Ride CT & Ride New England Serving New England, NYC and The Hudson Valley!
SHELTON, CT – Bill Pitt isn’t an average rider. Last month, he bought a 2015 BMW F 700 GS and put 3,500 miles on the odometer 
in the first three weeks of ownership. “I don’t ride to see how fast I can ride, I ride to see how much I can see, how many places I can go. I like nature and I enjoy being a part of it being on a bike; going by the ocean and smelling the ocean,” he said.
That Pitt is riding at all can be viewed as a bit of a miracle. Avid riders will certainly appreciate his passion, while non-riders might consider him a bit loopy due to what he experienced 16 months ago. Even after hearing his inspirational tale, it was only natural to adopt a non-rider pose and inquire if he’s nuts – even as the rider in me was silently cheering his determination. Well, is he?
“Yes, but people have asked me that all my life, so it’s not a question I’m unaccustomed to,” he replied with matter-of-fact humor as we chatted recently across the kitchen table in his Shelton home. “People have asked me, ‘Do you just have a death wish?’ To me, this is freedom. I’ve enjoyed motorcycles since I was five years old.”
It was a beautiful day in May 2014 when the accident happened. Pitt was riding his 2012 Suzuki V-Strom 1000, following a car going 30 miles per hour, when a woman approaching in a car from the opposite direction pulled across his path. “She came real fast and she didn’t see me behind the car. That was pretty much the end of my left foot,” he said.
While Pitt doesn’t recall the impact, he does remember the woman attempting to turn. “My thoughts to myself were, ‘Oh, shit. I can’t run, I can’t hide. No place to go.’ I woke up on the ground, the motorcycle was running. There was a woman straddling me. She said, ‘Don’t move. I’m a doctor. I’m here to assist you. Don’t move. You’re going to be OK. The ambulance is on the way, but don’t move.’
“I knew that there was a lot of pain, but I didn’t know where it was or what it was, and I couldn’t move to look at it.” In the ambulance, EMS personnel “informed me that it was serious; that I may lose my foot or leg,” he said.
After being assessed at Norwalk Hospital, he was quickly transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he underwent several surgeries. “They tried to save my foot. They did a tremendous job of working on it, trying to save it. The best option was to take my leg off half-way up, so I’m what they refer to as a below the knee amputee,” he said.
Pitt spent 10 days under heavy medication in Yale-New Haven Hospital before being transferred to Bridgeport Hospital for rehab. “When I was clear of much of the medication, I started thinking ‘What am I going to ride next? Will I be able to ride again?’ That’s when I came up with the idea of riding a Can-Am.”
The day after getting a prosthetic leg, he took a Can-Am Spyder reverse trike for a test ride. He ended up buying a used one from an owner in southern New Jersey, “which was terrific for me because it did give me hope for the future – not being locked in my room watching TV for the rest of my life.”
He equipped the Spyder with an electric shifter from Pingel. Buttons on the left handlebar allowed him to shift gears. While the Spyder got him back on the road, it wasn’t like riding a motorcycle. “I rode it for six months and realized it was just awkward,” he said, noting that unlike on a motorcycle where the rider countersteers on curves, the Spyder requires to operator to turn on the handlebars in the direction of the curve.
“If you’ve never ridden a motorcycle, a Can-Am is OK,” he said. “I would push with the wrong hand. To me, it wasn’t a fluid motion.”
It was perhaps inevitable that the Spyder would be replaced by another motorcycle, and the BMW fit his needs. He had a Pingel shifter installed on it, too. “It has a lower suspension. It’s extremely comfortable. It’s light enough so that I can get on and off of the side stand. I’m extremely pleased with it and I’ve never had a BMW before,” he said.
The personalized license plate on Pitt’s BMW reads “NO HOG,” but he’s not anti-Harley-Davidson. He’s rented Harleys when on vacation and enjoyed them. He’s simply never owned one, although he has owned nearly two dozen motorcycles over the years, including a BSA, two Bultacos, two Ducatis, various Hondas, Suzukis, Kawasakis and Yamahas, five Triumphs and even a Rokon.
A Harley-Davidson cruiser isn’t in his immediate future, though. “They’re nice,” he said. “It’s a different kind of riding. Someday when I grow old I may learn to enjoy it.”
Did I mention that Pitt is 70 years old?
Pitt doesn’t believe everyone who experiences a trauma such as he endured should go back to riding. “If you’re not comfortable, get rid of the bike. If you’re not totally into it, get away from it,” he said.
However, he added, “If you want to ride, and you really want to ride, go ride. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I can’t think of anything more detrimental to your health than sitting there thinking ‘Oh, I shouldn’t, I can’t.’ I think if you want to, you can. I think it’s much more harmful not to continue with a passion.”
(Originally published in “The Republican-American” on Sept. 12, 2015.)
Very nice article..so happy to see how well Bill is doing. I never had a doubt that he would find a way to get back on a bike. Bill has as a great spirit and has always been a glass half full kind of guy. Love his sense of humor, he really knows how to make ya smile. It is truly wonderful to see all his hard work getting well has paid off. Seventy is just a number!
Although I haven’t seen Bill in many years, I know he was always a TOUGH GUY. I remember when he build my 900SF deck, he carried that pressure treated wood around like it was nothing. Luckily, I have remained friends with good friends of his and that was how i got this article. Thank you Gail! And Bill, Bless You…your strength, your fortitude and for staying forever young. If you are still in CT, email me back. If yo like the water, I’m surprised I haven’t seen you at Captain’s Cove.
Good for you, my friend.
Deb
If you’re lucky in this life, you have a handful (maybe not even a handful) of close friends to travel the path with you. Bill Pitt is one of my handful of close pals, a guy who I can count on to be there 100%, no questions asked. He’s there.
So when Bill was taken down on a routine ride, losing his leg, going through the realization, the pain, the re-hab, all the adjustments that he’s had to make, his courage, strength of character and sheer joy at being in this life, fully in this life, was just another example of the person he is.
I’ve ridden with with Bill over the years. Most recently (maybe 10 years back) I had a head on with a young gal going the wrong way on a one-way street. No time to adjust. A blind corner. She going maybe 25, me maybe 20. Less than a fraction of a second to react. A counter-steer to dump to the right. She hit my wheel. I left the bike. Landed in the road on my right scapula, my helmet whacking the pavement, my First Gear jacket ripping at the shoulder. Bike totaled. Me OK.
I never rode again.
As Bill says, get back on if you want to get back on. If you have any doubt, don’t.
I didn’t. My family was too worried that something else would happen. It was mostly their anxiety, but also my own reluctance to rely on the fates – that kept me in four wheels, not two.
But Bill? He is the human extension of the machine. He’s always had great skill as a car handler. a boatsman and a motorcycle maven.
You cannot keep this good man down.
So, ride on my old pal. Hat’s off to you.
Good for him! I sincerely hope he sued the hell out of the woman who hit him. I’m so tired of people not seeing us while we’re riding. Pay more attention or get off the road!
What a great story. I think a lot of people would make the switch to never riding again or going the trike option. To get back on two wheels is pretty ballsy. Good for him!