Gear is a choice but make a good choice.

[RedRaptor22]

After attending the Louisana state motorcycle awareness and safety rally this morning and seeing all of the rash laden 50 something guys in cut-off t-shirts holding soup bowls for helmets hobbling around with their women dressed in clothes fit only for back yard shenanigans I could'nt help but think about my mangled and dissabled uncle and the names on the list of 60 odd dead riders who passed since the last rally so I decided to steal a post from another board I attend and spread it to the others I attend.

 

Enjoy and ride safe.

 

 

Riding Without Gear - A Personal Choice

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Riding without boots and crashing might cost you some road rash or foot mash or even in an extreme case might lead to amputation. You might never walk without a limp. You might battle a weight and fitness problem for the rest of your life. You might never walk with pain. But it probablywouldn't kill you.

 

Riding without gloves and crashing might cost you some road rash or a Munched hand or the severe, excrutiating pain of mangling a body part rich with nerve endings. Or you could lose a finger or two. It could cost you the ability to play ball with your son, to properly feel the gentle curve of a womans breast, or to hold a beer. But it probably wouldn't kill you.

 

Riding without at least an armored jacket and leather trousers or full leathers or an Aerostich or even just a leather jacket and jeans and crashing might cost you serious road rash. You might grind off a nipple. You might embed gravel in your elbow. You might get beef jerky all over your back. You might grind off your kneecap or have a scar resembling Australia on you calf like a friend of mine does. You would be scarred for life and not be able to walk on a beach shirtless without feeling self conscious. You might end up like Kevin Spacey's character in "Pay It Forward" and have to deal with the same awkward moment every time you remove your clothes with a new lover. But it probably won't kill you.

 

Riding without a back protector and crashing in all but rare crashes would be inconsequential. However, there are so many variables out there- curbs, fenders, poles, guardrails, debris in the road- any one of these could be the golden BB that nicks your spinal cord in just the wrong way and leaves you in a wheelchair for life. Or, maybe you just have constant sciatic pain in one leg. Or you can't move your legs. Or you have to wear diapers for when you @#%$ yourself, and/or a colostomy bag you have to pull out of your pants leg and squeeze your waste out into the toilet at a bar like a guy I know. Or you can't move from the chest down. Or from the neck down. Are you good at working joysticks with your mouth? Or maybe you might need a respirator? Or 24 hour care? Certainly, there are impacts that are completely forseeable that would permanently injure you even with the best back protector in the world. But there are crashes and subsequent impacts that even mediocre back protectors can make that little bit of difference in- the ones you get up and walk away from, sore all over, but *walking*. Do you want the last time you walked to be when you walked out of 7-11 with a pack of smokes and then got on your bike? Those precious few steps out the door and over to the bike to be the five steps you remember the rest of your life because the next time you were off the bike you were lying strapped to a backboard staring at the headliner of an ambulance, tears running down your face because you couldn't feel the little piggies and you were almost ready to vomit at the stench of your @#%$ because you lost control of your bowels? Riding without a back protector and crashing might not make a difference, or it might make all the difference in the world. It might not kill you, but it might make you wish it had.

 

And, finally, helmets. Riding without a helmet and crashing might be of no consequence. You might never even touch terra firma with your head. Or you might give yourself an asphalt facelift. You might get a concussion that results in only a bad headache the next day. You might get a serious concussion that lands you in the hospital for endless CAT scans and MRIs, and for the rest of your days be plagued by migraines. You might fracture your orbital and lose your vision. You might fracture your skull and end up fully functional but with a horrible Frankenstein like scar and a metal plate that bothers you on cold days and sets of metal detectors in airports. You might have a closed head injury from which you don't awaken from for hours or days or weeks or months- all the while your mother, father, sister, brother, children, workmates, and/or riding buddies come a visit you, filling an utterly depressing hospital room into a gauche jungle of flowers and bright card saying "get well soon!" that you never see or smell. Sure, you might awaken completely normal besides the hole drilled in your head to reduce pressure. Or you might awaken a little fuzzy, unsure who these people are. Or you might awaken and have to re-learn everything it took you all your life to learn, eventually returning to normal or even better like Harrison Ford in "Regarding Henry". Or you might awaken a man-child, drooling and laughing as you try to stack blocks, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt signed by your mother, father, sister, brother, children, workmates, and/or riding buddies- which you will never read. Or you might have an open head injury, from which the "you" you know will most likely never return. The rest of your life -be it a day, a week, a month, a year- will consist of feeding tubes, the endless beep and whoosh of the heart monitor and respirator, and the drip-drip or IV fluids, catheters in your rod, and feeding tubes. Of course, you won't mind all of this, you'll be in a dream land no one knows about. Your body will waste away and atrophy. Eventually, the shell that used to be you would give out, and your loved ones would have to make the most grueling decision of their life. Or, you might die on the road, fluffy gray brain matter mixing with blood and cerebro-spinal fluid. Perhaps you last ride would be twenty miles an hour down the street by your house combined with an impatient young driver and an ignored stop sign. Or perhaps it would be a ride on the freeway and a pothole denting your rim and popping the front tire off the bead sending you into the guardrail. Or you might go out in a blaze of glory qith a 100 mph wheelie ending the wrong way. Whichever way, would make maybe a 10 second news story depending on where you live, maybe a paragraph buried on page 32B of the paper. Riding without a helmet could be of no matter- or it could mean the difference between going on as you are now, or having life taken awy from you as if God flipped a switch.

 

 

I can live without toes or a mangled foot- but I choose to try and prevent that. I can live with a hand that looks like a burn victim's and maybe relearn to write with my left hand- but I choose to try and prevent that. I can live with a scar in the shape of Australia on my calf- but I try and prevent that. I can live with road rash on my torso and arms- but I try to prevent that. I could live in a wheelchair, agonizing through every day, but I chose to try and prevent that.

 

I can't live as a man-child. I've already played with blocks. I only drool when I sleep.

 

We all make choices. Gear can't always save you. All the best leather, denim, Cordura, Kevlar, fiberglass, and plastic is useless when fate throws the Immovable Object or the Irresistible Force in your path. But I choose to stack the deck in my favor. If it all ends up for naught and the stacked deck and the cards up my sleeve end up losing to Fate's royal flush, so be it. But I'll try.

[Guest seuadr]

good post. timely as riding season starts, too.

[straycatt]

Fear sells.

[az1103]

Good Post, thank you!

Can't say I enjoyed it but it made me think..... And that's probably most important.

 

Your post sais you are 26...... Wish I had your perspective at that age, could have avoided some unnecessary pain. More power to you! Ride safe!

:clap2:

[Guest seuadr]

Fear sells.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BVr5cIie3gU/R1n12HVeGjI/AAAAAAAABUg/ZR_dzKjajCI/s400/brittanymorrow.jpg

 

such an obvious marketing ploy..

[az1103]

Hurts just looking.....

[straycatt]

 

such an obvious marketing ploy..

 

Do you know the story of "roadrash girl" whose picture you posted? Her name is Brittany.

 

It was a case of someone doing something stupid, and they took an innocent with them.

Here's a link to her story.

 

http://sportbike.natkd.com/road_rash.htm

 

My point was and is, Rapters cut and paste above isn't designed to offer factual information on the risks of riding with less than the maximum safety gear.

Its whole purpose is to frighten its readers into making an emotional decision based on the results of an event, that for most riders, will never happen. And they use all manner of verbal horror to do it.

 

I likely spend as much time as anyone around old and young street riders, racers and dirt bikers.

By far, the majority of these guys have very few injuries my self included. Visible, long lasting, catastrophic, or otherwise. Most of the damage old riders have sustained came from racing (in my case motocross) or drinking.

Don't want to need all of that safety gear net? Don't race or drink and ride, and you've lowered your odds of mishap substantially.

 

I'll spend my safety dollars teaching riders to ride well and within their abilities, rather than endorsing the use of safety apparel that promotes an attitude of invincibility and the mindset that it's "OK if I fall down, I'm wearing my safety gear".

 

I believe in the theory of risk compensation. The safer you make a given activity appear, the more reckless its participants will behave until that activity gets back to their risk comfort level.

 

[Guest seuadr]

Do you know the story of "roadrash girl" whose picture you posted? Her name is Brittany.

 

It was a case of someone doing something stupid, and they took an innocent with them.

Here's a link to her story.

 

http://sportbike.natkd.com/road_rash.htm

 

My point was and is, Rapters cut and paste above isn't designed to offer factual information on the risks of riding with less than the maximum safety gear.

Its whole purpose is to frighten its readers into making an emotional decision based on the results of an event, that for most riders, will never happen. And they use all manner of verbal horror to do it.

 

I likely spend as much time as anyone around old and young street riders, racers and dirt bikers.

By far, the majority of these guys have very few injuries my self included. Visible, long lasting, catastrophic, or otherwise. Most of the damage old riders have sustained came from racing (in my case motocross) or drinking.

Don't want to need all of that safety gear net? Don't race or drink and ride, and you've lowered your odds of mishap substantially.

 

I'll spend my safety dollars teaching riders to ride well and within their abilities, rather than endorsing the use of safety apparel that promotes an attitude of invincibility and the mindset that it's "OK if I fall down, I'm wearing my safety gear".

 

I believe in the theory of risk compensation. The safer you make a given activity appear, the more reckless its participants will behave until that activity gets back to their risk comfort level.

 

i am aware of the story, yes. Sure, there are people out there who will never go down, and those whom may suffer no damage in an accident. On the other hand, i'll stop wearing safety gear the day that i can accurately predict all my accidents.

 

i can see your point, but i've known more people with road rash and broken bones than i've ever known who rode beyond their limits because of safety gear and were hurt or killed. I wish that everyone had the common sense to wear some gear AND ride within their means/seek out a school to improve their abilities, but it's simply not so. nor do i see it being so in the future, until there is a tangeable benifit to it. sure, i see less pain and injury as a tangeable benifit, apperantly many do not.

 

if safety gear promotes an attitude of invincibility for people, i am flat out terrified of the riders that ride like they are invincible now without any. i can't imagine what they would be capeable of if they felt more secure.

[RedRaptor22]

Well straycat they don't call them accidents for no reason, their called that because no matter what you may think you have absolutely no control over them regaurdless how defensive or safely you ride.

 

I've had one 45mph crash that was completely my fault and almost felt it coming but I had gear on and was completely unharmed. And during my daily commute I've avoided dozens of really close calls with cagers I simply could'nt have ever expected...those times are the times I wear my gear for, and the one that actually gets me.

 

If you really want insist that caution is a replacement for preparedness I can let you talk to my uncle who's now disabled thanks to a left turning driver and he can tell you all about his fractured skull, crushed pelvis, ankles, shattered elbows and wrists, not to mention the massive amount of rash he got...He's pro gear now that he's too broke up to ride but it's kinda late for him.

 

Or my friend that was run off the road by a lady in lincoln town car a few years ago, took on some trees at around 65mph, did'nt have a helmet on so his brains ended up on the outside of his head and his face was off somewhere else but he just was'nt skillfull enough to keep that lady in her lane while she was digging in her purse.... a helmet would have at the very least allowed him an open casket feuneral.

[straycatt]

Well straycat they don't call them accidents for no reason, their called that because no matter what you may think you have absolutely no control over them regaurdless how defensive or safely you ride.

 

If you really want insist that caution is a replacement for preparedness I can let you talk to my uncle who's now disabled thanks to a left turning driver.......

 

Or my friend that was run off the road by a lady in lincoln town car a few years ago, took on some trees at around 65mph,

 

I'm not trying to belittle your vast amount of 2 wheeled experience, but at 51 years old I've been riding for more than 42 years now on just about every type of motorcycle made from trials to road racers. No I don't know everything, but I do know a lot.

 

In my experience you DO have control over most situations that PLACE you at risk for an accident......assume that every left turning driver is going to turn in front of you, and take the appropriate action thereby reducing your chance of accident.

 

I too, was run off of the road, or rather I chose the off road route when, last summer a drunk tried to run thru me from behind. Why didn't he kill me? Because I was paying attention and anticipated what he was likely to do.

It could have gone bad, but instead was no more than a ride through a ditch and field at 55 mph with some weeds in the spokes.

 

In order to be involved in an accident two things have to happen. You or someone else has to screw up, and then YOU have to not be paying enough attention to take action to avoid the original screw up. Simple as that, and lots of people avoid these accident for their entire riding life.

 

I'm not saying "don't wear safety gear".

I'm saying 1. Don't try to justify using fear to force people into wearing what YOU think is proper, and 2. that learning to ride well and be observant of what is going on around/ahead of you will do more for your safety than any form of protective clothing ever will.

 

Please accept my good regards for any of your family/friends that may have been on the short end of a mishap.

[Brenda H]

I ride MOTGATT or ATGATT all of the time. I also try to ride inside my comfort zone and that does not include riding like I'm invincible just because I'm wearing gear. The one serious laydown I've had, I came off my bike face first into gravel. I still have a face because I was riding in a full face helmet. I shredded almost the entire front of my rain gear. The only injury I had was a bruised hand from where it had hit the mirror stem as I came off. I probably wouldn't have had that if I had been wearing my armored gloves instead of my plain leather ones.

 

I also follow the saying "ride like you're invisible". I ran across, almost literally, a Harley rider who was doing the exact opposite. He was riding like he was oblivious to all of the traffic around him. I very nearly ended up with him as a hood ornament. I was coming off the main highway in town onto the access road while he and his riding buddy were going down it. The off ramp has right of way with stop signs on both sides of the ramp as the access road has two way traffic on it. The dodo ran the stop sign while his buddy stopped. If I hadn't been watching him, I would have nailed his rear fender doing about 50 mph. He was in jeans and a t shirt, no helmet. Considering my low opinion of the local hospital, it would have served him right to end up in it!

 

How you ride is a personal choice. Ride like an idiot and all the protective gear in the world won't save you. BUT It will increase your chance of survival. I've seen several cases where the only reason the rider is still around walking and talking is because he was in full gear. And at least one of those was bike only. There was no one to blame but the idiot on the bike. Riding is definitely a case of using your head at all times, not trying to prove how big it is.

[Yammer Dan]

Plain and simple. If you don't like you. Don't wear the gear!!! If you like yourself

 

WEAR IT!!

You may still end up walking like I do but I'M WALKING!!!

Fault?? Guess it was mine. I got out of bed that morning!!

[MiCarl]

 

In order to be involved in an accident two things have to happen. You or someone else has to screw up, and then YOU have to not be paying enough attention to take action to avoid the original screw up. Simple as that, and lots of people avoid these accident for their entire riding life.

 

Been there, done that, chose the wrong time to glance down at a switch - loaded the Venture on the trailer for the haul home myself. Glad I was wearing the gear.

 

The armor may or may not have prevented breaking my arm and shoulder when I struck the car. The broken engine side cover and toes that hurt for six months tell me that the heavy leather riding boots were just barely enough to prevent serious injury to my foot. The front of my full face helmet speaks volumes about what the pavement would have done to my face.

 

We all make mistakes. Every time one does not result in a crash is because we were fortunate that no one near us was making his mistake at the same time.

 

I also have fire insurance - even though I've avoided ever having a house fire and have known many people who avoided house fires their entire lives.

[midnightventure]

You can pay all the attention in the world but every once in a while something happens that leaves to short of a time to react or you don't know if that driver is going to stop in your path or keep moving so it ends up being a guessing game.

[OB-1]

Do you know the story of "roadrash girl" whose picture you posted? Her name is Brittany.

 

It was a case of someone doing something stupid, and they took an innocent with them.

Here's a link to her story.

 

http://sportbike.natkd.com/road_rash.htm

 

...

 

Thanks for posting the link to the story of the RoadRash Girl. This girl has an amazing story of pain, survival, and thankfulness. Her story is a short and compelling read that I high recommend.

[Wolf]

I ahve had friends killed, maimed in auto accidents, 1 on as city bus, 1 hurt in a mc crash. Also had a friend lose her house, husband, and 2 kids in a house fire. That was the worst. Lost my grandad to too much beer, had a friend die from a heart attack due to eating poorly, weight. Lost my dad and his sister to brain tumors.

 

Not to sound cold or heartless, life happens. Some good, some bad. I can choose to hole up in a corner somewhere and wait for the worst, or I can live my life to the fullest for me. Wearing full leathers, full face gear, and armored undies and gloves does not appeal to me. God forbid I leave my family and friends in a bad way, but far worse to live sheltered and scared!

 

If the fear of a accident ever strikes me, then I will be sure to sell my ride with gear, and hole up in a cave.

[RedRaptor22]

I ahve had friends killed, maimed in auto accidents, 1 on as city bus, 1 hurt in a mc crash. Also had a friend lose her house, husband, and 2 kids in a house fire. That was the worst. Lost my grandad to too much beer, had a friend die from a heart attack due to eating poorly, weight. Lost my dad and his sister to brain tumors.

 

Not to sound cold or heartless, life happens. Some good, some bad. I can choose to hole up in a corner somewhere and wait for the worst, or I can live my life to the fullest for me. Wearing full leathers, full face gear, and armored undies and gloves does not appeal to me. God forbid I leave my family and friends in a bad way, but far worse to live sheltered and scared!

 

 

Sure there is a 100% chance we're going to die someday so why try to put it off for later or preserve any sort of quality for the rest of that life? am I right? hell why wait if that's the case? lol

 

I mean I'm sure your friends and family know that absolutely the only way you can be truely free is wearing a dudewrag and muscle shirt so they would have absolutely no problem helping you dress your preventable defleshing wounds, or attending your needless funeral lol.

[wes0778]

Can be summed up; Dress for the SLIDE , not for the RIDE!!!

[wizard]

I'm surprised that riders will continue to ride with the fear they are going to crash and burn. Its no surprise that they are involved in regulating the ways we do ride.

[Guest seuadr]

I'm surprised that riders will continue to ride with the fear they are going to crash and burn. Its no surprise that they are involved in regulating the ways we do ride.

there is a difference between being aware of risks and riding in fear. there are probably lots of riders out there who do ride in fear, but i wear gear because i'm aware of what could happen, and i try to prepare for it in a simple and easy way. doesn't take much to slap on a helmet, some gloves, and boots (for me, anyhow).

[massey130]

there is a difference between being aware of risks and riding in fear. there are probably lots of riders out there who do ride in fear, but i wear gear because i'm aware of what could happen, and i try to prepare for it in a simple and easy way. doesn't take much to slap on a helmet, some gloves, and boots (for me, anyhow).

i agree in that i am aware of the risks and don't ride in fear. i wear gear cause of choices made by someone other than me. the action of one trickles through life to affect many others. i have my wife, 2 daughters, 4 grandchildren, brother and sisters and my Dad that would be effected if something were to happen to me while riding. some gear is good insurance for us and is easy.

 

Don't get me wrong, i have driven a crotch rocket in a T shirt, jeans and tennis shoes with my g/f on the back. it was fun and a good time. I have more at stake these days and with that realization, I choose to ride differently.

 

We each are our own captain when we hop on the scooter, so ride as you will.

thanks for listening to my side. please post yours so i can read how you ride.

[SilvrT]

please post yours so i can read how you ride.

 

First of all, I would NEVER ride without a helmet. That, to me, is the most important safety device available. I have been riding since 1968 and putting on a helmet is just second nature, not to mention that around here, it's the law and always has been.

 

The rest of the gear varies depending on time of year, weather, where I'm going and for how long, etc. I do not own chaps or leather pants and probably never will ... just don't see any real benefit other than a) looks b) additional protection. I own a good padded jacket and will wear it as long as it's not too hot. The only reason I have that jacket is it's super warm, dry, and wind resistant. Before that I wore thicker shirts and a leather jacket when temps were cold. I almost always wear a good pair of boots or stiff leather "hiking" style shoes.

[ddoggma]

I wear ATGATT, cause it makes sense to me. I do not feel as I'm missing anything by wearing my mesh Jacket and pants in the summer. Helmet, gloves and boots are just a must if your on a bike in IMHO. The other stuff is a option I guess. If I go out into the woods for a couple days I take a knife and a survival kit of some sort. Scuba, I wear the gear, Firing range, I wear the gear, welding I wear the gear. 800lb 2 wheeler...I wear the gear.