Well I hate to do it guys and gals but I have sold my DRZ due to another injury and this time I will be taking my doctors advice which is quit riding. It turns out I have a very weak muscle area in my lower abdomen and I am extremely prone to getting hernias and I now have my third in the last 5 years. Man this sucks, I have still not paid off my last surgery which was only 2 years ago.

I will miss all of my friends and all of the good people here more than you will ever know; it has been a blast to say the least. Keep riding and having fun everyone.

Was there no physical therapy to strengthen that area? I'd have been exploring every option possible before I quit riding (my idiot doctor keeps going on about too old and such).

Ride more careful. I last fell in 1995.
I am pretty beat up (not just from bikes, all activities)  I keep up with most off road, all on road. Those that have to wait, well they can sit and enjoy the view.
I am amazed at the people who state 'you are not going fast if you are not crashing'. That confuses me as when you crash, you go slower and slower until you stop. I always thought the idea was NOT to fall down.


IMHO, they can remove my throttle from my cold, stiff dead hands.

Jeff, there MUST be another option.... Like someone suggested, go to a PT, if your insurance covers it. They can zero in on what muscles need work.  Not to get yourself to iron-man status, just to improve it as much as possible...Then, do a street legal DRZ supermoto.   Now, if there are other reasons for you quitting, then this stuff won't matter.  I know what it's like to quit a sport.  I did some car competition activities for over 20 years.  For many reasons, it just didn't work for me any more.  Things change. WE change.  But my heart is still with 2 wheels.

He already sold the bike.......hard to get back into riding now i guess.

Joe

Always get a second opinion.

yea that wa sa pre-mature dissition. its a musle, it can be made stronger. even if you decide not to ever ride. i would still be looking into going to therapy to get that area into a stronger condition.

move to canada so you can get your surgerys free and keep riding

antnee71, on 06 March 2012 - 12:29 AM, said:

This is very true, but I'm afraid the baby boomers that have started to retire will eat up our health care dollars, I would not be surprised if we see a change to the system in the next 10 to 15 years. Don't quit Jeff_in_RC just buy a 125 and put put around.

yeah I would get 2-3 opinions before making a decision. Every Doctor has his own opinion of what needs what. Some love surgery some stay away from surgery until its the last resort.. I own a Physical Therapy clinic and I can tell you, we have patients all the time that come in saying their Dr told them they might never half full use of a joint or muscle, or might be in pain for life. Half of what we do is giving the patient the right attitude the other half is our expertise in treatment. If they want to be pain free or walk again for example. They have to want it, when they do 95% of the time they recover and leave our clinic showering us with phrase.

William1, on 05 March 2012 - 05:16 PM, said:

This is the best advice on here- just dont crash. That would fix all of our injury problems and a lot of our bike maintenance issues as well. I wish i had heard this sooner.

Thanks for the well wishes everyone, this is something I have been thinking about for years now and finally made the decision, it was hard but I feel that it will be the best for me. Believe me it was NOT a snap or quick decision in any way shape or form.

We have already found a Jeep Wrangler and when the tax $$ comes in it will be ours! I can't wait to start a new chapter in our off-road lives, I can't quit enjoying the desert here after all, way too much to see and do here.

BTW I went to see my doctor yesterday but he wasn't there due to an emergencey surgery so I will see him next week, oh well gotta wait some more to get the details but that is how it goes huh.

I will still poke around the site and offer any advice that I can as I have learned a lot about my old DRZ. Have a good one!

Edited by Jeff_in_RC, 08 March 2012 - 08:42 AM.

Rokk78, on 06 March 2012 - 07:03 AM, said:

My experience. I suffered a rather serious Bankart Lesion with some other damage. Of course my doctor insisted on surgery. I spoke to one of my customers, a physical therapy group, and started a regime with them (I asked for the best therapist they had). The doctor said it wouldn't work after looking at the MRI's, I said I'll damn sure give it a try. Five months later, lots of Vicodin and pain I couldn't believe, and I'm basically 95%. I DESPISED my therapist for months but it turned out he was amazingly good and was one of the types that forced me to do everything without ever touching me. It was sheer hell but I now realize his way was the right way. He was in his late 20's and I can't speak highly enough about him. Surgery would have laid me up quite a bit longer and I'm not all that sure the results would have been substantially better.

Incidentally I found out that not too many therapists follow routines like he did. I'm guessing part of it was my drive to get better. All I could think about while I was torturing myself at his direction was getting medieval on him.  

Well, everyone else is being nice here, telling you what you want to hear...Not me, I'm gonna be a bit harsh...If you're not very passionate about the sport, and it's causing you pain, sure move on, get into Jeeps or whatever else gives you a thrill...But if you are passionate about riding, then quit being a puss, and do whatever is needed to get healthy and strong...It takes a lot of time and dedication to overcome serious injury, and a weak abdominal muscle that allows hernias to occur is something that with some real effort and a positive attitude, you can overcome...There are so many people on here that have worked through way worse injuries, and they're going riding this weekend...

While I agree with you in what you are saying I have made the best decision for ME. Period, what more can I say. But at 56 yo with these kinds of problems I can't afford to take any chances with my health.

And yes you were harsh but that is OK with me, you did not hurt my feelings, you just told it like it is didn't you.

Jeff, I wish you the best. I hope you one day change your mind and simply become a "Gentleman Offroader". That is about where I am now. But if not, retain the memories of a good time on TT and on bikes. Take care and do not roll the Jeep.
Will

Will (and Jeff) I may end up also as the "gentleman offroader" after this summer.   We'll see how it goes.  I noticed it takes WAY longer to heal and JUST when I don't have lots of time to wait for my next off-road adventure.   I may have to just cool it and enjoy the scenery instead of going balls out all the time.  That will be hard to do.
Good luck Jeff

Edited by motoxvet, 09 March 2012 - 11:56 AM.

motoxvet, on 09 March 2012 - 11:55 AM, said:

My stepdad gave up riding a few years ago.  GET A RZR-s or xp.  You will not regret it.  Now he can take my mom also and they both have a blast....plus that thing goes up stuff he couldn't on his bike

William1, on 09 March 2012 - 10:52 AM, said: