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Moto Board => General Monster Forum => Topic started by: Veloce-Fino on May 27, 2010, 12:22:58 PM



Title: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Veloce-Fino on May 27, 2010, 12:22:58 PM
Long story short, I broke my big toe on my left foot months ago and it healed improperly due to my never seeing a doctor. I never had any problems until I started working 12 hour shifts while home for the summer at a restaurant. After three weeks I was unable to walk and completely unable to ride due to not being able to shift. A few x-rays later and I find that I have excess bone growing into the joint of my big toe and around the inside of the toe.

Taking steroids (not the awesome kind) to reduce inflammation and help alleviate pain but I still can't ride because the shifter sits right on the affected area and causes immense pain when I even attempt to touch the shifter with my boots on.

So basically until my surgery on the 15th of June I need to rig up some way to ride without allowing the pressure from the shifter to touch any area on the front of my foot. Basically from the top joint forward.

I was thinking some kind of sheet metal taped to the top of my boot?? Any suggestions?


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: ian48th on May 27, 2010, 12:56:35 PM
I broke my left big toe last summer and was able to ride okay with my steel-toe work shoes on.  They're a little clumsier and you can't feel the shifter as well, but it's better than not being able to ride.  Borrow a pair from a friend to test ride or go find yourself a cheap pair.  You'll still want to immobilize that toe inside the boot.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Veloce-Fino on May 27, 2010, 01:35:42 PM
I broke my left big toe last summer and was able to ride okay with my steel-toe work shoes on.  They're a little clumsier and you can't feel the shifter as well, but it's better than not being able to ride.  Borrow a pair from a friend to test ride or go find yourself a cheap pair.  You'll still want to immobilize that toe inside the boot.

Good thinking, My a* riding boots are fairly thin on the top.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Popeye the Sailor on May 27, 2010, 01:42:58 PM
Have you asked the Dr. if you can still safely ride? This might not be something you should be doing....


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Veloce-Fino on May 27, 2010, 01:54:45 PM
Have you asked the Dr. if you can still safely ride? This might not be something you should be doing....

Bleh, what could happen?? I stopped taking all of the meds he prescribed with the exception of the steroid which has no effect on response/emotion/reasoning. No painkillers or anything.

Plus doctors are always saying stupid shit about injuries. When I broke my clavicle I was told that I had to remain in bed for a week and then not move the arm for a month...  Needless to say I drove back to college 2.5 hours the following day continued classes the day after. Never spent a minute lying in bed. Within 6 months I was training with heavy weight while the doctor said I was still too fragile to hold a gallon of milk. He would like me to believe I was made of glass. 

Bottom line, I know my body better than some doctor who got a diploma 30 years ago with outdated medical information injected into his brain by the drug companies. 

I do appreciate the concern though :)

^^ Can you tell I'm agitated from not being able to ride??


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: DoubleEagle on May 27, 2010, 06:37:50 PM
You can try shifting clutch less and use your left hand to pull up on the shift lever .

Just pull a little before you cut the throttle just a hair and the transmission should shift w, no problem.

Granted you will be in a race tuck position when you shift ...but hey...it's one way you can ride.

Dolph      :)


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: He Man on May 27, 2010, 06:45:26 PM
get a suicide shifter


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Raux on May 27, 2010, 07:14:36 PM
find an old shifter from a single i think. it has forward and back levers like the harleys. no need to lift.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Popeye the Sailor on May 27, 2010, 10:05:06 PM
Bleh, what could happen?? I stopped taking all of the meds he prescribed with the exception of the steroid which has no effect on response/emotion/reasoning. No painkillers or anything.

Plus doctors are always saying stupid shit about injuries. When I broke my clavicle I was told that I had to remain in bed for a week and then not move the arm for a month...  Needless to say I drove back to college 2.5 hours the following day continued classes the day after. Never spent a minute lying in bed. Within 6 months I was training with heavy weight while the doctor said I was still too fragile to hold a gallon of milk. He would like me to believe I was made of glass. 

Bottom line, I know my body better than some doctor who got a diploma 30 years ago with outdated medical information injected into his brain by the drug companies. 

I do appreciate the concern though :)

^^ Can you tell I'm agitated from not being able to ride??

I can tell you're about twenty something   ;)


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Veloce-Fino on May 28, 2010, 03:17:31 AM
find an old shifter from a single i think. it has forward and back levers like the harleys. no need to lift.

You mean a floorboard style shifter? That could work, it would look hilarious also.

You can try shifting clutch less and use your left hand to pull up on the shift lever .

Just pull a little before you cut the throttle just a hair and the transmission should shift w, no problem.

Granted you will be in a race tuck position when you shift ...but hey...it's one way you can ride.

Dolph      :)

Hah, this just sounds dangerous as hell. I don't even know if I can reach my shifter with my hand from the seated position. I can just see myself drifting off the road trying to grab the shifter to get out of first.

I can tell you're about twenty something   ;)

Guilty as charged.




Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Raux on May 28, 2010, 03:50:50 AM
Something like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto-Guzzi-Stornello-125cc-Shift-Lever-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem20ac2fc40eQQitemZ140327765006QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto-Guzzi-Stornello-125cc-Shift-Lever-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem20ac2fc40eQQitemZ140327765006QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories)

(http://i.ebayimg.com/06/!BUm0DTwBmk~$(KGrHgoH-E!EjlLl0T+JBKOV(ppvHw~~_12.JPG)


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: cyrus buelton on May 28, 2010, 04:40:16 AM
Bleh, what could happen?? I stopped taking all of the meds he prescribed with the exception of the steroid which has no effect on response/emotion/reasoning. No painkillers or anything.

Plus doctors are always saying stupid shit about injuries. When I broke my clavicle I was told that I had to remain in bed for a week and then not move the arm for a month...  Needless to say I drove back to college 2.5 hours the following day continued classes the day after. Never spent a minute lying in bed. Within 6 months I was training with heavy weight while the doctor said I was still too fragile to hold a gallon of milk. He would like me to believe I was made of glass. 

Bottom line, I know my body better than some doctor who got a diploma 30 years ago with outdated medical information injected into his brain by the drug companies. 

I do appreciate the concern though :)

^^ Can you tell I'm agitated from not being able to ride??

I think your Orthopedic Surgeon probably knows a little bit more about your toe and your injury then you do, bro.


Riding is probably making it worse, which could cause further complications during surgery time.


Best of luck.

I'd stay off the bike.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: mstevens on May 28, 2010, 04:54:30 AM
steroid which has no effect on response/emotion/reasoning.

What on earth makes you think corticosteroids have no brain effects? Psychosis and profound mood changes are relatively common side effects with them.

I understand you're vastly more medically knowledgeable than someone who wasted time in medical school actually learning trivial stuff like anatomy (which has totally changed over the last 30 years, bro). However, it sounds as if there's a pretty good chance that if you'd consulted one of those useless idiots in the first place, you'd be riding pain-free now.

Of course this sounds harsh. I spend way too much of my time patching back together people who know far more about their own bodies than I do, that's all. They're the first to reject my fuddy-duddy recommendations, and the first to blame me when ignoring those recommendations leads to trouble.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Raux on May 28, 2010, 04:59:08 AM
just to get things to a sane level.

maybe your steroids are affecting your judgement cause your assessment of doctors was a bit harsh.

just saying. BUT i still think i came up with a solution for shifting ;)


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: OwnyTony on May 28, 2010, 05:23:20 AM
My idea (it seems others have mentioned it) is to get steel toed boots and change/reverse your shift.  So instead of putting your toes under the shifter to lift up to go up one gear, you push down with the balls of your foot. 

My reasoning is that shifting up gears is more "important" to me than shifting down.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: DCXCV on May 28, 2010, 05:30:20 AM
If doctors are so smart, how come they have to go to college for seven years?  ;D

Anyways, think about it this way, no riding for a few weeks/months -or- years of pain/issues or a more complicated surgery from a jacked up foot?  I can (almost) guarantee you'll have your foot longer than you'll have your bike.  Then again, seems like the original home broken toe remedy worked out great so you probably know best.  The doc's just trying to turn you into a wimp.  [roll]


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: metallimonster on May 28, 2010, 05:47:35 AM
I say where flip flops so you can easily shift without using your big toe   ;D

Seriously though, I would get a pair of steel toe boots or the Icon Chukka Boots.  They have a shift patch and you won't put any pressure on your toe.

You might have to adjust your shifter a bit though. Once I got use to them I really love em.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Doctor Woodrow on May 28, 2010, 06:04:59 AM
You can try shifting clutch less and use your left hand to pull up on the shift lever .

Just pull a little before you cut the throttle just a hair and the transmission should shift w, no problem.

Granted you will be in a race tuck position when you shift ...but hey...it's one way you can ride.

Dolph      :)

I had to dot his in Montana when my shift linkage broke and everything had to be shipped in, oh and they sent to wrong part three times in a row!!! I had places to get to and only one way to get there, on the bike. Of course at that time I was riding a tiny 1985 Honda Rebel 250 out on gravel roads at about 60mph with crosswinds from hell and wildfires everywhere.

The Doc

PS: No I am not going to make any medical related comments in this thread, I think that got covered already.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: el_loco on May 28, 2010, 06:50:52 AM
I vote amputate [thumbsup]

Seriously though, have you tried taping it?  I train in Jiu Jitsu and work on my feet all day at my job.  I often have messed up feet/toes.  In fact the joint at my left big toe and foot is almost always sore and I tape it up when I wrestle.  You can expiriment with tape configurations (around toe, around ball of foot, around toe, two/three toes taped together, etc...) but this would help by giving the jacked up bone more rigid support and add a few layers of padding.  Do this AND wear steel toe'd boots and you ought to be fine.  Also, SUCK IT UP, IT"S JUST PAIN!  TAKE TWO ADVIL AND DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!  ;)  I'm joking, of course.  Significant pain is no fun, but we all deal with it at some point.  At least you know the source of your pain and that it's not a life threatening thing.  Good luck


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Popeye the Sailor on May 28, 2010, 07:06:00 AM
I'm still trying to sort out winning some, but losing none.



Must get a low of ties.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Stinky Wizzleteats on May 28, 2010, 11:45:50 AM
I broke mine nearly 2 years ago and the nail still hasn't grown back to it's original size. I dropped a steel tri-post on it while wearing japanese safety boots.  :P


You should really have seen a doctor straight away but you can't really do much with the toe except to bandage it tightly, stay off it and let it heal.

Be patient, let it heal properly. You can't ride with a broken left toe, I tried.  >:(


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: KnightofNi on May 28, 2010, 11:53:08 AM
i actually just cocked my foot at an odd angle and shifted with the outside edge of it or got the shifter as far up the instep as possible.



i'm not here to tell anyone not to ride while they are injured, but if you are uncomfortable and feel that you can't do it in time or safely, then don't ride.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Popeye the Sailor on May 28, 2010, 11:57:08 AM
You guys aren't getting this.


He only has like, fifty years of his riding life left! We dasn't waste two weeks healing properly!




BTW-those injuries WILL catch up to you. Seriously-take it easy.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: KnightofNi on May 28, 2010, 12:37:36 PM
You guys aren't getting this.


He only has like, fifty years of his riding life left! We dasn't waste two weeks healing properly!




BTW-those injuries WILL catch up to you. Seriously-take it easy.

now now back injury man...
you can't make someone realize soemthing they dont' want to.

let him try it and see how difficult it is. if he winds up in a wheelchair in 30 years then i'll race him in mine.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: mstevens on May 28, 2010, 12:46:11 PM
If doctors are so smart, how come they have to go to college for seven years?  

It's been a loooooong time since anyone could do it in 7 years. It took a minimum of 9 to get a license when I graduated in 1992 (except, of course, in Louisiana, where it was only 8 years).

To get back on-topic... I had an anesthesiologist roll a gurney with a large patient on in it over my foot while in school. I decided to buddy-tape the toe and live with the discomfort.

Now, 20 years later, I've got a pseudarthrosis in that toe, a bone cyst that intrudes on a joint space, and pain that lets me predict the weather. The only decent treatment would be to saw the joint out and replace it with Silastic. There actually are good reasons for getting proper treatment at the time of an injury.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: DoubleEagle on May 28, 2010, 02:56:40 PM
You can also get a pair of boots that have a bit of a sole that sticks out and shift with that part of the sole.

I do it in fact more than I try to w, my racing boots which have very little sole protruding on the inward side.

All you have to do is just catch enough of the tip of the shifter w, the sole of the boot and it will shift.

Dolph     :)


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Veloce-Fino on May 28, 2010, 05:25:56 PM
Nearly every reply in this thread had me laughing my ass off. Truly some great stuff. The sarcasm and hilarious suggestions were top notch. I am going into surgery on the 15th, 18 days from now so I will take it easy until then.

I'm thinking the cheapest and most effective way to solve this problem for the next 18 days will be by using tape. If I tape the toe to others and around the ball of the foot with some gauze/padding underneath, the pressure should be spread out over the entire surface of the foot.

Again, thank you for the suggestions and sweetastic comments. I just worked a 12 hour shift and my foot is a big as a balloon so no riding tonight.

I'll let that doctor know that some guys told me I certainly know more than he does and that anatomy has significantly changed over the past 20 years. I mean who knows where organs have been jumping around to over the years?


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: ian48th on May 28, 2010, 05:38:07 PM
That's the spirit.  Good luck with the surgery!


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Veloce-Fino on May 28, 2010, 05:44:00 PM
now now back injury man...
you can't make someone realize soemthing they dont' want to.

let him try it and see how difficult it is. if he winds up in a wheelchair in 30 years then i'll race him in mine.

It's on, wait 'til I mod my wheelchair. You won't stand a chance.


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: KnightofNi on May 28, 2010, 07:03:46 PM
It's on, wait 'til I mod my wheelchair. You won't stand a chance.

i'll have more time in the chair than you. prob about 10 years. i'll be a wily veteran by then


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: Veloce-Fino on May 28, 2010, 08:53:27 PM
i'll have more time in the chair than you. prob about 10 years. i'll be a wily veteran by then

Don't be so sure, I have left quite the trail of destruction in my youth. 4 totaled cars, countless ambulance trips, multiple surgeries, a helicopter ride, dozens of concussions. You will beat me, but not by much. Plus I'll most likely be reaping the benefits of brain trauma, and as a result will earn a head start or "handicap" (puns intended)


Title: Re: Possible solutions to riding with a broken toe. Input appreciated!
Post by: cyrus buelton on June 01, 2010, 04:51:17 AM
Now, 20 years later, I've got a pseudarthrosis in that toe, a bone cyst that intrudes on a joint space, and pain that lets me predict the weather. The only decent treatment would be to saw the joint out and replace it with Silastic. There actually are good reasons for getting proper treatment at the time of an injury.

that makes too much sense around here as a lot of people aren't doctor fans.


I am getting to that point with the ligaments and joint on my right ankle.

I had a 3rd degree "sprain" about 7 years ago. Sprain is used lightly as I had nearly a complete separation of my ligaments from the joint/bones on my right ankle.

God knows the damage I have done since then by not getting fixed, but it is progressively getting worse and I need to get it sorted.

I'd just rather get my shoulder not hurting constantly first.


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