TBPI 10Yrs on

[bill de brooklyn]

Mitch,
what else do you do for excitement?

[thebrain]

Mitch,
Absolutely awesome to see. I've been thinking about getting back to riding since my accident ~5 months ago. Guy coming the opposite way on a 2-lane twisty higway came into a corner too hot, panicked, locked up both brakes and hit me head-on. I don't remember it so it's hard to say what % my fault it was but i'm sure I COULD have avoided it... anyway my left arm is useless. i'm supposed to get my biceps and deltoid functioning in a few more months but probably no hand.

My only fear, riding again, would be to do the same injury to my other arm... Not trying to bring you down but is that something you considered? Maybe I should stick to the track? gotta be safer than the street, on the other hand, i'd really like to be able to take my girlfriend for a ride...

One other thing - in my mind, i had figured the best strategy would be to make up a right foot clutch, figuring that it would be too hard to do throttle and clutch with the same hand. i can't imagine it's easy to twist and un-squeeze at the same time? I almost never used the clutch for shifting, just getting moving in first. i also almost never used the rear brake but also i figure you could have two foot levers just like you can have two hand levers. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the topic...

[dalek84]

hi mitch

I got knocked off my motorbike by a driver that didnt see me 2 months ago an suffered a bp injury to my left arm leaving me unable to move my arm apart from finger twitching slightly and im goin for a nerve transplant next month but im suffering with really bad pains in my hand which are constant an feels like razor blades coming through my hand an fingers the drugs im on arent working (morphine,gabapentin) do u have any ideas to help with the pain thanks

[Mitch]

Hi thebrain, sorry to hear of your accident, the bpi is sh1tty thing to deal with for sure!

Of course the worse thing that could happen is to recieve a bpi in the other arm, for sure this could happen in a bike acccident but it could of also happend in a rta on the way to work this morning in the car on the ice. Without doubt getting back on two wheels has been the best rehab I could of ever found, and Im not going to let what if's spoil the rest of my life. I have had accidents on the road and on the track since my bpi, not my fault of course , but Im willing to accept that its all part of what I do, and get on with it.

As far as adaptions go just about anything is possible, its just a case of finding a good engineer who is happy to help you, I personally didnt want to make too many changes from the normal layout of the motorcycle, and defianately didnt want to move the brake lever to anywere else on the bike, just in case I had an emergency and forgot were the brake was!

Most people want to know how I manage to operate the throttle and clutch at the same time, and I can honestly say it really isnt as difficult as it looks, practice makes perfect!

Good luck

[Mitch]

Hi Dalek84, I spent a long time (years) looking for the cure to the nerve pain, Im afraid I still havent found it yet! Ive taken just about every kind of medication available and none of it really works. I take Oxycontin now, it helps take the edge off it but I still have bad days Im afraid. Keeping busy helps take my mind off it, if I have been doing something physical then it usually takes me about 3 days to get back to "normal". Certain things triger the pain, cold, stress, being tyred and suffering a hang over (sadly) all increase my pain.

Keep yourself busy and keep up your appointments with your gp, sorry but thats about all I can say on this one.


Mitch

[Mitch]

Mitch,
what else do you do for excitement?

Ha ha, good one