Full face helmet: check
Full finger gloves: check
Textile, armored mesh jacket: check
Good for you, Ricky Rocketrider. You've
prudently chosen to make sure your vital organs and skin are
protected in case some jackass, blind, cell phone talking, text
messaging soccer mom in an SUV knocks you off your bike.
Wait. What the fuck? Shorts? On a
motorcycle? You're kidding,
right? Okay, guys who wear no protective clothing, and just hop on in
shorts and a tank top to ride to the gym or whatever I can sort of
understand. I don't agree with it, but at least they're consistent.
But you....I don't get it. You're all encased in safety, but only
above the waist. You make it look like you're concerned about road
rash, because you wear the jacket even when it's blazing hot.
Dude,
if you're worried about the skin on your arms, you definitely
need to worry about your leg skin.
If you go down sliding and stay on the bike, your arms may get lucky
and avoid the asphalt altogether. Even if you come off the bike, you
may only get minor scrapes on your arms. You can argue about whether
or not to wear a helmet – your head may or may not even touch the
ground. I've only gone down twice in 22 years of riding – once
with, once without a helmet. I was lucky - neither my head nor my
helmet hit the pavement. But the one guarantee about dropping a bike
is that. Your. Leg. Will. Scrape. Along. The. Asphalt. Possibly with
the weight of the bike on it. Wanna get an idea of what that would
feel like? Have the biggest guy you know put all his weight on a
cheese grater and rub it on your bare thigh. Then do the same thing
over a pair of Levi's.
If you're smart
enough to pilot a motorcycle in Austin traffic without dying, you
have to be smart enough to realize all this. Which brings me to the
conclusion that your flashy jacket and helmet aren't really for
protection.
They're a god
damned fashion statement.
Put some pants on,
you fucking poser.
(reblogged from http://handgrenadesandhorseshoes.blogspot.com/)
(reblogged from http://handgrenadesandhorseshoes.blogspot.com/)
Nothing drivers me crazier than seeing people who don't wear gear or the choose portions of it to wear. I wear full gear 365 even in the dead of summer. Walking through the grocery store the other day saw a dude in jeans & a t-shirt, I asked him where his gear was & he said "it's summer & the roads are bare & dry". I gave him the WTH is this BS look. Said Dude You need to wear gear all the time because your lovely tats won't be lovely anymore after a sanding down by pavement and then I said did you know they scrub road rash burns to get them clean? He went pale, hopefully he will go & get his gear out of the closet.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I'm not an ATGATT person myself. I'm more of a "Most Of The Gear, Most Of The Time" guy. What bugs me about this phenomenon is the utter inconsistency. All armored up on top, but shorts? I occasionally (rarely) ride without my jacket (usually just around the block after tightening a chain or changing the oil - to check for leaks/tightness), but like I say in the post, if you go down, your legs are -guaranteed- to slide along the asphalt, possibly with hot engine/exhaust parts on top of them. I don't accept that their legs get too hot for long pants, but their arms don't. That's just weird. At least the squids in tanktops and shorts are consistent.
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