I was riding my Honda 250, went around a curve too fast and went off the road. See the third telephone pole from the right? There was a drop off right there and a woods. I barely missed the  telephone pole. I didn't even SEE it until I looked at the photos I took.

I don't even remember TAKING a picture of the bike!

 

I was wearing my helmet with the face shield

 I got a split lip, road rash on my chin and a couple of puncture wounds in my chin

A wide gash and a couple of other cuts on my left hand The big gash was too wide to close, there was nothing there to attach staples or stitches TO.

 

My worst injury was to my left elbow

 

The doctor put 10 staples in my elbow

 

I got road rash up my arm as well. All in all, I was VERY lucky. About a foot to the right and I would have hit the telephone pole.

The crash bent the shift lever, broke a turn signal and headlight housing, put a dent in my gas tank and bent the rear turn signal bracket.

Update: I went back to the E.R. I also tore the bottom of my lower lip inside my mouth. They couldn't do anything with it, because there wasn't anything to sew it to.

 

Here are some newer photos. I was shocked when I finally looked in a mirror and saw what happened to my chin.

 

Here's my hand again

 

And here's some road rash

 

 

And I lost my "whistle". I tried and can't whistle now.

Update almost 5 week later - I'm pretty much all healed up now. I have some nasty scars and a dark area on my chin - I don't know if it will ever go away or not. My hand may never  be back to normal. The bone in my hand that operates my middle finger has a lump on it  and the first knuckle is much larger than the one on the other hand. My fingers don't move right together sometimes - if I have one extended, the other "locks up" and won't move.

I also took the ABATE Motorcycle Safety course. I found my (near) fatal mistake. I looked at the edge of the road. This was the absolutely WORSE thing I could have done. I should have had my head turned to the left, looking around the curve as far as possible. Had I done that, my bike and I would have naturally gone around the curve. It is amazing how well this works. In class we did low speed U turns in a very small area. If you look in the right place, the bike will follow.

I have gone around the curve several times in the last few weeks and never had a bit of trouble. I tried it at 30 and 35 MPH and am sure I could do it at a faster speed, but see absolutely no need to try.

Not only do I ride much more safely now, but it is also much more fun.