[alpslapper]

On the way to a home visit today I witnessed a biker slaming into the back of a car and cartwheeling over the roof, thrown 20 feet down the road, and then being run over by said car.

In one of those stranger than fiction moments, every one of us that assisted were either medics of some sort, including a GP, an off duty fireman and an off duty police officer. So the situation was under control damn sharpish with military precision, all of us slotting into our allotted roles, and the guy was sorted as best we could in the middle of the road, with two people controlling traffic.

The biker was wearing a tshirt, shorts, trainers, and his crash helmet.

I wont go into the graphics, but suffice to say it was not pretty. Not pretty at all. There was also serious concern for his neck and spinal chord.

I would venture to suggest that a large amount of the injuries sustained could have been prevented if the guy had been wearing proper protective gear, incuding a back protector.

While I know that's subjective, at the very very least, he would have had skin and bones in his legs and right arm, not spagettied them on the tarmac.

I know all the arguments about freedom of choice, liberty, individual style and custom etc etc etc, but if you are someone that does not wear full protective kit at all times, I would urge you to reconsider.

Carrying on with my visit I must have passed at least 20 or more bikers and moped riders similarly dressed.

Unless you see it or deal with it it can be very hard to appreciate just how vulnerable the human body can be in certain situations and how quickly it can ge messed up.

Sorry if this sounds like a downer, I dont mean it to be, and if you choose to ride in shorts and a tshirt good luck to you. All Im saying is perhaps revisit it at some time and give it some thought.

Ive been tempted I have to say from time to time, specially in the warm/hot weather, but today will serve as a very sharp reminder for me of why, for me, it's so important to wear the full kit, all the time.

Hope this doesnt come across as a lecture - just getting it off my chest.

 

[Tarka]

ATGATT for me.

I have vented and armoured mesh gear for high temperatures.


Fair enough to say 'It`s the rider`s choice what to wear' but if they`re injured in a bike crash without full bike gear I feel they should be liable to pay all their medical costs,whether they were to blame for the crash or not.

 

[Cie]

ATGATT... without exception

 

[squirrelciv]

Always have helmet, gloves, jacket and over ankle boots, but when the hotter days arrive, I will for go the protective trousers. That said it does depend on the journey. If I'm on a long haul I probably would put the kit on, but short stuff I prefer comfort.
My take on it is simple (there's a suprise I hear you shout ) Comfort and concentration is better than armour and stress. When 'less than idealy' clad, I ride even more protectively than usual. Also, for the majority of my time in town at least I travel at about the same speed as I did on a pushbike, and you wouldn't advocate full leathers on one of them.
Also I feel some motorcyclists get to feel just a tad invincible inside their protective bubble. Wonder how many knee slider space jockies we'd have if they still only had denim and dads old gardening gloves (as I did when I started biking)
My best bit of protective kit is my cowardise, and as for anyone who says things like "what about some idiot car driver who knocks you off", well that's how things go sometimes Lots of shit happens in a life, but if we worry too much about 'ifs but or maybe's' we'd do bugger all

 

[Whealie]

Coming back from Birmingham I removed my hi-viz jacket because I was too hot. The Hein Gericke summer touring kit underneath has vents everywhere and I was as cool as a very cool thing, yet completely protected. I'm going to buy a perforated (string vest-style) hi viz jacket for such days and keep the goretex hi viz in the top box in case the weather changes.

 

[Recycler]

The rider made his choice and now suffers the consequences.
Road grit gets SCRUBBED out at A&E - not a pretty thought.

 

[GeoBloke]

I was just going to post a thread on this very subject. Riding through the Cotwolds and over to the Forest of Dean this past weekend and noticed a) members of the fairer sex wearing less and less these days (DISTRACTION!!!) and b) what seemed like more than a few of the T-shirt and shorts species of bikers. One example of these was an older git on a Triumph who should know better. Whoever said age brings wisdom??Morons. Alp, I know it sounds macabre, but I wish I had a picture of that poor sod you helped so I could stop these idiots, push it into their face and say "Take a good look!!!!".

On the other hand, if they die as a result of their choice, maybe that's a good thing. They're obviously of low intelligence so shouldn't their death improve the collective gene pool??

I blame my parents for this pet peeve. Wearing protection was drummed into me at a young age. Everyone in my family rides and when it came time for my first bike my Dad waved his favourite Stanley hammer and made it clear that it was going to see heavy action on my new pride and joy the first time he saw me riding without my leathers (which, picked out by him AND my Mum, were thick enough to turn a knife).

 

[Mudwiz]

With modern stuff it is quite easy and quick to wear. As a minimum, you can always throw body armour on top of what ever else you wear. Takes about 30 seconds to cover chest, back, shoulders, forearms, elbows, knees, shin. Add boots, gloves, helmet (longer to do!!) and all that worries is hips and bum. I'd love some "casual" kevlar lined Trousers for that time, but £ as ever!!

The armour can be put on over a suit without too much creasing, if thats an issue, then throw a set of strata style goretex over the top of the lot if it gets cool/windy/damp/main roads (above 40 mph). That stuff has abraison resistance better that lots of leathers, and weighs next to nothing.

Paranoid? Me? My comute is about 7 minutes, but if I take the bike, I'll put on the gear.

 

[Mr NiceGuy]

Interesting that everyone is singing to the same tune yet we still see so many riders who probably only get their bikes out in the summer months and ride in shorts and t-shirt.

I am not a leathers person and prefer the often cooler and waterproof textiles. My current suit is the the Hein Gericke Cruise but depsite it having chest, back, arm and thigh vents it can get too warm. I have now also invested in some Draggin Cargo Pants and Hein Gericke mesh jacket that gives the feel of riding in a t-shirt and jeans with some protection even it isn't as good as my Cruise suit. The new jeans and jacket cost £180 which is a not a lot compared to the consequences of not wearing any protection.

GeoBloke is right on showing pictures of not wearing protection. A national campaign showing the end results of wearing no protection would see less riders risking it. It would hopefully deter some of the young moped riders knowing that they could risk a life time of disfigurement because they prefered to look cool on their moped.

 

[GeoBloke]

...they could risk a life time of disfigurement because they prefered to look cool on their moped.

Well said Nice Guy.:thumbleft:

 

[Hagrid]

There are only two types of riders, those that have come off and those that have yet to...

When you come off, what would you prefer to be wearing?

Its a No Brainer...

 

[Whealie]

you can always throw body armour on top of what ever else you wear.

Must admit I've been thinking about this for my son. Throughout the Summer I will be taking him to cricket matches on the bike. He has full gear but it is winter stuff and will be swelteringly hot (we will only be going to cricket if the weather looks good enough to play). I don't want to buy a whole summer suit for him because he will grow out of it within a season.
There's also the issue of luggage. I will already have cricket pads, gloves, helmet etc to carry, to have him in full motorbike gear means all his cricket whites in the luggage as well. I'd rather not put the ally panniers on because that will restrict us in traffic.
It's not a balancing act though. At the end of the day I will not sacrifice safety and if he has to go in his heavy motorbike gear, so be it. I'm just trying to see if there is an alternative.
The guy over the road has a body armour suit and used to ride in the summer just in that. I'm sure I could borrow it for my son (the guy is quite short and my son is quite large so it will probably fit).

 

[Sharribee]

THere was a thread similar to this last summer, I generally wear ATGATT as I have been that nurse scrubbing the road grit out usually start with "ohhh now thats gonna hurt" but never lecture, they know what they've done, they made the choice and now they have to live with it. It's our choice, I don't think they should be made to pay for thier healthcare because they weren't protected as they didn't deliberatly fall off, may be a bit dense but not deliberate. I would like to see more education about the risks of hitting tarmac at 30 miles / hour in nothing but a T shirt with graphic piccies of the injuries.

I did one very very hot day last summer leave my jacket in the bike box on my way home from work, (don't tell MOM) felt like something was missing and I rode like an absolute arse because I was so nervous. In the end I stopped and put it back on.

 

[Hagrid]

felt like something was missing and I rode like an absolute arse because I was so nervous. In the end I stopped and put it back on.

When I put my Jacket and Lid on I get a feeling not that disimilar to putting on a seat belt in a car... Feels, secure... A good feeling... Reasuring...

 

[Mutley]

Everyone has a choice, isn't that why some of us ride bikes anyhow?

Years and years ago, probably mid eighties!! the local police came with a slide show to show our club - a motocross club - to show us the slides from various road accidents. Even at a young age they seemed pretty horrible. Especially as we were only used to injuries from bikes etc. hitting us. To see the effects of 'going down the road' urrghh! - terrible.

At the time most of us literally said ''no use to us, we ride off road'' to which the policeman replied that ''once a biker, always a biker''. Some of the lads that he addressed that to now race at the Isle of Man and race circuits around the country. And look how much protection they wear!!

As Mabel mentioned, it's education that is needed, along with a bit of the right attitude.

 

[YEN_POWELL]

Who remembers all the bike crashes in the TV series Chips, not a graze in sight despite wearing protective short sleeve cotton shirts.

 

[GeoBloke]

Who remembers all the bike crashes in the TV series Chips, not a graze in sight despite wearing protective short sleeve cotton shirts.

Ah well, yes but they were the special police issue cotton shirts, weren't they? Can't buy those in your local shop, y'know.

 

[Hagrid]

Who remembers all the bike crashes in the TV series Chips, not a graze in sight despite wearing protective short sleeve cotton shirts.

CHIPs - Series 1 on DVD coming in June...
(Don't you dare question my sexuality! )

 

[Mabels Old Man]

THere was a thread similar to this last summer, I generally wear ATGATT as I have been that nurse scrubbing the road grit out usually start with "ohhh now thats gonna hurt" but never lecture, they know what they've done, they made the choice and now they have to live with it. It's our choice, I don't think they should be made to pay for thier healthcare because they weren't protected as they didn't deliberatly fall off, may be a bit dense but not deliberate. I would like to see more education about the risks of hitting tarmac at 30 miles / hour in nothing but a T shirt with graphic piccies of the injuries.

I did one very very hot day last summer leave my jacket in the bike box on my way home from work, (don't tell MOM) felt like something was missing and I rode like an absolute arse because I was so nervous. In the end I stopped and put it back on.

Like I'm going to stop reading your posts you stupid bugger, consider yourself suitably b*****ked. You of all people shpuld know better. You'd never catch me doing it























































any more

 

[paul_r]

will confess for reasons that even i dont know, i will often switch to just jeans, but u will find me with boots, mesh jacket, gloves and lid in any temps, dunno why i neglect my legs, this post does make me think tho

thank you