Wearing jeans on a bike

[y2blade]

i wear what suits the circumstances


i dont care what others wear

Edited by y2blade on Wednesday 25th June 13:25

[toxgobbler]

FourWheelDrift said:

I know it's hot (someone said it might even be Summer this week) but I'd never wear jeans on a Sports bike even in this weather. I know many people have and will do but what's your thoughts on it? Just the thought of soft denim on tarmac is not nice. I think this goes years back to a video I saw in school and talk of blue lines on the road leading up to an accident.

I know some might say "I'll never have an accident I'm too careful" but it often takes 2 to have an accident and the other person could cause it.

Just editing to add, posted this after seeing someone wearing jeans on a 600 this morning dodging in between traffic.

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Wednesday 25th June 09:54

I have a set of Draggin Jeans, whilst not as cool (temp) as a set of 501's the added kevlar is very handy in an off. http://www.dragginjeans.net/

[FourWheelDrift]

Do they still flap about in the wind (30mph)? The chap I saw his jeans were flapping about a bit so not sure if they were protected ones or not.

[camgear]

I wear jeans if I'm nipping out at lunch, sometimes when riding to work although I'm almost always in full kit.

[dern]

FourWheelDrift said:

Do they still flap about in the wind (30mph)? The chap I saw his jeans were flapping about a bit so not sure if they were protected ones or not.

Luminous cycle clips - safety first.

[FourWheelDrift]

dern said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Do they still flap about in the wind (30mph)? The chap I saw his jeans were flapping about a bit so not sure if they were protected ones or not.

Luminous cycle clips - safety first.

String - recyclable, environmentally sound and can double up as a belt.

[dern]

FourWheelDrift said:

dern said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Do they still flap about in the wind (30mph)? The chap I saw his jeans were flapping about a bit so not sure if they were protected ones or not.

Luminous cycle clips - safety first.

String - recyclable, environmentally sound and can double up as a belt.

Surely the length required for a belt utilised to secure an errant trouser leg would require an excessive number of windings... or am I only speaking for myself

[Hyperion]

Riding in hot weather is a problem though, Leather is just too damn hot, especially in traffic. I recently bought a Rawland SP-1 jacket and trousers. They have CE approved armour where is counts, but crucially, they have mesh segments which let in air. Absolutely brilliant.
http://www.rawland.co.uk/Collection.asp

[big_rob_sydney]

I have to say, riding without gear is just asking for trouble. Equally, its hard to justify getting up on a pedestal for a 1 minute trip to the shops, when putting the gear on can take longer than the trip itself.

Whatever, I think gear on is better than gear off.

[juice]

For years I never bothered with protection - just a helmet (and a not very good one at that - open face with a flip down visor). I used to just wear a shirt and shorts and some sandles....Although we don;t do massive speed here (40Mph at the VERY most, which is just shy of twice the speed limit) I got to the point where I decided it wasn't worth the risk anymore..

So when I was back in the Uk a few weeks ago - I decided to get a HG Mesh Jacket and gloves and now have a flip front CE approved helmet. Will get some trousers next time I'm in the UK...

It does get very hot here (currently about 29C avg) and yes, I'm warmer than I would be without a jacket/gloves on - the fact that coming off at even 30Mph would really hurt - I think I've made the right decision...Hope I never find out though.

[black-k1]

If you are buying motorcycle clothing for its protection (which most of us do) then it is worth considering what protection is actually being offered. Many of the fabrics used at the cheaper end of the market will offer only about 2 to 5 times the level of protection that one layer of denim will offer. This compares with good quality leather offering well over 20 times the protection of denim.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_safety_clo...

Armour is only any good if it stays where it’s supposed to so armour included in loose fitting clothing is of questionable benefit, even if the armour is CE approved.

[uriel]

Graham said:

Dont forget the flip flops as well, although how the heck you change gear with flip flops i've not idea..

[Dudd]

I where Jacket, Lid Gloves and Jeans Whenever i go out. I don't go silly speeds because Iknow it'll end badly. I haven't bought myself trousers yet because of the invinsible feeling i know i'd get.

Iknow its not big or clever

Nick

[Graham]

uriel said:

Graham said:

Dont forget the flip flops as well, although how the heck you change gear with flip flops i've not idea..

Cool, where do I order them to go with my vest and shorts....

The old chap has a story about taking the knee out of a pair of jeans...... and he was wearing leathers on top!!!

[MKH9130]

On the scooter I will wear the jacket/gloves/helmet combo but usually no form of protection on the shoes or legs unless I'm going a fair distance as its all around town stuff sub 30mph. Would still do serious damage though, I freely admit.

On the 'bike I will have a full set of leathers (2 piece), boots.. the whole shebang.

[evo stu]

i just bought some of those draggin jeans
obviously not as safe as leather but safer than regular jeans and look exactly the same

[surfsofa]

As CapnCrash says, jeans will get ripped-up before your skin does, though maybe not much before your skin does

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gxuff1ffxA

I did my DAS in jeans and would still be happy to wear them where I deem the risk is low enough. As others have said, it's all down to personal risk assessment. We're all grown-ups, we know what can happen, we need to be free to make mistakes.

[evo stu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUKzAORD35I

[RizzoTheRat]

I used to wear jeans occasionally when I first started riding but never bother any more as I've got better kit.

I wear Draggin' zip-offs in hot weather, like the chinos but you can zip the legs off when you get off the bike and wander around in shorts. As they're a loose fit I wouldn't trust the knee armour that velcros to the inside of them, so I wear Knoxx Crossguard knee armour under them that straps to my leg. Very comfortable on the bike but digs in the shins a bit when you walk around in it, a mate's got the dainese equivilent which looks to be more comfortable off the bike.

Girlfiend never goes on the back without leathers. The one that really pisses me off is the blokes you see riding around in full leathers with the girlfriend perched on the back in a halter top, miniskirt and high heels.

[m3psm]

Being a bit of an expert at crashing I now nearly always wear full textiles or leathers. Leathers if I know I’ll be doing some lary riding and textiles for everyday stuff.

I’ve been down the road on numerous occasions in each and in jeans and in a suit and tie. All at low (sub 40mph) and all hurt a lot.

The leathers and textiles left me without a scratch but the jeans or suit did nothing except allowed a new hobby of picking cotton out of the wound. As the crashes where all relatively low speed, I only received heavy grazing and light cuts, but as mentioned earlier, heavy grazing across a knee and/or elbow takes weeks and weeks to heel as with the best intentions not to move, you will. The scab cracks and weeps and then starts healing again, and again, and again.

The best one for this is bedtime. You go to sleep and finally get some respite from the pain and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to hobble around for another day. It’s that first moment when you move your arms or legs that you get the shooting pain as the sheets have stuck to your weeping wound and you rip off the sheet and scab before you realise. You then nurse the fresh wound all day, then repeat again each day.

The scab eventually reduces in size and heals in about 6-8 weeks.

The aches from crashing in leathers or textiles go away after a couple of hot baths.

I’ll be sticking with the textiles and on the rare occasion I do wear jeans to pop to the shops I am ultra-careful.

When I see people wearing non-protective gear I just wince, but it’s their choice and I imagine them picking the cotton and gravel out of their wounds as I did. So, I’m all for choice. I learnt the hard way as I’m sure they will.