I have a death wish.

Mike,

In addition to a helmet I wear a riding jacket, gloves, study long pants, and over the ankle boots. Eye protection is fixed with my helmet. For a riding jacket I wear a Joe Rocket Phoenix. It allows plenty of air flow for summer riding will providing protection. For the winter, I plan on getting a good leather jacket. Not started shopping for that yet. For gloves, I'm using a generic pair of leather motorcycle riding gloves. They are supple yet provide proction for the hands in case I ever do lay the bike down. I, like many riders, only currently use jeans for riding. Some riders have riding pants to match their jackets or other bike gear. I'm considering getting Draggin Jeans that look like standard jeans but with some protection sewn inside. A good pair of boots round out my proctection; They are over the ankle and non-slip for when standing on oil slick intersections. One other item I use part time is ear plugs. On very short rides (2 minutes to the store) I often forget them. On my longer rides, I always use them. I have a few different brands / designs that I'm trying out to see what is most comfortable.

I can't believe how many riders in the Omaha, Nebraska area go riding on hot days wearing t-shirts, shorts, sandals, and no gloves. About 90% of them ride like that. I'm an exception. I've ridden for many years, and I've been down a couple of times. Fortunately, my full face helmet, riding jacket, boots & gloves took most of the grief. I don't go out without them. I do use a perforated leather jacket & perforated leather gloves in the hot weather for cooling - a mesh fabric riding jacket is probably better because they have some body armor, but they weren't on the market yet when I bought my Summer jacket. When it is really hot & humid like today & yesterday, I do my riding in the morning before the heat gets intense. If you commute to work on the scooter, or are on tour - that isn't an option. But whenever possible, I avoid riding when it is so hot that I'd be tempted to take off any of my protective gear.

I too, have been riding for 35+ years. I too, have dropped many bikes at speeds up to 65 mph. But I don't think you're going to like what I have to say about how I dress.

T-shirts - quite often in the summer. Shorts - less often, but sometimes. Sandals - not likely, but I've been seen in them. Mostly, I wear tennis shoes/deck shoes. Helmet - usually, but I've left it in the trunk once in awhile. Honestly, I've never owned a good motorcycle jacket. They just come to dear. I tend to do things on the cheap. Most of the visible scars on my body are from road rash. Foolish? Maybe. But in this case, it's my risk.

My brother knew a brain surgeon in Anchorage who wouldn't drive without a helmet.

But I do wear a seat belt 100% of the time when I drive. It comes with the car. :wink:

Steve

I wear a full-face helmet and deerskin gauntlets every time I ride; even on hot days the gloves are on -- saves my skin if I fall or if I get debris thrown up by a passing truck, and prevents skin cancer from over-exposure to UV rays as well.

I usually wear a jacket, but the last few days have been so hot that I just wore a long-sleeved shirt for sun protection. But I will buy a mesh motorcycle jacket next payday -- no sense taking unneccesary risks. Soaking a shirt in water under a mesh jacket will keep you just as cool as wearing a t-shirt, and will still save you in case of a fall. Now you can even get gel vests that release water more slowly for hours of "air conditioning" under a mesh jacket.

I should wear boots, but right now I wear running shoes for comfort. With a full fairing and no exposed pipes on the Burgmans it's not as risky as on a naked Hog or some-such. Still, ankle protection is important, so boots are also on my shopping list.

wasions said:

But I don't think you're going to like what I have to say about how I dress.

Click to expand...

I use the scoot to commute to school (100 miles a day), so I leave home around 5am, and depending on the weather I'll have either my leather jacket on or the outer shell (thin) of my ski jacket on. If it's raining I'll put on my rain suit. But I'll always have my gloves on (Cause it's cold) with jeans and my sneakers.

On the way home I take off the jacket and gloves unless it's cold. That leaves me with a short sleeve shirt.

I always wear a full face helmet. Well, no, I did go to the store twice with no helmet. (Not the law in this state) The store is exactly one block away, and I really didn't feel too safe without it.

When I go out touring, I usually have a short sleeve shirt, jeans, and I do don the boots.

While I know it's not the smartest move in the world to dress like this, it is all about risk management, and before you can manage risk, you must set a level of risk you're willing to accept. i.e. following a crotch rocket home on the freeway today, doing an indicated 75 mph. Rocket man has no helmet, no shirt, shorts and sandals on. Rocket man pulls front tire off ground at 75mph indicated, and takes off like a bullet squeezing between cars and trucks during rush hour. Not a risk I'm willing to accept. (Not to mention my back would never be able to handle sitting on a bike like rocket man's!)

Been riding for 25 some years, never fallin' on the street. (We won't count that time I dropped the Burgman while at a complete stop. No scratches, not gonna count it.) : :shock: I have eatin' it on the trails with a dirt bike more times than I could ever hope to count. I was dressed to the hilt for that type of riding, so no damage done ('cept perhaps my ego) Of course nowadays I couldn't accept that sort of risk either. Maybe I'm finally growing up. Or maybe the aches and pains in my bones are telling me to slow it down a tad.

Since this is your first bike, do try and take a riding course. They teach ya a lot! Or another option is to go buy a dirt bike, like a DR-Z250 or something... Get full protection head to toe, get on the trails where the only thing you're going to hurt is yourself, a tree, or a rock, and ride like there's no tomorrow. Ride like this everyday for 2 years straight. You will teach yourself everything the MSF course teaches you in two and a quarter days, and you might only get a couple broken bones!! On second thought, get a CRF250R. You can beat the livin' crap out of those Honda's, and they still keep runnin.

Seriously though, take the MSF course. Although I've been riding a long time, I took the Basic Riders Course a few weeks ago, and had a lot of fun. The only problem I had, was the fact that I was on a tiny Nighthawk 250, and I was having flashbacks to my dirt bike riding years as the bike was about the same size and weight of my old dirt bike. There were dirt trails running up the hill and off into the forest at the end of the parking lot we were in. I just wanted to gun it and take off into the dirt for some reason! But I held myself back, and completed the course.

I do agree with Randy about the grinder analogy. Let me add, that if you have never seen a skin graft done, you should. There's nothing like seeing a doctor take a huge chunk of otherwise perfect skin from your body, sending it through the pasta machine to make nice diamond shaped holes in it, stretching it out, and then attaching it to your wound. Not a pretty site. I think that ranks up there with watching a vasectomy reversal. Things that make ya go "Hmmmmm..." and forces you to think about what you're doing before you do something...

Have fun with your new bike, but be safe!!

that's 2 in Athens, GA

Hey, Mikey!

Cool! Now, there are 2 of us in Athens!

On the clothing thing, here's my deal. I bought my scoot to commute - mostly the 3 miles from my house to my office so, I mostly ride in my "business casual" clothes with a full face helmet ( a Jarrow Mono flip-up). I've been thinking that I need to start wearing gloves. As a mountain biker who takes protection very seriously when in the woods where I am almost always in serious danger of a crash, I've got several pairs of full-finger gloves with leather palms and leather and/or rubber pads on the fingers - top and bottom. I know that I would shred them in a big crash but they would probably be great for protection from stuff flying up from the road. Plus, they are really grippy for hanging onto the bars and brake levers.

If I were to head out on a tour kind of ride, I'd probably wear over the ankle boots and a jacket, though.

So, I'll be looking for a silver Burgie around town.
Al