[AzCal Retred]

I'll bet Australia has some truly exemplary "poor pet choice" stories...

Colorado man dies after being bitten by pet Gila monster
20 February 2024

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68348902

Authorities in Colorado have confirmed the death of a 34-year-old local resident four days after he was bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters.
The creatures are venomous reptiles native to the south-western United States. Their bites are not normally fatal to humans.
But an expert told the BBC's US partner CBS News that the victim may have suffered an allergic reaction.
The last human death from such a bite is believed to have been in 1930.
That incident "was not even a medical journal case," Dr Nick Brandehoff, a medical toxicologist and reptile expert, told CBS News Colorado.
"The vast majority of bites cause local swelling and bleeding," he said.
Dr Brandehoff added that last week's death "highlights that any venomous animals should be respected".
The Jefferson County victim - who has not been identified - reportedly owned two of the carnivorous reptiles.
Gila monsters are the largest lizards in the country and can grow to about 22 inches (56cm) in length, according to the Smithsonian Institution. They are named after the Gila River.
The creature that bit the man on Monday 12 February was a juvenile that measured about 12 inches long.
He was taken to hospital and died last Friday.

[GlennF]

Statistically the animal most likely to cause death in Australia is the horse.  Presumably, mainly from falling off the things.

[AzCal Retred]

My dad grew up in Missouri in the Depression. No money, no car parts, farm horses were the fall back transportation. He said he'd never seen so many people hurt so bad so often. My take is that when you have 2 dumb animals closely tied together speeding along you have 4 times the likelihood of disaster...

[AzCal Retred]

Stow that luggage!

https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/moto-vlogger-loses-foot-after-sleeping-bag-gets-caught-in-wheel/
Published on 05.31.2024

Having something go deadly wrong with the bags you’ve packed on your motorcycle is a fate that could strike any of us, just ask veteran adventure rider Don Redman who told his story from a hospital bed, minus one toe and one foot after his sleeping bag got sucked into the rear wheel of his bike.
Redman, known to many riders as MotoGiant for his series of YouTube videos encouraging riders to embrace travel and camping on their motorcycles, was returning home on May 25th to Brookwood, Alabama, after a quick getaway in Kentucky, when his sleeping bag snuck out of its compression sack. As loose gear will, the bag got sucked into the rear wheel of his bike, instantly locking it up.
Unfortunately for Redman, he was traveling around 80 mph on eastbound Interstate 24 at the time. He remembers the bike going into a tank slapper, fishtailing back and forth until it high-sided and landed on his feet before he and the motorcycle continued to slide down the freeway. By the time attrition won out and he came to a stop his foot was gone and one toe on the other foot was irreparably mangled.
.............
In the initial post-crash video, newcomers will immediately recognize this is man who is both unflappable and good natured, even working a bit of humor into his delivery of heart-crushing news. He’s also blatantly honest about how he ended up in his current condition, now having his right leg surgically amputated mid-calf in order to create a more stable base for his future prosthetic (he says he’s already chosen a furry Sasquatch model).
He admits straight-out, even going into detail in the video, about how his poor choices around gear greatly contributed to his major injuries. He had been wearing a modular helmet, but at the time was riding with its chin bar up, hence the road-rashed face. Worse, because he was riding straight to work that morning he’d opted not to wear his protective Alpinestars boots, a choice that has left him permanently disabled.
On the positive side he was wearing a protective jacket and pants, which he credits for saving him from even greater peril, his “10-12 year old Tour Master jacket” saving his arms from road rash, while the pants left him with only a couple friction strawberries on one knee.

[deadbat]

Stow that luggage!

https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/moto-vlogger-loses-foot-after-sleeping-bag-gets-caught-in-wheel/
Published on 05.31.2024

Having something go deadly wrong with the bags you’ve packed on your motorcycle is a fate that could strike any of us, just ask veteran adventure rider Don Redman who told his story from a hospital bed, minus one toe and one foot after his sleeping bag got sucked into the rear wheel of his bike.
Redman, known to many riders as MotoGiant for his series of YouTube videos encouraging riders to embrace travel and camping on their motorcycles, was returning home on May 25th to Brookwood, Alabama, after a quick getaway in Kentucky, when his sleeping bag snuck out of its compression sack. As loose gear will, the bag got sucked into the rear wheel of his bike, instantly locking it up.
Unfortunately for Redman, he was traveling around 80 mph on eastbound Interstate 24 at the time. He remembers the bike going into a tank slapper, fishtailing back and forth until it high-sided and landed on his feet before he and the motorcycle continued to slide down the freeway. By the time attrition won out and he came to a stop his foot was gone and one toe on the other foot was irreparably mangled.
.............
In the initial post-crash video, newcomers will immediately recognize this is man who is both unflappable and good natured, even working a bit of humor into his delivery of heart-crushing news. He’s also blatantly honest about how he ended up in his current condition, now having his right leg surgically amputated mid-calf in order to create a more stable base for his future prosthetic (he says he’s already chosen a furry Sasquatch model).
He admits straight-out, even going into detail in the video, about how his poor choices around gear greatly contributed to his major injuries. He had been wearing a modular helmet, but at the time was riding with its chin bar up, hence the road-rashed face. Worse, because he was riding straight to work that morning he’d opted not to wear his protective Alpinestars boots, a choice that has left him permanently disabled.
On the positive side he was wearing a protective jacket and pants, which he credits for saving him from even greater peril, his “10-12 year old Tour Master jacket” saving his arms from road rash, while the pants left him with only a couple friction strawberries on one knee.

Fair play to the guy for acknowledging his mistakes. Even though I'm in the camp of "all the gear all the time" I'm guilty of making few "exceptions" in the past. Fortunately nothing bad happened, but reading this reminded me that we never are fully in control of the situation. Whether you're peacefully cruising on the motorway or just nipping to the shop around the corner, we may think we got everything covered, but that is just our false sense of security and anything can happen.

Hope he gets well soon and that he'll find help with paying medical bills.

[him a layin]

15 or 20 yrs ago i very nearly lopped the last joint of my left little finger off with a table saw. spurting blood i went inside and announced to the Lady of The  House "i think we have a problem". the ambulance happened to be nearby returning from an earlier run and pretty quick they had me thoroughly medicated, laying in the back, looking up at the illuminated ceiling when an idea came to me. i pointed up at the ceiling with my good hand and said "look! up ahead! i see the light! mom, dad, i'm coming!" poor med tech didn't know mom and dad were still alive at that point, and the driver stomped on the gas, and the LoTH said "you hush up or i'll slap you upside the head"

by chance the premier hand surgeon was sitting at the hospital, bored, and stitched everything back together pretty good. you can hardly tell it was hanging by a bit of skin.

[Leofric]

Yes ,"all the gear all the time" .

[axman88]

Unfortunately for Redman, he was traveling around 80 mph on eastbound Interstate 24 at the time. He remembers the bike going into a tank slapper, fishtailing back and forth until it high-sided and landed on his feet before he and the motorcycle continued to slide down the freeway. By the time attrition won out and he came to a stop his foot was gone and one toe on the other foot was irreparably mangled.

Seems like a high side can convert a lot of forward velocity into downward velocity, not good for survivability of anything underneath when the metal meets the road.

Two things I like to do, besides using plenty of bungees, are:
  - Have an "engine guard", aka "crash bar" to create some side crush zone space, and
  - Go less fast.  60mph vs 80 mph means 44% LESS energy to dissipate.

The difference between one foot and two?  Maybe.

[GlennF]

Remember when the original Z1 Kawasaki with certain tyres would develop a tank slapper at 100 mph plus that threw you off ?  Steering dampers where a popular addon back in the day.

[him a layin]

Remember when the original Z1 Kawasaki with certain tyres would develop a tank slapper at 100 mph plus that threw you off ?  Steering dampers where a popular addon back in the day.

my 75-ish H1 had a damper from the factory...

[AzCal Retred]

Even a modern 450cc-500cc twin machine is way more motorcycle than most of us can actually use. They are fast, they corner, they stop. Steering geometry, suspension & frame geometry are light years ahead of the machines of the 70's. Current tires are way better than the rubber of the 1970's.  The 50 hp, 380 pound 500 (450) Ninja is a stout performer. A top end of 115 MPH is plenty fast enough for me. It's down 10 hp on the H1 but everywhere else it's better. Time marches on.

[him a layin]

i confess, i obsess over the 2-stroke triples only because of their sleek lines. and their simplicity and ease of maintenance. and their lightness. and their raw power. i really SHOULD just get over it and move on. i'll try not to mention them again. try

[AzCal Retred]

Get your Lotto tickets out - How about a 76 HP, 250 pound, street legal road burner?

https://www.langenmotorcycles.co.uk/motorcycles/two-stroke

[him a layin]

i'm not sure about this, but iirc uncle sam made it illegal to import multi-cylinder 2-strokes in the 70s. nevertheless, specs are pleasing:
Displacement
249.5cc
Engine
90° V-Twin Cylinder
ENGINE TYPE
2-Stroke
GEAR BOX
6 Gears, Extractable
POWER
76 hp
TORQUE
45 Nm
Fuel Delivery
Langen EFI w/2 port injectors. Electronic 74mm throttle body.
POWER TO WEIGHT
>600 hp / tonne
POWER BAND
9,500 - 11,700 rpm
RED LINE
12,700 rpm
FUEL SUPPLY
Electronic Injection, Patented
Price
£29,400 +VAT OTR

[AzCal Retred]

Coulda - shoulda - woulda....

Bombardier made a 500 twin street bike prototype based on one of their snow machine engines.
It had a central rotary valve serving two cylinders. The specs as I remember were 60 HP, 300 pounds wet, 5 speed.
As the Langen passed Brit MOT, possibly fuel injection and voodoo injector oil would have kept the 500 Can Am alive over here.

https://cybermotorcycle.com/archives/canam/canam-1977-500cc-twin.htm  (Sheldon's EMU © 2004-2024)
The 1977 500cc CanAm street bike never made it into production. Only 2 or 3 prototypes were ever built (circa 1975). One was a street version which produced about 60 horsepower, while the other was an 85 horsepower road racing version. The engine was borrowed from a Bombardier snowmobile and modified to accept a 5-speed gearbox. The powerplant was liquid cooled and utilized a single horizontal rotary valve. The exhaust system was unique. The lower pipe on each side was an expansion chamber, and was connected to the top pipe (mufflers) with a small tube. This allowed expansion chamber performance while remaining quiet enough for street use. This machine never went into production because proposed EPA emission standards threatened its marketability in the United States. Tony Murphy wrote a magazine article about this motorcycle in 1976. He recently informed me that the prototypes are still running strong somewhere in Canada.

https://www.rzrd500.com/500phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=14991 (towards the bottom of the article)

I think engine #4 mentioned below was the basis for the motorcycle engine.
https://snowgoer.com/snowmobile-features/5-historic-rotax-snowmobile-engines/2359/