Prangs and Protective gear

OK, so Yeebok had his first prang on the day that he coincidentally wasn't
wearing his jacket and gloves, for the first time ever. And he was bloody
lucky!

I had my first prang when I was wearing full protective gear in the middle
of November coz here in Canberra we were fortunately having a cold snap -
otherwise I would've been in my work pants. I was also bloody lucky. The
damage to my gear shows me that, without all that gear, I would've lost bits
of:

the back of my head
the entire right side of my back
my arse
my knees
the front of my feet/ankles (yeah, must've bounced around a bit on my slide
along the road after the spectacular over-the-handlebars "oh I can fly,
shame I can't fucking land" manoeuvre)

Despite not breaking any bones or losing any skin, I was bruised for weeks,
stiff for months, and am still numb in places, nearly 6 months later.

I was so bloody lucky that my prang happened when I was all geared up... I
don't think I'd dare ride to the end of my street now without the full quota
of protective gear. I know that's easier to do in Canberra, where the
climate is more conducive to covering up... and I know it's all about an
individual's choice of "gear or no gear"... but I don't think I'll ever have
enough skill or confidence to assume I'll always be ready for whatever other
motorists dish out! I'm not in a cage, I have no walls..... give me my
jacket with armour and back protector, and my pants with armour on the knees
and hips (even if it DOES make my bum look big, ha ha ha!) and my gloves and
boots and every bloody thing I can get...

betty

 

Betty; I'm fine with "wear as much protection as you are comfortable
with...." but when I see people NOT riding or ruining the enjoyment of a
ride 'cause they're too worried about getting injured I draw the line.
Realistally; if you made a scale of injuries-likely-to-be-suffered from 0 to
DEAD and then drew the lines at "without-protective-gear" and
"with-the-best-protective-gear" you might move the marker from 20-60 to
25-65 but you're really not making THAT much of a difference (and certainly
not enough of a difference to outweigh the inconvenience of putting on
protective gear when the copnditions don't suit).
Yes; this is heresy (and no-one whose livelihood depends on riders not
getting hurt would ever condone it) but that's the word according-to-Clem.

Sure, you play the odds; when you're inexperienced or facing a long or
risky journey then you'd be mad to not avail yourself of as much of that
extra 5% as you can endure but if you ever find yourself saying "naah, I'll
take the car 'cause I couldn't be bothered putting on the bike gear.." then
it's time to do your maths'.

 

I would've lost bits of:

most women pay Jenny Craig a fortune to lose their arse...

 

I would've lost bits of:

A mate tells me the best way to loose weight is to have an accident.
I learnt in my last that protective gear works best when the rider is
wearing it.
I think these cool dudes in their jacket, gloves and boots and the cool
chick on the back in their mini and singlet are pricks.

***Ouch warning***

 

I have a friend like that - and I find it just too hard to ride with her
because she rarely gets to the speed limit, even on the best, most open
roads (and she's admitted it's because she's always nervous about crashing
and leaving her kids motherless.) You wonder why they bother riding if the
Fear to Fun Ratio is 90:10 instead of the other way round. I reckon a dose
of paranoia is a good thing for a rider to have (coz they really ARE out to
get us out there <grin>), but it sometimes goes too far.

betty, all geared up and with
paranoia finely tuned
for this weekend's big ride
on the Great Alpine Road -
wheeeeeeeeeee !

 

Get back in the safe tin can and let the rest of us enjoy our lives then.

Theo

 

[jealous face]

Yep; paranoia (or a heightend sense of awareness-of-threat-potential) has
it's place but if you're just being scared and miserable then you're better
off taking the bus!
I'm sure you'll have a great ride on the Alpine Rd. See if you can spot
someone who rides the same speeds and distances as yourself. (A future ride
partner!)
Cheers ..... Clem

 

Either you think some guy wearing sensible motorcycle clothing is a
prick, in which case you're an idiot, or you think some chick is a
prick, never mind what she is or isn't wearing, in which case I don't
think there's a word for what you are.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 11 May 2007 09:53:18 GMT

Confused, presumably.

Or else spent too much time in drag clubs.

Zebee

 

Ouch, that's gonna hurt, and scar. Reminds me of my days working in a
certain motorcycle shop in Darwin. A whatever (Honda 250??) was dropped
into the workshop for crash repair - fell off and scratched it up a bit -
whilst the owner (female) was in hospital to repair the gravel rash she
picked up as a result of wearing shorts and a halter top. Guess what she
was wearing when she came to pick the bike up?

Hospital must have done a good job cos she looked quite nice - pity about
the lack of thinking ability.



Cheers

 

That's been posted around the traps a few times. If you google you
might find the website of the story of her recovery (I think it was that
girl). Quite a chikky babe.

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

I have never been in a drag club or to a drag meet and the 2 times I have
given someone else a lift without both of us having protective gear it was
the pillion that was wearing my gear.
Now if a rider is riding and wearing gear but doesn't care enough to give
it to their pillion passenger (or invest in a second set) it shows that
they are selfish and no smarter than the guy in that video.

 

"> Ouch, that's gonna hurt, and scar. Reminds me of my days working in a

An itsy-bitsty, teenie weeny yellow polka dot bikini??

 

Never been into any club scene ;-)
There has been 2 times that I have had a pillion that has not had proper
protective gear, so they wore mine.
I guess I must be confused, what am I? Or maybe it is you that does not get
it.

 

We all understood what you meant, and I suspect we mostly agree too [1].
I was simply picking up on your carelessly composed ambiguous sentence,
and I read Zeebee's response as playing along.

--
Cheers

Andrew

[1] Noting that the rider offering the protective gear to the pillion is
a chivalrous gesture, and chivalry pretty much had to go underground
when the feminists arrived. It's taking a bit of a while to make a comeback.

 

Shorts and a halter top, as it happens. Surprised?


Cheers

 

Surprised! No not really. I lived in Darwin from '77 to '81 and was just as
guilty as she was (although substitute t-shirt for halter top - no
manboobs), especially when the humidity climbed throug the roof.

Still I was young, ten-foot tall and bulletproof back then )

 

I'm getting as slow as my news reader/server.

 

I'm surprised she wasn't wearing a helmet.

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

Since when do you need to be wearing a helmet to walk into a motorcycle
shop?