Why wear all your gear!

[JohnR6]

Hi guys,

I read this on the R6 forum and thought I should share it here.

"Riding without boots and crashing might cost you some road rash or foot mash

or even in an extreme case might lead to amputation. You might never walk

without a limp. You might battle a weight and fitness problem for the rest of your

life. You might never walk with pain. But it probably wouldn't kill you.

Riding without gloves and crashing might cost you some road rash or a

Munched hand or the severe, excrutiating pain of mangling a body part rich with

nerve endings. Or you could lose a finger or two. It could cost you the

ability to play ball with your son, to properly feel the gentle curve of a

womans breast, or to hold a beer. But it probably wouldn't kill you.

Riding without at least an armored jacket and leather trousers or full

leathers or an Aerostich or even just a leather jacket and jeans and

crashing might cost you serious road rash. You might grind off a nipple.

You might embed gravel in your elbow. You might get beef jerky all over

your back. You might grind off your kneecap or have a scar resembling

Australia on you calf like a friend of mine does. You would be scarred for

life and not be able to walk on a beach shirtless without feeling self

conscious. You might end up like Kevin Spacey's character in "Pay It

Forward" and have to deal with the same awkward moment every time you remove

your clothes with a new lover. But it probably won't kill you.

Riding without a back protector and crashing in all but rare crashes would

be inconsequential. However, there are so many variables out there- curbs,

fenders, poles, guardrails, debris in the road- any one of these could be

the golden BB that nicks your spinal cord in just the wrong way and leaves

you in a wheelchair for life. Or, maybe you just have constant sciatic pain

in one leg. Or you can't move your legs. Or you have to wear diapers for

when you sh!t yourself, and/or a colostomy bag you have to pull out of your

pants leg and squeeze your waste out into the toilet at a bar like a guy I

know. Or you can't move from the chest down. Or from the neck down. Are

you good at working joysticks with your mouth? Or maybe you might need a

respirator? Or 24 hour care? Certainly, there are impacts that are

completely forseeable that would permanently injure you even with the best

back protector in the world. But there are crashes and subsequent impacts

that even mediocre back protectors can make that little bit of difference

in- the ones you get up and walk away from, sore all over, but *walking*.

Do you want the last time you walked to be when you walked out of 7-11 with

a pack of smokes and then got on your bike? Those precious few steps out

the door and over to the bike to be the five steps you remember the rest of

your life because the next time you were off the bike you were lying

strapped to a backboard staring at the headliner of an ambulance, tears

running down your face because you couldn't feel the little piggies and you

were almost ready to vomit at the stench of your @#%$ because you lost

control of your bowels? Riding without a back protector and crashing might

not make a difference, or it might make all the difference in the world. It

might not kill you, but it might make you wish it had.

And, finally, helmets. Riding without a helmet and crashing might be of no

consequence. You might never even touch terra firma with your head. Or you

might give yourself an asphalt facelift. You might get a concussion that

results in only a bad headache the next day. You might get a serious

concussion that lands you in the hospital for endless CAT scans and MRIs,

and for the rest of your days be plagued by migraines. You might fracture

your orbital and lose your vision. You might fracture your skull and end up

fully functional but with a horrible Frankenstein like scar and a metal

plate that bothers you on cold days and sets of metal detectors in airports.

You might have a closed head injury from which you don't awaken from for

hours or days or weeks or months- all the while your mother, father,

sister, brother, children, workmates, and/or riding buddies come a visit

you, filling an utterly depressing hospital room into a gauche jungle of

flowers and bright card saying "get well soon!" that you never see or smell.

Sure, you might awaken completely normal besides the hole drilled in your

head to reduce pressure. Or you might awaken a little fuzzy, unsure who

these people are. Or you might awaken and have to re-learn everything it

took you all your life to learn, eventually returning to normal or even

better like Harrison Ford in "Regarding Henry". Or you might awaken a

man-child, drooling and laughing as you try to stack blocks, wearing

sweatpants and a t-shirt signed by your mother, father, sister, brother,

children, workmates, and/or riding buddies- which you will never read. Or

you might have an open head injury, from which the "you" you know will most

likely never return. The rest of your life -be it a day, a week, a month, a

year- will consist of feeding tubes, the endless beep and whoosh of the

heart monitor and respirator, and the drip-drip or IV fluids, catheters in

your rod, and feeding tubes. Of course, you won't mind all of this, you'll

be in a dream land no one knows about. Your body will waste away and

atrophy. Eventually, the shell that used to be you would give out, and your

loved ones would have to make the most grueling decision of their life. Or,

you might die on the road, fluffy gray brain matter mixing with blood and

cerebro-spinal fluid. Perhaps you last ride would be twenty miles an hour

down the street by your house combined with an impatient young driver and an

ignored stop sign. Or perhaps it would be a ride on the freeway and a

pothole denting your rim and popping the front tire off the bead sending you

into the guardrail. Or you might go out in a blaze of glory qith a 100 mph

wheelie ending the wrong way. Whichever way, would make maybe a 10 second

news story depending on where you live, maybe a paragraph buried on page 32B

of the paper. Riding without a helmet could be of no matter- or it could

mean the difference between going on as you are now, or having life taken

away from you as if God flipped a switch.

I can live without toes or a mangled foot- but I choose to try and prevent

that. I can live with a hand that looks like a burn victim's and maybe

relearn to write with my left hand- but I choose to try and prevent that. I

can live with a scar in the shape of Australia on my calf- but I try and

prevent that. I can live with road rash on my torso and arms- but I try to

prevent that. I could live in a wheelchair, agonizing through every day,

but I chose to try and prevent that.

I can't live as a man-child. I've already played with blocks. I only drool

when I sleep.

We all make choices. Gear can't always save you. All the best leather,

denim, Cordura, Kevlar, fiberglass, and plastic is useless when fate throws

the Immovable Object or the Irresistible Force in your path. But I choose

to stack the deck in my favor. If it all ends up for naught and the stacked

deck and the cards up my sleeve end up losing to Fate's royal flush, so be

it. But I'll try."

WOW.....this really has made me think about wearing full gear all the time for when I get a bike! I don't care if it's raining, snowing or the sun is blazing down in 35 degree C......must wear the full works all the time. Be smart people, its easy to hit the road in shoes, jeans and a t-shirt to make a quick run to the local newsagents for a pint of milk, but thats when the comic tragedy of life looses its irony. I'd rather look like an idiot in gear than in idiot in a chair with charred skin for life.

[Pete]

But all the protective gear in the world isn't going to help you one bit if you ride like a twat.

I agree to some degree about protective gear...good helmet, gloves, clothing, boots etc are essential. But I remove all armour straight away....it does my head in...."old school" you see.

And I believe that to some extent the more armour/padding etc that some riders wear, the more invulnerable they think they are.

[JohnR6]

But all the protective gear in the world isn't going to help you one bit if you ride like a twat.

I agree mate, but if one was riding like a twat and don't give sh1t then he's probably a twat that doesn't wear no protective gear.

If you are sensible enough to ride with all the gear, then you're probably sensible enough not to ride like a twat on the road!

If you want to ride stupidly fast.........I say stick to the tracks. But on road, be moderately fast but be safe too. :wink:

[Pete]

I agree mate, but if one was riding like a twat and don't give sh1t then he's probably a twat that doesn't wear no protective gear.    

If you are sensible enough to ride with all the gear, then you're probably sensible enough not to ride like a twat on the road!  

No you're wrong there John....you'll see for yourself soon enough.

The crucial point you've missed is that masses of armour, kneesliders, humps on the back etc is fashionable....and no self respecting "Riding God" would be seen without them.

Once they've got all the colour co-ordinated brand name kit, illegal cans, small plates etc....then they can pretend to be Rossi.

Brainwashed by the motorcycle industry who've created a lifestyle statement that the Playstation Generation can buy into.

Similar to the "Rugged Individualist" image that has been promoted by HD for years. But the Harley crew don't do any harm indulging their fantasies of "Living the American Dream".....but the Power Rangers....well, that's a different story.

[JohnR6]

I see your point now mate.........

But anyway, whether you're a power ranger or HD meat head, it's best to wear the full gear.........better be safe than sorry.

Also, I think it's not the fact that someone riding like a twat that makes it dangerous, it's riding like a twat and not knowing that there's stupid drivers out there on the road that don't look........that dangerous!

[YamaHead]

Been riding year round for 20 years & have Always worn leathers for 1 reason......Protection 8) .........But I do have to admit that having Kevlar Armor in my new Jacket is quite nice :wink:

[yammie girl]

i have a set of black water proof textile........ and a set of leathers......both have armour!!

[yammie girl]

i have a set of black water proof textile........ and a set of leathers......both have armour!!

the reason protection i like the skin ive got in the places ive got itv and dont want it moved!!

[yammie girl]

i have a set of black water proof textile........ and a set of leathers......both have armour!!

the reason protection i like the skin ive got in the places ive got itv and dont want it moved!!

[Pete]

.....I can relate to being a bit "Old School" like Pete.......always just wore Black Leather 8)

Is there any other colour leather than Black? 8)

[yammie girl]

Is there any other colour leather than Black?

Any colour im wearing :wink:

[liquidcooled]

always just wore Black Leather

yep, gotta be black 8)

[Pete]

Any colour im wearing :wink:

That's a leather lookalike then....main component is PVC.

[yammie girl]

u get the baby oil then

[Pete]

I gone way past baby oil you know!

Castrol R for me now! 8)

[yammie girl]

dont think i would slip into pvc half as easily