yeah i am just wondering how many people got hurt etc. Do you think everyone is bound to fall once or twice on their motorcycle?

Also, what type of gear do you guys usually wear when riding?  I just put on my helmet and thats it. But i saw this really cool motorcycle jacket which is suppose to support ur back etc but its like 100 something dollars. Do you guys wear gloves? (the ones that protect your knuckles?)

Share your experience !!

You should do MUCH more research on here.

Most that post here are GEAR NAZIS!  manditory are: Helmet, Armored jacket, Boots, Gloves and Jeans (70% on here seem to have riding pants and wont even ride in jeans)... get yourself some good gear.. ESPECIALLY if you are new to riding.

Most say.. there are 2 types of riders... Those that have gone down and those that are going to go down..

GEAR UP! You are not in a car anymore 

Quote from: scottpA_GS on September 22, 2009, 04:56:56 PM

You should do MUCH more research on here.

Most that post here are GEAR NAZIS!  manditory are: Helmet, Armored jacket, Boots, Gloves and Jeans (70% on here seem to have riding pants and wont even ride in jeans)... get yourself some good gear.. ESPECIALLY if you are new to riding.

Most say.. there are 2 types of riders... Those that have gone down and those that are going to go down..

GEAR UP! You are not in a car anymore 

true lol. I almost got ran over by a mini van today. And i almost hit another car infront of me but i hit breaks hard and my motorcycle was out of control but Thanks G-d i got it under control . Did you ever get into an accident?

joe rocket jacket, teknic gloves, scorpion helmet, riding pants if im just riding and steel toed work boots that are above the ancle.  jeans or work pants if im riding to work.  never been down but dresss for it even when just riding to town.

always wear my helmet, joe rocket gloves, steel toe above ankle boots and my shift leather jacket and kevlar reinforced heavy duty ultra heavy longer than my length of leg, jeans.

haha 100 bucks, thats a pretty good deal! just think of it this way, you may think it is cool to be with no gear just a helmet, untill you go dont, and, well, at that point, with no skin and big scars...you will look pretty goofy.

I have come off my old bike 3 times, 1 of those times was my fault riding to fast for the conditions...

I have this gear on (in aust prices)

Helmet $1100
Jacket $1100
Gloves (you can not graft skin on your hands but if they could you would have hairy palms after anyway...) $250
Motorcycle jeans (dragon), now the jeans i had on the first time lasted about 1cm of a 50m slide. $250
Work supplies me with really good boots

Edit... fixed up some bad spelling.

dont listen to them, chicks dig scars  
just kidding.  I almost always wear my armored leather jacket, gloves, and boots, and if I'm going for a ride for fun, I put on my leather pants too, and zip them to the jacket.

skin grafts are expensive, and chicks dont really like scars that much  

The first and only bike I had was when I was between 12-15 years old. I had some mopeds (pedal scooters and pedal-less scooters) before that. I have had 2 accidents during those years which were self induced. The first, I was riding the moped to school. It was in a cold month in Arkansas and being at the northeast corner, it does get below freezing. Someone had some melting snow or water running off of their lawn and it had frozen right at an intersection (slightly uphill) I wasn't going fast but the moped slid immediately out from under me around 10 mph and I fell to the side. I was wearing a heavy winter jacket and probably gloves and an el-cheapo helmet in that day and I hit the ground hard with my head. It rang my bell to say the least. I was good but had a headache the rest of the day.

The second time, was when I had a Honda Custom250 (First year I think they came out with a Belt Drive?) Anyway, I was leaving Junior High and riding in front of a buddy of mine on a Yamaha 250-300. A cool camaro went speeding by and around a tight curve. I thought to myself "How dare he go around us, we are bikers!" And with that, I leaned really low and gave it some gas. As you may have guessed, the bike flew out from under me around 15-20 maybe slightly more. I went rolling and sliding trying to stay up using my forearms and knees as my support. OF course, I was only wearing a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and jeans and helmet. I got a huge scrape on my left arm and minor other scrapes and bruises. That stinking scrape oozed for weeks.

Anyway, the moral I am trying to lay down for you is, be as careful as you can possibly be. And when you think you are being careful, realize you are not. Also realize that people in cars, trucks, vans, semi trucks, rockets, spaceships, trains......don't give a crap about you on the bike. They would just as soon run over you as to watch for you.

Anyway, it has taken me more than 20 years to get back on a bike and I'll be honest, it frightens me well. I put on a helmet, jacket, gloves, boots (as soon as they come in), pants (as soon as I can get my fat arse into them, etc.... And it is hot and annoying, but that helps me feel better.

Do a search here for ATTGATT (All The Gear, All The Time) and there is a link to a young guy and his girlfriend that did a spill at 30-35. It is terrible but it gets you thinking.

Cheers and ride safe.

Textile Joe Rocket Armored Jacket, Ikon Gloves, Z1R Helmet, Ikon Boots and jeans. All gear, all the time.

Do you guys have any recommendations as to what type of jacket and gloves i should get? any links? thankx

oh yeah.. i am thinking about timberland boots... are they good enough for this?

Recommendations? Half the posts have shared what they wear so maybe start there?
I have 3 jackets, Firstgear Meshtex armored for hot weather, leather Fast Company armored for normal weather and super armored textile waterproof/bombproof fieldsheer jacket for cold/rain/snow.
I have fieldsheer armored/waterproof textile pants I wear whenever I plan on being on the freeway.
I always wear either leather shoes that cover the ankle, or leather racing boots if I am going on the freeway.
I have 3 pairs of leather gloves for different weather conditions. I also have two different helmets, one with a tinted visor.
Most smart people recommend you spend about $1000 on gear if you are buying new, although I think if you shop around and look for high quality gently used stuff you can get everything for less than $500. I've probably spend aboout $600 on gear but my leather jacket and boots were gifted to me. I outfitted my girlfriend with high quality gear for about $400 with help from the oh-so-kind Roadstergal.

I have been in two street crashes. One my fault, one with shared blame. They suck major ass and hurt like a b!tch. I'm not ashamed to say they are my fault, we all do stupid stuff on motorcycles I just had some added variables (antifreeze/one lane road) that helped along the situation. I ride a lot safer now (usually). Problem is I'm 19 so stupid stuff is in my nature but I try my hardest to stay safe and not listen to the speed demon.
I crashed once at ~45-50mph in full gear and felt like I had been hit by a train but made it out with just minor rash caused by the inside of my clothing. Second time was about 20 or 25mph with full gear minus riding pants. Yeah jeans are about the worst thing ever vs pavement. I have some permanent scarring on my right knee because of that one. Took about a month to "heal".

Moral of the story? Be safe, wear lots of gear all the time. If you ever set out on your motorcycle without full gear (read: jeans!) then you have to accept the fact that roadrash may be in your future. And in my opinion, if you are going to be traveling above 50mph or going on the freeway, there is no excuse to not be wearing full gear because you will most likely die if you aren't protected if you crash at those speeds.

Update: Here are my crash posts. Hopefully they will convince you to get some proper gear. If you do a quick search there are many more posts like these from other members.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=45124.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=47460.0

Its weird for me to read back over those and remember what was going through my head at the time. A crash really messes with you, makes you think about giving up riding, fell lucky to be alive and relive those few seconds of the crash over and over. Very traumatic experiences, try to avoid them.

Quote from: inexplicable718 on September 22, 2009, 04:32:20 PM
yeah i am just wondering how many people got hurt etc. Do you think everyone is bound to fall once or twice on their motorcycle?

Also, what type of gear do you guys usually wear when riding?  I just put on my helmet and thats it. But i saw this really cool motorcycle jacket which is suppose to support ur back etc but its like 100 something dollars. Do you guys wear gloves? (the ones that protect your knuckles?)

Share your experience !!

Oh Dear! $100 for a jacket! Price out skin grafts kiddo - hell, price out your costs for the trip to the emergency room and the follow up doctor visits, and don't even bother adding in the pain and suffering (yes, Virginia, they really do scrub gravel out of your hide with something a lot like a Brillo pad), much less the time lost from productive work making money...

...and don't forget your ass. Jacket ain't the half of it - jacket, pants, boots, gloves, helmet. If your gear doesn't cost more than your first motorcycle, you are doing it wrong. I started riding lo these many moons ago and thought I "couldn't afford leather pants". What I couldn't afford was the hole in my butt the first time my jeans met pavement. They lasted maybe 10 feet. The jacket ($327 in 1980-something) has been down several other times, and has had the seams re-stitched at least once, but is still going strong, though I do have a textile riding suit for the rain, now. Sitting down seems pretty trivial, until you can't do it for several weeks.

If you haven't crashed yet, you will. If you have crashed, you'll crash again. It's that simple. If you can't handle that, better put your pennies into a Volvo so you'll have a nice cage around you when you crash, and give up on murder-sickles.

edit - add:
If you would dress differently if you were going to be tossed out of a truck onto the road going 50 or 60 miles an hour (90-100Kph), you're not properly dressed to ride. Enjoy the ride, but dress for the crash.

I've haven't gotten into an accident or crashed, but I always make sure I'm mentally and physically prepared for it - leather or textile jacket, leather gloves, helmet, racing boots (no matter where I go).  I also wear jeans or riding pants, but I'm prepared for the consequences of jeans - I know the risks.  If you search around on eBay or for closeout deals, you can outfit yourself in a complete set of new/barely used QUALITY gear for under $500.  I bought some new gear at the start of summer this year (textile jacket was too hot) - $100 Teknic leather jacket, $100 Alpinestars gloves, $80 HJC helmet (CL-SP).  There are leather pants available for $100, boots are actually the most expensive thing I've got at $235, but I've heard of people getting them for <$100.

Try http://www.newenough.com - they always have great deals going.

i've been down once on a bike in the 80's, went down going around a corner with the kickstand down, had on shorts, t-shirt, sneaks..walked out of the ER looking like a mummy, just lucky it wasn't any worse..young and stupid...now i wear full gear and i don't ride without it..thats just me..i didn't much like getting to know mr. roadrash...everytime i look at my hands i see the scars and remember the doc pulling out stones..ouch...

Icon Acclerant Jacket, HCJ CL-SP helmet, Shift Vertex gloves and AlpineStar SMX Boots.  Been down once before the boots and different helmet. Hit oil or antifreeze in a curve. Didn't have the boots at the time and was wearing low top Vans.

Gear so far: ~ 700ish
1 stainless steel screw in your left ankle: ~ 13K+ (10K from insurance and 3Kish from you)

Oh, don't forget the joy of physical therapy.  If you live alone. Imagine being alone on crutches. Trying carrying a plate of spaghetti to the table with crutches is fun. It's a great way to lose your religion. The nights of not sleeping cause the blanket caught the cast and tugged it the wrong way. Having your leg proped up all day and night to it doesn't swell and crack the skin is loads of fun too.

Chris

My first bike was a 1983 Honda XL185S dual-sport.  I flew over the handle bars (off road) of that thing more times than I can count. Usually a pretty soft landing. Hell, if you're not falling off in the dirt, you're not having fun, right?


My only 'real' off-bike excursion was my own fault in the first month I had my GS -- too fast for conditions, and too fast for my own inexperience.  Wearing gear, only injuries were a sore wrist and a damaged steering stop and a bruised ego.

My gear: Full leather 2-piece suit, leather shin-height boots, leather gauntlet-style gloves, ear protection and a full-face helmet. ALWAYS. Plus I usually add a reflective vest.  

Yes, Virginia, I look like a dork on my Virago.  Don't like it? Tough noogies.

The suit has lasted me 18yrs so far and going strong. My belly will outgrow it before it wears out.  The boots are also 18 yrs old and have been resoled twice and have another year or two left in them.  Gloves last me about ten years.  Just bought my third pair of summer-weight gloves. Working on my 2nd pair of winter gloves.  Helmets last until I think the foam inside them may be distressed or until the shell gets one big whack.  My longest = 7 years, my shortest = 3 years.  Easy to see that some money spent on good gear will last you a LONG LONG time.  Someone here said expect to spend as much on gear as you do on your bike. Good advice.  Your bike can be replaced but your ass cannot.


ATGATT  'cause you don't get a do-over.

ATGATT.

Coming home I entered my carport through the neighbors side and he had spilled oil all over the place.  When down about 2-5mph and hit the wall.  Jump up looked around to make sure no one saw me.

Been down on dirt bike plenty. Road bike, once. On a group ride (embarrassment). A hairpin left bend with a decreasing radius followed by two switch backs on an unfamiliar road. Came out of the hairpin too wide and too fast to make the first switch back & the 2nd. So while trying to slowdown to make the right I drifted wide, still on the bitumen - BUT - the damn wet leaves got me. Next thing you know I am in a muddy leafy ditch on the side of the road. A few scratches on indicators and muffler and a bent handlebar. I picked it up, dusted off the debris rode down to a cafe for a cup of tea then rode home. Zero injury bar a small redness on one shin. No aches or pains or anything.

I wear...

Jacket with armor. Sometimes also a leather vest on top. With kevlar top underneath on weekend rides.
Armored gloves in summer. Padded leather in winter. Though this winter I also tried the gloves from Chilowee (sp?) and they are alright.
Steelcapped boots to work. Leather bike boot for weekend rides.
Kevlar jeans.

Funny, the other day at work. It was HOT. I was in the air-conditioned lunch room putting on my jacket and a coworker said... "why you wearing That? It's too hot." I said, "I wear it in case I crash". End of conversation.

Another funny. Saw rider at supermarket. Leather Jacket and Helmet wearing shorts and flipflops.

Michael

I had a bad crash in the 1960s - my fault - late for work - overtaking on the brow of a hill - cement truck coming the other way! No excuse, still shudder when I pass the spot.

Nothing since I became a "born again biker" about ten years back and I intend to keep it that way.

As for gear, we all have our own views and priorities, depending on how/when/where we ride. I have accumilated several jackets and helmets over time but I think a lot of people spend too much (pro - rata to their budget) on "cool" Helmets and Jackets and not enough on gloves and boots. If you trip over in the street, fall off a ladder or whatever the first contact with the ground is normally hand or foot, same applies on a bike.
Get the best gloves you can afford and some stout boots.

Make sure helmets, jackets etc meet decent standards, here in Europe we use EC/CE marks and standards, I'm sure you have something like that. Go for a jacket with a bit of visibility, florescence and reflective qualities.

If you are thinking about long trips and touring, which I do a fair bit of, get a second pair of gloves to take, there really is nothing worse than trying to put wet gloves back on!