Extreme road rash - Wear your protective clothing!

[Bibio]

if that's how they want to ride their bike then let them get on with it or should we all be wearing protective clothing to walk across the road or play footie down the park. the UK has gone safety mad. personally i will suffer the sweat as i have come of a bike with jeans and jumper at very low speed and i can tell you it was soooore.

[TamSV]

Originally Posted by Bibio

or play footie down the park

That's already been banned.

lol i thought you were just getting charged for the privilege...well in London anyway

[Mauler]

Originally Posted by TamSV

If that argument stands, then motorcycling should be banned as there are less hazardous alternative modes of transport.

By riding a motorcycle we are all taking an unnecessary risk. Are we all retarded? Shouldn't it be banned? The majority of tax payers are not motorcyclists so why should they be paying for our carcasses to be scraped up at all? Or is there a dress code?

We have a National Health Service because we want equal medical treatment for all, free at the point of use. It's existence is not a good argument for further infringement of liberty.

All this is just a load of preachy ******** IMHO. If people knowingly choose to sacrifice some protection for comfort then they can get on with it as far as I'm concerned.

Most of the gear, some of the time.

Well no, your comparison is flawed. Yes motorcycling is a more hazardous form of transport which is exactly why we take steps to protect ourselves with armoured clothing. People who do so accept the fact that we are more likely to be harmed while travelling but the important part is that we take the responsibility ourselves to mitigate the potential for harm as much as possible without sacrificing the activity itself People wearing next to nothing do not; it's selfish and irresponsible but I agree that it's also their choice. If comparing this point to obesity and junk food then banning motorcycles is like banning burgers: rubbish. Feel free to eat bad food but take steps to mitigate any potential harm that may come from it; go for a run and don't eat loads of crap. Go for a ride and wear the gear. At no point have I said that people should be forced to wear more protective gear, just that people who choose not to are daft for doing so.

It's absolutely preachy ******** on my part, 100%. I was taken off my 125 by a new driver while I was wearing a crappy old JTS leather jacket with no armour and I still got a nice gribbly hole in my elbow with a 3-hour stint in A&E on my girlfriend's birthday and that was without any road rash. It's all well and good saying that they can get on with it but when it happens to you or someone else close to you who rides without gear and you see the effect on them and their loved ones then usually that "let them get on with it" attitude takes a bit of a dent. I don't expect any attitudes to change and I'll gladly sit and drink with people of many differing opinions to mine without any issues most of the time - I look forward to doing so on any ARs I might get to attend - but if my preachy ramblings and the thread up in the first post prevent lost flesh and tears for someone else then I'm happy.

Originally Posted by Mauler

.....but when it happens to you or someone else close to you who rides without gear and you see the effect on them and their loved ones then usually that "let them get on with it" attitude takes a bit of a dent.....but if my preachy ramblings and the thread up in the first post prevent lost flesh and tears for someone else then I'm happy.

Thats the exact reason I put the link up to be fair. Its just gone off on a tangent. Such is forums I guess.

[jambo]

I cannot tell you how many discussions I've had with people about gear. Mrs Jambo would quite happily get on the back of the bike in a sarong and a smile because she knows I'm a safe rider and we won't crash.

I appreciate the vote of confidence but having ended up on my backside more than once, I don't share her confidence. I've had to say she can't go on the bike without a minimum of gear and she's now (mostly) accepted that. More blog posts like the initial posts can only help, and I'm glad it got shared, I just think it's easy to say people shouldn't be allowed without understanding how that well-meaning statement can be turned into another piece of legislation to make biking, and the rest of our lives less enjoyable.

Jambo

[L3nny]

You have to sometimes make a comprimise between level of comfort and level of protection. Wearing full leathers is just not practcal if you are riding in 30 degrees plus around town at lows speeds, you are more likley to suffer heatstroke or dehydration than road rash.

I might of missed it but I dont think anyone actually asked for motorcycle equipment to be tighter controlled so not really sure why the discussion is happening lol.

Taking this conversation on a bit of a tangent...is it just me or is her story a little bit odd. It sounds like she was blown off the back of the bike by the wind. Really?

I know its possible to come of the back of a bike, but this is usually due to acceleration rather than speed.

[Bibio]

a very sore lesson to be learnt but it still comes down to the individual's choice at the end of the day. if they are willing to take the risk then that's up to them. you could also say the same about Lycra clad cyclists who only wear a crash hat but the rest of them are covered in very very thin material that is like tissue paper and they get up to speeds of 40mph sometimes more. i'll bet there are more cyclists treated for road rash in a year than motorcyclists.