Ducati Monster Forum

Over the weekend one of our group crossed over the double yellow in a tight turn on Cherohalla Skyway and collided with 2 Honda Valkyries. What's not known is if he had already wiped out and was sliding over the lines or if he was still rolling when he crossed over.

Today he is in good spirits and lively. He has a tiny little bit of road rash on his knee and a little bit on his stomach. He was wearing kevlar pants, mesh jacket with armor, gloves, ankle high protective boots and a full face helmet. All of his gear did what it was supposed to do and prevented a lot more injury. He did suffer one serious injury, his left foot got tangled in the Valkyrie, his boot was pulled off and resulted in losing the front half of his foot. His ankle and heel are fine so he'll eventually be able to use a prosthetic and have full movement with his ankle. The only other injury was a small fracture in his right fibula.

So why am I posting all of this? The people he hit were only wearing open face helmet with t-shirts and all suffered a lot of road rash. Our friend's gear did everything it was supposed to do by protecting him in the slide and the impact with the road. If he'd had on higher riding boots, it actually may have been worse. If his foot hadn't tangled in the bike, he would've pretty much walked away from it bruised up with a fracture.

This is the shit I think about as I put on that mesh jacket that's hot as hell at a stand still along with a full face and leather gloves. As a result I also called my insurance company and bumped up the coverage on my bike as well as the liability coverage. Sure, it's gonna cost $30 more a month and I hope I never have to use it. I also found out that if you're at fault in the accident, the liability insurance doesn't cover your medical costs, that's an additional option. I'm waiting to hear back from my insurance company on how much more that will be.

I know this is the risks we take when we ride and most my friends dress for the slide, this is the first time I've been on a ride when it happened. So please be safe out there.

Dress for the level of risk you're willing to take.

+1

Another moral of the story is that you can be doing everything right and someone who cannot control their stuff will ruin your day. A cabbie in NYC, a soccer mom making a left turn or the masters of the universe... this.

+1
I was throw off my 1200GS on my way to my wedding when somebody made a left in front of me.still made it on time with just 3 stitches in my legs 'cause I was only wearing jeans.the armored jacket I had only cost me $100, $120 HTC full face and $35 leather gloves.now I have the matching pants to my jacket, the same model helmet and armored gloves.totally worth it. I find about once a week somebody on the road tries to run me over unless I'm on my huge touring Harley with straight pipes.

As I will be with out a bike for a while....I do have leathers for sale in the flea market.

Just saying.

A significant number of cagers tell me about some statistically insignificant horror story involving an acquaintance and a case of significant road rash.  "Motorcycles are death machines" is a common thread. Then a subset of motorcyclists always tell the rest of them that riding without gear is dangerous. Others say that modulating headlights would be better than a helmet.

I wonder how much safer motorcycling would be if guys stopped treating two way road rides as track days... or is that a statistically insignificant thought?

Another moral of the story: no one cares about you.

That too. Although I notice more Lack-of-paying-attention problems in my area that agressive driving/speeding.

I realised this was a big problem for me with "having fun" on the 900SS.  Had to be riding fast to enjoy it... otherwise it just wasn't the most comfortable bike.  It had a speed it liked to take each corner at... faster or slower just felt wrong, and made riding a chore.

Now I have the Gran Canyon.  Living and commuting in a National Scenic Area, on a comfortable bike... I can putz along with traffic and just enjoy the whole experience of being on the motorcycle.  It's quite comfortable at any speed from walking up to about 70-75 (then it's a bit buzzy and nervous).

That's why I'm wanting a bike for commuting and putzing. The S4R is great in the mountains but really does want to go fast all the time.

I'm all for some common sense...full face helmet more often than not..long pants at a minimum..and I myself usually sport a FF helmet and armored jacket..but it gets to the point of being ridiculous when I see ppl decked out in astronaut gear on a 110 degree day to go pick up a slim Jim at 7/11. If you're that terrified of getting hurt why did you choose motorcycling as a hobby...just my .02

And that's really just to say it's not for me. I keep the above opinion to myself for the most part and to each their own. But too many ATGATT types are ridiculously sanctimonious about it. Like has already been said dress for the level of risk you're personally willing to take on.

Buuuuut, they will be protected when they pass out and fall off from heat exhaustion.

Blind adherence to rules is stupid.

it's been hovering around 100 for about a week here

I wear full face helmet with a coolfabric baclava that keeps me cooler
full armored mesh jacket that i have to wear a liner underneat in the morning cause it's cold with the amount of airflow it gets
full armored perforated leather gloves (open my fingers and let the air go between them to cool off)
full amored vented leather boots with fabric inserts for venting.
and jeans at least.

am i hot, sure, is it unbearable. if i'm sitting at a light waiting for it to turn (which it never does do to those damn road triggers) sure.
but would i drop any piece that i have now, no.. but might add armored pants if i go backroad riding.

Blind adherence this is not... it's prudent planning... and far from stupid

No armored/kevlar pants for normal riding?  Are you modifying your risk mitigation plan based on the perceived risk you plan on taking?

at the current speeds in the area i ride, no chance for any sliding that would tear through a normal pair of jeans.

I rode daily for a few years in probably one of the hottest climates, Phoenix AZ. I rode in full gear every day.
Blind adherence? Uhhh, no, AZ doesn't even have a helmet law. But I can tell you the gear did it's job at 7am August 11th 2006 when I got hit by a semi...

WTH?!?

If I recall correctly, NAKID posted some pics of injuries from that... it wasn't pretty.

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I live in the middle of nowhere, so the proverbial "7/11" run is still 60 mph for at least 12 miles into the closest town, and there's either 1 mile or 5 miles of gravel, depending on which way I go.  I gear up completely... including the black leather Icon Automag overpants.  If it's too hot (north of 100 for me), I take the air conditioned cage.  I've biffed at ~7 mph off my mountain bike on gravel... picking rocks out of your bleeding palms is not fun.  :P  I figure doing 30-35 on the gravel is plenty fast enough to get seriously f*cked up.  And you never know if there will be some farm equipment trundling down the middle of the road on the other side of that hill you're cresting, or a farmer in his big dually pickup, or a semi hauling cattle... nevermind the deer and livestock themselves stepping out in front of you.

Anyway... like krolik stated, dress for the level of risk you're willing to take.  For me, in the area I live and rides I take, that means ATGATT, unless I'm just going the 1/4-mile up our own driveway to the mailbox.  If I'm hitting public roads, the risk is high enough it's either wear the gear or take the cage.

i always were all my gear. period.

i used to have about an hour commute 1 way, through VERY empty country, except slow moving farm implements and fast moving game.

these days i never commute to work....it's 4 miles, and takes longer to warm up the bike and put on the gear than the ride.

I was on my way to work on surface streets doing about 35 when a semi going the same direction turned into my path of travel. I was seriosly injured, but no amount of gear would have prevented that. What the rest of my gear did was prevent me from getting ANY other injuries besides the broken leg. I am convinced that had I not been wearing my OXTAR boots, I wouldn'd have a left lower leg. I would have at least lost my foot.

Glad it wasn't worse.

Nobody needs to justify how much gear they wear. But if someone is comfortable accepting the risks that go along with wearing nothing more than a helmet and jacket, that doesn't make em stupid. There are certainly squids out there that *are* stupid and misinformed, and people that will make ridiculous arguments that have no basis in reality such as helmets *increasing* your risk of injury ( [roll] ) but that's not who I'd ever defend. At the end of the day do whatever the hell you want as long as you're only putting yourself at risk and not spreading disinfo.

nor is it stupid or blind to wear gear in any type of weather

Yeah I'll agree...I guess it's just an urge I can't relate to. Cheers  [beer]

Just got back from a trip to the UK and unfortunately witnessed a motorcycle accident right in front of me. I was at a T-intersection, first car inline and was about to pull out when I saw a motorcycle approaching, so I waited for it and as it gets almost level with me a frikking BMW X3 coming the other ways turns right in front of it. The motorcyclist tried to swerve to avoid it, but clipped the back end very heavily. Turns out the rider was a 22 year old girl on her way to work. Fortunately she had full gear on and it saved her a lot of additional injuries, but it looks like she still broke her leg or seriously screwed up her knee. I did my part and made sure her family were contacted and also her work, and then held her hand until the ambulance came because she was in a lot of pain and very scared. Also made sure to give my statement to the police as the BMW driver did not seem to think it was their fault. Anyway, her gear sure did its job, no road rash and no head injuries.

Glad she came out okay, if a little worse for wear.  And THANK YOU for being an unselfish person, taking the time to help and provide comfort.  [thumbsup]

Just had CPR/AED/First Aid refresher training this week (I try to keep my Red Cross cert current).  They told us that 80% of people who witness a traumatic event do nothing, 10% do the wrong thing (unproductive/unhelpful... like screaming, getting in the way, etc), and only the remaining 10% do something helpful.  You sir, are apparently in the good 10%.

Good work, Greg.  [thumbsup]

As for gear, pretty sure I'd be dead if I hadn't been wearing my gear (especially my helmet) the night I bagged my deer. Or substantially more ugly.  ;)

Now that I think of it, the 4-year anniversary of that event is in two days. <shudder>  :-\

Her accident reminded me of mine own many years ago in college, when almost exactly the same thing happened, a car coming the other way turned across me and I went flying over the car. Without gear I'm sure I would have had a severe head injury, plus other cuts and abrasions, as it was I was lucky to escape with only a fractured wrist.

Gear works, but only if we choose to wear it.

To me wearing proper riding has been a long and slow learning process  ;D

Had my first motorcycle accident when I was in junior high 2d grade. I was on a 2 stroke 70cc yamaha as a passenger. My friend lost control and we fell. I wore shorts and the bike fell on top of me, and my inner right knee lay right on top of the exhaust. Today I still have a burn mark from that day on my right knee. Afterward, I never wear shorts when riding a motorcycle and always wear helmet cause it's mandatory here since 82 or 83.

Years later, I bought a sportster. When commuting I wore a Draggin jeans jacket, cruiser boots, gloves and half helmet  or an open face helmet. When I did long ride on weekends, I left the half helmet home and wore a dainese full face helmet. Then, years later I had an accident which torn my jeans, scuffed my boots, bruised my knees and gave the knees some road rash. Not a serious  injury but took about two weeks to heal. I didn't get a knee protector right away. It was after another accident on the way to the office, a slow speed fall, where I bruised my knees again that I finally bought knee protectors.  

Then I bought my Monster and joined this forum and learned about impact protection. So I bought jackets with impact protectors for the elbows and shoulders. I added a back protector later on, after a jerk on a bike almost hit me from behind, missed me by inches he still brushed my left hand though.

Then about two weeks ago I had an accident. This time I got some nice bruises on my left hip and upper thigh. Well, it's time time to protect the hips area I told myself. So I went to a dainese and alpinestars store here lookin for riding pants with hip protector. Unfortunately none sell riding pants with real hips protector, only pants with foam for the hips area, and they don't sell replacement protector either. So I decided to just buy from my favorite brand, Forcefield. I bought their action shorts and I think I'm going to wear it when ever I ride.

Well, that's my really long and slow process in learning about and understand the importance of wearing a proper riding gear.

My friend just got home from the hospital in Knoxville this evening. They closed his foot and everything is doing what it's supposed to so he was released.

i consistently tear through jeans falling up and down stairs... sitting on my couch.... sliding on the floor of my garage working on the bikes....
not sure what your jeans are made of, but you may be overestimating them.

you are probably right. first thing with my paycheck I'm buying kevlar khakis with the knee inserts to wear to work.

wasn't trying to be smart... i can't fault you. i wear jeans 9 out of 10 times i ride...
i tried the kevlar jeans thing, but it was like wearing a diaper... just felt so weird.
it seems like pants that are made for "both" riding and living in... well... just don't seem to work well.

i bought some revit airwave pants that i friggin love, but they just don't flex enough in the hip region for me when riding. they get very very uncomfortable.

Don't wear Levi's!  They are not as thick as they used to be.  I found a great pair of pants made by Kuhl Mountain Wear.  They are not a motorcycle pant but they are thicker than Cartharts and they have articulated knees.  Not to bad to ride in and roomy enough for some armor.   

When I can ride, it is ATGTT. I've got to. For my wife, my son, and my family and friends. I might be will to take the risk if it were just me, but not with a family.

my .02 cents