Bad news

[flyingkermit]

Well.....

Last Saturday was the first real test ride since i got my motor back from F.A.S.T. .

I can't even descibe how well the motor felt. Those of you who have had a motor built and tuned in perfect can understand how good shee was running. I only rode her for about 20 mins myself before tradegy struck. Here's what went down.

 

Saturday, April 5th. I woke up at 6:30 in the morning. I was stoked. First real ride on new motor.

I had a big day planned with over 30 friends coming to ride. I had talked the banshee up so much over the last year and it was time to the shit talkin. I had gone over everthing, once, twice, three times already, and was so excited i felt like i was going to piss myself. Finally 10:30 a.m. First group of friends show up at my house. then 11:00 the rest show up. We are on our way.

 

We get to Little Gem Cycle Park in Emmett ID in no time. Unload our rides. I start the Shee to let her warm up while i put on my new riding gear. I tell my good friend Chris to take her up and down the road so i can check the gear oil level. He says ok, and off he goes. Not payin much attentiopn at the time. I continue to get dressed. I haer the shee and look up to find Chris riding without a helmet. HEY!!! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! I yelled. Chewed his ass hard for not wearing a helmet. No big deal, no harm done. The oil checked out fine so i ripped her around for about 20 mins. When i came back, everyone was like my turn, my turn, my turn. Cool, i'm feeling pretty good about my ride at this time. Head swelling and getting bigger everytime i see her rip by.

 

Now.... My friend Chris gets on her for the third time. All is good. He has been riding her for about 40 mins around this small track right in front of where we parked. Now Chris is not very experienced on ATV'S or Dirt Bikes at all, but he was not being stupid or trying to be better then he could be. I would not be letting him ride if that was the case.

 

Then it happened. Out of no where Chris comes on the straight away and losses control ont the whoops. He hit the first whoop and lost his balance. Trying to correct he gassed the Banshee over and over. A series of 12 whoops. Going faster over each one. At this point i thinking DAMN!! hes got balls and is doing good. then he hit the last whoop and when he landed i was thinking he was going to dig hard into the burm*. I was wrong. He hit that burm and launched off of it like he was trying to set a record. As soon as he hit the lip it through him in the air and he was thrown from the Shee.

 

Kicking and flapping his arms in the air, we all went running. When we got to him, he was knocked out cold. Snoring like he had been drinking all night with a HUGE gash on his chin. I looked at my other friend and was like, what do we do now?!? I had never seen anyone in this condition before. When he started to come to, he didn't just come around like a normal lights out victim. He was very lathargic* and not with us at all. I called 911 and spent the next 5 hours with him in the hospital in Emmett. He was later transported to ST. Alphonsis Trauma center were he still remains tonight and at least untill this weekend. So the extent of his injury's are as follows,

 

Shattered pelvis= Titanium plate in left front

Fractured sacrem ( back side of pelvis ) botls and screws on his left side

Broken ancle

bruised left lung

and 2 inch gash on his chin

 

So i don't have a full on investigation of what "exactly" happened, but here i my interpritation.

 

After he lost controll on the first whoop he was pretty much hanging on for dear life. The new twist throttle i put on screwed him. He froze up and locked his wrist WOT. When i got to the Banshee, shee was in 3rd gear. The burm he launched off of was about 12feet high. Now i didn't have a tape measure, But my other friend Mike is 6'-6" tall and stepped out 22 paces from the lip of the burm to where Chris lay motion less. Now in my book, a man 6'-6" takes "at least" 3 foot steps. Which means Chris flew 66 fett in the air. When he landed he didn't slide, roll, twist or nothing. It was like taking a bag of floul and dropping it on the floor. THUD best descibes it.

 

I feel so bad.... Part of me says he was too in-experienced to be on my Shee. Another part says if i didn't put the twist throttle on.... ( which will be coming off before next ride ). All in all he will recover in about 6 months. We hope. Today i had to help him walk in to the bathroom so he could piss. It hurts to see anyone, let alone a good friend, like that.

 

At this time i would like to apologize for such a long post, but i have never experienced anything like this, and for those who haven't either, i want ya'll to really feel what im going through.

 

Now the Shee...

As far as i can see. The light rear rim is bent. The right side if the axel is bent. The swing arm is tweaked and thats all that is visible. The Banshee never rolled. She hit right rear tire first, then slammed on the front right tire. Did a 180 spin and stayed on her wheels. Hell, I think Chris may have been better off trying to ride it out, but its hard to say what really would havr happened. Chris doesn't remeber a whole lot about it. Probably best.

 

So i'm in dier need of some parts.

I don't have much to spend, but if anyone has an axel, swinger, or rims for cheap please PM me.

 

If you read this all the way to the end, Thank You very much. All will be fie eventually i'm sure.

 

Your Fellow HQ'er

 

Aaron

[Injected1]

Holy cow man. I wish your friend a quick recovery. Things like this happen. There's nothing that you could do. If he was riding within his limits and not showing out, there was no way for you to anticipate what would happen. It's natural to blame yourself or think of "what ifs" after the fact, but you have to realize that it's just one of those things. Just be there for him and be happy that he is going to recover. It could have been worse. I lost a friend in a bike accident a few years ago. I wasn't with him, and I went through the "what if" routine as well. If you need anyone to talk to, please PM me. I will do anything I can to help.

 

PS, Good luck with gettin the shee back cup and running. Sounds like a really nice ride.

 

 

 

Les

Edited April 11, 2008 by Injected1