IS A 130 MPH MOTORCYCLE CRASH - survivable ????

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I saw a videoclip of a GP racer ( Marc Marquez in Spain ) in a turn - " highside " at 130 mph. He sustained at lot of injuries including a broken arm and was alive at the time the clip was broadcast ..... ( yesterday ) ...... sending ..... Mike

[RICZ]

The result of dressing for the slide and not the ride....survival.

[Peteoz]

There was a rider on a Victory Cross Country hit a big roo out here in the Northern Territory at 180kph (about 115mph). There are no speed limits in the NT as it is hundreds of kms between towns and Is a good straight road. He didn’t even come off the Victory as he hit the roo square on. He had some minor injuries, but hopped on the spare Victory and continued (it was a Press ride). The roo didn’t fare so well though and the bike was totalled. It was virtually skinned and spread down both sides of the bike. Luck plays a big part in the outcome of ANY crash Here’s hoping Marc has a complete recovery

Pete

[JayBros]

Now there was an obvious opportunity for the press to have a large road kill barbecue. Pass the sauce, please.

[Gwolf]

I survived a head on with car in 1982. My forward speed was at least 45 MPH and the car was estimated to be doing over 70 MPH. Combined speeds of over 100 MPH. I was wearing jeans, heavy jacket, boots, gloves, and full face Bell Helmet. Lots of broken bones, plenty of road rash, eventually lost half of one leg and ended up full of steel pins and covered in scars, but I survived it. I was a lot younger and a lot tougher back then. I would not want to try that again.

[BajaRon]

I survived a head on with car in 1982. My forward speed was at least 45 MPH and the car was estimated to be doing over 70 MPH. Combined speeds of over 100 MPH. I was wearing jeans, heavy jacket, boots, gloves, and full face Bell Helmet. Lots of broken bones, plenty of road rash, eventually lost half of one leg and ended up full of steel pins and covered in scars, but I survived it. I was a lot younger and a lot tougher back then. I would not want to try that again.

Doing that once is probably all anyone would want! You are 1 lucky guy, despite the complications. Unfortunately. I've seen people go for a lot less.

[stmike 1800]

In the seventy's i chopped a BSA that i got in a basket . I put a springer front end on ,sportster tank custom seat .Coming home from work i hit a large pot hole in the highway ,the bolts on the lower rocker shear the wheel rolled up and jammed ,i went over the bars and slid at about 60 mph .Got up with no broken bones only slight rash .Fix the bike up and road it for years after .

[hypurone]

I saw a videoclip of a GP racer ( Marc Marquez in Spain ) in a turn - " highside " at 130 mph. He sustained at lot of injuries including a broken arm and was alive at the time the clip was broadcast ..... ( yesterday ) ...... sending ..... Mike

Firstly, I get where you are coming from. I rode and raced 2 wheels for years. Not at this level mind you... But it needs to be corrected that he did NOT crash at 130 MPH, it was at KPH! Which is 80.77 MPH. BIG difference. I have crashed at that speed but luckily for me it was a lowside!

[canamjhb]

I saw a videoclip of a GP racer ( Marc Marquez in Spain ) in a turn - " highside " at 130 mph. He sustained at lot of injuries including a broken arm and was alive at the time the clip was broadcast ..... ( yesterday ) ...... sending ..... Mike

I watched that race too. Even watching several re-runs of the crash, I couldn't figure out what caused him to high-side. At that level of riding I guess he just pushed the envelope a wee bit too far. It was an exciting race to watch. Marc was in the process of making a remarkable come back from a previous mishap. I am pretty sure I would not have survived that crash. Wishing him a speedy recovery..... Jim

[MONK]

I'm not sure the question should be CAN you survive a 130mph crash but would you WANT TO survive. I'm 110% serious about that.

[Gwolf]

I'm not sure the question should be CAN you survive a 130mph crash but would you WANT TO survive. I'm 110% serious about that.

It depends on how much pain you are able to live with.

[MONK]

It depends on how much pain you are able to live with.

Not sure I'm man enough to live with that much.

[triplethreat]

I watched that race too. Even watching several re-runs of the crash, I couldn't figure out what caused him to high-side. At that level of riding I guess he just pushed the envelope a wee bit too far. It was an exciting race to watch. Marc was in the process of making a remarkable come back from a previous mishap. I am pretty sure I would not have survived that crash. Wishing him a speedy recovery..... Jim

As was pointed out earlier....he was not at 130 mph, it was 130 or so kph....or roughly 80 mph. The high side was a result of him getting the rear tire on the rumble strip/curbing, causing the rear tire to be slightly bouncing up and down a bit. As he was exiting the corner off the apex, the tire grabbed the regular pavement, resulting in the shot to the moon. Michelin has a new tire this year for the MotoGP guys and all three compounds...the soft, the medium, and the hard is stickier than previous iterations of the tire. Those guys power out of the corners all the time, spinning up the rear tire on exit and leaving blackies on the track, but with the stickier tire not being able to spin up when he applied the throttle, it just gripped. And when it did, with the lean angle he had and the tire coming down on the regular pavement (vs. being on the curbing and bouncing), it just stuck. He was pushing way to hard trying to get a podium spot after making a bad mistake early in the race and ending up in #18 position when re re-entered the track. Basically he made a mistake by getting the rear tire on the curbing.

The broken arm was a result of the front tire of the bike hitting him while he and the bike was still sliding. At the point/time of impact, his right hand was in the gravel and when the tire hit his upper arm, there was just no way that the arm could move because of his hand, and some of his weight being on the right arm, so the bone snapped on impact. The Humerus was completely fractured, although not displaced completely, so no compound fracture. He had surgery on Tuesday in Barcelona and the report is that the surgery was successful and that there was NO radial nerve damage, as was initially reported to be a possibility.

[triplethreat]

I saw a videoclip of a GP racer ( Marc Marquez in Spain ) in a turn - " highside " at 130 mph. He sustained at lot of injuries including a broken arm and was alive at the time the clip was broadcast ..... ( yesterday ) ...... sending ..... Mike

It's been at least 8 - 9 years ago at Daytona, the motorcycle guys were there doing testing in the days before race season started and I forget who it was, but he came off the bike because of a rear tire failure at approx. 180 mph and walked away from it.....with just some bruising and of course a sore body. These guys wear the best suits that money can buy and all the MotoGP guys now are using suits that have inflatable airbags that go off when they crash. They aren't perfect, but they do cut down on some of the injuries. Marquez's air bag deployed when he crashed Sunday....the high-side you are referring to.

[canamjhb]

Triplethreat..... Thank you very much for your excellent explanation...... Jim

[glennm]

Barry Sheene 170mph+ at Daytona in 75.

Not something I would like to go through! or even think about for that matter.

[mrgrtt123]

I'm not sure the question should be CAN you survive a 130mph crash but would you WANT TO survive. I'm 110% serious about that.

You'll be lucky if you survive.

[NoahMercy]

Some of the guys who ride drag bikes have come off at over 200 MPH and survived...and they don't have gravel and grass on 1/4 mile tracks, just concrete, asphalt, and Jersey or Armco barriers!

[triplethreat]

Triplethreat..... Thank you very much for your excellent explanation...... Jim

You're certainly welcome.

[triplethreat]

Update on the Marc Marquez crash and resulting injury.....if any of you are interested. So the surgery was successful with the titanium plates and screws. He few back to Jerez and has undergone a physical from the the FIM/Dorna medical staff and has been deemed "fit to ride" for this weekend's MotoGP race. Pretty amazing that he is going to try and ride again just three days after the surgery. Although he was officially declared "fit", that certainly doesn't mean that he will race. In the MotoGP world they have Free Practice 1 (FP1), then on the same day they have Free Practice 2 (FP 2). Then the next day is FP3 and FP4...and then Qualifying 1 and 2. That's a lot of riding prior to getting to the Qualifying rounds and he may or may not be able to make it all the way through and actually race on Sunday. I've seen others come back from similar accidents, be declared fit to race, and then pull out at some point during the FP sessions or Q1 or Q2......or even during the actual race. So it remains to be seen whether or not he will race, even though the Medical staff and his Dr. have declared him fit!

[Peacekeeper6]

It all depends on that course.

If it happens in a track that has a lot of run off, sure.

If it happens in a little town where the buildings and walls are close to the road course like the Isle of Man, then no.

[Gwolf]

It all depends on that course.

If it happens in a track that has a lot of run off, sure.

If it happens in a little town where the buildings and walls are close to the road course like the Isle of Man, then no.

The problem is, you don't ever get to choose where it happens.

[triplethreat]

It all depends on that course.

If it happens in a track that has a lot of run off, sure.

If it happens in a little town where the buildings and walls are close to the road course like the Isle of Man, then no.

There are a lot of folks that think the guys that race at Isle of Mann is totally insane. I enjoy watching it, but honestly, you couldn't pay me enough money to race there. Even some of the MotoGP guys thinks they are nuts.

[wyliec]

There are a lot of folks that think the guys that race at Isle of Mann is totally insane. I enjoy watching it, but honestly, you couldn't pay me enough money to race there. Even some of the MotoGP guys thinks they are nuts.

triplethreat,

Just a little curious as to what the medical staff did regarding any type of exercise/ movement to simulate what the rider will see during the race, before stating he was good to go. I’ve got to believe the arm’s fatigue threshold may be less than before the accident. Good luck to him. I always liked it when my patients in rehab were go getters.

[triplethreat]

triplethreat,

Just a little curious as to what the medical staff did regarding any type of exercise/ movement to simulate what the rider will see during the race, before stating he was good to go. I’ve got to believe the arm’s fatigue threshold may be less than before the accident. Good luck to him. I always liked it when my patients in rehab were go getters.

I've not seen anything about the procedure/requirements for being declared "fit". I watched a short video of his interview on MotoGP.com and I did hear him state that he did have to do 40 pushups....but of course I'm sure there was much more to it than just that. I would suspect they would be checking for range of motion, pain levels for certain movements, and probably a lot of other things.

And an update about him. He did sit out FP1 and FP2 yesterday. Today, he came out and rode in FP3 and FP4. Of course his times were off of the pace in order to get him directly into Q2, so he had to try and qualify in Q1. He went out and did his "out lap", then did one more for timing. At the end of that lap, exited the track and came into pit. He left the paddock/garage and went straight to the motorhome behind the garages. An announcement was made shortly after that, he would sit our the rest of Q1.....which meant that IF he decided to ride in the Race tomorrow, he would start at last position on the grid. A few hours later they announce that he would not race on Sunday and would be returning home after the race. They have next weekend off, then the following weekend they will be at BRNO, which is in the Czech Republic.