BajaNomad - Accident north of Catavina

Accident north of Catavina

bajachris - 11-18-2017 at 08:06 PM

I always tell everyone the worst part about Baja is the dangerous road. Today we were proved correct yet again. Motorcycle versus a very poorly maintained pot- hole filled road. People heading north from the Baja 1000 stopped to help and were very professional. Things I learned. If you are riding a motorcycle down here always wear a helmet with a chin guard. His chin and nose looked like raw hamburger. His foot was thrashed, arm, hand, and they were checking him for a broken back when I left. I am praying for this poor man, who, if he survived will need lots of plastic surgery and will be I pain for a long time. I would NEVER encourage anyone to ride a motorcycle!

4x4abc - 11-18-2017 at 08:24 PM

they are called donorcycle for a reason

mtgoat666 - 11-18-2017 at 08:30 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajachris

I always tell everyone the worst part about Baja is the dangerous road. Today we were proved correct yet again. Motorcycle versus a very poorly maintained pot- hole filled road. People heading north from the Baja 1000 stopped to help and were very professional. Things I learned. If you are riding a motorcycle down here always wear a helmet with a chin guard. His chin and nose looked like raw hamburger. His foot was thrashed, arm, hand, and they were checking him for a broken back when I left. I am praying for this poor man, who, if he survived will need lots of plastic surgery and will be I pain for a long time. I would NEVER encourage anyone to ride a motorcycle!

About once a month I see some poor motorcycle rider sprawled on CalTrans pavement. Sigalert, body on the road, cagers inconvenienced/late for work. Some people never learn.
Ask an experienced ER doctor what they think about motorcycles.

[Edited on 11-19-2017 by mtgoat666]

Cliffy - 11-18-2017 at 09:20 PM

My wife used to do tissue typing for transplant surgery at UCLA.
They called them "donors"

hombre66 - 11-18-2017 at 09:56 PM

i know at least 3 people minus a lower leg from bike accidents. if they are snaking thru traffic, they're bound to be in a blind spot sooner or later. Harleys, not so bad. Japanese bikes/crotch rocket dudes...the odds are against you. We know how fast you like to go. Visualizing one smacking a sizeable Baja hwy pothole is not pretty.

Barry A. - 11-18-2017 at 10:03 PM

I have long told my 4 kids that if they ever rode a motorcycle they can kiss their inheritance good bye! No way can I support a decision to ride a motorcycle on the highway, or even in town. In the dirt I reluctantly understand, but not anyplace else!

bajabuddha - 11-18-2017 at 10:32 PM

EMS calls it "job security". I rode a little, grew out of it quickly. For the riders out there adamantly defending the practice, keep on truckin', I know the rush. It is a beautiful thing and no one will change your minds. One must not only ride defensively, but ride belligerently as if everyone on the highway is deliberately out to kill you with their stupidity for not seeing you... especially with T-bone left turns.

Be safe out there, and one of us will clean up the mess. It's a rush but a perilous one as you all know. Part of 'gravity sports' and speed, it all has risks, and take 'em. We all have.

Or, be like our Hero... " Wull, it never happened to me, so therefore, it ain't true !~!"...... 'nuff said.

BajaBlanca - 11-19-2017 at 08:45 AM

There is a rush to riding a motorcycle that is like no other! I am too much of a wimp but I was taken on a ride on a chopper in Rio when I was a teenager and I remember the wind whistling through my hair as if it were yesterday. Being able to see the beach views with no window impediment, being able to wave to kids who were open-mouthed. What fun.

But, in the real world of today with so many cars and so many blind spots - the dirt seems like a much better alternative.

So sorry for that rider- it was definitely not his day.

ehall - 11-19-2017 at 11:24 AM

Riding on the pavement scares me and makes me nervous and hyper vigilant. I do have to use pavement sometimes between trails. I know the risks. It's not for everyone. Love to ride the dirt!

motoged - 11-19-2017 at 11:42 AM

Life is a risky endeavour....so it's a good idea that those who are fearful of injury demonstrate more alertness and caution if throwing a leg over a bike...or just don't do it. :light:

For the rest of us....we know what we are getting into ...

del mar - 11-19-2017 at 11:56 AM

the key is to ride AROUND em! :yes:

BajaTed - 11-19-2017 at 12:37 PM

Prudence dictates that with age comes a roll cage, 5 point harness, HANS device and a full face helmet if you want to continue in motorsport competition.

LancairDriver - 11-19-2017 at 01:11 PM

Quote: Originally posted by motoged

Life is a risky endeavour....so it's a good idea that those who are fearful of injury demonstrate more alertness and caution if throwing a leg over a bike...or just don't do it. :light:

For the rest of us....we know what we are getting into ...

There are definitely different levels of what we are getting into.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-vcdX5nV1P8

AKgringo - 11-19-2017 at 01:39 PM

I got my first bike when I was 17 (Triumph tiger cub), and rode until I had kids in grade school. Like 80% of the riders I have talked to, my skills were above average! (don't question the math)

After one slide with minor injuries, then a miraculous recovery at over 100 mph,I decided to give it up until no one depended on me staying healthy.

I would love to ride again, but a head injury ten years ago left me with impaired depth perception, peripheral vision, and balance. I still am able to ski, but not like I used to, and the speeds and consequences for failure are not like it would be on the highway!

fishbuck - 11-19-2017 at 02:29 PM

I remember a post a while back. Someone wanted to take a bike trip down Baja and was asking questions.
The thread went on for a while and ended with the person injured in a crash and trying to get transported back to the US.
When I first read it I was struck by the naivete of the poster. I predicted disater and the prediction came true.
Please don't ride a motorcycle on the highway in Baja.

woody with a view - 11-19-2017 at 02:54 PM

Or a bicycle!

[Edited on 11-19-2017 by woody with a view]

bajabuddha - 11-19-2017 at 03:14 PM

Oh gawd, here goes another bicycle thread... :no:

mtgoat666 - 11-19-2017 at 03:18 PM

Here in California we now allow lane splitting. The paramedics, ER docs and bike manufacturers lobbied for legalizing lane splitting because it’s good for business! :biggrin:

KurtG - 11-19-2017 at 03:51 PM

I rode from GN to Ensenada yesterday on that same highway and never had a problem but then I have been riding hwy 1 a couple of times a year since 1974. It is and has always been a road that requires constant attention and vigilance. I am a half million mile 73 year old rider who has never been injured on pavement but have on dirt, including my little spill I mentioned on this forum earlier this year. Yes, the fatality rate is much higher for us riders but if analyzed beyond the basic stats something else emerges. More than 60% of motorcycle fatalities involve one or often more of the following: New inexperienced rider,no motorcycle license endorsement, not wearing good safety gear including a good full coverage helmet, low mileage infrequent riders and the biggest of all is alcohol.

I'm winding down my life of riding but value the memories of all the great trips I have had around the US. I never have folks just walk up to me at a gas station to talk about my car (except when I had my 1965 Ferrari GT330) but it happens all the time on the bike. We all have different perceptions of danger. Personally I think that anyone who flies light aircraft, scuba dives, or races anything motorized is crazy. But that's just me, I could be wrong.

KurtG - 11-19-2017 at 04:03 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666

Here in California we now allow lane splitting. The paramedics, ER docs and bike manufacturers lobbied for legalizing lane splitting because it’s good for business! :biggrin:

That is inaccurate. Lane splitting has not been recently legalized because it has never been illegal. CHP issued lane splitting guidelines not too long ago to a great uproar. Guidelines specified cycles going only 15 mph faster than other traffic and no splitting over a certain speed, I think around 30 mph. Those who speed between lanes are going to pay the price. Police can use their judgement and write citations for "reckless" but there is nothing in the vehicle code about splitting which CHP refers to as "lane sharing." I avoid SoCal type freeways but one of my best rides there was when I tucked in behind a CHP motor officer who was lane splitting for about 25 miles on the 405. When he finally exited he gave me a wave and thumbs up.

Goat, if you believe I am incorrect about legality please cite the appropriate vehicle code section for my edification. I think lane sharing is illegal in virtually all other states. Wishing it were illegal in Ca does not make it so.

[Edited on 11-20-2017 by KurtG]

motoged - 11-19-2017 at 11:49 PM

Quote: Originally posted by LancairDriver

There are definitely different levels of what we are getting into....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-vcdX5nV1P8

Isle of Mann racers are from a different planet...

ehall - 11-20-2017 at 04:55 AM

Quote: Originally posted by motoged

Quote: Originally posted by LancairDriver

There are definitely different levels of what we are getting into....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-vcdX5nV1P8

Isle of Mann racers are from a different planet...

Absolutely nuts.

pacificobob - 11-20-2017 at 07:40 AM

i have been riding for 55 years. both dirt and street. 9 countries. after reading this thread i may quit in order to arrive to the day of my death in perfect health.

motoged - 11-20-2017 at 01:50 PM

Quote: Originally posted by pacificobob

i have been riding for 55 years. both dirt and street. 9 countries. after reading this thread i may quit in order to arrive to the day of my death in perfect health.

Bob,
55 years of successful riding is to be respected....why quit now? You must be doing something right :saint:

If you die in perfect health, the cause of death would be:
- an accident of some sort;
- apocalypse;
- homicide;
- Trumpitis (see apocalypse)

Might as well keep riding until then.....riding in perfect health makes for a good ride :biggrin:

DanO - 11-20-2017 at 04:50 PM

After years of riding in the dirt as a kid, I briefly rode an enduro on the street when I was in college in L.A., but I had a quick succession of very close calls with people in cars who just weren't paying attention (the last one was an absent minded lane changer in a Porsche who nearly put me into a tree trunk on Sunset Blvd. at about 50 mph). The final straw was seeing one of my neighbors who had just gotten a new Kawasaki 750 get hit by a speeding car, which launched him and the bike into the air and then into a telephone pole. One of his legs was badly mangled, among other serious injuries, and the driver of the car turned out to have no insurance and no money. I decided to quit riding on street, figuring that if I got hurt riding in the dirt, it wouldn't be because of someone else's mistake, just my own poor judgment or pilot error.

I also think that riding without a full helmet, protective gear and boots is just dumb, and climbing on a motorcycle while impaired is even dumber.

joerover - 11-20-2017 at 07:10 PM

What do you do if your kz 1000r throws a rod through the side of the head? Buy a gpz 1100. What do you do, if at 168mph the guy a quater mile ahead changes lanes into your lane? Dust the corner of his rear bumper with your blue jeans, without crashing. What happens if you put your chin on the speedometer, and speed up to 180 mph, then sit up straight? The wind pulls the front wheel off the ground, and you kneel on the gas tank as you slide down 435, until you get down to about 40, where something catches traction and flips you off the gas tank and onto the interstate. What were you saying about a helmet?.

mtgoat666 - 11-20-2017 at 07:54 PM

Quote: Originally posted by joerover

What do you do if your kz 1000r throws a rod through the side of the head? Buy a gpz 1100. What do you do, if at 168mph the guy a quater mile ahead changes lanes into your lane? Dust the corner of his rear bumper with your blue jeans, without crashing. What happens if you put your chin on the speedometer, and speed up to 180 mph, then sit up straight? The wind pulls the front wheel off the ground, and you kneel on the gas tank as you slide down 435, until you get down to about 40, where something catches traction and flips you off the gas tank and onto the interstate. What were you saying about a helmet?.

Mototorcyclists should follow the advice of healthier bicyclists: watch out for fat ladies in hondas!

The goat owned a motorcycle for half a year (honda cb500, some 1970s vintage). He realized life on motorcycles is dangerous, so sold it. It was fun, and even funner he didnt die. He now exclusively rides bicycles. His knuckles dont drag. :lol:

MulegeAL - 11-21-2017 at 08:21 AM

He was a very cautious man who never romped and played
He never smoked, He never drank, Nor ever kissed a maid
And when he up and passed away his insurance was denied...

For since he hadn't ever lived, they claimed he never died.

Condolences to the guy who crashed.

Desert Hawks responded...

BajaCactus - 11-21-2017 at 01:00 PM

Desert Hawks responded to that emergency. We were advised of the accident around 1:00pm on Saturday, November 18th... we immediately dispatched one ambulance from El Rosario with 3 of our volunteer EMTs.

The accident was 100 kilometers south of El Rosario, it took our unit around 1 1/2 hours to arrive to the site. The motorcycle rider name is David, he suffered multiple contusions, abrasions and lacerations, a fractured ankle and a possible dislocation of the shoulder.

Overall his injuries were not life threatening, nevertheless he was in intense pain due to the multiple injuries sustained.

Our staff stabilized him and treated his injuries while on their way to Col. Vicente Guerrero, 230 kms to the North, were we have the nearest hospital in the area. The ride took a little less than 3 hours.

After a quick examination the Hospital staff said they did not have the resources to treat David, so we helped to transport him all the way to the US border. He was delivered to an AMR ambulance on the US side around midnight that same day.

We understand David was taken into surgery on Sunday and last we heard he was on his way to a complete and full recovery.

Desert Hawks... always down here to help whoever needs us... Thank to you all for your support!!!

Antonio Muñoz
Desert Hawks Fire and Rescue
Non-Profit Organization
E-mail: info@halconesdeldesierto.org

woody with a view - 11-21-2017 at 01:03 PM

Antonio, thanks for always being there! What would you recommend for a rattlesnake bite along the 7 Sisters area? Straight to the border or is antivenom available locally?

motoged - 11-21-2017 at 02:31 PM

Woody,
Is that area where everybody goes for killer breaks?

woody with a view - 11-21-2017 at 03:53 PM

Yep!

rts551 - 11-21-2017 at 04:58 PM

Thanks Antonio. You guys do good work. Hope everyone is continuing their donations to keep you guys operational.

bajadogs - 11-21-2017 at 08:50 PM

Thank you for the details Antonio. I hope I never meet your vollunteers.
Again,
Thank you!

David K - 11-22-2017 at 08:10 AM

Desert Hawks (Halcones del Desierto) Facebook page (see Donate button)...
https://www.facebook.com/HalconesdelDesierto/

Nimbry - 11-29-2017 at 04:59 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajachris

BajaChris, my husband was operating that motorcycle that went down. He was hit from behind. The impact was not caused by the pot holes in Hwy 1. We are trying to collect any information, photos, or videos from the many people who stopped that afternoon, just before 1PM on Saturday, November 18th.

Desert Hawks did respond to that emergency, dispatched an ambulance from El Rosario with 3 volunteer EMTs. We are forever grateful to Desert Hawks, as well as the truckers and others who gave my husband aid.

The crash was 100 kilometers south of El Rosario. The motorcycle rider's name, my husband, is David. He suffered multiple injuries, including a broken ankle, broken thumb, and a broken shoulder. Desert Hawks' staff stabilized him, treated his injuries, and transported David all the way to the US border. He was delivered to an AMR ambulance on the US side, then to a hospital in San Diego. David is recovering at a rehab facility.

If anyone has any information about this motorcycle collision, PLEASE, PLEASE respond. BajaChris, you stopped. Do you have any additional information? Is there a way for me to contact you? PM me your phone number if you could. Thank you!

bajatrailrider - 11-30-2017 at 07:33 AM

Wish your husband a speedy recovery thanks for telling us what happened.

Nimbry - 11-30-2017 at 11:08 AM

Thanks so much, Bajatrailrider. David is on the mend with an extremely positive attitude. We consider ourselves blessed in many ways.

Again, if anyone does have info or pictures from David's incident on 11/18/2017 to share with us, please PM me.

All the Best and Amazing Adventures to you All!
--Nimbry & David

Nimbry - 12-11-2017 at 06:09 PM

Again, if anyone does have info or pictures from David's motorcycle hit & run incident on 11/18/2017 to share with us, please PM me.

We have a few leads but a photo would be valuable.

David is on the mend and positive. Broken limbs but hopefully no permanent damage.

All the Best and Amazing Adventures to you All!
--Nimbry & David