Arizona. Mt. Lemmon. My 1st but not last RR

[750Volts!]

Glad to hear you are keeping your chin up. I have a hard time with the TSA as well. I get a free grope at every airport. Sometimes I get the special treatment. The worst part is traveling solo and not being able to keep an eye on your luggage. I was on my way to Germany a few years ago and a TSA guy was feeling me up and I told him that if he got me excited that my defibulator might go off and shock us both. It was funny how fast he got his hand away from my nuts. Keep us posted on how you are doing we are interseted. -Paul

[yzfcathy]

Originally Posted by Twisted Adventures

So..... Do the SIDI Adventures not offer much protection? That's a boot I've been looking at closely recently. But if it's no good, Then........

The reason I went with the Thor 50/50's, was because my bike is my daily driver, so I wanted boots that were a comfortable daily walker. Not worth the trade off I found out. But I do want something I can tolerate on my feet for most of the day.

I don't think there is a very good "compromise" boot that protects and allows hiking per se.
I have crossfires and adventure boots. I wear the crossfires on all off road except when I'm on my F8 which I use the Adventures for. Now if I drop that big old F8 on myself I'll wish I was wearing the Crossfires instead, but it's all a compromise.

As for shifting with the full on motocross boots, it does take a little getting used to, but folks have been shifting just fine with stiff motocross boots for a long time. I have my shift lever positioned one spline up from what most people would normally have. That allows me to upshift easily and I downshift by moving my foot off the peg.

[Twisted Adventures]

Just a quick update:
So, I'm out of the wheelchair, off the crutches, and out of the boot. I've been hobbling around for the last few weeks in the boot using a cane. Just the other day I managed to get a shoe on that foot. I had to unlace it all the way, because my right foot is still larger than my left. I don't know if it will ever be the size it was before the accident. I was actually starting to worry that I'd have to buy shoes in two different sizes. So now I'm hobbling around in normal shoes, mostly using a cane, but can make it short distances without. The bones are healed according to my Dr, but I still don't have much range of motion in the ankle. That's the part that's driving me crazy. Don't know how long it's going to take to get it mostly functional again. At any rate though, it is getting better, I'm a bit more mobile, and should be able to start driving again real soon. That will let me start working again in some limited capacity at least, which I desperately need. So, for anyone following this, that's where I am, at the moment.

I hope evreyone else's life is going great, and you are enjoying many great rides. Have fun and please stay safe.

[Twisted Adventures]

“Back in the saddle”
March 6^th, 2013, I straddled my bike for the first time in 94 days. Actually that’s not true, I straddled it a couple times in late Feb just to make sure my leg could hold it up. For several months, the KLR has been in storage at a couple different places waiting for me to heal. Tuesday, March 5^th, I spent the better part of the day getting it ready for the road again. Fluid and filter changes, clean & lube the chain, go over it with wrenches to tighten things up, and wash it up real nice and shiny like. Then fired up the engine to charge the battery and really just see if it would start at all after sitting so long. It took a few tries and full choke, but it did start and stayed running just fine once the choke was released. So Wednesday, March 6^th, is the first time I’ve ridden my bike in 94 long, monotonous days. I was worried that I may have forgotten how to ride a bit, since I’d been down so long, particularly getting going in 1^st gear without the bike stalling and /or shooting out from under me. I really didn’t want it landing on my foot again. I remember when first learning to ride, just getting out of 1^st and moving was the hardest part. So I nervously fired up the bike, took a deep breath, and……. wait fot it...... Smooth as silk. The right amount of clutch and throttle, and it just flowed naturally, like I’d never stopped riding at all.
I took it easy at first, just tooling around the block a few times, practicing turns, shifting, etc, and just making sure I did indeed remember how to ride. After a while, I took it up the freeway a bit to get it up to speed. Everything went well, so I brought the bike home and spent the rest of the day checking out tall protective boots. I’m going to be spending quite a bit of money getting much better gear, as well as some additional protective gear I’d been wanting anyway. Hmmm, $500 for boots. Yea, my heart skips a beat every time I think about it. How can someone justify spending that much money on a pair of shoes? Okay, there are people who do it daily, so let me clarify. How can a man, a straight man, justify spending that much money on shoes? Well, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to buying a new ankle. In case you were wondering, a late model, 2012 right ankle and lower leg, (that includes all parts, installation, and a ride in the neat van with the flashy lights, cute girls, and fun drugs) will run you about $65,000! Yep, that’s not a typo. And like anything, it loses its value once you take it off the lot. I imagine if I tried to sell this ankle to anyone else, I wouldn’t get half of what it cost me. Add to that the months of pain, unemployment, and insanely mind numbing and maddening cabin fever. Yea, I’m buying a $500 pair of freakn’ shoes! I guess it could’ve been worse though, at least I still have a foot to put the expensive shoes on. As stated in a previous post, the bones are healed, and I now have good enough range of motion in the ankle. It seemed like it was taking forever and no real improvement, but once I was able to hobble on it(hobble, not hobbit. Those are two entirely different things) the muscles started to loosen up. It still gets sore after walking on it all day, but it’s been getting better the more I use it. Other fun stuff Iwas used to and had forgotten about until yesterday: My knees, thighs, and butt are sore from riding. Also my left fore arm and palm are sore from squeezing the clutch all day. Guess my body just needs to readjust to those things.
Where do I go from here? When I finally made the decision to get a bike, I wanted a dual-sport. I grew up playing and exploring on ATV’s and 4x4’s. I was raised as an outdoor guy. My family was always traveling and camping as far back as I can remember. The reason I looked at bikes to begin with, was because I couldn’t afford to travel with my jeep any longer. (Freakn’ high gas prices) So if I was getting a 2 wheeled vehicle, I was getting a 2 wheeled “jeep”. I needed something with great gas mileage, but also something fun, capable, and reliable off-road so I could camp and explore. I can’t be trapped in the rat race. If you’re a member of this site, I know you understand that. As I said, I’ve been offroading for a lot of my life, I’ve even done it professionally for over 10 years. On 4 stable wheels, I can go or do just about anything you need me to. 2 wheels on dirt has been a completely different story, and I’ll admit that while I’ve been aching to get back on my bike, I’m pretty nervous about going off the pavement again. Actually, for a while, I am staying on the black top. I do love to explore, and it’s why I bought the bike I did (that, and I couldn’t afford a BMW or Triumph). I’ve been looking into some training courses, (Raw Hyde has a nice one) but most are kind of expensive. Teaching yourself to 4x4 is much more stable, and in my case, MUCH less expensive than teaching yourself to ride a motorcycle off road. I can’t afford to buy new body parts and be unemployed every time I fall over. I don’t know, just kinda thinking out loud there a bit. I guess I’ll take it easy a while, try to find some work, and maybe try to save up for some good training.