Wow, thanks for the well wishes guys, just stumbled upon this thread
Who woulda thought a simple pot hole on a graded road would lead to all of this after the treacherous places I have put my big bike
Anyhow, I'm healing up pretty quick. Broken ribs suck! Pain meds are good! These days, the treatment for broken ribs is to breath deeply, laugh, and cough. Sounds like torture? Yes it is. I'm hoping to have myself and the bike back in shape for Desert Daze in March.
Things could have been way worse for me... Fortunately, I was fully geared up and was riding with competent partners. While I seemed to have avoided life threatening injury, you never can tell when it comes to your internal organs. I am especially aware of this after losing a close friend to an undiagnosed ruptured spleen from a low speed drop. I opted to have 911 called rather than have the guys haul me back into town because I felt like things were bad and didn't want to saddle them with that responsibility. The EMTs opted to call in a chopper once they saw me and my symptoms. After a couple of days in the hospital, they said I was clear to come home. My sleep schedule is trashed due to the injuries and the meds I'm on, but I am feeling much better.
Lesson learned...
1. easy roads are just as dangerous as technical trails, slow down if visibility is bad.
2. KLR doesn't suck up the big hits like the KTM
3. SW Motech crashbars are superior to the Happy Trails ones I used to have.