Discussion
Two years ago I owned an R1 till T boned by some twat who pulled out from a side junction.
I suffered broken pelvis, femur, sternum and a fractured spine. All fixed with a mixture of titanium implants and an execellent surgeon.
What really bugs me is seeing bikers wearing jeans, trainers and a T-shirt when the weather is hot. I can't believe their stupidity. You maybe an excellent rider but it only take one arsehole. I had 15 years riding experience and wearing Texport amoured leathers, Shoei lid, Alpinestars and a full length back protector.
I suffered broken pelvis, femur, sternum and a fractured spine. All fixed with a mixture of titanium implants and an execellent surgeon.
What really bugs me is seeing bikers wearing jeans, trainers and a T-shirt when the weather is hot. I can't believe their stupidity. You maybe an excellent rider but it only take one arsehole. I had 15 years riding experience and wearing Texport amoured leathers, Shoei lid, Alpinestars and a full length back protector.
quote:
Fat lot of good it did you from the sound of it.
I take my hat off to the people you refer to, as biking has for me at least, been a feeling of freedom, wearing t - shirt etc. occasionaly keeps this feeling alive, yes I know someone can hit you and break every bone in your body, but the same can happen whilst crossing the road and you don't even wear a crash helmet then. If ridden in the correct fashion acording to the atire (spelling) there should be no problem, after all it's their life to do with as they please, the fact they are'nt dressed 'correctly' will not harm you will it? Oh, by the way I don't wear a helmet when riding my push bike (it feels better not wrapped in cotton wool) Rant over.
Nik
With or without protection, if you crash it's gonna hurt, the human body cannot stand such rapid decceleration.
Whilst I now always wear the gear I have not always done so and in my "yoof" have ridden (and crashed!) in shorts, t-shirt & no helmet.
I do however object to being told what to wear just as I object to seatbelts being compulsory - if I harm no-one else at the time then why should I be told what to wear/do.
Sorry to hear of your bad luck but you have to accept that biking is dangerous. BTW my worst injuries have been whilst wearing all the gear (mind you if I'd been in shorts and t-shirt I would have had no skin left!)
Whilst I now always wear the gear I have not always done so and in my "yoof" have ridden (and crashed!) in shorts, t-shirt & no helmet.
I do however object to being told what to wear just as I object to seatbelts being compulsory - if I harm no-one else at the time then why should I be told what to wear/do.
Sorry to hear of your bad luck but you have to accept that biking is dangerous. BTW my worst injuries have been whilst wearing all the gear (mind you if I'd been in shorts and t-shirt I would have had no skin left!)
To reduce accidents there should be no air bags, this just makes a large number of people beleive that if they crash, they will be ok, I guarantee, if you replaced the same air bag with a steel spike there would be less accidents. And for the idiots who can't drive properly there would be less of them to. no doubt this is totaly unacceptable to most of you, yet i'm sure some of you will understand where I'm coming from.
Nik
Nik
quote:This is not a personal dig, I wasn't there, don't know the details etc. etc., but maybe if you had not been wearing decent gear you might not have been in the situation. i.e.
If I wasn't wearing decent gear I would be dead or minus a leg.
quote:- in other words risk compensation.
I always found that wearing leathers made me ride faster!
Now I'm not saying that riding around in shorts and T-shirts is big and clever, and that everyone who did so would automatically become a better rider; just that the chances are if you were riding around "naked" (from a protection point of view) you might have avoided an accident in the first place. Bystanders aside, anyone involved in an accident has in some way contributed to its cause. Unless you ride assuming you are invisible (which is a very good idea), in which case you were extremely unlucky to get caught out by a freaky set of circumstances which you genuinely couldn't have anticipated and avoided, and you were fortunate indeed to be wearing decent gear.
There's WAY WAY WAY too much emphasis on secondary safety these days, not enough on primary safety. The best way of minimising the damage caused by an accident is to avoid having one.
Thats why speed is a good thing. Speed is good, speed works. Cars (and bikes) get better brakes, more grip, more responsive handling. If everyone trundled around at the posted limits bikers would still be using Avon Speedmasters and drum brakes. And actually taking as long to stop as it says in the highway code. Imagine that!
>> Edited by philshort on Saturday 27th July 12:57
Phil I think I'm right in saying that the majority of bike accidents are caused by other people. "I'm sorry didn't see you mate" is a very common cry. In those cases no matter how observant you are a pr@t can still have you off the bike. Most decent riders assume an idiot is after them all the time regardless of what they are wearing.
IMHO wearing T-shirt and shorts is a sign of stupidity on a bike. Its never THAT hot in this country, and if its a choice of being hot or losing leg/arm etc. then I'm for being hot.
I'm not saying it should be compulsory (I believe the helmet law should be optional) but saying that you're "safer rider" without protective gear is utter rubbish.
IMHO wearing T-shirt and shorts is a sign of stupidity on a bike. Its never THAT hot in this country, and if its a choice of being hot or losing leg/arm etc. then I'm for being hot.
I'm not saying it should be compulsory (I believe the helmet law should be optional) but saying that you're "safer rider" without protective gear is utter rubbish.
Smeagol, if you get hit by a 'sorry mate' then you didn't see him either. Doesn't excuse him, but you have to accept that you were not making allowances for his stupidity! (thats the royal you btw)
I haven't said you are a safer rider without protective gear (have I?), but you will probably be a more careful one.
>> Edited by philshort on Saturday 27th July 15:25
I haven't said you are a safer rider without protective gear (have I?), but you will probably be a more careful one.
>> Edited by philshort on Saturday 27th July 15:25
quote:Supercilious, pompous, condescending fcuking asrehole! Sorry, but that has to be the most vomit inducing piece of drivel I've seen here in quite some time. You some relation of Tony Bliar, you sanctimonious gobsh1te?
Some people need protecting from themselves. You're one of them
Fume!
Deep breath .... count to 10 .....
As you might gather I'm not a big supporter of helmet laws either. And I am very anti nanny laws. If that was some very clever witicism, sorry, I missed the joke. If not fcuk off and mind someone else's business.
>> Edited by philshort on Saturday 27th July 17:22
Oh dear... all the toys are out of the pram now aren't they. Yeah, yeah, all the fcuk off macho sh1t. Brilliant. If you want to turn PH into a slagging session I reckon you'd be best finding another board mate.
As most of the people who regularly post on here will know I hate the nanny state with a passion. The helmet law is pretty f'king essential though - how many tomato ketchup cases would there be without it? Fine if it were just your personal choice, but it isn't that simple. When half your brains have been smashed out on the roadside someone's got to clean you up. Then if by some miracle you managed to survive and have been reduced to a cabbage state then someone's got to look after you, dribbling down your front and p1ssing your pants. Oh, and then the lawyers all get fat chasing costs to support you like this.
Maybe the helmet law should be repealed, then Darwin's law would take full effect.
No Phil, I'm not a mollycoddler, but you can take that last outburst and shove it right up your ar5e.
As most of the people who regularly post on here will know I hate the nanny state with a passion. The helmet law is pretty f'king essential though - how many tomato ketchup cases would there be without it? Fine if it were just your personal choice, but it isn't that simple. When half your brains have been smashed out on the roadside someone's got to clean you up. Then if by some miracle you managed to survive and have been reduced to a cabbage state then someone's got to look after you, dribbling down your front and p1ssing your pants. Oh, and then the lawyers all get fat chasing costs to support you like this.
Maybe the helmet law should be repealed, then Darwin's law would take full effect.
No Phil, I'm not a mollycoddler, but you can take that last outburst and shove it right up your ar5e.
well said phil. AP you're an @rsehole. My post actually states that people should protect themsleves and that wearing T-shirt and jeans on a bike is stupid. Do you really think I don't wear a helmet.
The point is that I don't believe it should be the LAW to wear a helmet, it should be optional. I personally would choose to wear a helmet even if it wasn't a legal requirement. Just as I chose to wear a seatbelt in a car prior to it becoming a legal requirement. Its not the law position to make choices about my own risk. Do you want to make hang-gliding or other dangerous sports illegal (your argument about looking after and cleaning up applies to them as well if things go wrong). The law is about protecting people from other people actions NOT protecting someone from themselves.
If the law was really that concerned then gloves should be made a legal requirement as well.
Phil, the point I was trying to make (probably badly) was that leathers shouldn't make a significant difference in the way you ride. (I'm sure some people it does). The point was that I will always wear leathers ready for the unexpected.
>> Edited by smeagol on Saturday 27th July 17:47
The point is that I don't believe it should be the LAW to wear a helmet, it should be optional. I personally would choose to wear a helmet even if it wasn't a legal requirement. Just as I chose to wear a seatbelt in a car prior to it becoming a legal requirement. Its not the law position to make choices about my own risk. Do you want to make hang-gliding or other dangerous sports illegal (your argument about looking after and cleaning up applies to them as well if things go wrong). The law is about protecting people from other people actions NOT protecting someone from themselves.
If the law was really that concerned then gloves should be made a legal requirement as well.
Phil, the point I was trying to make (probably badly) was that leathers shouldn't make a significant difference in the way you ride. (I'm sure some people it does). The point was that I will always wear leathers ready for the unexpected.
>> Edited by smeagol on Saturday 27th July 17:47
Sorry Paul,
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I personally think the helmet law is pretty f'king sensible. Granted I'm not a biker, so I'll bow to your beliefs here.
As for being an a5sehole, well thanks. I don't think I can remember seeing so much personal sh1t flying on a board, well done guys keep it up.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I personally think the helmet law is pretty f'king sensible. Granted I'm not a biker, so I'll bow to your beliefs here.
As for being an a5sehole, well thanks. I don't think I can remember seeing so much personal sh1t flying on a board, well done guys keep it up.
The reason for the @rsehole comment was "You're one of them. 
" quote. When someone is clearly advocating safety on a bike then tell me that the helmet law is because I need it what would you say.
I don't see how you can say the helmet law makes sence when youre effectivley allowed to ride stark naked as long as you wear a helmet. mmm that makes sense.
Like all nany state laws when you actually look at them they are simply idiotic nonsensical pap. Which do no more than reinforce that the law is a farce. Not a good thing in my book.
" quote. When someone is clearly advocating safety on a bike then tell me that the helmet law is because I need it what would you say. I don't see how you can say the helmet law makes sence when youre effectivley allowed to ride stark naked as long as you wear a helmet. mmm that makes sense.
Like all nany state laws when you actually look at them they are simply idiotic nonsensical pap. Which do no more than reinforce that the law is a farce. Not a good thing in my book.
Agreed, it's farcical when you think that you can ride with a helmet and sack all else, and I also agree that many of these nanny state types of laws are ridiculous - the helmet law is one I agree with though. The question I suppose is where you draw the line between legislation and a rider/driver taking responsibility for their own actions.
Out of interest, do you think the seat belt law should be repealed?
Out of interest, do you think the seat belt law should be repealed?
quote:
quote:Supercilious, pompous, condescending fcuking asrehole! Sorry, but that has to be the most vomit inducing piece of drivel I've seen here in quite some time. You some relation of Tony Bliar, you sanctimonious gobsh1te?
Some people need protecting from themselves. You're one of them
Fume!
Deep breath .... count to 10 .....
As you might gather I'm not a big supporter of helmet laws either. And I am very anti nanny laws. If that was some very clever witicism, sorry, I missed the joke. If not fcuk off and mind someone else's business.
>> Edited by philshort on Saturday 27th July 17:22
Well said! this is not a toys and pram thing, it's an opportunity to point out to one of the "wrap ourselves in cotton wool brigade" that we don't give a flying fcuk that they're scared to step foot out the front door without some form of protection (induced by current PC lovers and government), but leave those of us alone who want to take the "risk" at no cost to them I might add, because it makes us feel alive, individual and rebelious, in what is alot of the time, a very insula and insecure world.
Oh, yeh and I agree with every other comment
>> Edited by kerniki on Saturday 27th July 18:09
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