I've been following this thread for a while, there was another thread,
http://www.cbr250.net/forum/cbr250-...58-when-did-you-start-riding-motorcycles.html
with a poll on it, as far as I can tell I've got the most time of anyone sitting on a bike. I started at 9, and through the years I've ridden in all kinds of weather, in a lot of environments, in the US and in Korea.
I'll never deny that the equipment will protect you when you go down, my objective is to avoid needing them in the first place. I've been successful at that, so far for better than half a century, 55 years, actually. About 30% of people in that poll have fewer than half the months riding than I have years. Back in those days leather was the protective gear available, and it usually was heavy horsehide. The boots were engineer boots and I still have the pair I bought when I was in high school. Helmets were more akin to football helmets, very heavy and not very comfortable, for even just a few minutes. Gloves were primarily what ever you could get at the Western Auto store, or the local hardware store.
I rarely wear a helmet, now, because I hurt my back in Korea while taking care of a guy that had been in a bike wreck outside of Yong-san, he'd been wearing a helmet, and the regular padding offered by the bike jacket, and leather chaps, but the truck that ran into him hit him flat sideways in a t-bone type of accident. his femur had been sheared in half by the front of the truck. His mistake was that he had been under the influence, and thought he could make it through the intersection, his judgement time, and reaction time were altered by his liquor consumption. He got one of those golden breaks that sent him home to the states.
I said that just to say good judgement is absolutely the best protective equipment. 55 years, and 2 times down on the street, once when I bought my first Vespa scooter, I was living on a long gravel road, I'd had the bike about a week and really hadn't realized that little tires don't make for good traction, I went down at about 5-8 mph, and pulled gravel out of my arm for several days, my second time was in winter in Aurora, CO, approaching an intersection, just before I-225, a loop around Denver, under the bridge where there was a long strip of black ice, a car exiting the loop started sliding through the red light, I punched it a little too much and the bike, a two-stroke Kawasaki 400, started sliding, then went down, my reaction time was better then, I climbed up on the side of the bike, and rode it maybe 60-70 feet, picked the bike up, and finished the last couple of miles to the hospital I worked at.
Experience is far more useful to a cyclist than fancy clothing, or head gear.
There is room for both thought lines, geared and not geared. I hear many of the younger riders using terms like grinding their pegs, 90 mph, riding the edge of their tires, etc. I've been to wrecks where the peg grabbed, spun the bike and sent the rider of in a flat spin. At 90 miles an hour a low flying bird can take you down to your death, I've seen reference to racing for bikes and stock cars wearing protective gear, and well they should but those drivers are maneuvering their vehicles to within inches of each other, they know that they're driving in a calculated, constant state of controlled chaos, they also know that the driver in the other car, is also well versed in the art of chaos.
How many of you climb into your Toyota Camry, or Dodge Ram, secure your 4 point seat-belt, attached to the roll cage, throw your helmet on over your flame retardant jump suit, with Kevlar gloves, none, I'll wager.
We accept a certain amount of risk when we place ourselves into a situation where we will be in a state of interaction with other motorists.
We got a call when I was in Germany to get on a helicopter, there was an armored personnel carrier that had flipped over on the autobahn. All on board were killed, they were just getting back from a training exercise, they all had protective headgear on but it was to no avail. Being aware of the environment will carry you a whole lot further, safely, than an armored coat, Kevlar gloves, or even that high dollar, reflective taped, aggressive looking helmet.
Doc