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Badonnelly

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About Badonnelly

  • Birthday 04/30/1965

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  • Have you attended a California Superbike School school?
    Yes

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Fredericksburg, VA
  • Interests
    Motorcycling, Jazz saxophone, flying

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  1. Thanks for sharing your experience, Iwarner. I wouldn't be surprised if all you mentioned are contributing factors in my case. I did try the Dainese "in boot" and suit designed to work with the "in boot" just for that reason. Unfortunately, my femurs were just too long for the off the rack suit and caused the excessive pressure in the knees. I am in the market, still, for new boots and your comment about the inner boot design of the Supertech R makes sense. I'll give them a try. On the technique side, I ride on the balls of my feet and lift weights specifically to increase lock on strength--maybe to a fault. My acupressure guy actually agrees with you and thinks I'm putting too much pressure on the balls of my feet. Once I get back on the track, I'm going to have to play around with foot position and perhaps even reduce how much pressure I put on the tank with my knees. I actually get bruising where my knees come in contact with the tank. Eventually, I'll probably have to come up with a slightly unorthodox lock on solution since my prior back injury is always going to put me right on the edge of a drop foot recurrence.
  2. Thank you so much for the support and info. Yes, Pilot USA seems to equip their EVO leathers with this material.
  3. Just in case anyone is interested in this drop foot issue, here is my report from my visit with the neurologist. The good news is that by my own estimate I have recovered 70% of my strength in the left foot which was verified by the doctor's test that showed a 25% degradation (pretty close!). The really good news is that he is not only impressed by my rate of recovery, he sees no reason for me to give up track riding as long as I use a bit of good sense. The main culprit is the crushed peroneal nerve injury caused by pressure in the knee area by too tight leathers. The Pilot USA guys measured me and verified that my femurs are proportionately longer than most guys by 3.5 cm. Doesn't seem like much, but the pressure on the knee coupled with a 30% degradation of the trunk nerve (due to a broken back in 1990) which runs down my thigh contribute to the drop foot. So besides getting some customized leathers, I think I will not be doing back to back track days to give the nerves time to recover. Obviously, cutting my track sessions down a bit might help too. While "locking on" is an important technique I think I must learn to do it in a more relaxed way (not flexing my calf muscles to the max extent possible for the entire session). The neurologist said that my peroneal nerve injury will heal in time even if I repeat it. Personally, I think I'll take measures to reduce the injury in. The future by not riding back to back track days, maybe cutting sessions down and definitely getting leathers that fit my freakish legs?. If anyone has suffered from track induced drop foot, I hope this report offers some encouragement. My visit to the doctor today certainly has me a bit relieved!
  4. Oh yeah, I think Alden Lee might have been the VA leathers company but I don't think they are making them anymore. I am fortunate that as an airline employee, its pretty easy for me to get out to the west coast and get fitted in person.
  5. Thanks, Dave. Again, the thoughts and recommendations from folks on the forum are terrific and validate the direction I'm on. The only reason I bought the oversized pants were because I passed on my new Teknic Xcelerator one piece suit that put too much pressure on my knees to my 15 year old son (lucky guy!) and needed something quick to get through the season. I've tried several off the rack suits and Pilot USA's "standard" fit suit and all fit me well except for the hip to knee length being too short when I spread my legs. Once I know for sure that the nerve issue is healing well enough to invest more in the solution, I'm going to get the suit made at Pilot USA. I think My Dainese "in" boots and proper length suit legs will at least eliminate that part of my equipment from equation as far as possible crush injury culprits. If that doesn't fix it, I think I'll be left with the unpalatable solution of replacing the. s1000rr with a more upright ergo bike. Speed Triple r, Tuono v4, Hypermotard sp would be at the top of my list but I really don't want to shop for a track bike--love my Beemer!
  6. Thanks for the reply, Dylan. Funny you should mention the boot thing. I put in an order for some "in" boots a few weeks ago and just got an email that they will arrive from Italy on Monday. Great minds must think alike. It also appears after trying on many off the shelf leathers that while I'm a normal slim build guy, I must have freakishly long femurs. As soon as I spread my legs (as in a corner), the leathers pull into my inside knee so excessively as to leave a dent below the meniscus where the peroneal nerve is. I hope that between the "in" boots and my wearing track pants two sizes too big for my waist, I'll get a handle on this drop foot thing. I have made decision to cease all track riding : ( until I heal and see the neurologist which I've had to reschedule for the end of this month. I'll keep updates on this post just in case there's someone out there that runs into this issue.
  7. Oh, I forgot to mention that I made an appointment with the neurologist next week. If anyone that read my post is dealing with similar issues, I'll be sure to let you know what pressure points he's concerned about.
  8. Thank you both for your inputs. I've been concentrating so much on the knee area (leathers too tight) because thats usually the main cause of PERONEAL nerve issues that I hadn't considered the foot and calf. After my May incident, I replaced the stock pegs with Driven rearsets in hopes I could lower my feet enough to reduce the knee bend. Last two track days with the Drivens (round pegs) on the lowest setting were cut short due to foot drop. My thought now is actually to raise the pegs to reduce the distance to the tank and not have to flex the calf as much to lock on. I dont think lowering the pegs is really an option anyway since my toe sliders are grinding away at this setting. Btw, I do have Stompgrip installed. I've both used thick motocross socks and thin athletic socks but might try a different boot. Maybe something in my Astars SMX-r boots is causing a restriction in the calf or ankle area. Since I'm in the market for new leathers, perhaps I should consider over boot pant legs--hmm. Now, Lnewqban's suggestion to adjust ergonomics to keep lower back straight may ultimately be the solution. A solution is evident in the old joke: "Doc, it always hurts when I ride on the the track.....well, don't ride on the track". DA, DAT, DUM! I am trying to avoid that one. Maybe its time to consider the Helibars. The extreme solution, short of quitting, is a supermoto bike. I'd do it , but I sure do love my S1000rr! Thanks again guys. Your time to respond to this kind of boring subject points to the passion you have to this sport and its participants. The people draw me to this endeavor every bit as much as any adrenaline rush!
  9. I have an on-going struggle with drop foot when track riding. This is a condition caused by a crushing of the perineal nerve which runs around the knee causing paralysis of the leg muscles that control raising the foot (i.e. can't shift up). I do have pre-existing sciatic nerve damage from a previous back injury but never have issues riding my S1000rr on the street--only on the track. By the end of a track day, I've always had some paralysis but by the end of 2 full CSS days in May, my left foot was totally numb to the point I badly turned/sprained my ankle and felt no pain at all! I've switched out and altered leathers to relieve pressure on the kneecap to no avail and even wearing track pants two sizes to big didn't help. This week I had to quit a track day after only 3 sessions because of drop foot regression. My acupressure specialist, who knows nothing about motorcycling told me that I'm putting too much pressure on the balls of my feet. Of course, that's exactly what I do to drive my knee into the tank in order to lock on. My body position is pretty good, my hips are turning in when the inside knee drops. I've been strengthening my legs and hips at the gym to the point where I'm actually showing bruising on the inside of the knee. My question is whether any of you have dealt with drop foot before and how did you cope? I am willing to get custom leathers to address pressure in the knee area (I think I have abnormally long femurs). I'll even consider trading in my S1000rr on a more ergonomic upright bike but find it hard to believe that I can't fix this with technique adjustments even if it means departing from orthodoxy. Bottom line is that I want to preserve my ability to ride on the track! Details: -Started track riding at CSS in 2012. -Completed levels 1-4 -Relatively fast B group rider NESBA and TPM -L2 burst fracture in 1990 plane crash -Always have some numbness in left foot and right thigh due to back injury -After 10 minutes of track riding, I can feel the left foot starting to tingle. Last track day, I started getting a little drop foot in my right foot!
  10. Thank you so much for taking the time to share some advice. You definitely get the fact that I have an opportunity for quality time with Ty but certainly want to do it right--not only to be safe but not get caught up in my enthusiasm and "overshoot." I think I'll probably go the Ninjette route and get him on the track up to highway speeds ASAP with the TPM folks on the track trials they do at lunch. I will coach him in the church parking lot on some clutch/brake drills in the meantime. Fortunately, he hasn't yet passed me in size so he can probably wear my two piece leathers which gives me an excuse to upgrade to a one piece track suit : ) Who knows? Maybe by August, if VIR allows 15 year olds, we'll do CSS together! Thanks again, Brian
  11. This past season was my first experience on a race track and I'm hooked! Completed levels 1 & 2 at VIR then two track days at NCCar. Having a ball and planning levels 3 & 4 next May. I just had a special treat at NCCar when my just shy of 15 year old son came with me. We brought my 230ttr as a paddock bike and one of the instructors led Ty around four laps during lunch. He's never had a chance to ride on road before so speeds were kept down to around 35 mph on those nobby tires. While he's never been excited about riding on the super technical single track trails available to us in central VA, he was absolutely beaming after exiting the track! I've never seen him as stoked about anything before which makes this dad's heart warm. The Team Promotion folks are encouraging me to get a Ninja 250 and bring him back for these lunchtime rides and eventually take their ART-basic course--they love training the kids! I love the idea of getting Ty used to operating a moving vehicle and making decisions in a high speed environment long before driving. Even more, I want to develop a mutual passion and enjoy some good father-son experiences before leaving home in a couple years. My question is for instructors and parents who can relate to my recent experience. I'd appreciate any input concerning encouraging Ty. I want to do things right and safely. When and how can I use CSS? Any equipment advice? Can you suggest any creative ways to legally utilize a small sportbike besides the obvious riding around a parking lot? Thanks for sharing your experience, Brian
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