went to the grand re-opening of Downtown Harley in Seattle with 2 buds a few weeks ago.
(an R1100S, a CBX and a '71 H1 500 in a sea of krusty-krome ego-massagers)

one of the chaps and vest crowd was telling me I looked like a power ranger in my mesh gear and he did indeed rap on my knee; got a 'doink, doink' out of it as I have hard inserts in knee, shoulder and elbow, backed by the trick memory foam
( a piece of truck tire tread HURTS when it hits your kneecap at 60)

I told him 'you have your costumes, we have ours'.

This past Sunday afternoon I wiped out while cornering on my in-line skates (maybe I didn't look through the turn far enough???). Hey, eight wheels, lots of stability, right? :rolleyes: Anyway, went down while wearing, you guessed it, shorts and a tank top. Of course, I quickly jumped up to make sure no one saw me... Landed hard on my right hip and ended up with one heck of a bruise and some road rash.

Guys and gals, I'm here to tell you this hurts like hell and I can't imagine what it would feel like had this been a get-off from a motorcycle wearing similar "attire". I am definitely mortal, and my 46 year old bones don't like this experience one bit. Not that I needed a reminder of why I always wear full safety gear while on the bike, but I got one anyway.

Best (only?) good thing about this is my soon-to-be-driving 15 year old son saw my road rash too, and I have no doubt it was a good lesson for him. What we do for our kids....

My Maltese mate from my Qantas days once made a comment about riding gear.

"NEVER AS HOT AS GRAVEL RASH"

Having experienced bicycle and skateboard rash, it made a lot of sense.

“I won't ride with someone without proper gear."

"Mainly because their carelessness and very expensive medical bills and legal fees, raises the costs for the rest of us in terms of insurance"

“If somebody showed up for one of my group rides wearing jackboots, skin-tight pants without armor, short sleeve shirt, fingerless gloves and a half helmet, he'd be sent home before he got beat up... “

I think I'll shoot at the next person I see not wearing proper gear...they deserve it for driving up our insurance rates. They're insulting to us who wear full gear everyday. Who do they think they are?

you guys are too much

what's your point?

nah...neither too little nor too much...we're just right

well I might be too little, not Danny Pedrosa little mind you, but then I can't ride as fast as he does, but still I'm kinda short, 'specially compared to Gigantic, now HE might be too much for some people but not for us, uhhh what was your question?

I agree with the newbie.

Peer pressure isn't a bad thing if you are influencing people to use their brain - it seems to be a good idea to ask people to justify their refusal to wear clothes and equipment that will save their ass in a crash. ?????

The argument that people not wearing the proper safety gear is costing"us" money and hurting "us" in some way, can be extrapolated by non-motorcyclists to say that any motorcyclist is endangering themself. Since motorcycling comes with inherent dangers, perhaps it should just be prohibited. So, ride your own bike, wear what you think is safe, drive in a manner you consider safe, and stop worrying about everybody else. We have enough common enemies on the road without attacking other riders with differing viewpoints.

I was in Ohio earlier this week on business and could readily see the effect gov. intervention has....at least on meeting minimum safety requirements. It was quite evident that Ohio must not require helmets as 80% of the riders I saw were domeless. And yes I did observe a squid on a sportbike, on the interstate traveling 80-90 clothed only in a pair of swimming trunks and tennis shoes. He was attempting to remain tucked behind the windscreen as i suppose bug/name your debris collisions on various exposed body parts tingled just a bit...hmm, conjures up all kinds of sensation opportunities for ones nipples....

I am not one to advocate more govt regulation, far from it, but it does go to show how a majority of the population will do just the minimum to comply without considering the consequences.

I like the ideas already expressed here to subject non-believers to real world demonstrations before issuing MC licenses.....cheese graters to a bare arm, ball peen hammer to the forehead...and now bb shot to the nipples.......

Brock

I cannot concur. The hatless crowd, the loud pipe crowd, etc. are NOT my allies. They come between me and my enjoyment of my sport by creating a strongly negative image of motorcyclists for the rest of the public and by jacking up my insurance.

Also, think about it this way. You drive...almost all of us drive. If you were to hit a helmetless driver at low speed he might DIE when his head hits your window. Depending on the state, you could go to JAIL regardless of whose fault it might be. If that were the case he would be ruining not only his life, but yours as well.

If he were wearing a helmet he might walk away. I'd prefer not to go to jail, and I would prefer the rider not to go to the morgue.

You're just an idiot if you don't wear your gear every time you ride. A complete ****ing idiot. Freedom and all that, great, you're free to be an idiot. A guy I knew twenty years ago in high school had a minor low side on a KZ1000. He ended up with a 1 foot by 2 foot scab on his back -- he was wearing a T-shirt at the time. Idiot. His words, not mine :)

Something there seems to hit the nail on the head. I see it in manufacturing safety and enviormental issuses as well. As much as we would like to think we "do the right thing" we seem to have a tendency to let things slide a little and then a little more and so on.

Pt2. It's been freeking hot around here and I ride to work every day I can. I rode one day wearing a helmet, gloves, jeans, boots, and a T shirt.

I felt like such a squid

This is America. We are all free to be idiots within the confines of our legal system, even a complete ****ing idiot. There are other people who will think you are an idiot for riding a motorcycle, no matter what you wear. Do you accept thier opinion? Personally, I am an advocate of dressing and riding safely. The new lightweight mesh/textile riding jackets with protective armor for elbows and shoulders make it even easier to protect ourselves in the summer. I choose to protect myself. I choose not to belittle or degrade someone who doesn't. Ride a Harley, ride a squid bike, ride a scooter, make your choice. Someday it may have an impact on my life, but this thread is turning nasty, us versus them. I don't see it that way.