United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hey guys, I'm still waiting for my insurance to sort itself out, which is holding up my surgery. ie. no money = no surgery. It's been 9 months post injury, and they will only pay for medical costs within the first 12 months. During this time they have been looking for any excuse not to pay, and costing me a fortune with a solicitor, God I hope something very bad happens to everybody who works in insurance They are scum.

But my main concern involves me getting back on a bike, and the experiences any of you might have had. One positive to come out of my experience will hopefully be some $ coming my way, after losing use of my right arm. It's not a huge amount by any means, but it's better than nothing. I know there's a big organization in the UK for disabled bikers, but despite having the best riding weather on the planet we don't appear to have a similar sort of thing in Australia.

I've been getting in some practice on the push bike, I made up a glove that velcro's into a grip and it works well for that purpose. But there's a big step from that, to riding a real bike again. I have to admire any BPI person who still rides, but how the hell do you do it? I've seen a few mods that use a Mick Doohan type thumb brake, which is the sort

of thing I'm thinking about. But since bikes like the Hondamatic went out of style, the automatic bike is pretty rare, and only scooters use a CVT transmission for the moment. Would it be as simple as going to a custom bike builder and asking for a thumb brake and left-hand throttle? Or is forking out for a CVT adaptation a viable option (Gilera are releasing a V-twin CVT 850 soon, I believe). I'd dearly love to know how any of you guys get on, because right now I'm obsessed. I can't stop thinking about it.

BTW I'm thinking about buying an MV Agusta F4, or Brutale, and messing around with it. Please don't hate me.

didnt catch your name so ill call you "Metho"

I am left bpi. I ride a custom built harley type bike. I built it as a hotrod (big motor pro street style) before i got in my accident. I was riding a different bike when i went down so the hotrod was just sitting begging to be ridden. I moved the clutch to the thottle side and removed the brake control to see if i could actually ride it. It has a very torqey motor so it was No problem. I just roll the throttle with my palm and work the clutch with my fingers. Its easier than it sounds even with a fairly stiff clutch. I was hooked again. I have rode it that way for some time. My future plans are a thumb brake. I have looked around at several road racing sites and the use of a thumb brake is fairly popular there. my bars are 1" and theirs are 3/4" so i'll have to make my own setup. I plan to use a cable to control a remote master cylinder to control the brakes. I feel this is much better than hooking both brakes to a proportion valve and using a footbrake. With both on the footbrake i think you have less control and also at slow speeds its requires a foot on the brake instead of the ground.

I stick my flail bpi arm in my pocket as i feel it cant fall out of there. I'm kinda scared if it was attached to the bars and got loose i might not be able protect it. I do get tired quicker than i used to but i attribute that to my physical condition and i think it will get better as i get stronger.

You'll get back out there. Remember we are the only ones who can put limits on what we can do. You'll find you can do just about anything if you are determined. As i do more things that I had earlier limited myself from doing I feel more like im living life again.

John K

You should try posting your question on the TBPI Group messageboards...loads of blokes (and women!) have got back on the bike after a TBPI post over there.

You'll have to register with the site to be able to post, but it's free and dead easy. Heres a link to it..
http://pub28.ezboard.com/badultswithbra ... usinjuries
Have a look at the 'general' forum first. Somewhere on there is a thread 'Bike and trike torque/talk' which you might find is interesting.

Good luck mate

Lizzy b