so i don't think you mentioned it, but how big of a drop was it from where you went off to where the ody landed? The pictures i guess don't make it seem like it was that far but i can immagine it wasn't just a slide into the ditch lol.

glad to hear that you should make a full recovery though! I broke my back on a dirtbike when i was 12. I wasn't as lucky though, paralyzed from the waist down. that's what made me get into the pilots and odys in the first place.

Now take this down time to brainstorm the rear suspension and make it so it can handle the abuse you put it through :)

Yeah I read your posts and know that you are paralyzed. I also know that I got very very lucky.
It's like rolling dice.
I am not sure how far down the drop was but I do remember rolling down that incline.

Glad to hear you are doing better, that is some scary stuff. My back still isnt the same from my little crash & burn with my Pilot last November & it wasn't anything like yours. get well soon sir..

I don't know what any of you guys think but the oddys and pilots have a fatal flaw.
The problem with these machines are the same as the one I had with my formula race car.
That is that you can not see any dips in the road because we are sitting so low and consequently you get no warning when you are closing fast on a dip or hole in the road. The quad guys are high up and look down on the road as well as being able to use their legs for some suspension. In other words you better know what the terrain is like before you go nuts. I knew about these washouts when we went up but on the way down I thought they were farther down the road. I thought wrong.

I had somewhat the same issue with not being able to see from up high. I was doing about 45 when I came up on some whoops in the trail I knew where there but forgot. Instead of braking, my old instinct of getting on the throttle kicked in and I manged to bounce across the top of them when I thought for sure I was going to eat shit.

The major saving factor..... Works shocks! If I would have done this with the wife's factory Showa Pogo sticks, I would have probably flipped it.

Rand

Yes I do agree with not being able to see ahead I lifted my seat by a 1 1/2 inches is not much
but it made a difference and it stopped the seat from bottoming out
My seat now sits above the seat rails.

It works for me

see pics

couldn't fine my spare seat spacer
but you get the Idea.

Crash and you could end up like this. Honda chassis engineers saved my bum. This was an over 50mph crash.

I am glad to see your up moving around, time to start disassembly of the Odyssey in anticipation of a replacement frame?

Nope I got a ways to go yet. Can only move around for about 2hrs max and then have to lay down for a bit to rest the back. I tried to do something in the shop but no go. I just don't have the stamina yet and cant lift anything weighing more than a milk jug. I'm done for a couple more months.

That sux, use your time and computer skills to find another frame or Odyssey Listen to your doctors I hope you heal fast.

Went to see the surgeon today to look at my MRI.
This is what my spine looks like.
You can see the crushed vertebra and the small piece that is pushing on my spinal cord.
I got very lucky. Another mph and I think I would be in a wheel chair.
The photo scared the poo out of me. I told the doc that I wasn't scared before but I am now.
Note to all -- make sure you know the road well before you go crazy.

ouch! just looking at that makes me cringe.

How they going to fix it?

They are not going to fix it.
Apparently it is called a stable fracture but it don't look good to me. I am not in any real pain and don't take any dope. I don't like dope anyways as you can't tell when you are over doing it. He said it is best to just let it heal but I have to wear the brace for 3 months so that my back is straight when it heals. If I heal up crooked then that causes more issues. Man I sure hope I can still do my job as a millwright because that's all I know. It's all I have been doing since I was 16yrs old. I don't seem to have any difficulties right now so I think I got away with it. When I go back on Oct 30th for my MRI I will ask the doc if I can still drive the oddy and do my job. I was afraid to ask today after I saw those MRI pics.

If I were you, I would be getting some more medical opinions on your options, I would think something like that, they would want to remove that and replace and fuse the 3 together.
I had a disk pushing on my spinal cord, caused pain in my arm and neck, was beginning to notice some atrophy in my arm, went to a orthopedic surgeon, had an MRI and surgery with in a month, that was about 20 years ago, no issues. they fused 4, 5 & 6, harvested some bone from my hip, if I could choose to do it over I would have chose the cadaver bone.

Hang in there CO, I hope you continue to ride and post, I dig reading your threads.

I was never a big fan of making these small buggies so much faster just for this reason. Not that you did, but the guys that are looking for huge HP and bigger engines are just asking for trouble when a high speed wreck happens.

Royal Columbian Hospital is the #1 hospital in this province. All of the best doctors work there. I think we have three large hospitals and each one specializes in a couple of things. RCH is the back/bone/intestinal specialized one. I think I am going to have to trust my guy there. He would know his poo if he works there. He did offer me surgery or the brace so the brace was my choice as I am afraid of anyone coming at me with a knife if I don't have a gun handy. Right at the moment I got no issues, just a steady dull pain in the back. Don't even need any pills. But I will keep your experience above in the back of my mind, thx.

Well I would of disagreed with you a couple of months ago because I like a lot of speed, but now I think I would have to agree with you here. Another mph and I am in a wheel chair. With more HP I would have been doing real speed coming around that corner and onto the flat where the washout was. But then again at the end of the day we are all responsible for our actions and I was to stupid and arrogant about my ability as a race car driver that I thought it's all under control. In my life I have had some VERY high speed offs in the race cars and never got hurt. That makes your head swell up and now you think your good.

in hind sight, do you think a neck brace, just a cheap go kart type foam collar would have prevented this?

No.
The neck brace would have done nothing.
I did smash my new helmet when the cage crushed in a bit and my belts stretched. My helmet is done but it did save my brain bucket. It was a very violent crash but the damage was done on initial impact as I felt the pain in my back right away and as I was flying in the air and then impacted the roof for the first time it crushed the cage and smashed my helmet. The seat belts (after market 3") and arm restraints held me in well in my opinion.

Just want to revive this thread for a moment.
Being all strapped into the oddy I couldn't figure out why my new helmet got smashed and bloodied my face (nose took a small smack). My brother figured it out. If you look at the cage you can see that after it bends you are exposed. If you look at the helmet you can see the dirt rub marks where my head actually hit the road !! not the cage like I thought. The liner is torn loose and the visor is torn off.
Point I am trying to make is I wonder if side netting would have kept my head from hitting the road ??

Took a closer look at the oddy today. Maybe I shouldn't have.
The left rear top shock mount is bent up about 1/4". I didn't think that was possible with all of the gussets in that area. Left rear bottom down tube mount bent in 1/2" approx. Right side roll bar bottom mount bent out about 1/2". FUK.

If the edges of your garage door weren't straight I'd say it looks like you did some kind of photoshop distortion filter on the Ody picture. I couldn't guess if window nets would have done anything in your case. It looks like you hit hard enough to easily snap the plastic wire ties that most people install them with - and if you had the real-deal race car buckle and rod setup to hold them up... I'd worry you might have driven the buckle through the helmet and your melon. That was obviously a very hard hit. Glad you are still around.

I just have to say I feel like my wreck was just a stubbed toe compared to what you went through.
No amount of well wishing can come close to the trauma you went through but my thoughts are with you, I don't pray but I do think

I feel you were very fortunate to have had you're brother with you. Many times I ride alone and might have been in that ditch for days.

I hope a year from now you can look back on this with a good back and a hell of a story to tell.
All the best Edd

I would highly advise all of you to invest in a "good" neck harness, one that makes it slightly difficult and even annoying when trying to move your head around. And a decent helmet, not a 60 dollar decoration anytime you are riding in your buggy...