Suspension of Disbelief

Last August I upgraded the fork springs, but it took a while for me to finally cave in to the nagging voice saying "you really should", and I dropped the ~$600 dollars for a Progressive Suspension shock a couple weeks ago. After about 4 hrs of work on Saturday night, it was in.

Getting it in wasn't quite a bad as the manual implied. Of course, I didn't do it the way the manual instructed... the manual wants you to take down a lot more than is necessary.

Since the rear wheel had to come down, I got a chance to check the wheel bearings and final drive splines. All looked good, so after fitting new rear brake pads the rear end was put back together.

A short ride on Sunday proved that it was money well spent - as great as the fork upgrade was by itself, the shock made it that much better. I'd never really understood the difference suspension upgrades could make to a motorcycle until I did my research and then upgraded my forks last year. I couldn't believe that a vehicle could be so badly under-sprung from the factory. 

I'm now a believer.

With the upgraded shock, the ride is very different - firm, but not harsh, with plenty of road feedback instead of just bottoming out the rear suspension. I had the stock spring dialed in pretty well, but this is just that much better. 

The odometer rolled over 50,000 miles on the ST1300 this weekend. I'm only somewhat ashamed to admit that only about 500 of those miles were put on this year. At least I have a good excuse.

Back in the Saddle, Again

And, it's been way too long.

After several months of physical therapy to correct the issues described in "Pain in the...", it was obvious that physical therapy alone wasn't going to fix the issue. 

So, I fought with my insurance company to get all the approvals in order, and then went in for surgery in July. My doctor performed a laminotomy and discectomy at L4/L5.

This basically means a cut into the lower back muscle to retract it out of the way, and then cutting out a section of vertebrae to gain better access to the disk. Once the bone was out of the way, a hunk of the disk was removed to get rid of the part that had been bulging and pinching the nerve. 

There was nearly half an inch of disk material protruding into the nerve canal, crushing the left sciatic nerve bundle. 

I was under for about 1.5 hrs. My discharge paperwork was completed later that same afternoon, and I slowly and gingerly walked out of the hospital's front doors to go home. 

Modern medicine is an amazing thing, isn't it?

I had quite a lot of pain at the incision, and some fairly intense muscle spasms due to the muscle cutting /retraction, and from things adjusting. Valium for spasms, Norco and Neurontin, with a side of Zanaflex as a muscle relaxer.... things were very blurry for the first week post op. Standing and lying down were all I was permitted to do. I wasn't allowed to sit for longer than 15 minutes at a time, up to 4 times a day. Driving was not allowed, except to go to physical therapy. 

However, the constant sciatic pain - a sharp, burning, stabbing, misery in my left lower back and left buttock - and the tingling sensation in my left foot and lower leg, were both gone. After 6 more weeks of therapy, my surgeon cleared me to sit again, resume driving, and return to work. 

I've been off all the prescription medication for a while now. I'm eating better, losing more weight, and hitting the gym a few times a week, too. I still have some minor discomfort in my lower back, and always will. At the end of a really long day, or a lot of physical activity, that minor discomfort starts to become a little bit worse, but Advil has been able to manage things thus far.

Being that I haven't really ridden since February, I've been slowly easing back into riding. An hour here, two hours there... it will take time to rebuild my long distance riding endurance. My left leg isn't as strong as it was, either. 

But, I can still hold up my motorcycle.

I have zero problems shifting gears. 

And, I am already starting to prep and plan for my next multi-week trip.

Go

Seriously. Go.

I found this picture online the other night and thought it was worth sharing. I doubt many motorcycle riders would disagree with this logic.

After my two week long motorcycle camping trip in '13, the realization of this fact hit hard. I'd been on 2 and 3 day rides before, but never that long, never that far away from home, and never while camping. That trip changed me in ways I can't really describe. 

My wife and I have always been very cautious with our finances; keeping debt as low as possible, keeping our credit scores high, fighting together to make things work through job layoffs, illnesses, unexpected losses, unplanned major purchases.

We were always waiting for "the right time" or "$XXXXX amount" saved up in the bank for a big trip, or a new purchase. For our ten year wedding anniversary, I managed to convince her that we needed to just "GO" and if that meant putting it all on credit and paying it off over the next year, so be it. 

We spent a glorious 2 weeks in New Orleans last Christmas, renewed our vows on our anniversary date, dined like royalty when and where we pleased, watched brass bands, danced like two fools in love, and wandered the French Quarter like newlyweds. It was exactly what we needed after working so hard together for over 13 years as a couple. The five thousand we spent on a hotel, gas, entertainment, and shopping, pales in comparison to the memories we made and shared... those are priceless treasures.

Shifting Gears

What do you do when your car suddenly starts shifting erratically, and the transmission light and check engine lights both come on?

Well, if you're me, you break out your PalmPilot with OBDII data cable and connect to the car's computer to find out what's wrong. Then you go buy a replacement Transmission Speed Sensor and replace it.

That's all fine and good, but what do you do if you're me, with a herniated disk? You flip a switch to fire up the air compressor while your wife jacks up the car, you hand your wife the 1/2" drive impact gun, watch her take the wheel off, and then you hand her tools and verbally direct her while she replaces the sensor.

Yes, my wife is that fucking awesome.

Pain in the...

I've suffered from lower back pain much of my adult life. I always attributed it to automobile accidents I'd been in as a teenager, or improper lifting during my career as an automotive technician, but in 2008, after a particularly bad bout of back pain, a trip to the doctor resulted in some alarming news.

Based on Xray and MRI results, I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease, and advised that I had a bulging disk at L5/S1. This condition basically meant that the disks between my vertebrae were aging at a faster than normal rate, were more susceptible to injury, and that one was already starting to pinch the nerve bundle coming off my spinal cord.

I did 6 months of physical therapy, learned how to lift and move safely and how to manage the pain that I had. I learned over time that this pain was something that would never go away, but that with care, and a bit of luck, I'd have good days more often than not, and pain that could be managed with a couple of Advil now and again.

When I started riding motorcycles a few years ago, I rapidly discovered that riding cruisers or aggressive supersport bikes were out of the question - the "feet forward" position on cruisers sent too much shock up into my spine, and the "upward and to the rear" foot pegs on supersports put too much strain on my back for me to be comfortable for more than about 30 minutes.

Oddly enough, the riding ergonomics of many sport touring bikes - the FJR, the Concours, the big BMWs, the Honda ST1100 and ST1300 turned out to be perfect for me. The ST1300 was one of the most comfortable seating positions I'd ever tried, and I experienced no additional back pain from riding the big Honda, even after riding for days on end.

My back injury suddenly became *much* worse this February after my 37th birthday. After suffering through the worst pain I'd ever experienced for a week, I went to the emergency room because it was getting worse, not better.

 I was referred to an orthopedic doctor for follow up, and given a shot of Dilaudid. When this shot, combined with Norco and Flexeril, only took some of the pain away, I knew it had to be bad. Xrays showed severe disk degeneration at L5/S1, and moderate to heavy degeneration at L4/L5. A few days later, MRI imaging revealed a massive disk herniation at L5/S1. The disk material is protruding so badly into the nerve channel that the nerve bundle can't even be seen in the images.

I'm now seeing a pain management physician, will be receiving epidural steroid injections, and am on such heavy dosages of painkillers that I can't fully remember what I did yesterday. I will be starting physical therapy as well, but my orthopedic doctor has already warned me that if things are not improving in about 30 days, surgery is the next step. I can't put into words how much it hurts, even with the medication. The only thing that doesn't hurt is sleeping.

Sitting on the bike now is painful, and I don't trust myself to ride on the medication I'm taking, anyway. My left leg randomly goes numb, and I couldn't pick the bike up if I dropped it.

So obviously, I'm off the bike, and will be for quite some time...

Of course, as luck would have it, it's springtime, and riding weather doesn't get much better than this here in Central Texas. Making my way through the garage, past the bike, to the car, is maddening. Plans for out of state trips in the next few months have been cancelled, as I don't know when I'll be fit to ride again.