When can I ride my motorcycle?

[Jim1957]

For those of you who ride I'm dying to know your experience with this.  I'm six weeks post op (hip resurfacing) and all I've been able to do is polish my motorcycle.  I can't wait to ride but the bike (Vulcan 900) and I together weigh about 800 pounds.  Not sure how long before my new hip can support that much weight.

[Clydascope]

My experiences over the last two years have been good, but not without issues...

I started riding around 3 1/2 month post op on each of my new hips. 

It took about 5 months to venture onto the dirt.

The hardest part has been getting on and off the machine.   

Around 6 months on the second hip I got into a tricky situation and had to push my motorcycle backwards, uphill, then turn it around in a narrow ravine.  It's a big dual sport bike, close to 400 pounds.  The strained joint hurt for days, I took several weeks off from strenuous activities and walked my way back into shape.

At 7 months on the first new hip I did a three day ride in Death Valley, something like 150 miles in the dirt, 450 on pavement.

At 8 months on the second hip I rode 1,400 miles in Baja, close to 400 in the dirt.  Just got home last week.

I've wanted to ride around the world for three decades now.  I'm beginning to think it may still be possible.   

[Jim1957]

Just passed the 3 month point and got the green light to ride from my surgeon.  I took two short rides just to be sure I could manage and did fine.  I went with a group last Saturday and we rode all morning around central Florida.  Very grateful I don't live up north.  Anyway, I was a little stiff by the time we got done and still stiff on Sunday.  The good news was that I didn't have any pain so it looks like my riding days are back.