Mike's Cycleport Gear - Mike's KLR

[OrangevaleFJR]

Starting with the gear, the dirt ground into the gear indicates to me an initial impact on his front side based on that being the only sign of any abrasion, but a slide on his back, head first came next. There is a lot of dirt on the back and on the pants under where the coat would have been. There is ground in dirt on the front pocket and a tiny rip in seam for the elastic material toward the inside of the leg. This did not get past the kevlar underneath and looking in close up, I could not find anywhere on the garments that showed the mesh was scratched at all. My guess is this is tough material. Really tough.

I do not have Mike's helmet, but I have his visor. Obviously, the right side of the head slid along the ground a bit.

Back of his coat

Front

Cuts are from paramedics, notice top right pocket flap (as you wear it). This is the only part of the jacket that hints at abrasion.

Pants front

seam snag (yellow paint on this)

rear of pants

Jacket Pads showed some dirt, and were ruffled a tiny bit by the hits.

Back pad

Chest pads

arms

Pant pads...nothing much here

Now the bike:

Left side case

Topcase base, notice scratches from upside down slide on rack

Bent handlebars went into tank, broken clutch lever, missing hand guard, broken choke lever

Broken windshield, good shot of handlebar bend

Crash bar weld broken, plate to frame bent, engine fine

Front fairing bracket bent - scratches top of instruments, top of indicator...this bike was clearly upsidedown

scratches top of fender, top of fairing

Rearset bent in with sidecase rack, chain guard bent out of way

IMO and I am no crash expert - I crashed my DRZ 400 and had no where near the damage although my bike slid upside down too. I crashed at 25 mph. I know the KLR is heavier than the DRZ, so while I would expect more damage for the same speed of crash on the KLR, I think the speed was North of 25. This is important to know the force that the gear took. The only discernable damage to the gear looks more like a snag that anything and didn't get completely past the seam. Clearly, the Cycleport gear did it's job and did it well. There wasn't a scratch on Mike.

How did the armor work? Well, Mike hit his head hard enough to put a hole through the helmet. He slid into a guard rail pretty darn fast and the Doctors seemed split on whether there were ribs broken or not. They finally decided there were some hairline fractures of ribs. Not bad considering the aparent speed that Mike took into a guard rail. There were no cuts, or breaks to his elbows, back, anywhere. The scapula was fractured, but not badly and again, it seems like it could have been, or even should have been worse. IMO Cycleport has proven its value. Mike, after two days was looking so much better. I'm glad to see him recovering so fast. I want to thank Wayne and Cycleport for making a product that IMO saved Mike from much worse injury.

I will be buying Cycleport gear.

Customer service note, I called Wayne and he called back the next day and worked with me to let me know how to get the gear back to him for evaluation and possible repair.Thanks for your help Wayne!

Shoei helmets? I am also glad Mike was wearing a good full face helmet. All around, we have an ATGATT success story. Wearing shorts, a t-shirt and birkenstocks in this accident could have proven fatal (yes, I saw a rider wearing this gear this summer).

 

[painman]

Good job Andrew. The bike looks to have taken a good bit of the crash force which might have been a good thing for Mike if in fact he was on the bike when it went down. I had pm'd Mike a few days before his ride and he gave me his opinion on the gear and it was right in line with my feelings on why someone should wear this much protection and his get-off just proved his reasoning as why he had bought the gear. But just wish he didn't have to go out and prove it! We have a current lose of employment in our household so my getting the gear is on hold but believe me I will be buying the Cycle Port gear as well when that problem is remedied. But I had made that decession when at WFO-6 when I attended the seminar put on by Wayne Boyer. There is nothing on the market that will take the abuse of the Kevlar material. You can't rip a single thread of this stuff and I had a piece of the material in my hand that had been cut and you couldn't pull the cut open any further if you tried. I don't want to be the salesman here but facts are facts. Thanks for what you did here for us and what you did for Mike. Take care bro. and be careful on the DRZ will ya, too many wrecks going on. Del. <><

 

[Bluestreek]

The area where the accident took place I was going about 50ish and Mike was behind me. I didn't see him, but can only guess he was going as fast or slower.

 

[KSFJR]

Man, how fortunate to have been wearing the protective gear. Were he to have been in squidly attire the outcome would have been horrendous.

Heal fast and ride soon. And quit abusing those KLR's. They aren't that tough.

Chester

 

[Murph]

Thanks for posting! Better than any advertisement. Although I wear all of the gear 99% of the time, I have been guilty in the past of not completely covering up (though never shorts and birkenstocks) ... this post will give more ammo to that little voice in my head that stops me when I say "I'm just riding around the corner."

 

[mdisher]

I'm betting insurance will total that...

Heal up Mike! Just because your an AGATT advocate didn't mean you had to prove it to us

-MD

 

[Barabus]

My guess is that the bike is totalled too. With 15,xxx miles on the odometer and in view of the relatively inexpensive purchase price vs relatively high repair prices. Good chance for MM2 to have a salvage title. Thanks for the nice photo report Andrew.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Thanks for posting! Better than any advertisement. Although I wear all of the gear 99% of the time, I have been guilty in the past of not completely covering up (though never shorts and birkenstocks) ... this post will give more ammo to that little voice in my head that stops me when I say "I'm just riding around the corner."

If you want more ammunition, you might want to talk to Scab about his get off. He's ATGATT now.

 

[Mike-H]

Thanks for posting! Better than any advertisement. Although I wear all of the gear 99% of the time, I have been guilty in the past of not completely covering up (though never shorts and birkenstocks) ... this post will give more ammo to that little voice in my head that stops me when I say "I'm just riding around the corner."

If you want more ammunition, you might want to talk to Scab about his get off. He's ATGATT now.

So orangey.....how do we convince you to put away your tank top g-string bathing suit & flip-flops? :grin: .....

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Thanks for posting! Better than any advertisement. Although I wear all of the gear 99% of the time, I have been guilty in the past of not completely covering up (though never shorts and birkenstocks) ... this post will give more ammo to that little voice in my head that stops me when I say "I'm just riding around the corner."

If you want more ammunition, you might want to talk to Scab about his get off. He's ATGATT now.

So orangey.....how do we convince you to put away your tank top g-string bathing suit & flip-flops? :grin: .....

Ride free or die man

 

[Scab]

If you want more ammunition, you might want to talk to Scab about his get off. He's ATGATT now.

Just come to EOM. I'll show you my scars and tell you all the horror stories.

But, yep, I got the gear on now. I got a new jacket in the mail yesterday.

 

[twowheelnut]

My guess is that the bike is totalled too. With 15,xxx miles on the odometer and in view of the relatively inexpensive purchase price vs relatively high repair prices. Good chance for MM2 to have a salvage title. Thanks for the nice photo report Andrew.

Meh, I wouldn't even run a claim. Really, there ain't much there that really needs replacing... a torch, hammer and a few eBay items and he's good to go.

 

[Barabus]

My guess is that the bike is totalled too. With 15,xxx miles on the odometer and in view of the relatively inexpensive purchase price vs relatively high repair prices. Good chance for MM2 to have a salvage title. Thanks for the nice photo report Andrew.

Meh, I wouldn't even run a claim. Really, there ain't much there that really needs replacing... a torch, hammer and a few eBay items and he's good to go.

Wait until I get there with the camera for when you take the "torch and hammer" to the gas tank! LOL!

Picture of TWN going up in flames-

 

[twowheelnut]

:lol: The tank dent adds a bit of sexiness to that beast. I'd leave it.

 

[Mike-H]

Thanks for posting! Better than any advertisement. Although I wear all of the gear 99% of the time, I have been guilty in the past of not completely covering up (though never shorts and birkenstocks) ... this post will give more ammo to that little voice in my head that stops me when I say "I'm just riding around the corner."

If you want more ammunition, you might want to talk to Scab about his get off. He's ATGATT now.

So orangey.....how do we convince you to put away your tank top g-string bathing suit & flip-flops? :grin: .....

Sorry Orange....I forgot to mention the dew rag instead of a helmet.....

Ride free or die man

 

[Mike-H]

:lol: The tank dent adds a bit of sexiness to that beast. I'd leave it.

Dent & sexiness.....me thinks MM2's family jewels must be havin a tough time with that :dribble: ......

 

[Bluestreek]

My guess is that the bike is totalled too. With 15,xxx miles on the odometer and in view of the relatively inexpensive purchase price vs relatively high repair prices. Good chance for MM2 to have a salvage title. Thanks for the nice photo report Andrew.

Meh, I wouldn't even run a claim. Really, there ain't much there that really needs replacing... a torch, hammer and a few eBay items and he's good to go.

Wait until I get there with the camera for when you take the "torch and hammer" to the gas tank! LOL!

Picture of TWN going up in flames-

Thats what I call getting flamed :blink:

 

[Silver Penguin]

So orangey.....how do we convince you to put away your tank top g-string bathing suit & flip-flops? :grin: .....

ALL the gear....... He just wears the tank top, g-string and flipflops UNDER the riding gear.

Great job with the photos and narrative. If anyone hasn't got the message about gear yet, that would surely convince them.

Jill

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Thanks for posting! Better than any advertisement. Although I wear all of the gear 99% of the time, I have been guilty in the past of not completely covering up (though never shorts and birkenstocks) ... this post will give more ammo to that little voice in my head that stops me when I say "I'm just riding around the corner."

If you want more ammunition, you might want to talk to Scab about his get off. He's ATGATT now.

So orangey.....how do we convince you to put away your tank top g-string bathing suit & flip-flops? :grin: .....

Sorry Orange....I forgot to mention the dew rag instead of a helmet.....

Ride free or die man

I don't need a dew rag, I have hair :lol: