was able to start walking down stairs a few weeks ago properly.
Still cant do it all the time though. Some days it just doesnt feel right.
Not very good on a ladder. Which being an electrician makes it difficuilt.

Wont be back at work for quite a while yet though.
All the way along I have been having pain in my hip to knee.
Didnt seem too bad but got worse.
Doctor, Physio and Specialist all said leave it to develop. Will probably settle.

Woke up from the ACL operation in pain.
But it was the hip not the knee.
Used up all the painkillers off the button.
Ended up with a shot of morphine.
That settled it down and I turned on my side and it was no drama from then. Well not too much anyway.
Was that fuzzed up with pain I couldnt work out what was needed until I got the morphine.
Once the pressure was off the hip all was better.

So from the time of the op onwards I was having more pain from the hip than the knee and eventually got an MRI of the hip and lumbar spine done at the end of January.
The pain was so bad the doctor took me off Tramadol and put me on Targin. Its a slow release endone.
But was needing more endone through the day.
Went from 20mg Targin up to 40 mg and now on 60mg twice daily.
Hopefully that will stop huge use of fast acting endone during the day.

The MRI gave me good and bad news.
No problem with the hip.
But a couple of issues with the spine.
Damage to 2 discs and some nerve impingement happening.

So have been referred to a neurosurgeon for assessment.
Another long wait until end of March to get to see him.

But Neurosurgeons dont like CTP insurers it seems.
They dont want to go through the billing process with them.
Ortho specialist put me on to one who wouldnt do anything with the CTP insurer.
If I needed surgery I would have had to go on the public waiting list.
Found one that wants payment up front for consultation but will bill any required surgery.

So Im having no end of fun with this.
Im actually expecting some office worker to start telling a specialist that he is wrong.

So Im guessing this whole little incident is going to cost me about a year out of my life.
It may even cost me my job.
Cant expect them to hold my job for me forever. Hope they do though.

Time for another pill.

Cheers

Rob

Shit Rob, that doesn't sound too good......couldn't they find a different neurosurgeon, one that was happy to go with the CTP.
Waiting for a public Dr could take years. With the CTP, does that cover your wages, or can you sue for a lump sum payment. I know that doesn't guarantee your job back, but who knows when you'll get back to work or even if you can ever get back to doing your job.
Hope your life starts to improve soon and you can start "living" again.
Thinking of you mate.

____________
Cheers Peter


I've learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake

I’m only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand

2010 FATBOY, Vance & Hines 2 into 1 Big Radius, Screamin Eagle Super Tuner Pro, Screamin Eagle Heavy Breather, 2" Burleigh Roller Bars with a 10" Rise, Braided Cables, Combination Speedo & Tacho, Progressive RAP & with dreams of more to come

Fuck mate .. I to have seen the ugly greed in the 'specialists'      
Dealing with 'specialists & insurances mob .. it is stupefying frustrating     
I actually did have the Centrelink's form inspector imply that & required an interview of me with their 'doctor' [only a GP, pediatrician his main study]

{I was expecting the insurance mob to force action to clear their caseload .. wasn't I delusional }

My heartfelt sorry is wishing for your job to be held, plus, may the healing be speedy while you are jumped up the waiting list.

P.S. Appriciate the update .. good to read that you are 'floating' along with the pain & hoping it is only bruising & swelling that has yet to subside. ♣

____________
If I'm vertical... It's time to RIDE.
My Gallery

I hope your healing time is reasonably fast...over a period of time check for secondary problems on top of immediate problems from the accident....Soft tissue injuries seem nothing ,but they can be for life..that's a fact...
....Is the bike repairable?
Those magic words from the driver hey!...Grrrr
Anyhoo....as I said I hope your healing time isn't too long  

____________


Silence is Golden....Duct tape is Silver

Bike is repairable.
Dented the tank. Scratched the derby cover badly, bent a mirror, scratched the left indicators and clutch perch and bent the gear lever.
Got all the parts together to fix it.
Its actually rideable once I put the indicator lenses back on.
It came out if it surprisingly well

Found a neurosurgeon that will charge upfront for consultations, but anything out of the office, such as surgery they will do CTP billing.
So thats reasonably sorted out. Just have to get the insurer to send a cheque.

Even my physio hates dealing with CTP companies, and is likely to wipe them soon because of dramas getting paid.

CTP will give an upfront payment of $5000 to anyone injured regardless of fault. Provided it was before 1st December 2017.
They will pay for all medical expenses as they happen through their accounts section. If the treatment provider will deal with them.

Once I am as healthy as I am going to get, CTP will then compensate me.
They will pay me for lost wages and entitlements in a lump sum at the end of it all.
If I have a deemed injury or incapacity of over 10% then I can be awarded pain and suffering on top as well.
The solicitor said a busted up knee doesnt count for 10% but a knee replacement does.
As I have this spinal problem as well, Im pretty sure that it will be greater than 10%, so I should get pain and suffering.
In the wages settlement there is also scope for lost future earnings to be accountable as well.
I was in the process of changing jobs at the time and have missed out on a couple of opportunities because of the injury.

The company I work for is a very large company, so they may keep my job open.
However thye havent been known for doing employees many favours so far. They use the rules for their own advantage where possible.
Being over 55 in a high unemployment area means getting a job if they do terminate me will be difficult.
The solicitor says that if that happens, that will be part of the claim too.
I hate solicitors.
I trust them very little.

Luckily I have income protection insurance as part of my super.
It takes 60 days to kick in and pays 85% of your normal or base wage.
Better than the dole though.
Apparently the income protection payments dont come out of the settlement money either.
Had I gone onto dole or disability, it would have to have been paid back.
I looked at centrelink to cover for the 60 days.
I filled out about 100 pages of questions and stuff and gave up.
Was too much for too little, then they would have been involved in the treatment as well, and are known to knock back some treatments, or add extras in.
Even though they get paid back every cent at the end.

Went to the physio today.
He has different views to the specialists.
He said to lose weight and went on that direction.
I cut him short.
Told him that before the crash I was a fat bastard and pain free.
All I want from him is to help make me pain free and forget about the weight, because it had not created pain before the crash.
If I end up losing some weight getting better, then that will be a bonus. But it isnt a factor causing the pain.

Apparently after 1st December 2017, in NSW at least, the CTP insurer will pay you weekly similar to if you were on Workers Compensation.
They are trying to save money I think.
It should be that way anyway.
If I didnt have Income Protection I would be in a world of financial trouble.

So Ive still got a road ahead of me to travel.
Most of the issues will be with Insurance certainly. Jumping through their innumerable hoops.

But there will be an end to it one day.

Cheers

Rob

Good to read Rob .. bloody glad you can see a positive end coming.

____________
If I'm vertical... It's time to RIDE.
My Gallery