What gear have you wore in a get off?

[Fencer]

As the get off season approaches, and in light of Luvtoride's recent get off. She spoke of what she wore and how it held up. I would like to know first hand experience as to what worked or did not. Not hear say or I think Alpinestars is good and Joe Rocket sucks.

IIRC Gleno(RIP) did a 130 mph get off in an Aerostitch and it did the job very well. That is what I want to know about.

So post up on what Really works tried and true or what fell apart.

 

[Chips]

I had 2 get-offs in my Aerostich Roadcrafter and decided to replace it with another one. Not because it wasn't repairable but because I wanted a change of colors.

 

[madmike2]

When experiencing the "Cliff Diving" episode which totalled the '04:

FirstGear Meshtex jacket (which survived the crash and is worn in the summer)

FirstGear Air overpants (which survived the crash)

Teknic gloves w/ Kevlar knuckles (which I still wear)

Shoei RF 800 helmet (replaced, chin bar took a hit helmet and face shield were ground up)

Oxtar Matrix boots (which I still wear)

I slid on the dirt shoulder and went over the cliff about 15 feet, stopping face down in the gravel & rocks. Feet downhill, head uphill. I had a "strawberry" about the size of a silver dollar where my jacket and pants separated.

_________________________________________________

I have suffered a 15 mph low-side (front washed out on an unseen water trail in a left hand turn lane) where the leg zipper on Firstgear air overpants opened up. If it had been a longer slide (it was mostly on my "hinder parts", watching the bike from a 1/2 sit-up position) the pants would not have protected my left leg. In this same incident, there was a small friction burn in the left elbow of the Kilimanjaro II jacket and matching burn mark on my left elbow.

___________________________________________________

If I had the money, I'd go Kevlar. Leather is just too hot here in the Central Valley of CA., so are the Aerostitch suits when the air temps reach 100+ for days on end.

 

[dean]

the scene: 40 mph, left hand turn, something between being a sweeper and a hairpin; hit gravel in the road, slid about 100 feet; 92 fj1200 #1 and i landed on left hand side, i landed on my shoulder and slid mostly on my left side/stomach.

-shoei rf-900 helmet, minimal damage, but it hit the deck, so it had to go;

-technic violator II gloves, minimal damage;

-aerostich roadcrafter one-piece: damage/tear to "jacket" left-hand pocket and "pants" left-hand pocket; minor abrasion to left-hand shoulder; i had house keys in one pocket, and office keys, including a kubotan if memory serves, in another, which, i believe, is why both areas tore. i was lucky, that kubotan could have done something nasty to my innards. **note to group: keep as much stuff out of your pockets and off your body as possible. stick it in a tank bag, in your hard bags, whatever, but get it away from _you_**; sent it to aerostich, they said it was a total, gave me 10% off purchase of a new suit, which was paid for by progressive ($1000 max coverage for accessories);

-aerostich boots-may have gotten scuffed, but no damage. again, another reminder, after the head, what's the most common motorcycle injury? ankle injuries, whether it's from those nice little bones sticking out, or the way the ankle can bend about 100 different ways. wear good quality m/c boots that protect up past your ankle, and provide stiff support to prevent torquing.

i sustained no rash, and was able to ride the bike home without incident. my shoulder was sore, so i went to the e.r. just in case. showed up in a t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes. after filling out the paperwork, e.r. doc walks in with clipboard in hand, asks me what brings me in, i tell him i had a m/c accident a couple hours ago, hit the deck doing 40 mph, and slid down the road about 100 feet. i wish i had a camera to capture his reaction, he pretty much looked me up and down and just couldn't figure it out. i then told him i had a suit on, but my shoulder felt kinda sore. it turned out to be nothing.

get as much protection for those "pointy" parts of your body, because they will take the fall---elbows, shoulders, hips, knees.

hth...

 

[Toecutter]

In order to avoid a highjack, I've started another topic here.

For some more possible test subjects (since not that many here have high-speed crash experience), call Wayne Boyer at Cylcleport and ask him for some referrals of experienced get-offers, both before and after they bought his stuff.

 

[exskibum]

Last get-off was in 1977 coming down the hill from the Rocketdyne Test Labs in the Santa Suzanna mountains on the way home from my first desk job.

Motorcycle:

1975 Kawasaki Z1 900.

Gear:

laced black dress shoes

very heavy down ski jacket

deerskin leather work gloves

navy blue polyester slacks

Shoei full face helmet

The incident:

Relatively low speed low side. I could blame sand, but it was more likely the result of an almost bald front tire. (Lots of stupidity in this one.) Got separated from the bike, slid on my ass along the pavement, over the asphalt curb, under the guardrail, where I managed to avoid going down a riprapped slope when my left arm went around the guardrail support just as I was coming to a stop from the braking friction I was applying to the ground with my butt.

Gear performance was less than satisfactory. Helmet never contacted pavement, hole was worn through one shoe (both of which stayed on), jacket rode up my back some but was not badly damaged. BUT . . . the polyester slacks probably only lasted 10 or 12 inches before it was bare ass on asphalt and up and over curb. Enjoyed the hell out of the daily debriding of my ass and lower back by my ex with a brush and Physoderm for the next two weeks or so.

The curb that took the last bite out of my ass was good to my bike, though. Best I could figure, its rear tire hit the curb, which kicked it back up on its wheels with the rear end first, as the left grip skidded down the middle of the guard rail, leaving a black skidmark down it until the bike came to a stop. I got up to find my bike at a stop, leaning on the guardrail and facing the direction from which I had come.

I started wearing a better class of gear after that.

 

[Silver Penguin]

So post up on what Really works tried and true or what fell apart.

I speak on behalf my my dearly beloved, who tested his gear to the ultimate in an Evel Knievel type stunt on the freeway.

Bell FF helmet gave it's all, with a flat patch ground onto the back. No head injury.

First Gear top-of-the-range jacket did the job admirably. Would have been re-used except that it was cut off by the medics.

Joe Rocket armored leather pants. As above.

Sidi boots got a slight scuff and are still in daily use. No foot or ankle injury.

Held leather gloves scuffed, but usable. Small cut on one finger.

Work shirt and pants trashed when cut off.

Anyone who doesn't subscribe to all-the-gear-all-the-time is welcome to visit our trash bag full of the above. This is pretty much what we each wear for every ride. During the fated commute, the above gear was without doubt, a lifesaver.

Jill

 

[Toecutter]

Found this, here:

wBW Visitor "J.L." writes: "Was browsing my bookmarks dealing with fractured rib pain and came upon your recent review of Held gloves. If I may, I'd like to recount the extraordinary quality of this manufacturer along with two others. If I had not been wearing any of these components, the damage to my body would have been considerably worse.
The result was from a panic high side in the dark. I was wearing an Arai Astral, Triumph Stealth jacket and Held racing gloves. The Arai was ground down to raw fiberglass in three places. Had it not been a full face design, my ear and back of my head would have been toast.

The jacket was hard CE95 armored in the shoulders and elbows. It was pretty raw and had to be cut off me. I landed on my helmet first then right shoulder. The armor kept the injury to a minimal clavicle fracture. The big thing is the gloves. The studs on the palm were ripped away, but had they not been there, the leather would not have held.

I'm rebuilding and selling the sportbike, but am keeping the VTX1800 for my wife and I as a cruiser. Neither of us will even consider it now without full face helmets, Held gloves and jackets with "hard" armor. So many of the jacket mfgs use a "soft" armor, which I guess is ok, but the harder stuff is just as comfortable.

Anyway, thanks for putting up with my lengthy story, but had to relate what good equipment can do to keep the injuries down. Keep up the great work." Thanks for your comments, J.L. -- glad to hear that you're ok thanks to protective gear!

 

[Checkswrecks]

A local rider hit a little pooch at about 92 mph and was wearing what I have, FirstGear Kilimanjaro jacket and HT Overpants. Other than the rib breaks attributed to hitting a mailbox post (ouch!), he slid a loooong way and had no injuries beyond a couple of small raspberries. The jacket abraded through the outer layer at the top of a shoulder blade area and at the spine pad, and the cuff of the right sleeve was losing stitches and probably would have opened before too much more, but from 92 mph, it did it's job. I've seen leather fare about the same or worse (due to burst stitching). I like FirstGear a lot, but am looking for input from you folks on some lighter leg protection for when it's hot and muggy in the DC area.

Bob

 

[rammer9460]

Since my hitting an Antilope at 60-65 MPH with a Goldwing on 8-4-06, I've learned a few things.

1. Gear only works if you wear it! We were 30 miles from where we were going to stop for the day. What could go wrong now.. I had taken off my HJC flip face helmet and had my gloves in my lap under my thigh. I now have a nice patch of road rash on the side of my head and 2 small areas on my wrist. My head hit the road and I'm thankfull every day to be alive!!

2. My first generation First Gear Mesh-tex jacket did a great job! It saved the rest of my upper body. It scuffed up pretty bad on the sides and shoulder area. I have held onto the jacket to remind me of atgatt! I replaced it with a Cortech GX.

3. Blue jeans offer about a 1/2 a second of protection. I had a nice pair of Joe Rocket armored overpants in the trailer! Like above, we were so close, what could go wrong.. My legs weren't all that pretty before the crash, so I guess a few more dark purple scars don't matter. I now wear either the Joe Rocket mesh overpants or the Tour Master Venture overpants.

4. I had on a pair of Danner gore-tex and black nylon cop/work boots. I must have slammed my foot into the road pretty hard, by the time I got to the hospital the nail of my big toe was black and throbbing. I still wear boots but have switched to Oxtar, a style without laces.

5. I am very lucky. Things could have been worse. I shouldn't have removed the gear I had been using for the previous 580 miles just because we were close to the end!

ATGATT,

Erik

 

[05fjrBluedevil]

recent slide after finishing ohio sunday ride;

bike slide around 250 yards, me maybe 75-100, tecnic lether jacket, scraped up, but still wearable, padding /armor did okay. left elbow, forearm took the hit, but they are fine...

jow rocket mesh pants, took the hit on the left hip, did not tear, hip sore but okay.

oxtar boots scuffed up but okay...... feet ok..

helmet, may have taken a slight bounch effect hit on lower left area below cheek but looks fine....

gloves had a plastic knuckle gaurd, took a hit and scratched but okay....

 

[otrfjr]

Minor incident, but still confidence shaking. Riding the ex-SO's 250 Ninja, went around a corner at about 20 mph (done it plenty of times before), next thing I know I sliding on my right side. Had on an AGV mesh jacket that took most of the abrasion (very smooth asphalt) & shock on the shoulder & elbow pads. No tearing and minor fraying of the mesh. Some bruising on the shoulder & ribs. Wearing jeans & a healthy bruise on my hip (stupid stupid stupid). Also wearing a Z1R Strike helmet (that I purchased for around town because of this test: clicky). Just purchased the $40 mirrored face shield for it & scratched the bejesus out of it. Retired the helmet after that.

 

[otrfjr]

Question about helmets after getoffs: do folks retire them? I remember reading/hearing a long time ago that after any incident that might cause unseen cracks or damage to the foam padding beneath the shell you should get a new lid. After dropping my Z1R (letting it roll off the seat) about 4 times & then getting off with it on (heh heh heh: i got off but was wearing a helmet), I figured better safe than sorry. Just curious about what other folks do.

 

[quicksilver]

1. Shoei helmet. I got a concusion at relatively low speed.

I think Motorcyclist magazine's "Blowing the Lid Off" was right on the bullseye.

Snell helmets are too hard. I still like it cause it fits me, stays cool, and build quality. +1

A hard helmet that I will wear everytime is better than a softer helmet I won't.

2. HJC armored jacket. Took a beating, but it is still my primary jacket. +5

3. 1st Gear armored overpants. Split at the seams. I repaired best I could and still use. -1

4. 1st Gear gloves. a couple seams opened slightly but gave good protection. +/-0

5. Oxtar boots. Took the worst of the slide. They have lots of charater now, but I still wear them. +10

I'll buy this brand again.

6. R&G slidders. Kept the damage mostly cosmetic. +50

(from the photo above, I'll bet Mikey agrees)

PS - Helmet got stickers until I could save up for a new one for xmas.

Then it was retired to nonwife passenger status.

 

[ionbeam]

In '95 I was traveling at a blistering 5-10 mph on my V-Max, being cautious(!), water, tar-snakes and white paint conspired to put me down on a 90º corner while turning into the driveway of my company. I was fortunate enough to fall in front of at least 100 people looking out the café window.

Face planted my Shoei, fractured the chin bar, tore the vents off and smeared the face shield. Moderate concussion and some damage to the inside of my lips. The first thing I remember post face plant was saying to someone, "Who the phuck cares who the president is or what day it is." No idea what happened previous to that or who the people were that I was talking to. I didn't notice that my bike was already gone from the scene until a couple of hours later when the cob webs started clearing. I replaced my Shoei with a better Shoei helmet. I kept the smashed Shoei to show my no helmet and open face helmet friends.

I was wearing a quality leather coat with soft armor on most of the contact points. The left arm was scuffed from the cuff up to my shoulder and down over my back to the shoulder blade. No other damage to the coat, the seams held, the zippers held. I was to find out later that my left elbow was broken in spite of the soft armor, and some connective items in my left wrist tore. The coat soldiered on for several more years until it suddenly shrank and I couldn't get it to zip anymore

Hands were in deer skin riding gloves, no armor. The left glove leather was ripped on the knuckles and scuffed as well as ripped on the palm, some of the seams were split but I only had a very minor raspberry on the back of my hand. The right glove had the heel of the hand ripped out and my right wrist was broken right where the glove ripped. I've ridden with heavy leather gloves with padding on all the common contact points until recently, now I'm shopping for armored replacements.

I was wearing a full riding suit under my leather coat (it was pretty cold and wet). The area where the right front pocket is had a silver dollar size hole but no damage to me.

My boots were extreme duty Dunham work boots that went up the calves of my legs with very thick leather, steel toes and shanks. Because they were artic duty boots they also had very thick walls due to insulation. I tore out the side of one boot from the toe to mid foot, all the way through but there was no damage to me.

The throttle on Mad Max must have stuck open because it slid off the edge of the road whereupon the tire got traction just as the right side peg caught in a hole which catapulted the bike down the driveway. When this happened the frame mounted crash bar not only broke the frame but tore out the engine mounts on that side too. It's so good to have so many witnesses to recount what happened when you can't remember a thing.

I can't imagine how much more mayhem and destruction could have been done at such a slow speed. Let me tell you it is possible to have a significant crash at low speeds. I had a rotational accident, one where the bike rotated over (low side) which imparted a lot of acceleration to me, and body slammed me in a major way. Had I been going faster I probably would have slid instead of getting slammed.

Tally:

Shoei totaled

Leather coat buffed but unharmed

Gloves – deer skin riding gloves, lined but no padding or armor - totaled

Riding suit from days before current quality materials, holed

Boots – one destroyed, one unharmed

Mad Max totaled

Me – concussion, broken left elbow, torn ligaments in the left wrist, broken right wrist and cuts to the inside of my mouth

Today:

Arai Quantum bucket

Gaerne boots

Hein Gericke mesh pants and coat for warm weather

MSR gloves and ??? brand leather gauntlet touring gloves

Custom made Kevlar touring coat for cold weather

C.E. spec protectors everywhere

Draggin jeans & shirt that are often worn under my mesh

ATGATT -- words to live by

 

[Spedboy]

Six years ago. Route 13 between Caz and Chit in CNY. Riding FJ600 late in the evening.

Bell Sprint full face helmet. (total loss.)

First Gear Kenya jacket. (still in use.)

Generic Leather Chaps. (still in use.)

Generic Leather Gloves. (meh.)

RedWings 2218 Logger boot. (still in use)

Stupid. Outran my headlight. 40 mph get-off. Slid down the shoulder for a while. Only bruised from hitting the road.

 

[RonBB]

Get off short version, looked in the rear view mirror an instant too long on a chip/seal road in a mild 85 mph curve while going 55 mph. Looked back in time to see front wheel drop off into loose pea sized gravel: One high side followed by two end over end flips while staying on the FJR. Ended up in a patch of poison ivy 92 ft. off of the road. Four broken ribs, one broken collar bone, same side. Out for about 10 minutes. 6 days in hospital, two chest tubes, at about 6 months out still in physical Therapy. FJR totaled. Photos clicky

Forum accident thread clicky

Gear wearing at the time of the accident:

Nolan Flip helmet-survived intact, with scratches plan to get another; First Gear Kilimanjaro Jacket, cutoff by medics, thought it provided good protection bought another; Leather jeans, not sure of brand but were heavy duty, plan to get another pair. Seat was cut while sliding backwards on ground. Light weight fabric gloves. Diadora boots survived intact with scratches but slid through the poison ivy so will probably retire them & get a new pair. Found poison ivy leaves in all my clothes-poison ivy cure. "Zanfel" over the counter, about $18 but one application got rid of over 90% of the poison ivy very quickly. Good Stuff! Highly recommend. I was on my way to SFO otherwise probably would not have had all the gear on. From now on I will wear all the gear, all the time. Ron

 

[BeeLine]

Always had full leathers on when I've crashed. Broke bones but never a rash with leather, however it feels like your sitting on a stove when you slide at 100+

On the street I always wear leather pants with armor/padding (keep a change of cloths in the saddle bag when commuting). On top it's leather in the summer and textile with armor in the winter.

I read in a motorcycle mag that heavy fiberglass SNELL approved helmets are designed to take multiple impacts that a roll cage would inflict in a race car crash. Not necessarily the best protection in a motorcycle crash.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

first gear kilamanjaro air jacket

First gear mesh tex pants

timberline work boots

Scorpion EXO 700 Helmet

BMW GS summer gloves

25mph lowside onto sand covered tar from DRZ400SM

slid about 20 feet and went into a ditch

No abrasions, not serious injuries other than sprained/slight break on left wrist

Gear did the job and you can't tell anything happened by looking at it (or more importantly, me)

My DRZ is scratched up though.