Why do so few Riders wear riding pants or leathers?

[OhioFJR1300]

Ever seen jimmy page play guitar and smoke at the same time?

Yep, say Led Zep in concert several times and Jimmy can play and smoke at the same time, and he does it quite well. :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

[05fjrBluedevil]

Actually, man talk about people getting upset :lol:

It did at least get a lot of replies so you much have touched a nerve with a lot of folks, maybe they feel guilty or maybe they feel poor because they can not afford the best gear.

We never know what will happen and when it will happen!

I for one wear what I have, keep the bags on the bike fully loaded, do not get 40+ miles a gallon as i'm hauling a--, and liking it!

So with each choice we riders all make, we accept the liabilities for our own actions.

Last year going to EOM, all I had was non riding gloves, a mesh jacket-yes it was cool, so wasn't good for the climate, no riding pants. non riding boots etc.

I saw what people had and then what I liked I purchased after returning home.

I'll do the same this year!!!!!!!!!

I am sure if money was no object, everyone would have the perfect gear for everytime we ride.

My thoughts are when it is your time, no matter what time that is, broken parts a box etc, or you make a choice to twist the throttle to pass when you sholdn't have and sometihng you thought might happen does than it was a choice you made.

So that said on the way to work, sometimes I wear all the gear sometimes I don't!

kind of like some times you feel like a nut some times you dont.

Man I need to go get a candy bar!!!!!!!!! :lol:

 

[Geezer]

It is another example of how little value there is in quoting statistics. This 5% statistic is just as valid as the statistics you quoted at the top of the thread. lol

Geezer I disagree. Statistics are very helpful...well except for the 40% that are made up on the spot.

I argree that statistics are valuable, if you understand how they were collected and how the variables were controlled or otherwise accounted for. My point was, as others have said or implied, statistics are only valuable when created and applied correctly.

 

[DeadBank]

Figures lie and liars figure.

 

[MotorSWATCop]

Jesus....lighten up Francis! :blink: mesh pants rubbed my legs raw. I prolly could've gotten the same affect by just crashing. :lol:

SGT Hulka Rocks! Best part of this thread.

 

[RonBB]

For me personally the decision of what to wear while riding generally comes down to the temperature. I always wear a helment (unless going to the neighbors two houses down at a max speed of 20 mph). Generally I wear much better protection in the Fall, Spring, & Winter. Taking a chance sometimes? Certainly, we all do each time we move either walking, running, flying in a plane, riding a bicycle, or a motorcycle, or driving a car. Like someone above said, It's about where you draw the line on risk and it seems different for all of us. One thing that the 05 FJR did was show me that there was a good reason to wear long pants even if I didn't go down! So even heat issues can be a good thing sometimes. Let's all ride safe & in our comfort zone. Ron

 

[zzkenoman]

I started wearing full gear after a couple of accidents. Replaying them in your mind and feeling the impact, will do wonders finding as much protection for the next asphalt adventure.

 

[NightShine]

above 90? forget it. Just too hot to wear overpants AND jeans. Tried the "shorts under the riding pants" thing. Uh uh. The inside of the mesh pants rubbed my legs raw. I prolly could've gotten the same affect by just crashing. :lol:

Hi, Randy!You just need better equipment. I toured up through Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana during a heat wave last July (temps above 105). I beat the heat by wearing shorts under my Cycleport kevlar mesh pants. These pants have a lining under the mesh, so they were very comfortable with shorts. The only problem I had was with the mesh pants off. Black motorcycle boots with shorts make quite the fashon statement.

 

[bmac]

Next, I did a little reasearch on the subject, and according to the Motorcycle council of NSW;Most riders wear a motorcycle jacket (97%) but fewer wear motorcycle pants (45%). This is despite the fact there is actually far more risk of injury to the legs than to the upper body or arms. Four out of five motorcycle casualties (81%) have injured their legs and a third have broken bones (32%). Arm injuries are less common (56%) and less likely to involve fractures (17%)".

https://www.roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au/a/88.html

My real world experience tells me there is not a chance in hell that those stats are accurate for the US. There is no way that 97% of riders wear a motorcycle jacket. In the Midwest the vast majority of Harley riders do not wear helmets and they do not wear jackets and Harley has what, 50% of the market (a pure guess). A large percentage of young riders wear practically nothing. If those numbers are wrong how do we know the rest are any good?

 

[DocDanDC]

I wear full protective gear so much that I feel uncomfortable without it. I also have use summer heat gear and winter cold gear. It just makes sense with the inherent risks of riding. All the gear is comfortable and I dont get scratches on the Tank and Plastic parts like I would with metal zippers and buttons on regular clothes. I just like really good reliable gear. B)

 

[Bearly Flying]

Interesting NEW stastictic, 100% of the people who got hit by a Bus and killed, got out of bed and left their house.

So if everybody stayed in bed, We would save millions of lives......

I remember a post a while ago about the poor fellow that was killed by lightening while riding on the freeway, Good thing he was wearing his helmet.

Yes it's a good thing to wear protective gear,but if you go thru life obsessing about all the dangers out there.... YOU... better stay in bed.....

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Interesting NEW stastictic, 100% of the people who got hit by a Bus and killed, got out of bed and left their house.
So if everybody stayed in bed, We would save millions of lives......

Naaa bearly.. everyone knows if we all had loud pipes we'd save lotsa lives...if everyone had them we could save the planet !

 

[chornbe]

Interesting NEW stastictic, 100% of the people who got hit by a Bus and killed, got out of bed and left their house.

So if everybody stayed in bed, We would save millions of lives......

Naaa bearly.. everyone knows if we all had loud pipes we'd save lotsa lives...if everyone had them we could save the planet !

Funny, I was *just* thinking of pulling the pipes off my V-Twin cruiser and going out saving some lives tomorrow at about 4am. That's *gotta* be better than doing it during the work day because more people will be home to hear me saving them... right? RIGHT? :bleh:

 

[afterburn]

Yes it's a good thing to wear protective gear,but if you go thru life obsessing about all the dangers out there.... YOU... better stay in bed.....

If you stay in bed, better hope the roof don't come down!

ATGATT for me, it's just second nature. Eventhough I have had bleeders, rash and broken bones while wearing them. Gear doesn't really protect, it just limits the severity of the injuries.

 

[BMort]

I wear protective gear 100% of the time. Some may think I obsess about safety but I figure the cage that may hit me doesn't give a damn about whether it's 98 degrees or 50 degrees. Wear the right gear and you can make a very good arguement that you are more comfortable with the gear on than when you wear a tshirt and have the sum beating down on you. Motoport gear is excelleent in both hot and cold weather.

I'm not a very talented ride but I sure am a safe rider. I study and read all the safety articles and topics and I know how to ride safe but I'm sure not naive enough to think it will never happen to me. You are asking for trouble if you really believe you can ride safe enough to avoid all accidents. I can avoid about as many as anyone else-don't drink and drive, don't ride beynd my skill level etc, but it can still happen to me. If it does, I want to give my body every available chance to remain intact with no road rash so I wear the gear and let my friends complain about the heat to to the point they ride with no gear or don't ride at all because it's too hot. It's never too hot or too cold for me not to ride. I like to think that me riding 15k-17k miles per year with all my gear on makes me more comfortable than the guys who complain about the heat or cold and hardly ever ride.

Here's a site that may (or not) change some minds about the necessity of safety gear. I would guess most all of these riders (at least the ones that survived) would wear all their gear on their fatefull day if they new this was the day they would crash.

https://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/bike.htm

Obviously I don't know which day my luck will run out so I therefore wear my gear every day just in case...and I'm totally comfortable doing it, even in 100 degrees. Eveyone should make their own (intelligent) decision.

BMort

 

[evil_henchman]

The obvious solution is just say no to crashing :blink:

My FJR is my daily driver, to work, to the store, to the bar , whatever. I'm not about to change clothes coming and going everywhere I go and there's more than a few places where full riding gear is just plain inappropriate. Living where I do in California's central valley, crashing because of passing out from the heat is far more likely than crashing for any other reason given my own personal statistics (the only ones I give a shit about). I've tried the kevlar jeans and they chafe as bad as mesh pants which, by the way, I think are a joke as far as protection goes. I just ordered some Joe Rocket Ballistic pants for the long distance high speed rides. Hopefully they'll fit better than every other set of riding pants I've tried. I actually bought them more for use in the dirt since that's where I do all my crashing. I have yet to have the road turn into a belt sander, knock knock.

 

[Silver Penguin]

I'm short and not terribly thin, so fitting is iffy.

LOL! That sounds familiar. I found First Gear Pants to be very forgiving in the fit dept, and not too pricey either.

Here is the ortho surgeons's word on protective gear; with intact skin, he can operate on the broken bones within hours of the accident. Internal hardware is applied and the healing begins immediately. DH's 16" rod inside his femur was inserted using just three, half inch incisions. He is walking well now, and able to throw his leg over a bike.

Had he not been wearing the leathers, the rod could not have been inserted due to risk for infection. Instead, the bone would be secured with an external fixator. Not for the squeamish, the erector-set scaffolding sits on the outside with screws into the bone, above and below the fracture. When that is all healed THEN the internal stuff can begin, some 6m or so down the road.

We're talking around 9mths recovery versus 3months here. Plus the ick factor and discomfort of an external fixator over an open wound.

Of course, the choice of wearing shorts versus leathers while riding does rest with the rider.

Jill

 

[Silver Penguin]

https://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/bike.htm

WOW is that site graphic! I've seen some pretty gross stuff and those pictures opened my eyes. For anyone contemplating a clicky on the link, save it for when the kids aren't in the room. Definitely NWS!

There's one photo of a guy who landed butt first on a fence post....... the picture cannot possibly tell how much that poor man hurt.

Jill

 

[BMort]

I figure with safe riding techniques and riding as defensively as anyone, I can probably avoid about 3/4 of all accidents. The other 1/4 would be almost impossible to avoid-deer, the car that comes out of a totally blind driveway etc. For those reasons I ride always with the gear. I firmly believe the problem with most motorcycle gear comfort levels lies in the fact that most of the heavy duty protective gear is made to be and advertised as "waterproof". I wear Motorport cordura jacket and pants and they are not waterproof. That's exactly the way I want it. If it's waterproof there is NO WAY it will breathe as well as nonwaterproof jackets. In the heat I want all the air flow I can get. For the 10% of the time it rains I just throw on a Frogg Togg outfit over the top.

When I'm wearing the Motorport outfit and riding with my wife and friends with their "waterproof" First Gear or Aerostitch or whatever , all I hear them do is complain about the heat when it's 90 or above. I'm not saying I'm sitting in air conditioned air flow, but I'm apparently a lot more comfortable because there has never been a day when it was too hot for me to ride (with my gear on). Their advertisements insist you will be more comfortable riding with their gear on than if you wore only a tshirt and I am living proof it works for me. I'm certain there are other companies out there making good gear that is not waterproof. I would hope some of you guys that find the waterproof stuff too warm would give the nonwaterproof gear a try. Even if you are still a little warmer wearing some of this gear, I believe it's a small price to pay for not ending up with some of that road rash. Boy do I hate pain and I want to make certain if I am in an accident I increase the chance of walking away from it.

BMort

 

[zorkler]

i would go in this order 200 dollar hooker then the riding gear maybe . could use a good suit maybe one day