Posted: 9/6/2004 9:07:56 AM EDT
| Can you explain to me why Bikers would wear jack boots, leather chaps, heavy leather jackets and gloves in the hottest of weather, all I suppose to protect against road rash, but refuse and get insulted to wear a helmet for head protection? Is it because the asset is not valuable to warrant protection? |
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http://www.consumptionjunction.com/content/detail.asp?ID=37854&type=1&page=1&fav=0 this link explains exactly why you *should* wear all that hot, uncomfortable crap in the summertime in texas. i'll bet her elbows are down to the bone, and i bet she doesn't ride again for a long time. 
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+1 Harley Fucking Davidson Rules........... (not that I'm trying to get anything stirred up, here) |
| I always have a Giro helmet on when out on my bikes. The lycra and spandex though do not offer much protection for me from roadrash. I have the scars to prove it. The only leather I wear is in my Sidi shoes. I guess some guys (CampyBob) still wear shorts with leather chamis in them but most are synthetic now. |
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Gee, Doorgunner, been seeing a lot of the RUBs lately? You know, the ones who look like they're perched on the bike, rather than part of it, Wearing either the most expensive full leathers with the price tag still on them, or a polo shirt and khaki pants, and have a year's salary worth of chrome but no tools (other than a cell phone)... |
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i wear shorts with leather chamois AND with synthetic! it's all about the odds, dave. why don't YOU wear a helmet in your car? after all, it will improve the chaces of survival and it will minimize injury. right? you are playing the percentages. it's the same thing we all do. i never leave the driveway without a helmet on when i ride my bicycle. the odds mandate that i wear it. like innocent bystander, i have the scars to back up those odds. i never ride a superbike without a helmet, either. why? because i push the envelope every time i throw a leg over. now, my harleys? i just putz around on. i've owned h-d's since 1972 and never wore a helmet. didn't need to. |
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at slow speeds that leather can save your ass. I ALWAYS wear a helment. Rarely wear leather. just a personal preferance. When i was a paramedic i worked LOTS of bike MVA's. Over 45-50mph that leather wore straight through the skin most of the time. I am SURE it did lessen the road rash but not that much. I don't ride a great deal and when i do it is normally slow back road cruising. 40-50mph pretty much is the norm. I should wear more protection. mike |
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Must have been that cheesy "Then Came Bronson" shit. I crashed at over 120 mph wearing full roadrace leathers and went down the road for ovr 50 yards. My leathers got scuffed up, no road rash for me.
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OK, you asked. Nornally I don't preach because personal freedom allows you to wear whatever makes you happy, but here is what the students in my MSF class hear when they ask the same question. "Imagine if you will, two motorcycle riders traveling down the road at 70 miles per hour. A typical speed for many freeways and open country roads. One rider is wearing leather chaps (no ass protection), a leather vest, gloves with the fingers cut off, and a doo rag. The other rider is wearing full protection including a full face helmet. The both go down. You pick the cause. There are endless possibilities that could cause a rider to go down. Now, keep in mind that when you slide, you are either face up sliding on your ass and back, or face down sliding on your chin, hands, crotch, and knees. At 70 miles an hour denim tuns to dust in a couple of seconds. Your slide will go on for several seconds. During that several seconds after the denim on rider number one's ass is gone, he is sliding on his bare ass and shoulder blades and also the back of his head if he can not hold it off the pavement. If he is sliding face down the skin on his chin is gone real quick, also his fingers, and crotch. Rider number two, if he is lucky and does not hit something while he is sliding, can slide either face up or face down and will eventually stop sliding. When the shakes stop he can get out his cell phone, call a tow truck and his insurance company and start the painful precess of buying another bike. Rider number one is being loaded into an ambulance and after arriving at a hospital can start the painful process of skin grafting and reconstructive surgery. His bike is the least of his problems at this point. " It's your ass. Wear whatever makes you happy. |
| For all of the idiots who think they don't need a helmet because they don't ride fast, take a look at this picture. This is a pic of my brother after returning from the ER. He was riding his 37cc pocket bike when a brake line got caught up and he did an endo. He wasn't travelling at more than 15mph. He received 9 stitches in his forehead and some nice roadrash. I do support the individual right not to wear a helmet but I think one would be stupid to do so. |
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I raced dirt bikes for many years. I can't count the number of times I hit a low hanging branch, then thought"that woud have hurt". I also know several racers who woke up on the ground from some of those low branches. I now ride road bicycles. I crashed once this year ( yup, in the aero-bars) doing about 15 mph. I slid fifteen feet, cracked my Giro helmet and got road rash through my jersey that didn't tear. I have seen countless accidents with my riding friends that were glad they wear a bicycle helmet. But the real joke is these Harley guys riding these turtle shell helmets that don't pass any standard from any safety organization. WTF |
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leather can save your ass, not just at slow speeds, all road racers, japs mostly, wear leather racing suits. ever seen a road race on espn and seen the rider fall at 70_mph and walk away without a scratch? most of the "harley riders" now just wear it because they wanna look like a biker and have no idea why they wear em. it absorbs all the abrasions that your skin will get if not wearing any. been there done that. i can and have thrown out chaps that got shredded, whould rather spend a hundred and fifty bucks on a new pair than have road rash. but then again if i have to explain it you wouldn't understand why do you wear shooting glasses and eye protection?? |
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I was in a low-speed bike accident about 12 years ago. Hit the ground with my head so hard I saw God. Man, did that hurt. Actually broke my helmet. If I hadn't had the helmet on, I'd have broken my skull. Personally, I think that those who don't wear helmets are foolish. That said, I support their right not to wear one, as long as they don't expect Medicaid if they end up disabled. |
for some, its the "rebel" in them, some for the same reason they don't wear seatbelts. for me its the freedom of the open road, the wind thru my hair ,like riding a horse only doing it at speed.i never wear a helmet unless in a state that requires it, but when my kids were little and rode on the back i always made them wear theirs. lived in florida for a couple of years where they had a helmet law, try wearing a helemt in the summer with that heat, sun and humidity. they got rid of the helmet law a month before i moved back to chicago area. beasiclly its a freedom of choice, choose to be daring and buck the establishment, after all the yuppies are riding harleys and dressing in the garb of a biker to try and feel like thay are outlaws and rebels, trade in your suit and tie for leather and a steel horse, ride to the starbucks and look cool |
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GOOD PICS OF WHY ALL MOTORCYCLE RIDES SHOULD WEAR LEATHER, THIS IS ROAD RASH\ ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=271725 |
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He wasn't travelling at more than 15mph. He received 9 stitches in his forehead and some nice roadrash. i've done worse in a bicycle crash at 2mph (the left fork blade collapsed as i accellerated away from a stop light. i did an endo, also, and did a face plant onto the brick road). WITH a helmet on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my eyebrow required 12 to close. i gotta go get the mail know...guess i'll buckle on my ansi/snell institute approved bell. no...wait! this could be brutal....i'm going for my old arai! |
Was'nt this all gone over a few weeks ago??................Seems like I remember a thread along the same lines...............then the name calling strated and all us "Choice" people became "Idiots" and all the "Have to" crowd became "Helmet Nazi's"...................or was it a nightmare??
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Actually....not sure if this relates to other guys, but I get thirsty much faster, when I ride in the heat, with just a gloves, shirt & shorts (I don't do that anymore), than with a leather jacket, boots, etc. I don't know why that is.....any doctors in the house? I'm guessing the dry heat wicks away/dries your sweat much faster, than sweating it out in leathers, and slowly losing sweat....or ???? That's just me, of course........ PS When you're thirsty from riding.....that's a good sign that you should have been drinking more water to begin with. Ice filled Camelbaks w/Gatorade sure hit the spot!! |
I would operate that way in local traffic because when riding about town I find that a helmet reduces my hearing to almost zero and reduces my peripheral vision significantly as well. |
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Wow..... You'd probably never want to ride the way I do......I'm always wearing full leathers, or drag jeans (padded 4 bikers), AND EARPLUGS, with a full face helmet. At least for me, a Fullface does not permit some peripheral vision........but I turn my head side to side, quite often. I"d be afraid to ride.....just by looking straight (like most ppl in cars) and solely depend on peripheral vision. That's not very safe....IMHO. To each his/her own......2 bad accident was enough for me, but I'm still around, and aside from bruises, I'm still kicking! Both times, I thank my full gear/helmet, gloves, boots, and foresight in looking in all directions.....even towards my back........damn drunks! Murphy at its best (worst) for some!
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| Ballistictip got it right.............."Lets all just ride the way we want, and who gives a fuck about what the other guy wants to do ! Just like how every one else worries about what type of gun we shoot and is it safe, worry about your own life and I will worry about mine".............Amen Bro!! |
... Wow thanks, just saved me a bit of typing |