Any Recommendations for "Crash Tested" Gear?

[Ingah]

Just thought it would be really good to hear from those of you who have had the misfortune to "crash test" your gear on our glorious UK roads (i.e. have an accident)

After all, we wear our gear for protection so it would be very useful to know what has worked and not worked for other forum members (For myself, i'm looking at newer, more expensive gear soon and it would be nice to know if will actually be better protected as a result)

If it's not too painful to remember maybe you could say:

What happened?

What parts of you hit what (e.g. palms hit floor first, followed by a forward roll which wrecked helmet, etc)?

What injuries you sustained (if any)?

And most importantly - if you thought that the gear you were wearing did the job sufficiently!

I'll go first:

It was peeing it down with rain, i was on my old CG125, went to avoid a manhole cover down a steep hill but obviously failed to do so because the bike fell over, sending me skidding along the floor with the bike on top of me at about 20-25mph. My new Arlen Ness textile trousers were ripped through in the upper thigh, my jeans underneath had ripped though, and the wallet in my pocket was shredded a little. The material on the left forearm on my Buffalo jacket was ripped near the wrist. The rest of my gear was untouched. I sustained no injuries but felt slightly let down by the trousers because there was not any reinforcing material on the spot that had slid along the floor, it was my wallet that saved my leg. The jacket did well considering its price.

[Stu]

had a couple

first one i wont go in to details but i ended up doing around 40 - 50mph head on into a tree bike hit tre sending me head first in to it

i was wearing an 8 week old AGV pro helmet and it did its jod very well and would recomend one to anyone

second

left vicki's house and about 700 meteres down the road had a bad tank slapper at a fast speed slid along the road for what seemed like forever was wearing RST leathers Hein Gericke gloves and sidi boots

the leathers stood up really well knackerd the zip round the waist and was scuffed everywhere but stayed together

the gloves wore through on the palms and on two fingers litle bit of gravel rash on palm but burn the top of one of my fingers away

boots lost half a toe slider

helmet never touched but got replaced anyway

the RST leather did there job really well considering they where only £300

gloves did ok could have been a little better but at the speed i was going and my hands went down first they wasnt too bad

Stu

[Guest]

So far I've only had one proper one (two minors on a moped that resulted in grazes don't count!!) on my old CBR125 about 3 years ago. Had it 2 months, just finished running it in, beautiful summers day, just finished work - gotta go play!!

Coming down a nice windy road, and I come into the corner a bit hot (for the size of the tyre) at 70, but I got round ok - 'that was close' I thought, 'I'm slowing down for this next one - 50mph and 'oh s***' is all I can remember!! We assume from the marks in the gravel at the side, that I clipped the gravel and high sided!

The dislocated wrist and fractured elbow suggests I put my left hand out (the elbow was caused by a shockwave sent up the arm). After that the bike hit the sign warning of the corner (ironic) and I became concious of sliding along the road into a thorn bush - which I was grateful of - there was about a 70ft drop the other side of it!

I was wearing a brand new Hein Gericke PSX-R Lady suit - HG race gloves, A/Star boots and an AGV lid. I have a new helmet, but the rest I still wear, and (except the gloves) they still have plenty of life in them yet.

[Guest]

hmmm..... if you come off and can roll instead of sliding and keep your arms and legs from flailing around you can survive wearing only minimal gear.

Honda CB750KZ Entered a bend waaaaay too fast, shut the throttle and got a full blown tankslapper, ran out of road and flipped it on the grass verge. Bike bounced and somersaulted a long way down the road quickly followed be me!

Levis jeans will last a long time if you roll as opposed to slide down the road, They'll be ruined but you won't wear skin out. Wear an inch and a half wide leather belt and a heavy metal buckle, this will save your hip from being ground down to the bone

Budget "Kershaw leathers" bike jacket wore itself 3 holes in during the rolling but saved my skin.

Griffin clubman helmet, was quite peeved when my pride and joy touched the deck but I'd hate to think what facial skin I'd have lost with an open face jobby!

I'd like to say I replaced the helmet but as I was a poor student back then I simply painted over the scratches and continued to use it

moral is to buy good gear OR "Roll with it!"