People who only wear a hoodie, jeans and trainers, why?

[cloughie24]

Had a conversation with my mates son about clothing and why he doesn't wear it. In his opinion he'll be fine even though he came off two weeks ago (at slow speed thankfully) and had a leg that looked like it had been attacked by a cheese grater. He didn't understand why I had full kit on yesterday; told him I like my skin just the way it is and it provides some safety should I come off. I was never going to argue with his opinion just happily call him a kn*b and tell him to be safe.

 

Yes you can argue the toss for and against clothing but the individual will do what they want at the end of the day, just got to hope they don't find out the hard way that the £200+ jacket/trousers was an extremely worthwhile investment.

[Ferris85]

 

[Yozimen]

I used to ride in just jeans and a hoodie when I was young and broke. Now I’ve had a few close calls, I stick with proper gear even on short trips.

[onesea]

On 19/07/2022 at 09:19, cloughie24 said:

Had a conversation with my mates son about clothing and why he doesn't wear it. In his opinion he'll be fine even though he came off two weeks ago (at slow speed thankfully) and had a leg that looked like it had been attacked by a cheese grater. He didn't understand why I had full kit on yesterday; told him I like my skin just the way it is and it provides some safety should I come off. I was never going to argue with his opinion just happily call him a kn*b and tell him to be safe.

 

Yes you can argue the toss for and against clothing but the individual will do what they want at the end of the day, just got to hope they don't find out the hard way that the £200+ jacket/trousers was an extremely worthwhile investment.

 

It's called youth... They are invincible, we where the same

[Simon Davey]

5 hours ago, onesea said:

 

It's called youth... They are invincible, we where the same

 

Yes indeed, 24 years old, riding a Z1300 in a shell suit  Funny....... not funny.

[Tinkicker]

When I was far younger and was a member of the ABC bike club in dewsbury ( known locally as the wacky racers, many local bikers would not ride with us) and was regarded as a particularly talented rider ( i wasn't, I was just stupid, lucky and competitive in the extreme), I used to dress up like robocop.  Motocross boots, leather jeans with armour, leather jacket with high collar neck protection and full armour, gloves with armour, Arai helmet. Not that it would help if I came a cropper at 150 mph.

 

Now I have a far older and wiser head on my shoulders with some ex police class one rider training behind me, I take every precaution to prevent an incident.  Near things just do not happen anymore and I very rarely speed or overtake.   If a situation looks like it may develop into something potentially nasty, it is seen, evaluated and the appropriate action taken well in advance.   No adrenaline involved in my rides out these days.

 

As a consequence, I dress for the risk, not for someone elses approval. 

 

A trip to the coast or  pretty much any trip longer than a couple of miles test ride on the VFR and it is jeans or combat pants.  Jeans on shorter trips, moleskin combats on longer trips.  Boots ( tactical), helmet ( HTC flip front) gloves (leather with armored backs)and armoured ( back, shoulders and arms) textile jacket ( Held) always.

 

DT175 or DT100 on a quick ride out around the village.  Average speed maybe 35 mph.  Trainers, fleece pants.  Always helmet, gloves and armoured jacket.

 

Absolutely no point in taking a half hour getting kitted up and uncomfortable for a ten minute slow speed ride.

 

So with regard to the pic below, I guess my particular cut off point is I will never ride without helmet, gloves and jacket, even if it is a slow speed off, road ride in the field behind the house on little yeller.... In this case, riding off road, I would most likely be wearing boots, but also a dead cert that I would be wearing fleece sweat pants.

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 13:02 by Tinkicker

[Blackholesun]

Worn shorts a few times when doing short trips

[S-Westerly]

Trouble is it's when some idiot knocks you off on your short trip. Guy i worked with was knocked off on a short trip wearing shorts and doing no more than 30. Skin grafts on his flayed left leg for 6 months or more and left looking like he'd had 3rd degree burns which in terms of tissue damage is basically what he had.

[billysugger]

My knees would scare old folks and have kids screaming for mum if I went out in shorts. Both have seriously ugly scars, the left worse than the right. Left caused by sliding down the road, still on the bike on black ice. The tarmac ripped through the waterproof oversuit I was wearing, plus denim jeans underneath. Spent a  month off work with the whole leg  strapped up to keep the joint in line and to let the tendon heal. 

The right was a numpty pulling out on me from a side road, and this time I was in textiles but gravel still shredded them like they were tissue paper. 

Since then if going out on a bike I've wore gear with all the armour pads installed.

I'd rather go through the faff of kitting up and sweating on the bike than suffer any more damage

[Tinkicker]

You do not want to see my left leg.  Motocross boots, leather pants, armoured to the chuff.  Ready for a 140 mph crash.

 

Reality is 15 mph, a two tonne mitsubishi shogun, 15 mph speed and a two tonne vehicle parked on my leg.  I got to view my own skeleton up close and personal at the roadside.

18 months off work, intermedullar nails and various metalwork fitted and still occasionally limp 30 years later.

 

As an ex elfin safety practitioner ( with some high falutin accolades) I can confidently tell you that PPE means feck all when the brown stuff hits the fan.  Its nothing but a sticking plaster designed to empty your wallet and give false confidence.

 

Far better to ensure the brown stuff stays well away from the fan in the first place.

 

Which PPE often fails to do.  Stiffness, poor visibility, unable to view your surroundings because you cannot move your body...

 

PPE is designed to protect in a limited scenario.  It often hinders everywhere else.

 

As I stated earlier, dress for the risk, not for every scenario.  If you view yourself as a dangerous risk on the road, dress accordingly.

 

 

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Tinkicker

[Fleck]

I wear vest, shorts and crocs riding in Benidorm. Even the police riders don't use gloves. 

I do put jeans on for rides out of town though usually. 

If you wore leathers here you would be the only one, never seen anyone in them in the summer 

 

[Throttled]

Surprised that during this long run of good weather and sunshine, I have not seen any biker who has ditched their gear, for a t-shirt, jeans and trainers.

[onesea]

17 minutes ago, Throttled said:

Surprised that during this long run of good weather and sunshine, I have not seen any biker who has ditched their gear, for a t-shirt, jeans and trainers.

Plenty round here, shorts and T's normally sports bikes and middle aged men.

[bonio]

Loads here too. All ages. Makes me wince to see it though.