UKC

Does what it says on the tin.

In reply to The Lemming:
No

In reply to The Lemming: I saw one of the lads I work with today, out and about on his bike, and I was pleased to see he was wearing his bike jacket. One of those nice moments when you realise that someone listened to your endless nagging .

In reply to The Lemming:

Not unless I wanted to spend 6 months with a plastic surgeon after I fall off.

In reply to The Lemming:
flipping heck, no!!

i used to sweat through my leathers in the summer....but that was better than being sandpapered and spending weeks with the dettol & tweezers...and skin grafts?!?

In reply to The Lemming:
I only ask because I have seen quite a few people on meaty bikes in such clobber.

Surely they know the risks?

In reply to The Lemming:

Aye, years ago I used to ride pillion with my hubby in jeans, leather jacket...and bare feet. What a tw*t.

In reply to The Lemming:

I usually wear hot pants and a chiffon blouse.

In reply to The Lemming:

I used to, it depends on whether i was going round the corner for
a newspaper , slow city commuting or travelling to work or out touring.

Its all about risk assessment, i tended to put my short bike jacket open over the tp of my T shirt on even short journeys, but jeans were the norm anyway.

In reply to The Lemming:

Saw some guy on an Bandit on the other side of the M65 in shorts and tee shirt at lunchtime. Although I was out in jeans at the time (but with everything else proper like....)

In reply to The Lemming: yes i have done on long trips when its hot , just like i have soloed on rock and ice , and walked alone in the hills when no 1 knew where i was going and with out leaving a route card , also flying a paraglider with out a reserve , and hill walking with no map and compass ,
i guess i just like living on the edge ?
why does the biking world make such a fuss of not wearing leathers we all take risks and accept the consequences

In reply to The Lemming:


It's a risk assessment thing. Some people will be happy enough to go out in shorts and T-Shirts, others want full leathers. Me well I've been irresponsible at times, generally full kit, but occassionally I've nipped round the corner....

As for the IOM..........

Rob

In reply to The Lemming:

They probably just think it won't happen to them, they will probably learn the hard way! There is only one piece of kit more important than your leathers and that is your helmet.
They often have trainers on too and no gloves. Even if only nipping down the road to town I always wore my leathers etc.
Having nursed people before helmets were compulsory and realised how many died, and also those with bones smashed and ground away. by skidding along the road I know what is most important. Saving your skin is an understatement, saving yourself pain and suffering to say nothing of your life, is everything.

In reply to The Lemming: I know what your saying but its my choice,I occasionally wear just jeans and denim jacket and in this free market economy theres a good cash flow amng many people if I fall off - which I am not going to do

I have a set of armoured textiles usually for work in the winter, leathers in the summer, occasionally weekends in the summer jeans - its my freedom of choice - I also believe I should have the freedom of choice to wear a helmet while riding my bike too

In reply to Fawksey:

How do you know that you're not going to fall off? Only takes another motorist not paying attention and you can have an accident without it being your fault. And not every accident is avoidable, no matter how good you are on your bike.

I never rode without leathers and kidney belt (and helmet obviously)

In reply to The Lemming: I don't ride a bike but I do sometimes clip my toenails left-handed.

In reply to violentViolet: I wonder what people who solo routes think? I bet they know they are not going to fall off I bet they dont think that sme other tw*t will do something to knock them off

Crashing withut a helmet doesnt bare thinking about and niether does decking without an helmet but I still would like the same freedom of choice that the rock climber gets

If I want to pop down to Asda on the bike without my leathers on then I will do so, if there wa a very real chance taht I might leave my muscle on the tarmac Id never ever get on the thing would I?

99% of the time I wear protective clothing and I always wear a helmet even if the law said I didnt ahve to I wuld wear a helmet but id like the decision to be mine to make

In reply to Bob Hughes: cant think of much thats nicer about biking than baking at the lights in full leathers and when that light goes green, winding on the aircon to max.

In reply to The Lemming:

I jumped on the back of a bike a few summers ago with just a short skirt and t shirt on a couple of summers back. Since me and a friend had broken down a few miles from nowhere in the middle of North Yorks moors it seemed logical enough. T'were lovely feeling the wind up me gusset!

(meanwhile similarly underdressed friend riding pillion on another bike was crapping himself!!)




..... probably wouldnt do it again now Im older and wiser

In reply to Fawksey:

The law to wear helmets was brought in because too many people chose not to wear them and ended up dead or like cabbages. What about family and friends who sit by the bedside watching and hoping when the worst happens? Or the emergency services who have to pick the remains up and try to do something to help and then live with what they have seen; is it fair on them just for a principle?
You may quite probably carry on wearing your helmet even if you did have the choice but how soon would it be before the youngsters wanting to prove how tough they are would be zooming about without them.
Yes in some ways it may sound like a nanny state but this law is very sensible in my opinion.

In reply to Knitting Norah: I hope then that your principles are consistant across society and that you advocate compulsory wearing of helmets for climbers?

Family freinds emergency services etc, yes it is fair, two of the three buy into it out of love, the third gets paid to do a job of their choice

When I was in Mountain Rescue I chose to do so and I never condescended to make judgements on the lifestyle choices of the broken people I attended

In your world nobdy would be selfish enough to take risk they would all be knitting

In reply to The Lemming: Often do.

In reply to Marcus:
Me too. Not far or fast, but quite frequently. I also enjoy the odd illicit ride without my lid on, which tends to make me pootle along quite slowly with a big stupid grin on my face and the engine barely ticking over.

Its a bit eccentric I suppose, but the only bit of protective clothing that I always wear without fail is gloves.

In reply to The Lemming: Yes I have done, but not above about 30mph. My rational is I can get up to those kind of speeds on a push bike and don't feel the need to wear a suit of armour. I really do hate laws that take away personal choice that don't affect others (admittedly until you have an accident), and thankfully at the moment all you need to wear is a helmet and a pair of underpants.

In reply to The Lemming: If i had a bike no way i have seen however the results of a moped and a 13 year old in shorts and tshirt which resulted in several painful skin grafts so i was told.

In reply to The Lemming:

I used to ride my bike around Edinburgh on sunny summer days in a white shirt and jeans. Still had a full-face helmet, leather gloves and steel-capped leather bike boots ... and a proven ability to roll instead of using my head as a brake.

No chance of me ever riding like that out of town though.


(I wear a helmet for hillwalking as well as climbing.)

In reply to The Lemming:

Yes, why not? I used to all the time in summer when a youth. Be careful not to fall off though!

In reply to The Lemming:

I've picked up the left overs of a lot of people who have come off without protective gear on... and i've seen plenty of pics of the results of others... one bloke had his foot amputated because the trainers he was wearing didn't have any plates in the soles and his foot was totally mangeled.

Its all down to choice ... again!

I've never rode without full protective kit but thats coz of training i've had and seeing alot of nasty stuff.

I don't bleat to mates who choose not to but at work when i stop a 16 year old wearing just trainers, shorts and a helmet razzing around? They don't know any better and need educating. Alot of the time its down to cash flow.

In reply to Bruce Hooker: If I do anything for charity I may try to be original and ride my motorbike semi naked to Kirkby Lonsdale, I would of course wear a helmet gloves and boots but thats all, i wonder if I could get away with it without a pull from plod?

In reply to Fawksey:

Would you look like the guy in Waking Ned? Funniest bit in a hilarious film.

In reply to Fawksey: You could be like the naked rambler, but be the naked biker instead. You'd be in all the papers and everything! <and you'd probs get arrested lots>

In reply to The Lemming:

I met a guy who came off a CBR600 at 90mph in a T shirt & got pretty badly injured (grafts etc). He admitted it was a stupid thing to do.
Meanwhile, I'm happy to ride a push bike at speeds of 40mph+ downhill in t shirt and shorts, you never see folk in leathers on the tour de france despite the 60mph descents, eh?

Davie

In reply to The Lemming: Yes. Always wore gloves though.

In reply to The Lemming:
Nope, in the midst of summer always wore full leathers on even short journeys (pillion only butI like my skin even so). Remember undoing my jacket and lifting visor once on some ghastly hot day and long ride, to think "wasps" and do everything back up again. Wow, how extreme am I??

In reply to Fawksey:

What would you like them to pull?

I'd be careful on this one as they might take you up on the offer.

In reply to The Lemming:

I did it once in my younger years when I was a little more 'wild'. Travelling 80mph on my unfaired Bandit I was hit square the chest by a bee. It was like being shot!

In reply to Cerulean:

I wouldn't. I wouldn't BEFORE my nephew came off and bared the bones on both knees (I have video of his knees if anyone needs to employ scare tactics?) but I DEF wouldn't now!

In reply to TN: It's not worth the risk. I always ride in full protective gear regardless of the length of my journey.

I've seen the scaring left behind by people riding in tracky bottoms and it's not nice at all.

In reply to The Lemming:

When i was learning, my instructor told me about the last time he went out on his bike in a tshirt and jeans...

A bee flew up the arm of his tshirt - since then hes always worn his jacket.

So even if you dont come off, there are dangers :oP (not as bad, but still)

I always wear my jacket.
To get to college I usually just wear jeans (no where to change at school, plus its about 5 mins down slow roads).
If I'm going anywhere else I wear my proper trousers.

At the local bike shop you can get jeans with kevlar in them or something.. I would get a pair, but they are all mens style and dont fit!!

In reply to The Lemming:
No, only in a short skirt and heels.

In reply to The Lemming:

Did in the past...used to ride in shorts, deck shoes, shades and my helmet on my arm......sometimes drunk and invariably stoned..................but that was then Now...my biking days are over and I'm happy that I had them but equally I don't miss them.

So.......glad I did it and glad now that I don't

There is a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to sit and a time to dance etc etc etc

Cheers

In reply to The Lemming: Like to ride in shorts in the summer but take it a bit steady. i.e. Dont get my knee down Ha Ha.

In reply to The Lemming:

NO. I did when I had my first motorbike (a Honda 90 in 1972), until I had a blow-out in the rear wheel when I was going at about 45 mph. Somehow - I really don't know how - I managed to stay on, as the back of the bike thrashed about like a wild animal. As the dual carriageway curved to the right I deliberately kept on in an absolutely straight line, without daring to brake at all, but once I was on the much rougher hard shoulder I lost it and came off at about 5 mph. That was painful enough (badly graised arm/elbow etc) and told me immediately that I should go out and buy a leather jacket. It's almost unimaginable what the injuries might be like at even 20 mph onto tarmac wearing a T shirt.

In reply to The Lemming:

A friend of mine who rides every day, all year round since he was a teenager always wears leathers etc... the one time he didn't he'd just had his bike from the garage, took it for a small ride up the road and back. Garage had messed up something with the brakes and the front locked up, kicking him off, slid down the road in jeans lost a lot of skin up one side of his leg, guess it doesn't matter how good a rider you are, there's always that chance of an off, so for me leathers and lid every time regardless how long the ride is.

In reply to The Lemming: Girls out here ride them in miniskirts ans boob tubes.

In reply to The Lemming: A WPC once told me they had attended an RTA and found a dead biker at the scene. He was a teenager wearing nylon footie shorts and a t-shirt. Later on it transpired that what kiled him was not sliding down the road at speed getting his legs, arms and back ripped to shreds, no what killed him was his nylon shorts melting as he slid down the road and fusing to the tarmac. The sudden stop broke his spine, thats what killed him. I have no idea if this is a true story or not but its been enough to keep me armoured whilst on my bikes for the last 20 years!

In reply to The Lemming:

always gloves
always jacket
always helmet
always boots

sometimes jeans or normally proper trousers

not stressed about the trousers but normally wear them as they're cooler than the jeans

my crash was at 70moph and involved me faceplanting the road. the helmet shattered, gloves wore through and trousers/jacket torn to shreds. did what they had to though and kept me alive

the kit works people, use it

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

falling at 20miles per hour and not using gloves is the same as putting your hand on a belt sander

not nice

rear wheel blowouts suck, as do front wheel ones

rear was at 30mph.
front was at 80mph.

Both were on tubed tires SUDDEN loss of pressure and control. Was "interesting"

In reply to The Lemming: Rope and leathers have on thing in common, they are only useful if you fall. The choice to use them or not or when is very much a personal thing IMHO.

In reply to Ian: Sounds dramatic but doesn't usually happen like that in real life. Tended to roll and not just slide along road surface certainly in the offs I've taken. Although not recently I must add.

Have you seen the episode of Braniac where they test pretty much what you're describing?

They didn't test leathers, but put jeans, office trousers and a shell suit up against each other...

Guess which one protected the dummy most when they pulled him behind a transit van...

Personally in the absence of leathers I'd go for denim all over!

In reply to Colin Barwell:

Maybe not usually but it does happen. I know someone who ground their ankle bone down pretty nicely.

Mind you I also know someone who was left with a key shaped burn mark on their bum, leathers did their job, but the key in their back pocket heated up enough from the friction to burn!

In reply to All:

A lot of 'you must be joking' replies in there...

but as pointed out by some aren't the arguments similar to those against soloing - when it's all a matter of risk assessment . I've ridden in shorts and t shirt and trainers - and without a helmet - when abroad, and travelled a lot more cautiously and within my limit when doing so - no guarantees that your tire might not blow of course - but no guarantee a hold might not snap off when you're soloing....
Mark

In reply to Colin Barwell:
my big crash involved a cyclist and over the bars action
hence the helmet shattering

in the other offs i've had its been more sliding about

In reply to The Lemming: Yes. I ride a GSXR 1000 and a GSXR 600 and often ride in jeans and a leather jacket or t-shirt (or on the way to work suit and jacket. Admittedly if we off for a proper long ride out in the evening i always wear full leathers but just for short blasts like riding to work i very often don't bother.......

In reply to mm548:
but you ride a moped

that doesnt count