Seen horrific things...

[Draeger]

You will always get someone who declares 'But it is my right to ride in whatever kit I want to'.

Fair enough. But having been called to attend various RTC's over the years involving bikes, I've seen a few where the rider has been wearing shorts and a t-shirt and they are not pretty. One in particular from 2008 still sticks in my mind and would be too graphic for these forums to even describe using text. Needless to say that was a fatality in which the resulting injuries were exacerbated by the victims lack of protective clothing. There's no doubt about it if that individual was to have been wearing protective kit he would still be alive today. I fully support freedom of choice in almost all areas of life but there are some where common sense should prevail over a blinkered and quite frankly misguided god given right to do as one pleases.

When you do the ground/sky/ground/sky thing (and yes, I've done it BIG style unfortunately) you have enough to worry about even if you are clad in a few hundred quids worth of good quality kit compared to if you are wearing flip flops and shorts.

If someone makes the flip flops and shorts choice then so be it - just don't fall off when I'm on duty, there's a good chap.

 

[agnes]

See I personally think this is more idiotic than riding without the right gear.

I see more stupid riding by people in full leathers than I do people bimbling about in tshirt a jeans on a Harley.

And I agree, it was stupid haha, I was early in my biking life showing off. Calmed down after that.

I think people expressing the "it's my choice" are correct, it's their choice. But the families and friends effected because of their stupid choices isn't fair.

That's my main gripe, and as someone else said, it's not doing the biking community any good. Making us all look like a bunch of prats.

 

[xMarkie]

Freedom of Choice.

If want to ride my bike at 140mph in a T-shirt and jeans and trainers i bloody well will. We all know the risks in doing so, same as well all know the risks in riding a bike. IT is exactly the same thing.

Bunch of hypocrites.

Exactly - its entirely up to you what you do and how you ride. I don't see anyone telling you what you can, what you should or what you can't do - we're merely expressing our experiences and opinions.

 

[Hector]

That's my main gripe, and as someone else said, it's not doing the biking community any good. Making us all look like a bunch of prats.

It changes the statistics and gives the anti-biking mob ammo to use.

ACPO have already called for and in their words "motorised toys" to be banned but they withdrew their statement because while they don't like to admit it; we are policed by consent.

If consent goes, we go. Hence talk of scrapping consent after the riots where the police seemed out of touch

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmtran/460/460.pdf

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Have seen so many riders in shorts and a t-shirt the last few weeks - I shudder when I see them. Do they not realise what would happen, even in a low speed accident?

 

[Sagalout]

You might be surprised at some of the statistics on wearing protective clothing. It certainly helps and does obviously make sense to wear it wherever possible (for the record, I probably wear full kit 80% of the time), but I was surprised at how little difference it makes to many accidents, and that's from an NHS report. Trying to find it now, but certainly accidents resulting in any sort of impact have little difference between wearing protective clothing and not. As the speeds rise the difference becomes less and less. Basically it's at it's best for low speed spills and sliding down a track where you won't hit anything. Even helmets don't stop as many fatalities as you'd think, with 80% of all fatalities coming from head injuries.

I seem to remember that hi-vis and extra lights have a statistically higher impact on your chance of avoiding injury (i.e. stopping the crash in the first place)

And I don't go with the bad image thing either - people get far more annoyed with bad riding and loud pipes than they do seeing riders in t-shirts and shorts.

 

[Dogbreath]

Warning: This link is not for the faint of heart or those that have just eaten, this is a nasty foot injury

Why you should wear proper gear on a bike

There was a similar thread on PH recently and some dullard posted that he couldn't understand all these bikers that put all their gear on just to commute to work...

You might be surprised at some of the statistics on wearing protective clothing. It certainly helps and does obviously make sense to wear it wherever possible (for the record, I probably wear full kit 80% of the time), but I was surprised at how little difference it makes to many accidents, and that's from an NHS report.

It's never going to help much with hard impacts, but if it stops you grinding your limbs down to a bloody stump it's worthwhile.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

but I was surprised at how little difference it makes to many accidents, and that's from an NHS report. Trying to find it now, but certainly accidents resulting in any sort of impact have little difference between wearing protective clothing and not.

Is it really that surprising? You aren't wearing crumple zones. It should certainly result in fewer skin grafts though if sliding along the ground.

 

[agnes]

Almost every crash has a slide, I think it's unfair to say gear will not help that much.

I bet if you were to put 2 bikes, going at 35mph, steady pace, a car pulls out of a junction and the biker hits the bonnet. The injuries would be drastically different.

Legs probably broken on both cases, but after, the one without gear will come off MUCH worse.

Same scenario but drivers door, gear will always provide a much greater protection.

I treat every person on the road as a prat, which I think is the biggest safety precaution. I just don't want to see a fellow biker skinned because he was a little too hot in his leather jacket...

And in order to achieve that, I have to look like a all high and mighty ****. But it's a price I will happily pay if it convinces one in ten to gear up.

I just hope other bikers have the same attitude.

Oh, as for my stupidity in my accident getting my knee down. After that, I would never ride without full gear. Even wearing full leathers in the middle of summer, to ride to work 3 miles away through rush hour... I was sweaty, smelly but I had a smile.

And, I then discovered, £90 can get you an entire day of insane riding to the best of your ability much more safely. Track days are where it's at

 

[4T5]

That Blind **** that pulled out on me showed how much the right gear helps. ***** pulls out, I hit the wing, groin hits tank flips me over onto my back onto the bonnet then spat across the road into oncoming traffic.
It hurt like hell & I ended up with a Mauve helmet but I insisted on walking to the Ambulance as I wanted to stand up & see what was broke. Went hospital had xrays on my pelvis back etc but walked out the hospital a few hours later with just aching rather than being broken. No cuts or gravel rash at all.
The Ambulance crew told me that when they get a call out to an RTA involving a biker they just pray that he has the right gear on as if he don't it gets real messy.

Another point to note is people that work in Casualty call Bikers "Organ Donors" +

 

[agnes]

Ha, yea, the guy said the same, had I not been in leathers after sliding (and hitting a curb!) I would have probably not been talking to him as 50 meters sliding on your front on gravel/tarmac will just shred through tissue and bone. Would have been VERY nasty.

He was shocked seeing that even my leathers had given and I grazed my hip pretty badly. But it just showed that having that cow skin really is worth the money lol.

As is the old saying, not a biker until you've come off. And I think that's true because you then understand just how important gear is and how dangerous biking can be.

I've had 3 offs on the road, one where I was sat minding my own business at a traffic light and a guy on his phone just rear ended me. Didn't bother stopping...

Getting my knee down on a deserted roundabout showing off to mates.

And finally coming off after hitting a load of dirt left by a tractor on a farm entrance on a bend. I hit the solid grass verge on the other side of the road. And I was going at a fair pace... Not that I would ever speed

I remember seeing my legs fly one by one in a split second, as I was rolling in mid air bouncing off the verge and I remember thinking "Well, they're broken". I landed, came too a good 25 yards in the field away from the road. Mate screaming back down on his GSXR as he wondered where I was lol. Moving my ankles and legs to see if there were any breaks. No doubt my Sidi's held my ankles stiff enough to stop any breaks. My helmet was a bloody mess though. Where I had hit the verge head on as I kind of high sided (left hand bend, farm entrance on the inside, low slide, grip, high side, thrown into the verge, bounced off and landed in the field).

Yea... That really hurt. But I walked away! YAYYYYY.

 

[4T5]

Here's an embarrassing story

When a kid I came off a Puch Maxi + I used to ride it like a push bike & scrape the pedals everywhere, On my way to a young doris I was "Interviewing" I dipped into a right hander & the Puch just spat out from underneath me & slid into a ditch whilst I slid along the road in my trousers. I got my bike out & got to the Doris & her Mum spent the next couple of hours picking the bits of road out my thigh/leg.

Pic of said Puch Maxi so Everybody can laugh at me.

Found a pic of the same colour one I had & in my defence it Raped any restricted piece of ****.

 

[Mr Blonde]

I enjoy getting loads of nods when out on my scooter, simply because of the gear I'm wearing.

Interestingly enough, pretty much everyone that commutes into the City here, who in all probability have more than an ounce of intelligence due to their jobs, are all suitably attired. That for me is more telling about the ones in t-shirts.

 

[Sagalout]

I enjoy getting loads of nods when out on my scooter, simply because of the gear I'm wearing.

Interestingly enough, pretty much everyone that commutes into the City here, who in all probability have more than an ounce of intelligence due to their jobs, are all suitably attired. That for me is more telling about the ones in t-shirts.

Try going to Rome - you'll see all the commuters going in suits on super scooters. Mind you, the cyclists in European cities rarely wear helmets either.

I actually had an identical Puch, even in that colour! It was my first bike I got at 16. Had my heart set on a Honda MTX50 for my birthday and was slightly dissapointed to see that in the garden! Pedal start, drum brakes and you had to fill it with petrol and guess the amount of oil to mix in with it then give the bike a shake. I managed to kill it within a month then learned loads about engines rebuilding it.

 

[SPG]

In europe there used to psyco maniac scooters in the city`s. We could improve biker safety in this country by having something specific in the drivers test. Currently its at the examiners digression, so in effect you have car drivers out there who literally have zero knowledge about bikes on the road, apart from cyclist`s which they autmaticlly pull out half way across the other side of the road for.

Make questions and examination on motorcycle`s compulsory in the car test.

 

[gillywibble]

I take a risk with jeans, nothing else. On the back of this thread I'm getting some Kevlar jeans instead.

There's no excuse for riding in t-shirts when you can get vented summer jackets.

No gloves is the worst one, I mean seriously?

 

[Woogie]

In my off back in April it doesn't look like much but if I wasn't wearing my gear I would have had very little skin left on either of my hands. My shoulder would have been scraped to bits as would my side and legs. I wear textiles and the one left around the shin looks to have partially melted from the friction as I hit the floor and rolled. My boots are missing loads of the leather where they scraped along the floor as well. I would never risk going out without my gear on.

Theres a guy where I work who rides a hornet in every day with a flip up helpmet and a suit and one of those silly straps over his shoe to protect his shoes from gear shifts. He asked me how I can come in fully geared on hot days, so I told him i'm quite attached to all my body parts and I just shower at work then get changed then I asked him how he would ever consider not wearing the correct gear to which he replied "I only live 3 miles away so isn't like I am likely to ever have an accident" I was gobsmacked.

 

[rotters]

Freedom of Choice.

If want to ride my bike at 140mph in a T-shirt and jeans and trainers i bloody well will. We all know the risks in doing so, same as well all know the risks in riding a bike. IT is exactly the same thing.

Bunch of hypocrites.

you sir are a bad person. as an Intensive Care Nurse do you know how many degloving injuries I have come across. because you know the risks and have the right to do what ever you want. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY FAMILY MEMBERS I'VE HAD TO SIT DOWN AND EXPLAIN THE LIFE LIMITING INJURIES TO. I know i'm shouting and you bloody deserve it. In my 10 years as a theatre now ICU nurse I've come across all sorts of minor injuries which can be shrugged off to a kid who broke his neck not wearing a helmet, to a man who traumatically ripped his arm off, multiple amputations and multiple slow deaths due to horrific injuries. these guys all had no gear on or the wrong gear. the degloving injuries always seem worse as they are pure agony to treat.

You get on a bike and I don't care what the weather is like you gear up.

By neglecting to look after yourself, its not only you that you risk hurting its, the paramedics, the hospital staff and your family that have to witness your horrendous injuries.

rotters

sorry for shouting but have strong feelings on this one.

 

[LOAM]

My mate came off at Croft on a track day at about 70mph and skidded along his backside before rolling into the kitty litter, he said his dainese got hot lol but they didn't breach and he got up, picked his bike up and carried on (bike only suffered minor damage to a fairing somehow). I don't get people who don't wear as much gear as they can to be honest.

 

[agnes]

you sir are a bad person. as an Intensive Care Nurse do you know how many degloving injuries I have come across. because you know the risks and have the right to do what ever you want. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY FAMILY MEMBERS I'VE HAD TO SIT DOWN AND EXPLAIN THE LIFE LIMITING INJURIES TO. I know i'm shouting and you bloody deserve it. In my 10 years as a theatre now ICU nurse I've come across all sorts of minor injuries which can be shrugged off to a kid who broke his neck not wearing a helmet, to a man who traumatically ripped his arm off, multiple amputations and multiple slow deaths due to horrific injuries. these guys all had no gear on or the wrong gear. the degloving injuries always seem worse as they are pure agony to treat.

You get on a bike and I don't care what the weather is like you gear up.

By neglecting to look after yourself, its not only you that you risk hurting its, the paramedics, the hospital staff and your family that have to witness your horrendous injuries.

rotters

sorry for shouting but have strong feelings on this one.

Don't apologise, you are 100% spot on.