A most AWFUL day - may no one else EVER be subjected

I come to you all today with some terrible news.

My mother and father drove 600 miles from PA to TN this past week to pay a visit and to ride motorcycles with me while I am on my week-long summer vacation. My dad has a Yamaha Roadstar and my mom has a Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter with a sidecar.

Yesterday morning, the 3 of us left my house headed out to play tourist and see some of the local sights and sounds. I was leading in my car (my bike was unavailable until the afternoon) with my mom in the middle with her scooter and my dad in back on his bike. As I rounded a right-hand turn, I checked my rearview mirror to make sure my mom and dad both followed suit. To my shock and horror, I instead see my mom at a 45* angle with the sidecar coming over on top of her. She was crushed between the bike/sidecar and a Toyota sedan. She was then thrown from the bike, and the bike then crashed head-on into a pickup truck.

Thank whatever God you believe in that the wreck happened literally 1 block away from a hospital, and nurses were on the scene in seconds, with 911 responding withing 2 minutes. My mom had a compound fracture in her right arm and left leg. Subsequently, we've learned she also broke 2 ribs and the bones in the top of her left hand as well. She was wearing a helmet, and was fully conscious throughout the whole ordeal.

It was quite possibly the most terrifying day of my life, and I pray that none of you ever have to watch a loved one wreck before your helpless eyes. It's an awful feeling that I'm not sure I'll ever really be able to forget. In the past, I've seen friends in motorcycle accidents - and it jars you and makes you think. But family is a whole new type of pain. I have this insane feeling of guilt in the fact that she is 600 miles from home, trying to visit me, and I was leading when everything came crashing down.

To make matters worse, while waiting for my mom to be seen by the doctors in the trauma unit, I then witnessed ANOTHER 650 Suzuki (a Gladius this time) in an accident. This time the kid was trying to leave the parking garage and the motorized arm started to lift to let him through, and the second he got on the throttle to pull through it clotheslined him and nearly knocked his head off. I can't figure out how he even stayed on the bike. He was shaken, and I made him stay to calm his nerves and talked with him. He just bought the bike 2 weeks ago and had about 300 miles on it.

Now that I've typed a whole novel, I beg and plead for good thoughts and prayers. PLEASE be careful out there.

Man that is horrible. Sounds like could have been much worse, if there's a silver lining. Bones heal, in time. I can imagine the sick feeling of helplessness watching this unfold. It may haunt you for a while.

I'm unclear, was there a collision involved, or did the rig just turn over for some reason? I've ridden a couple of sidecar rigs, and I got pretty good at lofting the 'car on right hand turns with confidence. But thinking about the physics of it it, if the rear tire loses grip for an instant and skids to the outside, when it hooks up again the whole thing is gonna flip, right now...especially if nobody's in it for balance..some throttle input might settle it, but that's counter-intuitive when you are having an "Oh Shit!" moment....sidecars are weird creatures.

You shouldn't feel guilt...they were enjoying it up to this point, I'm sure. Where did they come in from?

The thing I always realize after something bad happens on a ride is that sometimes we do very dangerous stuff without realizing it, trying to get to the victims quickly and help....stuff that might get our ticket punched too...stopping suddenly in traffic, or making dangerous u-turns, etc...I've seen whole groups of bikes swarm across traffic, completely oblivious to the danger, target fixated on getting to a fallen rider....and momentarily forgetting their own safety, Maybe it's fortunate you weren't riding at the time....

At any rate...get well soon wishes to mom, and don't carry guilt...shit just happens sometimes.

Thankfully the accident happened at the corner of a not too highly trafficked intersection.

We think that a Grade 8 bolt holding the back of the sidecar frame to the back of the scooter frame broke - either causing the accident or as a result of the accident. As for what happened - one moment she's doing an AMAZING job and just going along. Next thing, I look back in my rearview and she's half way over. After that I turn back and see her bounce off a Toyota sedan and she falls to the road. The bike then went head-first into a pickup truck (still running, but now severely crunched). So the rig overturned before any vehicles were involved.

My parents are from Pittsburgh, PA so they are about 600 miles from "home". My mom will be here for at least 1 week until they can start the surgery to repair the bone below her left knee.

After getting to see her today, I'm feeling a little bit better. Even though the other side of the forest is still quite a ways down the road, it was nice to see her in higher spirits.

Wow Speed,

First off, I am so sorry to hear about your mom. She will be in my thoughts and prayers for a quick and full recovery. It's nice to hear her spirits are up, I hope that eases your mind a bit.

Secondly, please don't blame yourself. Accidents happen, and there is nothing you can do to prevent them. I know your mom doesn't blame you, so don't do it to yourself. You know your friends here on AF are always available if you need to vent or need a shoulder to cry on.

Please keep us updated on how she's doing (whether in this thread or PM me). I'll keep you in my prayers as well to ease the hurt and guilt you're feeling.

Thankfully the accident happened at the corner of a not too highly trafficked intersection.

We think that a Grade 8 bolt holding the back of the sidecar frame to the back of the scooter frame broke - either causing the accident or as a result of the accident. As for what happened - one moment she's doing an AMAZING job and just going along. Next thing, I look back in my rearview and she's half way over. After that I turn back and see her bounce off a Toyota sedan and she falls to the road. The bike then went head-first into a pickup truck (still running, but now severely crunched). So the rig overturned before any vehicles were involved.

My parents are from Pittsburgh, PA so they are about 600 miles from "home". My mom will be here for at least 1 week until they can start the surgery to repair the bone below her left knee.

After getting to see her today, I'm feeling a little bit better. Even though the other side of the forest is still quite a ways down the road, it was nice to see her in higher spirits.

I am sorry to hear about this. My condolences.

Was the sidecar an aftermarket addition or conversion?

In the last 25+ years, there has been a significant problem with counterfeit bolts, particularly the graded variety. It is so pervasive that often smaller manufacturers, garages etc are not aware that the hardware they are using is substandard. I have ended up with a few, fortunately, they have stripped or broken upon assembly, or simply looked wrong, (and thus never used) so nothing bad has happened.

A sidecar/scooter driven by your mom is not likely to be subjected to much stress. A Grade 8 bolt installed ina properly - engineered rig simply is not going to break.
Imho if the broken bolt was the cause, and not the result of the crash, it's very possible the bolt(s) are bad, and, if so, you have grounds for legal action. I am sure you do not want to think about that right now, but just consider hanging on to all sidecar mounting hardware for future testing, just in case.

My dad added the sidecar himself. It was a Velarex (sp?) sidecar that my dad custom mounted, and I'm assuming that the grade 8 bolts were all bought from the same hardware store. The scooter/sidecar are at a shop for insurance inspection as we speak, so I guess we'll find out something soon-ish. We never found any pieces/parts of the bolt at the scene, and only about 20mins prior, my dad had taken the scooter/sidecar out with absolutely no oddities or anything at all.

She's being transferred today to a rehab facility closer to my house, so that's at least a little bit of a relief. I keep trying to tell myself "Baby steps"...

One of these?
http://www.velorexusa.com/products
The site claims all mounting hardware is included. Hmmmm......
Anyways, let us know if the insurance company comes up with anything.

Hey Magic - that looks about right, but my dad bought the sidecar used, and took over a year to "rehab" it to a condition where he felt it was safe.

He had a "kitty litter" container behind the seat with some weight in it, and in the "nose cone" he had another rubbermaid container with at least 50lbs of weight. The whole idea was that since the sidecar would be empty most of the time (permit riders are usually not allowed to have passengers of any kind) that the weights would provide at least enough weight to keep the sidecar from routinely lifting and causing problems.

Hey Magic - that looks about right, but my dad bought the sidecar used, and took over a year to "rehab" it to a condition where he felt it was safe.

He had a "kitty litter" container behind the seat with some weight in it, and in the "nose cone" he had another rubbermaid container with at least 50lbs of weight. The whole idea was that since the sidecar would be empty most of the time (permit riders are usually not allowed to have passengers of any kind) that the weights would provide at least enough weight to keep the sidecar from routinely lifting and causing problems.
Pretty much everyone I have encountered with a sidecar adds ballast..... when the breathing kind is not available. :)

How's your mom doing now?

She's back at a rehab center now (again). At least this time she's in a place where people actually seem to care about her and check in on her - especially considering she only has 1 weight-bearing limb at this point.

Most days, and most of the time during the day, are pretty good. She's mostly in good spirits. Sometimes it settles in that she just simply can't do something and she gets really frustrated. I do my best to see her every day, because she's still stuck in TN for atleast another month. She'll be in rehab for quite some time to come, and will even need a knee replacement in the "bad" leg sooner rather than later.

Thanks for asking :)

Hey Speed,

I haven't been here for awhile and finally read your story.

I'm sorry to here what has happened and hope your mum recovers well.

Well, it's been over a month since the accident.

Mom had her cast removed from the broken left hand and is rehabbing it daily, but it's still not considered "weight bearing" so she can do things like feed her self a little easier, but she still can't pull or push herself up or over, etc. The arm with the fractured elbow still has pretty severe nerve damage. She is starting to grasp some (very light) things with her hand, but still has to rely on her weaker left side. She's re-learning how to stand again. She has to use a highly modified walker-type thing to stand up with support, but she's been able to do it a few times now, so that has been a nice accomplishment.

Sometimes I see a bike/sidecar combo and I just spontaneously start crying. Other times I drive through the intersection and can't help but sob. Luckily those times a fewer and fewer as I'm currently buying a house and I just started a new job so I don't really have the time to have total freakout sessions. :lol:

thanks for the update Speed. I was just about to PM you to see how she's doing, we'll keep her (and you) in our prayers!

Well, we're now at the 3 month mark (almost) and got some GREAT news on Friday. Her arms are now both weight-bearing and she finally got the news on Friday that she can start putting weight on her surgical leg!!!! In fact, she just made her first trip out of the rehab center and to the house I just bought for the first time since her accident back in July. I am so proud of how far along she's come.

Also, the nerve damage in her right hand is starting to heal - she can actually grasp light things and she can finally hold her wrist up by herself without a splint and at times even lift her hand at the wrist which we weren't sure she'd ever be able to do again!!!

This is far from the end of the story, but I felt it was important to keep providing updates as a reminder to veteran riders and as a reality check for all riders that riding really can have life-altering repercussions... even at 10-15mph.

Thanks again for the updates Speed. We're all glad to hear that your mom is progressing. Any time something like this happens, recovery takes the form of baby steps. The most important thing is not getting discouraged, and working harder than your doctors and therapists. After all, it's your recovery and you are ultimately responsible for how far you get.

May God bless you and your family in this difficult time, and may your mom be up and kicking butt soon!

Wow! I had no clue any of this happened. Im glad she is doing better. That would be something very scary to experience!:eek7: