I bought a trail motorcycle (A Suzuki DR-Z400S) on the 9th of March, and on the 10th I took it out riding, and managed to fall off. When I fell the odometer said 7 miles!

Neither me or the bike got hurt too bad. All the following photos were taken after my fall. Each photo a link to the much larger (about 1.5 Meg) original.

A few scratches on me and the bike; but I sure learned a lot about why you should not just be wearing shorts and a tee shirt. Which I was. Fortunately, I was wearing a helmet. The helmet and the visor on it got the worst abrasion, even so I got a "fat lip" and a bit of a scratch on my chin. Without it my face would have been a mess.

On my right hand, arm and elbow I got some bruises and lost three patches of skin each about the size of a nickle. And a number of small scratches on my legs and chest.

I was about 4 miles out in the desert, and for a while I thought I would not be able to get the Motorcycle picked up, but after about 20 minutes I managed to skid it around and get it up. Fortunately it wasn't hurt so I could ride back. But even in that short time "working" I realized I should always: Take water, wear protective clothing, and make sure someone knows where I am going. And preferably, not go alone. My cell phone was in a pocket on my tee shirt and it got scratched up, but still worked. I should have put it in a better protected place, like the little tool bag, you can see behind the seat.

As you can see from the photos, it is about all I can do to get on. After I get my weight on it the seat is about three inches lower. I have adjusted the rear spring for a "softer" ride. It is still hard for me to reach the ground when I stop.