Protective Clothing abroad

[Davel]

Just come back from a week in Southern France and sadly not on the bike.

I was amazed to see that virtually all of the riders wearing the right gear were uk bikers.

Despite often riding like complete idiots, shorts, t-shirts and even sandals seem to be the common attire for riding bikes, scooters and pizza mobiles.

It was bloody hot but is it really worth the risk?

[beano500]

No!

[fergus]

Go and see someone in a renal failure ITU in a hospital. They are in there because they can't produce enough plasma, etc to cover the MASSIVE gravel rash that they got when they though a t-shirt and a ZX10 was a good cocktail. You'll only ride and come off in beach wear once....

Complete cnuts in my opinion.

[B19 JAE]

Even when I drop mine inn for the service 3 miles down the road the full kit goes on.
Read an article in MCN one of the test bike riders had to nip to the shop a kuple o miles down road for sum bits put ruck sack on and all his gear even tho it was a red hot day, he nearly didnt, he had an accident slid down road with bike on top on his leg. At the hospital after they had repaired his ankle he was told had he not bin werin the boots he would hav lost his foot!!!!
Can you imagine how you wud feel knowing you lost your a limb kos it woz sunny an you left all your gear at home!!!!
I wud never ever dream of goin out without the kit on

[S2rr Kitty]

I'm a full kit or don't go out person..... have done a lot of riding thru France & Spain - they just don't have the same attitude as us... dunno if that is down to lack of awareness & info or what - I don't think they have the same type of campaigns & organisations that we have here eg 'Think Bike' & the IAM.

Interestingly when I was out in Italy last year working with Axo on their new ladies range - there were 12 other girls there from other European countries. None of them had any idea about impact/abrasion/stitching/hide quality/different types of armour etc... all they were interested in was style & fit only.
I think this is down to all the destruction tests etc in magazines - we are much more educated as a buying public generally - all those Watchdogs & Which Guides!.

Anyway - off to France again this weekend for a trackday - sure I will get passed @ 110mph on a blind corner by some bloke in a puffa jacket & trainers on Bandit 1200 -

Anna
x



>> Edited by S2rr Kitty on Monday 7th June 14:53

[Davel]

What are the helmet regs in France, cos quite a few riders weren't wearing them.

Saw one mother and daughter on a moped. Mother kitted up with bike jacket & helmet. 9 - 11 year old daughter with flip-flops, shorts and t-shirt.

You'd never forgive yourself if your child was injured on your bike......

[Pigeon]

You could argue, though, that wearing full kit in some circumstances may make you more likely to have an accident. Consider the pizza scoot... all you're doing all day is bumbling about in city traffic, never getting up enough speed to produce a nice breeze. The major danger in an accident here is not having large areas of skin stripped off, cos you're only going at pushbike speeds, but falling in front of a car and being squashed. Wearing full kit brings a risk of heat stroke, and won't protect you against being squashed.

I always wear full kit, and hate days like today because I'm drowning in my own sweat before I've even started the bike. Fortunately I live fairly close to the edge of town and don't have far to go before I hit the NSL.

[Davel]

Yea but you can hurt yourself, or be just as dead, at 30 mph on a bike, a scooter or a pizza delivery bike!

[cazzo]

As someone who started riding in Italy, I can confirm that standard riding 'safety' gear was (pre-helmet law), Jeans, White T-shirt, trainers, thin nylon jacket (if raining) and shades, or if at the seaside for your hols - Shorts (or 'Nuthuggers'), flip-flops (no shirt) and (of course) shades!

When the helmet law was brought in, Italy's scooter market was devastated overnight by all the young kids not wanting to ride any more as they didn't want 'helmet-hair'

When Helmet was used it was usually removed and hung over elbow whilst riding in town - now they just plonk it on top of the head as, presumably, this is technically wearing it and therefore legal

Italians dontcha just lov'em.....

>> Edited by cazzo on Monday 7th June 21:54

[Pigeon]

Davel said:

Yea but you can hurt yourself, or be just as dead, at 30 mph on a bike, a scooter or a pizza delivery bike!

I know... that's not quite the point I was making. The type of injury you get depends on various things, including:
- how fast you're going
- how heavy the bike is
- type of frame (scooter / ladies' pushbike easier to get clear of on the way down than "normal" motorbike / gents' pushbike)
- whether anything hits you once you've fallen off
...the urban pizza scooter scores pretty well on the first three but any accident in urban traffic won't do too well on the fourth, and that is an area where leathers won't be much use. I'm saying that your overall risk of having an accident may increase through wearing full kit for long periods at low speeds, due to incipient heat stroke, sweat running into your eyes or even just loss of concentration because being too hot is pissing you off; and the full kit is less likely to prevent injury than in the case of a high-speed off, because a crushing injury is more likely than a bad abrasive injury.

Note I'm also saying "may" because I don't have figures to back this up - I think it's a valid line of argument, not a proven fact

I wear leathers on the motorbike even for a purely sub-30mph journey because I don't fancy being dragged along with my leg stuck between the bike and the road. I don't bother on the pushbike because my experience of falling off pushbikes is that I may damage the bike but not my body (thankyou Lord), even at 30mph.

[cazzo]

But how many of you have ever ridden in heavy city traffic (max 10 - 15 mph) on a hot bike in black leathers, gloves and black helmet at 40+ degrees? try it on a daily basis and you might start changing your attire

[B19 JAE]

There is protective gear out there other than black leather you know
I seen the adverts for denim jackets jeans stiched therough with......, the name escapes me, its material but has the strength to last if you slide down the road on it.
You can also get the bak protectors and the longsleve string vest job with padding in all the rite places to wear under t shrts if you wish.
Must admit me Arai blak mi Busa is all black n all me gloves n leathers are black
Jus as a note you me cousen and his wife were killed on their bike in full gear goin less then 15mph the car that hit em and knocked em off as they pulle out of a junction is what did it.....

[Whoozit]

cazzo said:

But how many of you have ever ridden in heavy city traffic (max 10 - 15 mph) on a hot bike in black leathers, gloves and black helmet at 40+ degrees? try it on a daily basis and you might start changing your attire

I do, daily (except my helmet is green). Plus, I ride a Speed Triple so no fairing to deflect the heat away from my legs, it soaks straight in. When it's warm I switch from leather jeans to denim with kevlar sewn in. I'll break bones if I come off, but I won't lose skin.

[clapham993]

Leathers or, at the very least, leather jacket, armoured jeans and boots.

A friend of mine David popped down to the pub one evening three summers ago. It was ony a mile or so, so he just put his helmet on and hopped on the bike in shorts and a T shirt. The clash with the bus ran to form and now, three years later, he is really getting used to his prosthetic leg and nearly back to leading a normal life.

The worst bit is that his orthopedic surgeon told him that if he had been wearing his leather jeans, he would have had some nasty bruising......