21 replies to this topic

[wingrider]

Hi everyone
I'm new to this SCI thing. C-7 T-1 incomplete para from a Motorcycle accident on Aug 28/07. I've been reading you guys for a few weeks now and I love the sincerity and positive support coming off some of these pages. I just read some threads about the passion for M/C riding, and it struck a nerve with me.
I miss riding so much. I've owned a dozen bikes since I was 16( I am now 50). Used to own a bike shop in Langley BC. Motorcycles defined who I was. In 2005 I rode solo from coast to coast. Vancouver Isl. to Nfld and back. 6 wks and 20,000 Ks. It was a lifetime goal that I thank God for letting me complete before this new life with SCI. When I was in Nova-Scotia, I went screaming past a diner with some bikes parked outside. I caught a glimpse of a nice Goldwing with.... Training wheels on the rear axle???? WTF!! I hammered on the binders and turned around to look again and sure enough, it had heavy duty training wheels on the back. I snapped a picture and thought Wow, that is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. What is the point? How would you even ride a contraption like that. I showed the picture to my mechanic upon my return home( Vancouver BC), and he said he had heard of these. They are like landing gear which come down when you slow down to like 5 KMH and they go back into the saddle bags when you throttle up. It was probably ridden by a para. It then dawned on me, that was probably the coolest thing I have seen, and my hat is off to the rider. I feel that reflects the true spirit of a hardcore rider. Now that I am in a wheelchair I can't help to think that will be the way I go sometime in the future. ( I hope). I've seen some pretty nice looking trikes, but it's just not the same. I saw a couple of pics of a Can-Am T-Rex Trike. They're pretty cool. There's also a similiar trike made from a Suzuki Hyabusa. Can't remember what it's called though. Very high performance.
Well thats enough for now, Thanks alot, you people are awesome
Dean

[StillFingers]

Welcome to the site Dean, hope you find some comfort here.

Bikes were an early part of my life. First watching my dad pull them apart, rebuild/refurbish them. I started riding with my dad before my teens and had my first 8hp mini-bike at 11. I never rode much on the streets, mostly motocross tracks and desert racing here in California and Mexico; my fav bikes back in the 60s/70s were a Susuki RM 400 for crossin, and a Yamaha.350 Enduro for the desert...there's just nothing like scream along a road or the open spaces with the wind in your face/hair...

Surfing, sailing and scuba were also my game. I do miss them all...

Seeya around the site,

Jerry

Edited by StillFingers, 01 September 2009 - 03:00 AM.

[SnoFl]

Hope you can ride again, soon, Wingrider. love your name.

my brother used to take me riding...i loved the wind burn on my face.

Edited by SnoFl, 01 September 2009 - 01:26 AM.

[E-DOG]

You miss motorcycle ridin'?
SHIT!
Just wait'll you try having sex again! See how pissed off ya get at that one!
Or moonlight walks with the ol' lady. So much fer romance.
Speaking of which, try runnin' from a jealous husband with a shotgun in his hands, oh yeah, that's a goodie.

I had a life long ambition to become a world class Tango dancer. Poof, out the window with that one.
Least till my spinal cord heals. IN ANOTHER 5,000 YEARS!
But what the hell, I'm not bitter.
Damnshit. Dadgumdingdangdiddlydamnshit.

Guess I still got m' TV. An' frozen pizzas.

By the way wing, there's some guy on the site here with a bike with the training wheels like you saw. Can't remember his name at the mo'. Maybe he'll see this and pop out an intro.

Meantime, you have yerself a real nice time on the site here. If ya have any questions or need help with anything head on out into space, where no one can here you scream.

Just a joke there son,
E-dog

[Ratticis]

Maybe the dude wasn't gimped, just tired of wiping out riding home drunk.

And I miss my truck, but i'm not gunna annoy everyone bitching about that again

5000 years? Meh, I can do that, no problem

[Yasko]

Welcome aboard and Happy B-Day Dean!

P.S. My fathers b-day is today as well! We're gonna get

[bigdog88]

theres a lot of way around it. if u want a trike theres a t-rex which is more of a car but the can am spyder and you can youtube lee beaver... hes got a gsxr1000 with retractable training wheels with eletric shifter and back thumb brake. steve wheels bucaro have the same thing but he used (sure grip) with buttons built into the grip to shift and control the 2 extra wheels... still be able to lean the bike in the corners. its possible not cheap but worth it in the end

[dangerousdave]

I know you guys with uper limb control have differant probs to me with lower limb control.
My ride is a Busa with a attachment.
A sidecar. This acts as a stability aid....stops me from fallng over.....and is a home for my wheelchair as I speed along the highways annoying all those law abiding citazens.
With a wheelchair ramp, transfer seat, handlebar controls, footstirips, electronic gearchanger and the odd bi-ped who answers a call of distress when I need a backwards push.
ALL IS POSSIBLE

[Wynne]

I had a test ride on a Conquest trike (see link below) at a motability roadshow last summer. Got no movement in my left hand so this brave little fella jumped on behind me and pulled in the clutch everytime I wanted to change gear. Wasn't easy, but we managed Have to say it was very emotional having the wind in my face for the first time in over 20 years, but what a great feeling... Anyone got 20-odd grand they don't want? I could use it.

www.martinconquest.com

[Andy p]

wingrider, on Sep 1 2009, 01:57 AM, said:

Hi everyone
I'm new to this SCI thing. C-7 T-1 incomplete para from a Motorcycle accident on Aug 28/07. I've been reading you guys for a few weeks now and I love the sincerity and positive support coming off some of these pages. I just read some threads about the passion for M/C riding, and it struck a nerve with me.
I miss riding so much. I've owned a dozen bikes since I was 16( I am now 50). Used to own a bike shop in Langley BC. Motorcycles defined who I was. In 2005 I rode solo from coast to coast. Vancouver Isl. to Nfld and back. 6 wks and 20,000 Ks. It was a lifetime goal that I thank God for letting me complete before this new life with SCI. When I was in Nova-Scotia, I went screaming past a diner with some bikes parked outside. I caught a glimpse of a nice Goldwing with.... Training wheels on the rear axle???? WTF!! I hammered on the binders and turned around to look again and sure enough, it had heavy duty training wheels on the back. I snapped a picture and thought Wow, that is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. What is the point? How would you even ride a contraption like that. I showed the picture to my mechanic upon my return home( Vancouver BC), and he said he had heard of these. They are like landing gear which come down when you slow down to like 5 KMH and they go back into the saddle bags when you throttle up. It was probably ridden by a para. It then dawned on me, that was probably the coolest thing I have seen, and my hat is off to the rider. I feel that reflects the true spirit of a hardcore rider. Now that I am in a wheelchair I can't help to think that will be the way I go sometime in the future. ( I hope). I've seen some pretty nice looking trikes, but it's just not the same. I saw a couple of pics of a Can-Am T-Rex Trike. They're pretty cool. There's also a similiar trike made from a Suzuki Hyabusa. Can't remember what it's called though. Very high performance.
Well thats enough for now, Thanks alot, you people are awesome
Dean

Hi Dean,
My name is Andy [T4 complete] I live in the north of Scotland, i've owned a suzuki Hyabusa trike, I found it very hard to transfer on and off it as I suffer from a lot of spasms and real tightness in the legs, so I opted for a Martin Conquest trike based on a B.M.W I've owned it for a 1 1/2 years now and done 6000 miles on it, you drive it from your chair which means no transfering. It's expensive to buy but what price do you put on freedom. I've built up my strength by going to the gym and belive me you need a fair bit of strength to drive these trikes around, as a lot of my riding around here is on fairly twisty roads. I rode bikes for 25 years before my accident and have driven all around europe on several occasions, and been to scandinavia for a trip, so hopefully one day I will be able to go back to europe on my trike. Here is a link you might want to try www.koeltgen/de [german] they do a version of the system you describe with the wheels lifting when you ride off and lower when you come to a stop. My friend here also drives a converted Honda Rune trike, he also is a T4 complete, got more flexibility than I have and doesn't suffer from spasms. Hopefully this gives you some help and hopefully you will ride again one day, just finding the right trike, or conversion. All the best andy p

[guido]

Hi All

Many of my friends are bikers and I got bored of listening to the stories of TransAlp trips, etc.. so now I'm having one built in Serbia - the can-do country! Got friends out there, and the guy building it (also a friend) builds them for others too, gets them certified through all the different stages. Costs a lot less than here. Will post some photos when it's all done - though he works abroad a lot, so may be a while...

One advantage of doing it from scratch is I can design in certain features like a tow hitch with a standing frame insert and a loo seat (I mean, why not!?!!).

Passenger seat will be in-line but raised so passenger has good all round vision, and will get a top box for the dog too!

Looking forward to it!

[dangerousdave]

Yep.....it's a Busa
But 110/120mph is all I like as that is when the shakes make cornerin interesting

[MxDisasterGrl]

Hey there!!!

I'm a chick that loves to feel that air blowing in my face and hair. It was my RMZ250 Suzuki that shattered my T12, along w/ my old life. And i still miss it! I know sort of what you're going through. Although i wasn't driving bikes my whole life like some, i grew up on a back of a harley, and then it stopped for years, then i started dating my motocross/ninja 1000 junky! lol....between cars and bikes, i'm always going fast! Except for the day that i got hurt!! Crazy stuff...anyways...it's the hardest part of rehabilitating, ya know getting used to what you either can't do anymore, or how you have to change how you did it before. I think we should be happy that there are so many accommodations these days. I know there could be a whole hell of a lot more, but could you imagine going back in our conditions, all of ours, about just 60-70 yrs?? How much more miserable we would all be. Of course the irony there, is that most of us wouldn't have gotten hurt on bikes, cars, etc like we have, but that's not my point....lol

It's hard man, really hard, and i'm not so sure that i'm passed it either, but hang in there. Getting back on a bike can and will happen. One good thing about being just a para, and a woman at the same time, is that i can still get on the back of a bike w/ a man. Although i've only done it once since the crash and well it kind of startled me at first. Hope people here have given you some great words of encouragement, lord knows we need them all and then some....take it easy, hopefully things will get better....

april

[Tetracyclone]

My seriously crazy friends!!!! The October issue of New Mobility has a photo of John Bevins with his Harley w/sidecar as well as his amphicar. So many gimps having sooo much fun. I used to ride motorcycles, starting at 19. Fun! but I got old and no longer enjoyed heavy winds or noise- especially noise. I lost most of my hearing as I became hypersensitive to noise. Weird.

So I took to bicycles. Saw more from a slower velocity, plus it took care of the excersize requirement. I was doing 180 km/week in Taiwan when I took a header into an oncoming car. I replay the memories of those last rides maybe once a day. They sneak up on me and reduce me to tears, ruining the view. I'm setting up an old laptop where I ride my stationary bike with a program to cycle through photos of wild and wonderful things I've done. That will really ruin the view! But catharsis is supposed to be a good thing, n'est pas?

Thanks for the internet sites- I will go there.

[cyclops12]

dangerousdave, on Oct 15 2009, 02:43 PM, said:

bike.jpg

Yep.....it's a Busa
But 110/120mph is all I like as that is when the shakes make cornerin interesting

Nice one dave , where abouts in the UK are you ?
you should get yourself over to http://www.ukbusas.o...dex.php?act=idx and sign up mate
they are a great bunch of people over there
here's my baby i went down the trike route , im T6 complete , had her for nearly 4 years now



Ace cafe London

Edited by cyclops12, 16 October 2009 - 12:42 AM.

[dangerousdave]

Hi cyclops12
Nice to hear from a fellow Busa rider.
When I got to learn about the Klicktronic gear changer back in 98 I looked into car trikes, bike trikes, and outfits. Settled on a outfit, and havn't looked back since. Decided it best suited my abilities.
Havn't been down to the Ace for a while now.
Do you do the camping - booze - band rallies.
If so, you ain't got much storage room.
Visited the Nurburgring twice (in the wet and the dry), visited the Pod 4 times (13/14 seconds),
Valencia for the GP (2004) and all the local rallies for many a year.
Looks like you too get about - a wheelchair is just a extension to a new life - not the end of the old one.

[justin]

Yes I miss rideing like crazy. I also had a motorcycle wreck at the age of 15 on a goldwing 1000. Not only do I miss rideing on the street, but I also miss rideing the trails on a dirtbike. There nothing like rideing a bike no four wheels can place the fun you have on a bike.

[cyclops12]

dangerousdave, on Oct 16 2009, 10:50 AM, said:

Hi cyclops12
Nice to hear from a fellow Busa rider.
When I got to learn about the Klicktronic gear changer back in 98 I looked into car trikes, bike trikes, and outfits. Settled on a outfit, and havn't looked back since. Decided it best suited my abilities.
Havn't been down to the Ace for a while now.
Do you do the camping - booze - band rallies.
If so, you ain't got much storage room.
Visited the Nurburgring twice (in the wet and the dry), visited the Pod 4 times (13/14 seconds),
Valencia for the GP (2004) and all the local rallies for many a year.
Looks like you too get about - a wheelchair is just a extension to a new life - not the end of the old one.

Nice one dave mate looks like you get out and about
ive sent you a PM

[Tinbasher]

Sure a trike isnt a bike but I'll bet you'll need the smile surgically removed if you try one

I love my mini based automatic trike.



And I built it myself.

Tin

[GW_Trike]

After my 1973 Vietnam injury, I only dreamed of being able to walk again. I forced a doctor to try his best and he did. Unfortunately, I was already a victim of the oil base Myelogram dye that later returned me to intractable pain and loss of use of my legs AGAIN. Because I took a few falls, I have also lost 50% use in both of my arms due to cervical surgeries. I use a SCS for C-5 to C-8 and a Pain Pump from T-10 down.

My wife signed up her couch potato husband with the Patriot Guard Riders who are mostly fellow Veterans and active duty. I attended a fun gathering using a 4 wheel Rascal Scooter. After the shame of that, it took me 3 years of exercise to begin to have enough control over my left toes to shift from 1st to 2nd gear. My Goldwing has a reverse and I racked the front wheel with a power steering package. My wife is also my caregiver and backup driver when I need pain medication or need a rest.

I spent almost 20 years using electric scooters and power chairs. My 2002 Goldwing Trike is the best 3 wheel scooter chair I have ever driven.

I have a fold-up manual chair that is secured from a rack made to fit the trailer hitch. Bought a trailer for longer trips and had a rack built on the tongue just behind the hitch.

Please get a photo of your dream machine and give yourself a goal. Hopefully, you can make it happen too.

My "#1 Bucket List Item" is now my reason to keep on living. Next goal is the ride to The Wall in D.C.

[sylvia.vezer]

It's really cool to hear all your stories. My bf stacked his harley two weeks ago and is still in ICU. I hope I can get him to eventually get on this site himself and hear all your amazing stories. In the meantime I'm just cutting and pasting and making a little book of stories.

Actually is that ok to do that?? Not offay on the culture just yet.

[NewDisability]

This is a follow up on the comment about the Martin Conquest. There is also a wheelchair accessible motorcycle of the same name (Conquest) available in the USA. I dont know if it is the same motorcycle or not, but it seems to be a similar design