it turns out that suspension matters...

It was a long day of work and I was so excited to get on my bike for the cold and dark ride home. I pressed the starter button and the bike roared to life, promising that my hours of effort had paid off.

I let off the cutch and gave her some throttle, which jolts me forward so much harder than any other bike I've ridden before. I pull out onto the road and I get cut off by a white truck which I would be stuck behind for the last 5 miles this bike will see for a long time.

Cruising at 55mph, the white truck suddenly turns on its left turn signal, giving me an opportunity to pass him on the right shoulder. The machine roars to life and I overtake him at exhilarating speeds of 70+ mph. 

Before I knew it, the frame became defiant, wanting to snake back and forth. I tried to control it, having never experienced this before. It only took a matter of seconds before the bull threw me off of its back. The last thing I heard was the tires screaming for help.

The next thing I know, I'm lying in the ditch next to the lifeless engine. I look around and quickly turn off the ignition. I check myself for wounds, which i could already feel. I called my brother to take me to the hospital because I could already tell that's was now my new destination.

I can imagine that the suspention is at fault, or my ignorance. I am very lucky to escape with a broken shoulder, collar bone, shoulder blade, nose, and road rash all over. This is just my reminder for those who have not addressed their suspention yet. It is VERY important to the stability of your vehicle and i hope my experience can help others learn from it, especially those close to me.
 
For those curious, almost everything looks good besides the front end and tail section, so maybe look forward to a project bike!

I get the idea this is your first “big bike”, the combination of weight and power will always punish inexperience ( cold tyres, slick surface etc) given the opportunity!!
Tank slappers are normally a result of a tyre or alignment issue, also loose headstock bearings. Backing out of the throttle will normally correct it (like a swaying trailer behind a car)

You live you learn... luckily I lived 

If this was travelling in a fairly straight line and not cranked over,  on a decent road surface it wasn't your suspension..
You should be checking tyre condition and  pressures as well as fork and swingarm bearings and i would have also said check the forks for twist or bent stanchions but you probably already have them now and possibly frame misalignment too.

This was on a straight road, so you're probably right. I hadn't considered the tires to cause something like this... Got any tips for checking frame alignment?

Edit: i should add that from what i can gather this wasnt the "death wobble" where only the front wheel starts shaking. The whole bike was rotating, which was why I got flung off. Tank slapper sounds to be more correct.

Count Your Blessings Kid! Could of easily been a statistic in insurance lore. ALWAYS ride like You're a target and don't perform goofy stuff on an unfamiliar machine. Stuff happens pretty fast the faster you go and you won't even be able to recount a play by play conclusion of what actually happened, it just happened. My hands/feet sweat thinking of the stuff i was lucky to survive as a "need for speed" 16yr old on MY first fast bike, 1978 Z1R1000. Lots of fantastic memories in High School having the fastest machine paid for by mowing grass but i'm plum Lucky i survived it. A few weeks in casts and you'll be fine. Wait till you're older and those fractures and dislocations will haunt you when you're shoveling your driveway in your 60's ha.   

You're absolutely right. At the speed I was going, it felt like everything happened in an instant, barely having any time to even comprehend what was happening. When I was in the ER and finished my x-ray and CT scans, hearing the results was the most terrifying experience. The last thing I wanted to hear was that I had a compressed vertebrae or a broken hip. I don't know how I even still have toes and fingers since my gloves and shoes must have fallen off when I crashed. My brother said he had found one of my shoes lodged into the dirt. My most significant injury, other than the broken bones, is probably the road rash on my hip, which gouged pretty deep and covers a large area of my body. I'm still trying to figure out how to take a shower...

Unfortunately a shower is going to sting like hell no matter what you do, but making the water as cool as you can stand it will help.

Even lukewarm water feels like it's scalding when it hits a scrape 

I hope you have a speedy recovery, sounds like you got off lucky. You have to keep that rash moist so it will flex a bit, lots of Polysporin Ointment (NOT the white creme)

I rode a friends 1982 KZ1100 Spectre on the road way in front of his work when it barely had 50 miles on it. It was a rocket ship compared to the RD350 I was riding around on.

The thing that threw me off on the Spectre was the "buck horn" bars, I nailed the throttle and that thing went sideways as it melted the rear tire. I wrested it semi straight, but I came within inches of hitting a parked car and ruining that poor guys new bike as he looked on in abject horror. Like your incident it happened within a blink of a eye.

The little Yamaha I had was under powered but it handled good and I could grind the pegs off it in a corner with full throttle. That bike had a "Super Bike" handle bar, that is what I learned to ride on.
 

If you want to understand what happened....google The Tacoma Narrows Bridge incident.

   The good thing is, OP is basically ambulatory, but with significant injuries that will take a long time and, probably much effort in PT to heal.  Could have been much worse.  We fervently hope you can find it within to forgive yourself this experience*.

   bound wrote, "... the cold and dark ride home.  ... pass him on the right shoulder.  ...  speeds of 70+ mph. ..."

   An objective breakdown of the key points; dark, right shoulder, 70+ mph. combined.

   OP doesn't say road type, whether 2-lane, divided 2 or 4 lane or, Interstate.  Not that it makes any difference.  If an accident reconstruction investigator evaluated the scene, wouldn't be surprised to learn that an unseen obstruction or pavement defect was involved.

   Shoulders of any kind collect all manner of debris both seen (dead beasts, construction debris, thrown tire treads) and unseen (mystery fluids, nails, metal fragments, etc.) that will damage vehicles & destabilize bikes.  Shoulders often exhibit weird surface defects.  Rumble strips at speed will absolutely affect bike stability.  They’re good places to avoid on bikes in the best of conditions unless there's no other choice.  Bikes are unforgiving in ways that cages will never be. 

   Dark,  right shoulder,  70+ mph.  Recipe for disaster:  very limited sight-line at elevated speed on an often-sketchy surface.  That scenario would be a textbook discussion point of much worth to inexperienced / new riders in any MSF Basic RiderCourse.

  We're not unsympathetic, bound.  We've made mistakes resulting in injury and damage too.  We truly wish for you to heal quickly and well, both physically and mentally.  There's a project bike waiting to help keep you busy during the healing time.  KZR members can be of help during the bike repair.
   
    *experience - < ik-ˈspir-ē-ən(t)s >  "...affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation"
The urban dictionary definition,  " Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. "

Heal well.
slmjim & Z1BEBE

As for frame alignment, you could look into GMD Computrack.

www.gmdatl.com/