# Japanese Biker Fails to Notice Missing Leg **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677 "2007-08-15T12:21:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/1 "2007-08-15T12:21:53Z")
> **[Reuters | Breaking International News & Views](https://www.reuters.com?edition-redirect=uk)** > > Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage. I like how he didn’t notice until he’d ridden more than 2 kilometers. I think I’d have noticed something like that. This guy is evidently the very definition of _focused_. My initial thought was that I’d notice it on the next stroke, but that only shows I’m a bicyclist, not a motorcyclist. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/2 "2007-08-15T12:24:06Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] My initial thought was that I’d notice it on the next stroke, but that only shows I’m a bicyclist, not a motorcyclist. [/QUOTE] Dad being a biker my thoughts were “noticed at the next gear change perhaps?” But then IIRC Japanese bikes sometimes have a different layout to Dad’s old 60s British bikes. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/3 "2007-08-15T12:32:39Z")
I’m going to make a guess that he had been drinking a bit… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/4 "2007-08-15T12:36:55Z")
_obligatory “flesh wound” joke_ ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/5 "2007-08-15T12:54:32Z")
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/6 "2007-08-15T13:00:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Khadaji** > I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. Surely no more than two times. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/7 "2007-08-15T13:04:33Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Dad being a biker my thoughts were “noticed at the next gear change perhaps?” But then IIRC Japanese bikes sometimes have a different layout to Dad’s old 60s British bikes. [/QUOTE] His right leg was missing. That would only be used for the rear brake on most bikes. Makes sense he noticed it was missing when he went to stop - that is if it makes sense that he didn’t notice that his leg was off. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/8 "2007-08-15T13:16:16Z")
Hmm…the article seems to be missing the part about the “enough PCP to knock out the Bronx Zoo.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/9 "2007-08-15T13:31:10Z")
I still call BS on this one - wouldn’t he have bled out pretty quickly? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/10 "2007-08-15T13:56:12Z")
Tis but a scratch. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/11 "2007-08-15T14:05:44Z")
Now, now, don’t be so high-and-mighty hard on the guy. I bet not a single one of you noticed it was missing, either. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/12 "2007-08-15T19:30:32Z")
One of my coworkers is a motorcycle rider. He came in yesterday and seemed to be a little tired and out of it. Turned out he’d come off his bike at 100mph at a race track. Luckily he had helmet and full protective gear on (all of which is now scrap, having served its purpose). His HMO told him it would be several days before he could see a doctor. We all made a lot of noise about this and our manager gave him a direct order to get his ass to the ER asap. He’s OK, banged up but nothing serious. I assume he had at least some minor head thumping which accounted for the “dazed and confused” appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/13 "2007-08-15T19:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=Valgard] One of my coworkers is a motorcycle rider. He came in yesterday and seemed to be a little tired and out of it. Turned out he’d come off his bike at 100mph at a race track. Luckily he had helmet and full protective gear on (all of which is now scrap, having served its purpose). His HMO told him it would be several days before he could see a doctor. [/QUOTE] Something’s not right there. HMO’s don’t tell people they can’t go to the emergency room after a 100 mph accident. In fact, there is no reason to talk to the HMO at all. You just go to the emergency room, they treat you as needed and then the HMO pays the bill. There are some things wrong with our medical system but that is one of them. The story doesn’t make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/14 "2007-08-15T20:06:22Z")
If it’s any consolation to him, now he can continue to cut that corner close without anything to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/15 "2007-08-15T20:06:41Z")
So do you think his friend pulled up next to him at the light and said, “Here man, you dropped this.”? ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/16 "2007-08-15T20:38:00Z")
This one time, at summer camp (heh), I was in an accident once which opened a laceration on the back of my calf that required two layers of stitching. The ER doc said it looked like it had been laid open by a broadsword. I swear I didn’t feel a thing and got up and was walking around and didn’t even notice it until someone screamed, “LOOK AT HER LEG!!!” It still didn’t feel a thing until they stuck a gigantic needle full of novacaine or whatever in there to numb it up for the stitching. That was when I began screaming. I’m thinking… shock? ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/17 "2007-08-15T20:44:24Z")
I can kinda understand the excruciating pain and adrenalin from an accident masking that part of a limb is missing. But don’t you need both feet on the bike for balance? I know you could ride a bike with a missing limb by making some adjustments, but in this case I would vote for out of his mind intoxicated. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/18 "2007-08-15T21:06:32Z")
I saw the thread title and figured it had to be an artificial limb that fell off. Nope. Damn. Adding insult to injury, do you suppose he put his right foot out to lean on when he came to the stop? > [@](#): > > The man and his leg were taken to hospital,… It’s never a good sign when they mention a person _and_ a part of his body. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/19 "2007-08-16T02:04:30Z")
[QUOTE=Robot Arm] I saw the thread title and figured it had to be an artificial limb that fell off. Nope. Damn. Adding insult to injury, do you suppose he put his right foot out to lean on when he came to the stop? It’s never a good sign when they mention a person _and_ a part of his body. [/QUOTE] I jsut hope they both went to the same one! ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677/20 "2007-08-16T04:21:23Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] Something’s not right there. HMO’s don’t tell people they can’t go to the emergency room after a 100 mph accident. In fact, there is no reason to talk to the HMO at all. You just go to the emergency room, they treat you as needed and then the HMO pays the bill. There are some things wrong with our medical system but that is one of them. The story doesn’t make any sense. [/QUOTE] Well keep in mind it was coming from a guy who took a tumble at high speed. As near as I can tell, he tried to make an appointment to see a doctor and was told the next available time was a few days later. This implies that he didn’t use words like “I crashed at 100mph” at any point in that conversation. My reaction upon hearing this was the same as yours - you don’t call for an appointment, you don’t ask permission, you get your butt driven down to the ER immediately. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-biker-fails-to-notice-missing-leg/415677.md?page=2)