Here's your lecture about proper riding gear.

[Steve.In.Atlanta]

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.

[krolik]

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.

[Lucumon]

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.

[lpgoldtop]

+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.

[spolic]

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

Just saying.

[Lucumon]

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.

[lpgoldtop]

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?

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

[duc_fan]

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?

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).

[Steve.In.Atlanta]

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.

[Rudemouthsky]

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.

[Lucumon]

ppl decked out in astronaut gear on a 110 degree day

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

Blind adherence to rules is stupid.

[Raux]

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

[Lucumon]

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?

[Raux]

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

[NAKID]

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...