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Full leather for street riding stupid?

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and impact is where broken bones come from...
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even a minor fall as I did on dirt last year can take a good while to heal even with no broken bones. ( wrenched my shoulder on impact )
It's one reason I like armor underneath as I think it fits closer to the joints ....in my case my jacket was not done up entirely ( hot in the rain forest ) and I don't think the shoulder armor came into play properly.

On the other hand my knee armor worked perfectly, hole in the light riding pants and good scratches on the armor but did not feel any impact and didn't even know I'd hit the knee hard till I noticed the hole and the gouges.

I've gotten so used to the knee armor I just strap it on under or sometimes over whatever I'm wearing and easy to take off at destination. For distance I put it under the mesh riding pants and it sits on my knee properly and the pants feel less awkward to move around in.

Mesh with liners and when really cold your rain jacket offers a very wide range of temps to ride in. I'm good from 6 to 30 - after 30 - well ...;)

Good gloves tho especially for a new rider are important. Your spills if any are likely to be low speed misjudgments and the tendency is to put your hands out.
Get your knees, shoulders and hands protected.

There is a thread on armored shirts you might want to review. I'm looking forward to mine in Aus this year and intend to stay upright even off road.....that is your very best approach.
 
laydee said:
No one makes fun of anyone who wears full gear on a motorcycle. In all honesty I think it's so sexy when a guy pulls up in a full suit on an SS because usually they know how to ride. Squids haven't crashed yet or just don't care...
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How does having $1200 to invest in a suit represent riding skill? You will be surprised at the amount of people that have come riding in a full suit and we had to pull out of a ditch in mildly paced riders, not even the real fast rides.

I squid most of the time unless I go out to do "serious riding", however I do have as much gear as Omnivore, I make my choice and deal with the consequences as we all should.

These threads are a pain in the *** :)
 
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And the moose knuckle that comes along with those guys in one piece suits is amusing, not sexy.

Wear it, don't wear it, makes zero difference to anyone but the wearer.
 
All I got from this thread is we need more girls in lululemons on bikes, less douchvests and moose knuckles are never good.
 
How does having $1200 to invest in a suit represent riding skill? You will be surprised at the amount of people that have come riding in a full suit and we had to pull out of a ditch in mildly paced riders, not even the real fast rides.

I squid most of the time unless I go out to do "serious riding", however I do have as much gear as Omnivore, I make my choice and deal with the consequences as we all should.

These threads are a pain in the ***
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Atgta

All the gear that's appropriate.

Yup wear what you want.
I'll go from squid riding to the pool to off road gear to armor in twists or long trips tho lots of that comes off depending on the weather.

I don't think this thread is a waste tho - the OP asked a question.

But your point is a major one and I think getting armored up provides a confidence to ride faster and edgier and for new riders that's bad news.

The studies in Australia show that in serious accidents the level of armor did not affect the outcome re fatalities in any significant way ( tho of course sub-fatal better gear prevents skin damage ).

One key is comfort and that's one reason I like the mesh - I'm comfortable - it's light so I wear it more.
 
MacDoc said:
Good gloves tho especially for a new rider are important. Your spills if any are likely to be low speed misjudgments and the tendency is to put your hands out.
Get your knees, shoulders and hands protected.
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This. Hands down (pun intended) the most likely places to touch down along with elbows...
 
I wear my full suit when i ride street (going farther then the gym). If anyone thinks it's stupid not to wear full gear needs their head checked.

But it all comes down to the fact that people do what THEY want, who care what THEY do.

Anyone saying full gear is overboard hasn't gone down or is too slow to even bother with.
 
Wear what you want, we're gonna make fun of your regardless.


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Team_Green said:
I just bought my first bike and want to spare no expense when it comes to good gear. I'm considering just riding in full leathers on the street, is that a stupid idea?

RIding is a pure hobby thing, not a transportation thing for me.

Thoughts?
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.......seriously?, a noob wondering if full leathers on the street is a 'stupid idea'...........if you're a Darwinist then sure, it's stupid...and anyone that swears by textile garbage needs to crash on the stuff - I've seen an arm of a textile jacket nearly come off in a parking lot 'get off' at 40 km/h! Textile is a band-aid until you can afford some real gear. Leathers can be purchased or modified to be "perforated". If you think you can jump off the back of a moving motorcycle in the gear that you wear and you'd be ok, then continue wearing the gear you have........then, after you've actually come off a motorcycle at speed then we can discuss the leather manufacturers that actually make durable gear; ICON and Speed and Strength won't be among them.
 
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Of course full gear prevents injury in a spill, but how many motorcycle accidents are single-vehicle only (meaning the rider was riding like a dumbass). How would you change your riding style if you rode without any gear at all?

There are two parts to protective gear - abrasion resistance and impact resistance. Most life-threatening and disabling motorcycle injuries are not related to how well you protect your skin. It's not the fall that really hurts it's the sudden stop - hitting curbs, poles, rocks, other vehicles, etc. CE pads and armor are better than nothing, but it's not going to effectively absorb and spread out the impact of 100->0km/h stop the way a crumple-zone of a car frame will.

It's not a bad idea to wear gear in case something happens that's out of your control, but most of the time the single-most effective piece of protective equipment you can use is your common sense.
 
yammyr6 said:
I wear my full suit when i ride street (going farther then the gym). If anyone thinks it's stupid not to wear full gear needs their head checked.

But it all comes down to the fact that people do what THEY want, who care what THEY do.

Anyone saying full gear is overboard hasn't gone down or is too slow to even bother with.
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The old saying most accidents happen close to home, so you're doing it wrong.

Wear leathers on short rides to the gym, wife beater and flip flops for the longer trips.
 
Benny! said:
Wear what you want, we're gonna make fun of your regardless.


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+1

theassassin said:
.......seriously?, a noob wondering if full leathers on the street is a 'stupid idea'...........if you're a Darwinist then sure, it's stupid...and anyone that swears by textile garbage needs to crash on the stuff - I've seen an arm of a textile jacket nearly come off in a parking lot 'get off' at 40 km/h! Textile is a band-aid until you can afford some real gear. Leathers can be purchased or modified to be "perforated". If you think you can jump off the back of a moving motorcycle in the gear that you wear and you'd be ok, then continue wearing the gear you have........then, after you've actually come off a motorcycle at speed then we can discuss the leather manufacturers that actually make durable gear; ICON and Speed and Strength won't be among them.
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+1
 
yammyr6 said:
Anyone saying full gear is overboard hasn't gone down or is too slow to even bother with.
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Yea the suit will save you against the guardrail or a tree, going fast you are ****ed no matter if you have a suit or not, maybe you are not going "REAL" fast ;)
 
Lightcycle said:
Of course full gear prevents injury in a spill, but how many motorcycle accidents are single-vehicle only (meaning the rider was riding like a dumbass). How would you change your riding style if you rode without any gear at all?

There are two parts to protective gear - abrasion resistance and impact resistance. Most life-threatening and disabling motorcycle injuries are not related to how well you protect your skin. It's not the fall that really hurts it's the sudden stop - hitting curbs, poles, rocks, other vehicles, etc. CE pads and armor are better than nothing, but it's not going to effectively absorb and spread out the impact of 100->0km/h stop the way a crumple-zone of a car frame will.

It's not a bad idea to wear gear in case something happens that's out of your control, but most of the time the single-most effective piece of protective equipment you can use is your common sense.
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So in layman's terms your logic is, you're screwed either way so why wear gear?

c:
 
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Of course full gear prevents injury in a spill,
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reduces injury - doesn't prevent all the time and it depends on the situation. My fall in Aus on a forest track - the knee armor prevented any injury at all, the shoulder armor reduced.....and that was slow ( 20kph) no pavement and no obstacles. In the case of the jacket - the same street armor I regularly wear.
The armor spread and lessened the impact .....it still did impact damage that still hurts 9 months later.

If you are going to ride edgy on the streets or twisties then top notch armor wll reduce injury.

Riding distance on unknown roads and conditions - perhaps tired etc - a level of armor that protects without getting you overheated is my choice. You can make stupid errors on long rides that end with more consequences than a local ride gone wrong. So a bit more armor I think is warranted.

But then if it gets too hot on deserted roads in PA - off comes the gear :D

City traffic sucks - you need to do your own assessment of skills and risk tolerance.

Local rides - to the store...you can get killed walking there too.....up to the rider.

I have no set pattern. Helmet and hiking boots are about the only set pieces. I wear gloves but on photo shoots wandering back roads they go into storage. Even in PA without helmet laws I still put the lid on - feels weird without it.
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