Earlier this year at the end of the day tired and going to fast came around a bend and slid into a nasty rut that swallowed the front end.
I was launched about 15 feet and thank god went between the trees.

Let me say I am glad that I never ride without all my gear.
I did 2500 in damage to the quad and came away with a nasty bruise on the side of my stomach.

I can only imagine how it would have turned out if I was helmetless and in street clothes like so many others I see on the trail.

 

Preach it Brother, I had the "E" Ticket ride sunday, it scares the hell out of ya when your about 5 feet in the air staring at gravel knowing this is going to hurt when you finally land. 20/20 Hind sight is that I was going to fast on a road known for flood damage that I ride all the time so I was not watching what I was doing. Everything happened so fast that when it was all over I was laying on my left side with my feet still on the pegs left arm folded across my chest and of all things I was stuck to the seat so hard that I never moved enough to yank the Kill Switch cord from the receiver on the handle bar. The only thing that saved me from the quad rolling all the way over is the wide track suspension, the racing tires and the Moto handle bar which is made out of steel and about two inches longer than a factory bar.

I have been off road riding three wheelers and four wheelers sense the 1970's and this was my first roll over EVER, Boy am I now a believer that you cannot let your attention lapse for a second, if I had been paying attention I would have seen that wash out in enough time to stop or go around it...

How many of you still want to strap your kid in a car seat to the back of your ATV?

 

I dont know why but the older I get the less I bounce??

 

Back in 2008 my wife and I bought a KFX 400 (mine) and a Kodiak 400 (hers). I had spent an entire week in a conference for work and was on the phone trying to get a ride together the entire time. The weekend finally came and a big group of us drove 2 hours to the state forest for a day of riding. The first hour or so we poked around as a big group going only as fast as the slowest rider. We had three inexperienced female riders with us keeping our speeds at about 5 mph. After circling back around to the parking area, my brother-in-law (raptor 700) and I decided to take off for a little more aggressive riding. We were riding at probably 20-25 mph and climbing smooth hills when all of sudden we got to the top. I went flying over the last hill not realizing we were at the top of the bigger hill. When I landed my hands jarred off the handle bars and I launched over another hill on the way back down with no hands. After launching I have no idea what actually happened. I know the front end of the quad got buried and I got ejected head and shoulder first straight into the ground. I was knocked out and when I came to the quad had ran into me and stalled. The front wheels were dogdished but amazing did not pop the bead. The a arms and tie rods were bent on both sides, front brakes didn't work, and at some point the backend hit hard and the grab bar was all bent up. After taking a minute to collect myself, I stood up and started to realize how messed up I was. It was dusty so my brother-in-law was laying back and didn't realize what had happened. He just thought I had stopped to wait for him. When he pulled up I got on, despite the fogginess in my head and the shooting pain in my shoulder and hip, and started to ride back to the truck to park my new piece of junk. When I went to grab the handle bars, I couldn't lift my right arm at all. My mind would tell it to lift and it wouldn't move. I had to use my left arm to put my right arm on the bars to control the throttle. We started riding back down and I quickly realized I had no front brakes. Every bump I could just feel everything in my shoulder pulling apart like a rubber band. I rode back down to where the rest of our group, my wife included, were parked and playing in a mud hole. I rode right past them and parked my quad on the trailer. I was wondering why my nobody was coming to check on me. I later realized my brother in law didn't realize I had ever wrecked. I started walking towards the mud hole when my dad pulled up. I told him what had happened. He helped me get my shirt off only to realize the 1.5 inch bump of bone pushing on the skin in the back of my shoulder. Ended up I had a grade 4 separation of my right shoulder. That is as bad as it gets. I had also torn all of the ligaments in the AC joint and tore my deltoid, trap, and bicep. My collar bone had stabbe through my delt and trap and was sticking out the back of my shoulder. Had to have 3.5 hrs of surgery, have bones cut off, grafted together, and my muscles sewn back together. To this day, I still have a string holding my collar bone, acromium, and shoulder joint together. I am a middle school teacher and went back to school two weeks after surgery (major mistake). I never missed a day of work though. I was unable to drive for 3 months. My arm had to be completely immobilized for the entire 3 months to allow the muscles to heal. I got cleared to slowly start easing back into normal activities at that point. I went riding again (on the kodiak 400) that first weekend. By the 6 month mark, which is when most people get released to start normal activities, my doctor cleared me to start weight lifting and doing anything I wanted. It took a full year before the pain subsided. Now I have 100% range of motion and cannot tell that I ever injured it. It is amazing what a good doctor can do. The lesson I learned...wear a QUALITY helmet that fits properly. I am sure that without my brain bucket, I would have never gotten up from the accident. If you ride with kids, don't tell them to wear a helmet and then you not wear one. Kids learn the habits they see...$2600 worth of damage to quad, $27000 worth of surgery, 1 full year of rehab, and it was easily the best lesson I have ever learned. I never, and mean never, ride without a helmet.

 

X2

I have broke my wrist, ankle 2 spots, ribs 4, shoulder dislocated 5times all over 40yrs of riding

I am glad that I NEVER ride WITHOUT all my GEAR it has saved me more times then i can count.

Be safe and have fun

 

how can 30% of you not have hurt yourself? how really? you all are not having any fun lol

 

I fell of a 30 ft cliff and got a lvl 3 concussion but i finnished the 6 hr ride then i went to the hospitol.

 

Not yet!!

 

Broke my right clavicle 20 years ago. My ride stopped and I kept going (over handlebars and windshield). Wear chest protector since then. Had helmet on at least.

 

For me dumb luck and a helmet.


The way I abuse my trike it's probably more like "I havnt injured myself......yet"



Nothing more than a few scrapes and one broken helmet. Was riding the trike too fast through a narrow gap between my parts trike and the shed. Whacked rear tires together and was on my back before I knew what hit me. The helmet bounced off a rock and put a 2 inch crack in it.