Hey guys- not trying to kill the mood of all these other topics, but I'm just curious of who all was injured from riding dirtbikes? My fiance, Jesse, was riding out at Pismo Beach Sand dunes here in Cali when another rider jumped over him (by accident) and his back tire caught his helmet and flew him off his bike, snapping his neck back. He is considered a C-4 ASIA B Incomplete.
He does not resent the sport at all, we still watch AMA races almost every weekend and watch his 7 y/o nephew practice his new 65. It breaks my heart to see him watch though, he misses riding so much! It was his life. Well anyway, just wondering if there are some similar stories out there and just want to tell him of some so he doesnt feel so alone.

Thanks
Sierra

P.S. Honda riders represent!! LOL

I'm not personally experienced in that one, but one of the people I have met since my injury was out for a ride on a Honda CBR1000, when he was injured. Some jackass didn't close his tailgate or tie his stuff down, and something flew out of the pickup bed and into the front wheel of the bike. Sent him end over and into the field on the side of the road (OVER a fence). The driver of the pickup didn't even slow down, just kept on going. It sucks to see somebody miss something that badly. He still has his old CBR cap, and wears it all the time.

That would really suck! Thanks for sharing Jax.

yup another dirtbike crash quad here

mine happened just riding flat out and not watching where i was going
straight into a tree branch and snap, all over

Ag's

I crashed my XR650R supermoto into a tree on a small back road, shattered T4/5/6 Complete. Coming out of a corner I gave it the berries and the front came up a bit too quick. By the time I got it down I was in the hedge and a highside fired me sideways into the tree.

Since I've got out of hospital I have fitted out a Vmax trike for the road and I'm thinking of a LTZ400 quad for field use.

Close. My dirt bike was at home, but I was run off the road while riding my street bike, 29 years ago. Couple of months later my best friend was seriously injured on his dirt bike, while practicing for a hill climb. He didn't make it.

In the following 2 years 7 additional friends were injured in bike accidents. Injuries were all serious. Amputations, brain damage, etc Our amateur race team was pretty much decimated, and disbanded a year later.

Point is... bikes are dangerous. However... your friend Jesse is not alone in missing it. Riding bikes is fun, and the life style can be addictive. I've been riding 4 wheelers for the last 25+ years, and would be back on the street also, if I had a bit more disposable income. Maybe someday...

Joe

Thanks guys for your stories. We really appreciate them. Ag's I looked at your website a few weeks ago and your truely an inspirational person. Since Jesse's injury, I've realized as an able-bodied person we take small things for granted everyday. Things like scratching your face, coughing, and even talking are things that many of you cannot do anymore- you all are very strong in so many ways. Thank you again for sharing your stories.

i was injured while training for a race but it didn't slow me down your fianncee can still ride quads or side x sides.. heres a pic of me racing a yfz 450

I rode at Pismo the week after I gradeatd hi-skool. (just tryin' to be funny!) It was my first dune experience, back in '79...

some 3 years later (and many moto-x and desert enduros later) I was paralyzed from removal of a tumor in my spine...

S**T happens, eh? Hope you can learn to live with vigor and enthusiasm in all you do, even if it's not what you did before.

put a tick next to my name to . racing a 2 day enduro in 2000. xr 400 hit a rock at 135 kph then snap
things havnt changed much
cheers andrew

Head on with another dirt bike in the bush at around 90kmh each not a good way to meet on a corner but as they say S**T happens just ride quads now

my son Ricky 4 years ago at 16 years old, there's never a good age but he was way too young. T7 Complete
Ricky's site

Check out the video's under the "media" section

I came off my Yamaha 660 just outside my house. It was just back from the garage and i was desperate to test it, and popped a bit too much of a wheelie at about 10 miles an hour and came off the back of it. This was last August (23rd 2008) and broke T12 and L1. Still got it, and not sure what to do with it..........

Hey
If you questioning.I have a accident 5 year`s ago @ a supercross practise in germany(crf 450 ;) ).since that im a paraplegic....

When I was going to rehab, one of the ambulance drivers asked me one day "bike or car"? He was really surprised that my injuries were caused at work so I suppose judging by his experience (with regard to New Zealand anyway) a large majority of injuries quite possibly happen as consequence of using motor vehicles.

L-1 incomplete thanks to an "invisible" berm at Ocotillo Wells while riding a YFZ 450

I was injured on my bike but I am back on two wheels again I am doing things again that I only dreamed about

Hi, my bf got in an accident in April on his dirtbike... t12, was told incomplete at first, and now doctor is not sure, said it was too early to tell right now. I take a lot of pics and videos when he is out riding, he can only look at a few pics... riding was his life, and hopefully he'll be able to ride again one day!!

I was a motorcycle CHP officer. In December 2007, I was actually OFF my bike, standing on the side of the freeway, and was hit by a truck going 74 mph. I am actually completely severed at C8/T1 along with a host of other issues. However, after a few months of trail and error, I have a quad that I have really dialed in to ride. I have another thread that I am going to update with pictures.

I also crashed at Pismo Beach. In August it will be 4 years. I was riding my 450R quad. Hit a kid berm track went over the bars, then my bike drove over me. Really really miss riding. Still camp though. Any other girls that crashed bikes out there?

Hi, I got hurt racing MX when I was 16 at a local Norcal track in the 80's. A good friend was in the same race. We remained good friends and I got a quad right after I got hurt and we continued to ride together all the time. Like 10 years after I got hurt, we were at Hollister Hills and my buddy when over the bars and broke his back as well, T5 Complete. So now we are both in chairs, crazy. He was there when I got hurt and vice versa. At least he was good at wheeling around in my chair before he got hurt! Here a Picture of what I ride now. Going to Pismo in a few weeks, Can't wait! Brapppppp!!

My husband raced dirt bikes before he got hurt. He was hurt on a street bike, had to lay it down and hit his head on the guard rail when he broke his neck. He and I still watch the races and he loves the sport. He rides a 4-wheeler...a quad on a quad!! He is (c6 c7) We strap his legs to the quad and off he goes. It took some practice but every year he gets better and better on it. We put a twist throttle on it and he wears gloves for grip. Shoot me a msg if you want and I can shoot you some pictures. Tell your fiance' to never give up!!!!

Hi,
I’m going to put a different light on this topic, a very good friend died 6-7 years ago, he was a well known name in motocross, while practicing hit a lump wrong on top of a jump which kicked the back of the bike in the air throwing him over the bars breaking his neck. (Job done, all over)

And that different light would be....?

Don't think there's anyone who doesn't know, and accept the risk, that "you can be seriously injured or killed" when they throw a leg over the saddle....

What I meant by different light would be he wasn't lucky enougth to be injured........(If you consider being injured over death lucky, I would be happier with him alive then dead)
& also NO when ever I've jumped on a bike I have never though about getting killed or even injured because when you do that you may as well stop riding.
fact of life in any motor sport, think about the bad things that could happen, you will never give it 100%

dang it wasnt even yout fault. Sounds like you have adapted though congrats

paralyzed back in 80s practicing for first race of season. Did the quad thing after but it was not the same and i kept comparing to how it used to be when I was doing klickers over the doubles thinking it was never going to end.

So move forward a few years, many actually and I am into street bikes now, Harleys to be exact. This is a drive from sidecar so not going to do any cafe racing but when it is compared to wheeling or riding the Harley, the Harley is heaven!

You being the parent of the great Rick James, how did it make you feel whe he told you he wasn't done riding?

im a parra too from a dirt bike well sort of i hit a wire strung between two trees by some idiot

Happy and nervous all at the same time. It makes him feel so good when he rides and I feel sooo good when he's done.

Add my boyfriend to roll call of MX riders who were injured doing what they loved the most. He became a T12 incomplete in 1988 during a race in the DC area. He also still loves the sport and follows it on TV and occasionally attends a race - we're going to the US Open SX event in Las Vegas in October. I asked him if he'd still have raced if he knew that he'd end up in a chair from it, and he says yes, it was worth it do something he loved for so many years.

Hi, I'm April and my bf is the one that has been riding since he was a kid. It's pretty much his life as well. He still rides every weekend or chance he gets. It scares me and makes me terribly jealous all at once. I got really interested myself a couple of years ago. And started taking it up. Didn't take me long at all before I was hurt. I'm a single mom of two kids, and now i'm far from being a normal mom. My injury was a T12 incomplete. Really close for me as well, but i have read (if you want some hope) in some places that there still is a chance for a small % of complete injuries. I don't personally know about it, but I would have to believe that anything is possible. MY injury was over a year ago, and things look better than the docs ever said they would; however, you never really feel the same. No matter what people say to you. I miss riding on my dirtbike (RMZ250), my horse, working out, and just staying active, but i have to keep on to the mere thought that one day down the road it will come back. Some may say i'm not grasping reality, but i think that reality is that when you give up hope, you give up a part of yourself, physically and emotionally. I've had 5 people give me testimonials since my accident. All of which were terribly hurt w/ similar SC injuries. One man was shot in his spine by his ex-wife (i live in the south, lol), and I forget his level of injury, but he was all jacked up. It took him 4yrs in a wheelchair, and lots of painful water therapy, but he said w/out it, he never would have gotten better. All this coming from a 24/hr wrecker driver that lifts heavy things, and walks all the time. I was shocked! Another good friend said his brother fell from a latter really high up. He was broken from his C4 down. 3 years later, he's married, having kids, and working full time just like all the other normal people. There are ways to ride dirtbikes and still be parapalegic. Look it up. What else do we have to lose, right??? Just some insite.

Yes, I did. I wasn't even good. I was just trying to learn my new RMZ250. I thought it was too big. I was my first bike ever!. Well actually i bought an old 2001 RM125 2stroke. It was a piece of junk, so i got rid of it and my bf insisted on the 250. I thought it was too much, and too heavy and just too tall for me. He assured me plenty of other girls rode them. But i'm pretty little, so i was skeptical. Still i rode. I wish i never would have felt that fear, becuz that's what hurt me i think. I just paniced w/ 3rd gear wide open. Flew over 100ft or more at about 2-3 stories high. Went off the track and into the dirt, pine treed parking lot. Landed the worst way possible. Flat on two tires. Didn't put one scratch on my bike. I remembering thinking man, my bf will be so proud!! I was so inexperienced my bf said i didn't even know how to crash. I was like...huh...didn't know there were certain ways. But i wasn't even jumping, i was taking it super slow. I also remember seeing my children playing in the sand while i was at my peak in the air. just praying to god for me not to leave them so young. If you'll just let me live through this. There are lots of days where i have thought, "man, i should have been more specific..." It hurts living this way, but i haven't given up hope yet. I'm seeing some progress, and my kids still think it's possible. I'm not married, and i really want to just walk down that aisle one day, ya know???