Hardware removal surgery

On Thursday October 11, I had the first of two hardware removal surgeries, this one to remove the tibia plate and its 14 screws. This hardware had been in my leg since April 8, 2006 (see here). I was on crutches until yesterday, and although my leg is still a bit swollen, bruised, and sore at the incision sites, today I can walk without any pain in the bone. I am thrilled to no end - prior to this, every single step I took hurt, causing me to limp. Now I can walk without any limp at all.

Here are a couple of pics of what was removed:

I had the stitches removed Wednesday, October 24, and talked to the surgeon about the fibula plate removal. I had hoped that this could be done next month. Unfortunately, the doctor wants to wait a few months before doing that, so I have to live with those stupid screws on the outside of my ankle until probably February. Being right on the ankle bone and right under the skin, they really do cause a lot of irritation, especially if I try to wear hiking boots or my motorcycle riding boots. I have to get creative with padding to make it possible to ride over long distances. Here's an X-ray of my leg with the tibia plate out. You can see all the little holes in the bone where the screws were. 

Benelli?

Benelli is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer that was formed in 1911, and produced its first complete motorcycle in 1921. Over the years, they went through numerous changes, creating quite a storied history. In the late 1970's they began to lose market share to the big Japanese motorcycle companies (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki) and eventually shut down production on their motorcycles. Their last motorcycle before the shutdown was the Sei 900, an impressive 6-cylinder machine.

Then, in 1995, the company began its rebirth under the new leadership of Andrea Merloni. In early 2001, plans for a new machine, the Tornado 900 Tre, were announced. I saw photos of the bike on the internet, and instantly fell in love with it. In 2002, came the official launch of the superbike. Australian rider Peter Goddard raced this bike in the World Superbike series. I was lucky enough to witness this machine howling around the track at Laguna Seca that year at the World Superbike event. Seeing and hearing it in person was fantastic!

I finally took delivery of my 2005 Benelli Tornado 900 Tre in October of 2005. Shortly thereafter, I was asked by the editor of CityBike magazine in San Francisco to write an article about it (there were only a handful of the bikes in the US at the time - mine was the first in northern California). Here's a link to my article. There, you can read all about the trials and tribulations I went through to eventually own this beautiful machine.