Why it's best to wear protective motorcycle gear even if you

Why it's best to wear protective motorcycle riding gear even if you think it's not cool. If you think you could avoid this then you're a better rider than me and most any rider out there. Even with lean angle ABS it would be a challenge. That's just one situation that are almost unavoidable, so there's three choices "Dress for the crash or don't ride a motorcycle" or "roll the dice and takes your chances"

A buddy of mine hit a black bear on a mountain road. Totaled his bike and got him a few days in the hospital.

I rode a dirtbike or two when I was in HS, just putting around in the pastures, nothing crazy. It just never did much for me.
But theres times when you just never know what the ride will bring, no matter how prepared and careful you are.
I attached a gif file, but it won't play.

And for anyone out there who doesn't know A12's background, him saying "If you think you could avoid this then you're a better rider than me..." means you'd have to be world class... and still really lucky.

I bought a brand new Kawasaki 500 triple when I got out of high school. I discovered pretty quickly that I didn't have any business on that thing. I then bought a Hodaka Super Rat dirt bike. That thing got me down one day. I was in all my riding attire, cut off jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes. The fixed foot peg had my shoe skewered in the dirt, my other leg was hanging over the other side getting burned. I traded that for the 340 Dart that I eventually turned into a race car. I bought a Honda Z-50 mini trail for a pit bike. Even that, with a little help from adult beverages, can get you down and rub you around.

You rolls your dice, you takes your chances. I had a friend who was fully dressed and went around a corner at 5mph, he slipped in some rocks and his full face helmet chin guard hit the ground first breaking his neck and killing him instantly. All his protective gear didn't help him. It all comes down to what you believe and who you believe looks out for you...

I'm wondering WTH happended? What hit him?

Looks like a deer to me

As I tell anyone thinking about riding, wear your gear because when, not if, you dump it that gear will help save you. I'd rather shred leather than skin. Is it 100%, nope, but I guarantee you your flip flops, shorts and T shirt will leave you with road rash every time and worse more times than nought.

I started riding in 82, when I moved to TX my motorcycle endorsement didn't make the transition. Didn't notice it for years till I got a bike. So I had to take a riding school. The instructor was giving me crap about the old school heavy duty leathers I was wearing and I slapping him down. He was a sport bike rider and his gear was minimal, at best. Laughably enough in the middle of the week it started raining, I was the only one who was dry. Every one else got soaked, hell I used to ride in the winter in Chicago. We had one dude wearing a windbreaker, I told him that wasn't going to help him when he lost it which he did during class later on.

You ride a bike, you will go down at one time or another. Heck my SIL got hit while he was stopped in the left turn lane while the light was red. They kept going too. So if you are planning to ride, ride like every one if trying to deliberately kill you, because they are. Your bike has several advantages over a four wheeler. Some of them beneficial to you as the rider. It can out accelerate almost all other vehicles on the road, you can use that to not be where trouble is heading. It can out handle most other vehicles on the road as well, those it cannot out handle, well the bike is smaller and can get around things easier, use that to avoid trouble. It can also out stop most other vehicles, but that usually just makes you a sitting duck. You gotta have your head on a swivel and your brain has to be able to not only process what is going on but be able to continuously update your options in fractions of a second.

My advice? Don't ride.

Yep, went back and looked at it frame by frame and a deer ran out in front of him. Amazing that he was able to ride right through that and stay upright!

Yeah and I had friend who died from falling down the stairs at this parents' house... but he was a 3-time AMA National Road Racing champion and wouldn't throw a leg over a bike w/o his gear on.

You can use your common sense to be the best equipped for the circumstances... or not. But don't tell me the odds for surviving while wearing the proper safety gear don't improve your odds.

PS - Me in 1990 racing the Amateur day at the Budds Creek AMA Pro Motocross National

In the case of the video, what difference would lack of protective gear have made?

He wouldn't have gotten a face full of deer [censored] or that stinger on his hand.

Might have gotten shrapnel in the face from the windshield or other components damaged but not visible to us.

Many years ago a friend and I were going to a parts store less that 3 blocks away to pick up spark plugs. I left my helmet on the headrest (tall one). He shut this bike off and said, put your helmet on or your going alone. I said geez we're only going 3 blocks to whic he responded, I don't care how far we are going. Realizing he was right, I put the helmet on.
About half way there going around a left hand curve in a residential area, I had left my kick stand down and there was a car parked with the LR corner well into the street. I hit the car, went over the trunk lid hitting a short retaining wall with the top of my helmet. judging by the dmage to the helmet it would've likely been a lot more than damage to the bike and helmet

That is scary. Glad the guy didnt lay it down or get hurt.

Outside of seeing that deer at roadside so you could be aware, no chance with the conditions that you could avoid a collision. Grab a handful of front brake and the front end tucks and you go sliding across the opposite lane into the trees.

No chance I'd have avoided it either and I have a similar background as A12, national level racing.

Why are deer so stupid that they like to run in front of lights? Someone should get an educational program together for them akin to the crossing streets poems/videos for kids. LOL

When I was young I had a deer cross the highway in front of me, get to the other side, fall down, then decide to come back across. My elbow hit his tail and he kicked me in the leg on the way by. It was a Z-1 with an open pipe you could hear for 5 miles. When he decided to come back across I basically braced for impact and ruined my undershorts.

Early in my motorcycle riding days I ened up chasing a dog who had ran out after me on the street going home, I was on a new Suzuki TS185 that belong to some one that wanted me keep at my house so I could show it to another freind who wanted to buy a combination dirt and road legal bike. I had ridden it over to his house and he wasn't home, shame on me not him calling first, mistake #1, the dog had got pretty close to me but slowed down and turned around to go back, so I did the same thing and was chasing him from directly behind him ,mistake #2 I got to about three feet from his tail and he stop running and put all four paws into the dirt to stop and I hit him directly in his butt with the front tire which stop the bike instantly launching me over the handle bars and the bike right behind me.
I thought about how stupid i was for riding it with no hat, gloves or long sleeve jacket as I went over the handle bars and when I was tumbling over several times in the dirt, luckily the bike didn't land on me while it was tumbling . I heard the dog yelping, but I never saw him again ever . He was gone when I got stopped crashing in the dirt, luckily I was about three feet from the pavement edge when I hit him and I didn't break anything or get hurt serioulsy Same thing on the bike, no real damage
I have had rabbits run out in front of me on a motorcycle, but I was able to miss them

I know 2 people who are here only because of a last-minute "OK, I'll wear the helmet" decision: me, and a guy I used to work with.
He only put it on leaving work that day after a couple of us busted his stones, and on his ride home he needed it.
In both cases, the bikes were totaled, and the full-face hats were sacrificed.
If you could predict the future, you'd be a Lotto winner, right ?

Been down three times without a helmet on, according to you guys I should be maimed, destroyed, and dead! Read my first sentence, and you can keep telling all the anecdotes you want, nobody will change my mind. I am thinking of NOT moving to Tennessee because of their archaic "everyone must wear a helmet" law! If I want to wear one then I will, nobody should forced to do anything against their will...

it is YOUR choice, I do know more than one motorcycle riders that are still in coma's after crashing many years ago without a helmet on
I saw one guy die after he got pitch off of his Yamaha 850 4 stroke triple road bike not wearing a helmet.
He owned a junkyard in Hesperia, CA and one of his customers had a Suzuki 750 triple two stroke chopper, they raced each (without helmets or any other riding gear) other3 times up and down the road in front of the junkyard, the Suzuki beat him every time and beat him worst each time they raced. After the last race the owner of the junkyard was downshifting and trying to stop in time to turn into the driveway to his yard and the bike started hopping and ended up throwing him off of it into the ditch beside the road, he slid on his back into the ditch and hit his head on a large rock splitting his skull wide open. That crash happened at probably below 30 MPH That was on a Saturday around noon, he died later that afternoon while being transported to a hospital is what I learned when I stop by his yard on Monday morning to find out how he was doing

Uh, no, I'm not saying it's instant death to not wear a helmet or the other stuff, just that there are no guarantees, and fate is capricious.
I've had a few "get-offs" on dirt bikes and got away with them, though those were relatively low speeds & comparatively soft landings.

Do whatever you want, no hassle from me.

Please have plenty of insurance too so we don't have to fund your care if you end up really messed up. People fall down skating, hit their head and die. If your number is up, bye bye

The outliers of the broken neck bs compared to the lives saved is miniscule.

If helmets didn't do any good, nobody in motorsports would be required to wear one.

I see that the bike in the video is an FJR. I was riding my FJ 1100 about 85mph on Rt 40 near National Trail Raceway with my wife on the back. A deer ran out and I hit it square in the hindquarters. Hard. Split the fairing on the bike, busted off the steel turn signal stalk and I never did find the scoop for the right carbs. The unbelievable part is we never went down, though it definitely got my undivided attention. If you check out the picture the scoop is gone, as is the signal stalk. Blow up the picture and you may be able to see the splits in the fairing. I've always worn gear, I'm just more comfortable that way. Like they say, there's 3 kinds of riders: Been down, Going down, Going down again.

When its your time to die, its your time. No one and no thing will prevent it from happening.

Along the same lines, if its not your time, its not your time.

We have all seen things that have happened to people where we are amazed they are still alive and walking around, and we have all seen things where people have died where we can't believe they died from that.

Bottom line? Let the people live their lives as they choose, as long as its not hurting you or your family. Personal safety is indeed personal safety. It is not your right or duty to interject your personal safety on to me or anyone else.

When I was young and a wild driver, I made the decision not to ride bikes because I figured I would end up killing myself. It was my decision. If you want to ride, go for it, and wear what ever you feel comfortable with.

I gave up riding shortly after getting married as it was no longer just me. I also lost two friends in the same accident on separate M/C's That were taken out by a wrong way driver on I-5 in Oregon. The had helmets and other protective gear but the head on collision at combined speed or ~130MPH they did not stand a chance. they met the worn way driver on a curve at the crest of a hill. The driver had a history of mental problems. That to a point I could understand. But when it was revealed her 15 YO son was sitting beside the whole time it took the freedom of riding away. Every time I crested a hill or went around a blind corner I was as far right as I could be and ready with the brakes.
So no more,

Decided on "Rolling the dice and taking my chances".............what could possibly go wrong? At least I'm wearing protective eyewear, only because it seems to be a law in every State except Iowa (is that forced personal safety?)


Eye Protection Requirements for Motorcycle Riders
Every state—with the exception of Iowa—requires all motorcycle riders to have eye protection. If a rider does choose not to wear a helmet, they are still required to have eye protection by either wearing goggles or having a windshield.
Some states have regulations specifying what type of eyewear is permitted, while others, like Kansas, simply require that the eyewear be shatterproof and scratch-resistant. DOT-certified goggles and glasses will generally satisfy these requirements, but check with local rules if you intend to use prescription glasses.

The problem with that logic is that sometimes you don't simply die immediately all clean and tidy. (At least not right away).

When I was kid a teenager in the neighborhood was fooling around on his little honda motorcycle. Front tire slipped on a flattened soda can and he went down and hit his head--closed head injury.

He lived for another 25 or so years but was totally dependent on his entire family (mostly his mom) for literally everything. To feed him, bathe him, He eventually passed away from a lung infection. Not sure what would have happened if he would have outlived his mother. I guess he would have been a ward of the state relying on tax money and the kidness of strangers..

I hit a turkey buzzard once. Stayed up, took the windscreen out. What a mess it made (Bird sh*t). I'm a AGAT ridderr (All The Gear All the Time).

Says right on the helmet something like not good for anything over 5mph, had a few helmets that had that label on them and they were Snell rated. Keep the anecdotes coming, I must be the luckiest guy in the world riding for 50 years and still being alive! I pretty much always rode with a helmet off road, been down hundreds of times while not on the highway and to me it makes more sense then dulling your senses on the highway whey you need them most... As far as eye protection is concerned I HAVE to wear it because I had gunpowder ignite in my face when I was 17 and my eyes are sensitive to wind, so I have to have a windscreen and glasses on. Illinois law states that you don't have to wear eyewear if the windshield is so many inches above the handlebars, too lazy to look up the exact law but I remember it when I was a board member of Illinois ABATE...

Well if you had protective gear on (safety googles) your eye's wouldn't have been damaged

Sorry just being an a-s and joking. I say it should be the individuals choice much like seatbelts.
I wear them others don't. their choice
But I will say their families and friends are the ones who usually pay the price. That is what made my decisions

I just think you're old-school biker and a slow learner. Like's been said by others before me, common sense isn't as common as people believe. Stay safe, regardless

And put on some darned gloves !!!

When I laid mine down, my right hand leather glove was peeled back and torn right down to exposing my bare skin - but I didn't get a scratch on my hand!

Same for me, road rash is all I got.




Couldn't have said it better, I'm a firm "let those who ride decide" advocate.

Yet motorsports require the useless things. Got it.

Don't care if you do or don't... don't be a burden to the rest of us if you happen to have a poor result from that decision.

This man gets it!

We ALL make choices about our safety everyday. Some are better than others.

As a Construction Manager, who has held thousand of safety tail-gate meetings, it amazed me to watch what "some people" would do, even when they knew it was dangerous! The only reason OSHA and "Safety" Rules came about is because of them.
I have seen to many people die because their own actions!

So wear your PPE or don't....and live and die by those decisions.

Yes they do....as they would be held liable if they didn't!

Just as "loud Pipes Saves Life's" so does a "Brain Bucket"

Just make sure all your insurance premiums are paid up, because as a taxpayer I am a fan of "let those who pay have the say".

Too many folks in this world don't want to be told what to do, but then expect someone else to pay the toll when their bad decisions come home to roost.

I have plenty of insurance, some state MAKE you have the insurance, And to the one who says common sense applies, I used to teach common sense when I was a college instructor, yes it CAN be taught. And I also believe that the day you were conceived your life was programmed by the creator, there is almost nothing you can do about the day you were born and the die you will die regardless of what everybody else thinks...

I saw the results of the fully "protected" bike rider that missed a curve at about 80 mph and drove the bike through an Aerostar Ford van. He hit the van just to the right side of the center of the front bumper, missed the motor by inches, went through the dash and came out through the back hatch. All that safety equipment he was wearing didn't help much. The only thing the brain bucket did was made it easier to identify who the guy was, but those riding with him knew his name.

For the record, If I get injured to the point someone has to do everything for me, weather it be by my decisions, or someone else's decisions, you have my permission to pull the plug. That is not the kind of living I want. That decision of mine is on every medical and legal document I've ever signed.

As far as motorsports, if I want to participate in their activities at their facilities, I have to decide to follow their rules, ignore the rules and take a chance of getting booted out and off their grounds, or to not participate. That is how the game is played.

I believe there is often too much protection available for stupid people, that is one of the reasons the world is in the shape its currently in. I'm including myself in that statement at some level. As my old buddy Forrest Gump says "Stupid is what stupid does." As long as the consequences for stupid actions only effect the stupid person, they should be able to be as stupid as they want.

So deer single out stupid people....how's that work?

Guess you missed my post on your time to die, or not your time to die?

Nobody is advocating that you be required to wear safety gear, but that you are stupid for not wearing it and if your example above is your excuse for not wearing it you definitely fall into that camp. When you splatter yourself all over someone else's vehicle it is not just you that suffers. It's the people you hit, it's your family and it's your friends too, it's the EMT's that sponge you out of the vehicle you splattered yourself on. But yeah, it's just you that suffers.

As for the loud pipes saves lives idiots out there, you're the type people aim for.

Great post!

A friend was doing a cross country motorcycle trip and smoked a deer in Colorado. I saw the video and there was literally nothing he could've done besides not be riding at all. He had most of his gear on and walked away with a couple bruised ribs and I think he broke his collarbone too. The bike was totalled and had to get shipped back to Detroit. I know far too many stories like this to *not* wear a helmet. Even just putting around the neighborhood it's usually gloves, jacket, helmet, and boots about half the time. I'm bad at wearing armored pants though.

Motorcycling is inherently dangerous and I'm going to actively do everything I can to protect myself in case of the worst.

In 50 years of riding I have known 2 people put in nursing homes from bike wrecks with no helmet. The cause of both wrecks was booze/dope, helmets would not have changed anything.

I used to believe the when your number's up crowd, but these days I prefer to fudge things in my favor. I still don't believe it's the gubbamint's job to make people wear safety gear.

Back before I got my drivers license, I rode dirt bikes very aggressively. Lots of crashes, broken collar bone, broken finger, amnesia, went down on the road once and got road rash on my knees, hands and an elbow. Still after all that I was pretty fearless. Then I got my license and rode on the street for a bit. WAY to scary! Plus the weather. I quit that pronto and now I prefer the safety and comfort of a convertible.

Oh? Some lawmakers not only "advocate" it but have passed laws requiring it.



That argument has been around for ages...it's as lame now as it was then.

You'd know all about lame

For those that say "when it's your time"
I was taught, In life we have choices,
The choices one makes sometimes determines that, as well as their life

What was he wearing that was going to protect him from his stupidity? When a motorcyclist hits and immovable object at 80 MPH after missing a curve, I'm thinking nothing would have protected them except MAYBE an airbag and I'm not sure even that would have done so

i have had my motorcycle rider on my license since i was old enough to ride.
got my "harley education" paid for from my neighbor when he crashed his and i got to rebuild it for him.
after that, i rode [his bike] for a while until he moved.
i haven't ridden since, close to 30 years or more.
still have the rider on my license, but i wouldn't climb aboard one because i couldn't keep it upright standing still.
probably just time to give it up.

Yep, life style choices make a difference when your day to die arrives...

I knew a guy that did all the right things, he was a real health nut, did everything he was suppose to do, Dr. visits every year with the full medical check up. The story book picture of great health. He was one of those guys that kept telling me I was going to be dead before I was 50.

He died at 45 years old, while exercising on his treadmill. Massive heart attack. Nothing in his medical history indicated any problems. I suppose through his great healthy efforts, maybe he was suppose to die at 25 and that stuff bought him another 20 years, so I guess, good for him. I'm 66 now.

We have all seen the proof of the old people that did everything wrong health wise, still smoking and drinking like they did as youngsters, that lived past 100 years old.

Both examples are at the extremes, but they just validate my theory that when its your time its your time, and if its not, its not.

And if that fool would have survived that crash, 80% of the safety police would have said his safety stuff saved him.

I suppose you have never heard about somebody that by some miracle survived some crash that should have killed them? Was it safety stuff that saved his butt, or some miracle like some would say, or was it simply not that person's time to die?

Here is a possible picture for you: The guy arrives at the after death check in station. The Creator looks at him, then at the book of life, and says "Nope not your time, I'm sending you back" and does. Then the Creator looks down and wonders what excuse the people will put on the man still being alive after that terrible innocent. The Creator is probably laughing. Back on earth, the medical people are saying the guy cane back from the dead because ____________ (Fill in the blank).

The other side is: The Creator is looking in the book of life. "At 10:59 AM this morning, Joe Cool is appointed to die. Have his welcoming committee waiting for his arrival. He is going to trip over his shoe string, fall and break his neck. I'll meet with him in a couple minutes, when his appointed time has arrives.
This should be fun...

All well and good but for me I'm still not going to jump out of an airplane without some kind of safety device like a parachute in hopes that it's not my turn to die and think if it's not that I'm going to land through an open skylight of the My Pillow factory and safely land on a bunch of pillows. Then walk away boasting about I guess it wasn't my turn. I'll wear available proven safety gear, you all do what you like. My original post was about how to me it's always IMO best to wear protective motorcycling gear as there are somethings out there that are unavoidable in life. There are motorcycle riders and then there are motorcyclists, you can usually spot the difference.

Their nose are very sensitive and can smell a dumbsh-t coming from a mile away, LOL,

No offense mean to anyone regardless of their views

well, i thought it was funny..........
nothing intended nor implied.

I put my Son on a small "tote goat" small lawnmower engine in a small two wheel scooter frame, at 4 years old and taught him to never ride any motorize open wheel motor cycle or 3 wheeler without protective gear on, helmet, googles, glove, long sleeve jacket and shirt, boots and so on.
We lived in the Mojave Desert and could go riding in the desert from our home, we would also go out to a place called Dumont dunes near Death Valley national park on weekends to ride in the sand dunes , it had some great sand dunes to ride on and a warm creek that flowed all fall, winter and spring. It was probably around 100 Ft. below sea level around 50 miles north of Baker, CA. It would start getting hot (90+F) in early to mid April so we wouldn't go out their after April first, a lot of night riding on Friday nights, all day Saturdays and some die hard riders would ride during Saturday evenings into the night Most people wouldn't ride much after dark on Saturdays due to being worn out from the drive from L.A. CA and Las Vegas ,NV to the dunes and riding Friday night and riding all day Saturday.
My Son got deep into riding hot street canyon carvers and ended up wrecking them several times, the first time he crash he was pitch off his street and dirt bike by hitting a root on the edge of the while going fast around an downhill corner, he was high sided and ended up landing off the road in the weeds on a decomposed granite downhill bank, he was wearing his work clothes, shorts, a long sleeve sweat shirt , tennis shoes and his helmet. He was in a coma for around 6 days and in the hospital 10 days or maybe a little more with a concussion, 5 broken ribs and four crushed vertebrae's.
He got back on the bikes as soon as he could ride again and crash again two years ago , this time with all the good go fast H.D. safety riding gear on and didn't get in hurt in that crash , That crash broke the bike in half and didn't hurt him at all
I told him many times to not ride on the roads but he loves tearing up the canyons roads in the hills and mountains, he will be 52 yrs. old next month so i guess I should be thankful that he is still healthy and working.
His Son, my youngest Grandson, rides street bikes also but not as fast as his dad
Thanks be to God for all things in our Lifes