A little background on me. I had been riding since I was 8 or 9 years old when I got my first bike, a Yamaha YZ80. I continued to ride different bikes throughout my 20's. I will be 38 next month. This crash happened on a Kawasaki Ninja 250R.
-Brief recap of the crash
It was extremely hot that day and I wasn't going on any highways, so I wasn't going to wear my helmet, just jeans and a tshirt. I head out to the garage and start getting ready, but at the last second I decide grab my helmet anyways (best decision I ever made). I head out and have maybe gone 3 miles or so and just made a right turn, I'm behind a mini van going kinda slow, it's a 35 MPH road and he was prolly doing 30-35MPH. This time I make another decision (prolly one of the worse I ever made) I go to over take the mini van on a double yellow and a curve and when I get around him and back in the lane something doesn't feel right, and here is where it all went horribly wrong. I really don't know happened 100%, but this is what I remember. Everything started to go into slow motion, but I still could not recover. I felt was I thought was a back wheel wobble and realized I was not going to make the turn and I think I just headed for the grass hoping to cushion my fall. Once I made that decision, everything went back to normal speed and I went flying over the bars, but not before getting my foot caught under the gear shift. That's really all I remember of the crash it self, once it was over I tried to pick up myself and walk it off, and realized I was int the street, not the grass. I hobbled over the grass and laid down, I did even know where my bike was nor, was I in any condition to move it. The paramedics came and cut me out of my jeans and my 1 shoe that remained on my body. There I lay on the side of the street completely naked. Yes, naked. I went commando under my jeans. After a day in the ER I was able to go home. I cracked a few ribs, ripped apart the ligaments in my left ankle, broke my right shoulder so severely you could see a 1/4 inch gap in the bone on the x-rays. I also beat up my knee pretty badly and got wicked road road on my left elbow, knee and shin. A few days later after I came out of the opiate pain killer fog and I saw the 2 inch wide bruise across my entire forehead from my helmet when my head slammed into the ground. I still don't remember actually hitting my head, or landing in the street for that matter. I would have surely been dead if I didn't change my mind at the last second and wear my helmet. I was in a wheelchair for a few weeks and had to sleep in a chair in my living room because I couldn't lay on my back. I also had several months of healing and rehab before I was back to normal. It was 10+ years before I got on a motorcycle again, which was last month when I bought my Monster. The Ninja sat in my parents garage for years, until I sold it for a mere 500$ It had less then 2500 miles on it.
-What you did right
Came to my senses and put on my helmet before I left. Not much else.
-What you did wrong
Where to begin?
I had no protective gear besides my helmet.
I was passing on a curve and double yellow line.
I felt too comfortable and wasn't thinking ahead.
More then likely target fixation.
I'm sure there is more that I just can't remember.
-Thoughts on how it might have been avoided
If I didn't stop and go back and get my helmet, I prolly would have been in front of the mini van in the first place. J/K
First, I shouldn't have been passing on a curve or double yellow line and I definitely need more practice for emergency type situations. Having a jacket, protective pants and boots would have prolly saved my body from quite a bit of the damage it took. I really didn't even think about it back then and since I bought my Monster I have been wearing just a leather jacket w/ jeans, and my helmet of course. After reading through this thread I have ordered a armored Icon textile jacket and currently researching pants and boots!