Atgatt

TYBALT71 have u had any close calls in your 25 yrs of riding? pls share.
Lots!!! too many in my teens/20's, hospitalized, almost killed on several occasions/close calls and lost a lot of friends along the way and trust me gear did not save them! if i go down and its a choice to live in a wheel chair or death, i'll take the death, least with no gear should be quick-Ty and i still choose to wear no gear because i ride at my level of comfort and what i am familiar with.old adage: if it aint broke why fix it?" why would i after all these years start wearing gear now and have to re adjust my riding ?
 
Not many cruiser riders are out there on the street trying to rail corners at high speed in hard leans with their inside knee down to the pavement or are otherwise into high triple digit speeds. That sort of changes the dynamics quite considerably.
The poster I replied to rides the fastest and most powerful production bike on the planet, he has a Hayabusa not a cuiser, smartass.
 
The poster I replied to rides the fastest and most powerful production bike on the planet, he has a Hayabusa not a cuiser, smartass.

Your comments about gearless riders in general made no differentiation between bike types. I was referring to the largest body of gearless riders out there, which tends to be the cruisers who as a group tend to just sedately cruise rather than try to exceed personal bests on the twisties.
 
OL fair enough, I am one of those **** for brains
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but i will say it's my choice and i fully understand the consequences for my decisions and that's what I am willing to live with in my 25yrs or riding-Ty
+1

43 years here and today was short sleeve shirt no gloves and light convertibles with the knee zips undone.

If you don't have enough skill and confidence to stay upright in casual riding situations.....get off the bike.

All The Gear Appropriate

Today was light clothes and enjoyable casual riding.
Tonight will be armor and boots and fun under the full moon.

I suspect gear nazi's regularly push their skill set beyond their means and suffer the consequences. :rolleyes:
 
I saw squids with the gf on the back. Booty shorts and all. I rode behind them for awhile and man was it distracting. I say yes to female squids only.
 
+1

43 years here and today was short sleeve shirt no gloves and light convertibles with the knee zips undone.

If you don't have enough skill and confidence to stay upright in casual riding situations.....get off the bike.

All The Gear Appropriate

Today was light clothes and enjoyable casual riding.
Tonight will be armor and boots and fun under the full moon.

I suspect gear nazi's regularly push their skill set beyond their means and suffer the consequences. :rolleyes:
Thank you kind sir! I agree, it's all in the mindset the gear Nazis wear gear so in case they fall they may or may not minimize their injuries, how about the mind set i dont plan on going down, cant control if i do but i can't be a 2 wheeled enthusiast and be constantly riding in fear that "OMG OMG i may get smoked" that is no longer an enjoyable experience and if you're mindset is like that, you should just pack it up because it's not for you, it's about the freedom, enjoyment, not just a daily commuter, but a passion, I choose the 2 wheel lifestyle over 4 for those reasons-Ty
 
Yep and I know I ride less aggressively in light gear and push it armored up....I suspect that applies in spades - especially to "live for ever" teens/twenties with hot bikes and armored up.

Stats say the serious accidents - the gear won't help much except the emergency responders picking up the bits.

A bit of riding in light gear and you respect the road and maybe take the corner with an eye to the gravel a little closer, brake a little sooner, keep a bit more space around you.
If I want to ride in a Iron Man suit I'll take the cage. Closed up in full face with full gear is not my idea of enjoyment on a motorcycle except in hard riding circumstances on unknown roads and certainly not at 35 degrees on a Sunday afternoon.

Want your thrills? get your sailplane licence and do it in 3D.
Otherwise leave others to make their own risk choices.....and enjoy their ride.
 
Yep and I know I ride less aggressively in light gear and push it armored up....I suspect that applies in spades - especially to "live for ever" teens/twenties with hot bikes and armored up.

Stats say the serious accidents - the gear won't help much except the emergency responders picking up the bits.

A bit of riding in light gear and you respect the road and maybe take the corner with an eye to the gravel a little closer, brake a little sooner, keep a bit more space around you.
If I want to ride in a Iron Man suit I'll take the cage. Closed up in full face with full gear is not my idea of enjoyment on a motorcycle except in hard riding circumstances on unknown roads and certainly not at 35 degrees on a Sunday afternoon.

Want your thrills? get your sailplane licence and do it in 3D.
Otherwise leave others to make their own risk choices.....and enjoy their ride.
Is that a 650 Burgman in you're AVI, which they refer to as HALFABUSA? lol-Ty
 
well maybe 1/4 Busa but yeah same underlying 650/1300 structure - detuned - about 54 HP and last forever.
Magic is in the tranny and weight distribution = **** eating grins galore in the twisties.

Speaking of gear, it's nice to be able to go from 4 degrees in morning with every piece of gear I had with me on in PA to tshirt and shorts in the afternoon at 30 degrees - and have it all tucked away or available.
104 litres with no side bags. Best all around bike I've had, tho some lust for the Aprilla 850 tho it lacks the storage.

I'll never go back to manual after seeing what the sports autos can do for riding.
The Honda VFR1200 has a auto version and in the testing/review a rider with a stock VFR preferred the auto.

Lets you concentrate on riding and having the binders at your finger tips makes for very different control of braking.
Combo of the roll and go at any speed and the braking plus low centre of gravity just makes it plain fun in twisties.
Even the high end sports cars are moving to the sports automatics.

We were at 140+ in some of the PA twistie runs and the brakes were howling but never felt I ran out of machine.
That was a real eye opener.
 
well maybe 1/4 Busa but yeah same underlying 650/1300 structure - detuned - about 54 HP and last forever.
Magic is in the tranny and weight distribution = **** eating grins galore in the twisties.

Speaking of gear, it's nice to be able to go from 4 degrees in morning with every piece of gear I had with me on in PA to tshirt and shorts in the afternoon at 30 degrees - and have it all tucked away or available.
104 litres with no side bags. Best all around bike I've had, tho some lust for the Aprilla 850 tho it lacks the storage.

I'll never go back to manual after seeing what the sports autos can do for riding.
The Honda VFR1200 has a auto version and in the testing/review a rider with a stock VFR preferred the auto.

Lets you concentrate on riding and having the binders at your finger tips makes for very different control of braking.
Combo of the roll and go at any speed and the braking plus low centre of gravity just makes it plain fun in twisties.
Even the high end sports cars are moving to the sports automatics.

We were at 140+ in some of the PA twistie runs and the brakes were howling but never felt I ran out of machine.
That was a real eye opener.
Awesome, great stuff, my buddy who rides shipped his bike with his move to Germany, has a Honda Repsol cbr1000, in germany he thinks hes going to go to the Honda VFR1200, he likes it and was telling me about it, funny thing hes been a sportsbike guy till now 41 lol
 
this is my first season of riding and when I started I said I would never ride in a tee but after getting comfortable riding and got a taste of riding in the heat of the summer I find it impossible to ride in leathers. I did pick up a vest but its prob just a false sense of security.
 
Not many cruiser riders are out there on the street trying to rail corners at high speed in hard leans with their inside knee down to the pavement or are otherwise into high triple digit speeds. That sort of changes the dynamics quite considerably.

I disagree completely. I wear full gear and don't ride on the road with my knee down. And cruisers go down as easily (and quite probably more often) than sport bikes. The road doesn't care what bike you were on as it grinds your flesh off.

You may choose not to wear gear and frankly, I couldn't care less what other people wear (other than passengers) but don't try to rationalize the decision as somehow being safer on a cruiser. That's just crap.

For those that rationalize it based on comfort or reducing the experience by wearing gear I think you're misguided but do what you want. Just realize the risk is far greater as a result and don't try to rationalize that short trips are okay, or low speed is okay or that "riding safely" is okay. Cause that's just crap.
 
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It has nothing to do with age, my bike or skill level...it has EVERYTHING to do with me liking my skin on my body and not on the asphalt! I've had my M for 22 years, I've gone from cruisers to sport bikes and I've always worn full gear. Helmet, gloves, the works. It doesn't matter if you go down slow or in a major crash, asphalt on bare skin is gonna hurt like Hell! I've never, ever ridden with just a T-shirt or shorts, etc. I have on occasion worn jeans..but that's as far as it goes and I rarely do it because frankly, I feel vulnerable when I wear them...they'll shred in a heartbeat :(
 
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If you choose to wear gear or not, it's all up to the rider. For me it's gear. I would hate to be flying through the air thinking oh man my gear is in the closet. Gear does not make me superman, I respect the road, the people I share it with but mostly myself.
 
...I have an evaporative vest which, I swear, is like manna on hot days; I can stay much cooler in full gear on a hot day than any squid.

When there is high humidity, like we have in the GTA, the evaporative vest does not work as efficiently. High humidity means there is already lots of water vapour in the air, so additional evaporation will not occur, and thus may not cool you down as well as in a very dry climate.
 
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