My maniac daughter crashed her motorcycle doing 35 on a 15 mph curve. Mild concussion, torn

[Floyd R. Turbo]

ligaments, severe road rash on thighs and hips, multiple contusions and lacerations. She called my wife and asked her to "not tell dad. He'll tell me I can't ride anymore." She's fifty years old and hasn't paid attention to what I've said to her since she was twelve.

[redwitch]

1. Glad it wasn't worse.

Don't tell Dad made me smile.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

2. Thankfully she always wears a helmet and leathers!

I won't tell!

[unblock]

3. that's nothing. one of my co-workers wiped out doing 50 on a bicycle

training for a triathlon.

hope she heels well. or heals well. maybe i'll ask trump which it is....

[Floyd R. Turbo]

4. I on the other hand thought it more than "nothing".

Hope your friend is okay.

[unblock]

7. Just an expression ;)

This was quite a while ago, co-worker is fine and back in full form.

I'm a parent, too, I get it. But they do get better....

[Floyd R. Turbo]

8. Get it! Thanks!

[PoiBoy]

5. So glad she's okay...

..and yes.. the "don't tell Dad" made me smile as well... been there.. done that..

[Floyd R. Turbo]

6. Thank you.

My kid does crack me up!

[Leith]

9. I Hope She Is Okay

It sounds like a heck of a crash.

My mother didn't ride a motorcycle, but she would never slow down or watch where she was going. She always had a couple bruises to show off that she got from walking.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

10. She went to the left guard rails, the bike to the right.

Her ride was a custom chopper built by her husband. He's cool and knows shit happens.

[cloudbase]

42. The steering geometry

on a chopper isn't curve friendly.

Glad your daughter will be okay.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

43. One of the reasons Ive never liked them.

Thanks

[FSogol]

11. It has been my experience that the majority of people give up riding after their first spill.

Maybe she's done riding, now?

[Floyd R. Turbo]

16. She won't be riding for a while due to her injuries as well as the condition of her bike.

[FSogol]

18. I had a bad spill one time (I was stupidly riding in the ice and snow), but escaped injury.

Hope your daughter gets well soon.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

22. Thanks!

[SonofDonald]

12. I am thankful she will recover

She is so lucky, all this damage and no cars were involved, I've wrecked a few bikes and was forced off the road by an inattentive driver in 1981, I received a dislocated shoulder, a collapsed lung, other injuries.

The motorcycle had bent forks, frame and rear swing arm, I crawled an eighth of a mile to find help, I kept riding until 1996 when I came down south and found how dangerous it is in the lower 48, drivers don't look out for you, most could care less about cutting you off.

Your Daughter is so lucky a car wasn't involved, it will make her more careful if she continues to ride though.

I'll never ride again, I already know what it feels like to crash hard.

It's not fun.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

17. Fortunately she was riding through a canyon that doesn't get a lot of automobile traffic.

[Laffy Kat]

13. Oh gosh, so sorry.

Motorcycles scare me to death. My ex-husband had two and grew up riding. My own boys never wanted anything to do with them (thank god). The thing is, it's not enough to be careful, it's the other people (cars) that will kill ya.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

19. I haven't ridden in decades because of traffic. Even gave up my bicycle.

[SonofDonald]

25. It's scarier than hell to ride

I've mentioned it here before but I was a Bering Sea crabber from 1981-1989, I did the whole deadliest catch thing and even spent nine months at sea in 1984.

So it can be said I ain't scared of much.

But I won't throw a leg over a motorcycle any more and I loved to ride, and I still miss it.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

27. I no longer have the reflexes necessary to ride in traffic. It's a young persons activity. Not a

week goes by where I live that some guy in his fifties or sixties isn't killed or seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.

[SonofDonald]

31. I'm 58 now

And you are correct, I see these young riders zooming in and out of traffic changing lanes on a whim, I never had the stones to do that at any age.

Most of my crashes were off road and I could walk away, I went to snow machines as they were so much more stable, I still have one in the garage, but the cold destroys me these days due to all the broken bones I've had so it's parked.

It's self preservation now.

Best wishes for your Daughters recovery, I'm a father of two women and I know you never quit worrying.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

35. Thanks. No we don't!

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. Has she had concussions before?

Because they have a cumulative effect.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

20. Thankfully no.

[rurallib]

15. those torn ligaments will be painful for a long time

hope she recovers well.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

21. She is miserable with pain, but refuses to take it easy. That's my kid!

[Major Nikon]

23. After my kids became adults I stopped lecturing them

I might just as effectively lecture to the wall and not create hard feelings in the process.

If it's any consolation, pain is generally a pretty good teacher.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

24. Ain't it the truth! 👍🏻

[SonofDonald]

26. Yes it is. N/T

[shenmue]

28. Very sorry

[Floyd R. Turbo]

29. Thank you!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. I'd think that doing 35 mph on a 15 mph curve

is something a 50 year old would know better than to do. Or does she always ride so recklessly? In which case, she's incredibly lucky she hasn't done worse by now.

Just hope she heals well and rides a bit more sensibly from now on.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

33. She's a risk taker. Always has been. Being so has brought her great success, along with more than

a little grief!

[still_one]

32. Hopefully she will be ok. I really recommend folks who have, or who are considering on doing

street bike riding to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class.

https://www.msf-usa.org/

Hope all is well.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

34. Her husband tried to convince her to take the course. She refused because she's been riding

most of her life!

[ffr]

36. 35 MPH crash and she had those kinds of injuries? Wasn't wearing proper gear and

may not fully know how to ride and control a motorcycle.

35 MPH in a 15 MPH curve, even some marked 10 MPH on a sport bike will literally cause the bike to fall into the corner if the rider is properly leaning. Regardless, every situation is different. The rider must judge if the conditions and circumstances warrant those kinds of speeds. Is this a known corner frequented every day and she knows there's no gravel or sand or oil in the corner? Is it one that isn't in a residential neighborhood where such speeding is never warranted? Was she riding a motorcycle with good cornering ground clearance or one that does not? And if not, she just learned an important lesson about what you can and cannot force a motorcycle to do.

It's better to sweat than bleed. With proper armored gear, the most she would have sustained were bruises. And of those, her ego would have been the most bruised.


She should be encouraged to take a MC safety course and/or participate in a "trackday," where she can learn the fundamentals of controlling her machine under supervised controlled conditions. She'll be a better, smarter rider for it.

I've narrowed some of it down to how the rider looks on their bike. If they ride stiff armed, that means they aren't comfortable or don't know how to control their machine. All riders who have a great deal of control of their machines are fluid with their bikes. Their body motions are fluid, not rigid.

Stiff armed rider. (Warning - contains actual collision, but everyone walked away)

[Floyd R. Turbo]

37. She was wearing a helmet, leather jacket and chaps, boots and gauntlets. Unfortunately no knee,

elbow, or shoulder pads. The area is near her home but not residential. Her bike is/was a custom chopper built by her husband.

Hopefully she takes the lesson learned to heart.

[ffr]

40. Sometimes an accident will be enough to do that.

I dated a gal who bought a chopper/H-D because her previous boyfriend owned one and she wanted to ride on her own. Wrong bike choice for sure. The bike was just clumsy and heavy. She couldn't turn it around and couldn't even get it on or off her property without help.

If your gal takes it to heart, terrific! Everybody wins! If she doesn't though, there's little that can be done about it. You can hope she comes to her senses or has another innocent accident to help sway her to make a decision. When riding is in your blood, it brings great joy to the person, much like bicycle riding does too. The endorphins that are kicked off inside the brain justify the risk as a choice personal to them, a risk of being alive, i.e. it makes them feel alive in ways that make life not just ho-hum day-to-day, but something to be captured every moment.

Many people who ride cannot imagine life without riding, and those who don't cannot understand what could be so great about it that it justifies the risks. Riding, in a regard, becomes an addiction.

[gibraltar72]

38. As a rider

of 56 years having sold my last bike in June. I can tell you there are only two kinds of motorcycle riders. Those who have crashed and those who are going to. People who don't ride don't get the amount of pleasure and sense of freedom it gives. Don't be shocked if she's back on the horse a lot sooner than you think she will be. I strapped crutches on my bike before I could walk after breaking my leg many moons ago.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

39. I fear that you are right.

A major determining factor will be the length of time her husband takes rebuilding her bike. I doubt that he'll be in a rush.

[left-of-center2012]

41. Helmet? n/t