quote:

Originally posted by rainman64:
I am with Pre on this one.
Full armor, Dainese suit, AGV or Shoei helmet, armored gloves, full armor race boots, reticulated back plate.

I don't give a damn if it is 112 degrees in TX, I ride like it's Armageddon.

Some people may give me hell about it, but I don't care.

And I don't have to ride like Marquez to look like him, LOL

If you low/high side, well out where I ride, most likely you'll walk away bruised up and crying over the bike being damaged. No trip to ER, no medical bills sans maybe an X-ray just to be on the up and up.

My position before my current one there was a guy who had just gone through a divorce. He was on me every day about what did I think about this bike or that bike. He got jacked in the divorce (big surprise there) so was looking at old bikes. Next thing you know I'm commuting into work and I see him in the middle lane. He's in a crouch (laughable) on a naked bike (no windscreen or plastic, whats the point?) center lane on a busy highway. Looked like an idiot. About 2 months later I notice he hasn't been at work in weeks. He finally comes back a few months later with stitches all around his head. Apparently he went down at neighborhood speeds. He wouldn't tell me if it was a low or high, no helmet, and fucked his head up, requiring surgeries and lots of stitches. I had been on and on him, bitching at him to get a helmet and gear and quit fucking around. Commuting today with the inattentive driving is not something I would do, at all, and I used to do it for many many years. Today, couldn't pay me to do it. Gear or no gear, no thanks. Not with those phones while driving.

Worst story I have to hopefully wake someone's ass up on here....Met this guy I dunno, 15 years ago. He was wearing a helmet, jacket, and boots, but no gloves. He goes down, he slides, his hands slide. Ends up taking all the skin off his hands. They had to do surgery, and skin graphs. They removed skin from his ass and grafted it onto both hands. I think they may have taken some skin of his legs somewhere also. But I know they took it off his ass. He couldn't wipe his own ass for several months. So guess what? His mother in law moves in with the family to take care of him. MIL had to wipe his ass for him for months. Imagine that?

Then I met a guy at the track. Real fit guy. Triathlete type dude, fitness and adrenaline freak. Ate like a nutritionist, trained like an athlete, slept like a baby. He high sides in front of me on track. When I do track days I still ride at 8 or 9/10ths and probably 8/10ths as there is no trophy or podium there. He goes into a left way way too fast, pushing too much, he ejects into orbit. He was up there, 6 feet but you know how it is, 6 feet feels like 20 feet when you're airborn. He lands face first right on his chest. I found out later the doctor had told him the muscle on his body saved his life. He punctured a lung and had a host of injuries but being in shape with muscle literally saved his life. I forget exactly what the doc said but it was something like millimeters more and he'd be dead. The muscle being there protecting his body saved his life. I had slacked off from the gym for a few years as I was burnt out from my degrees and work as I worked my way through both degrees and was tired of everything sans having fun. Man I went to the gym that following Monday, started eating 6 times a day, got back into bodybuilding (I was a certified trainer in my younger day) and haven't looked back.

Even the twisties I have a completely different riding style compared to the track. Track I look the corners and do all the bs you are trained to do. Not on the street. I'm more like Vale on the street where my eyes are out a few feet from the bike looking down at the corner. It's saved my ass so many times. Enough from me, I could talk about this shit for days. Wear your gear or go fishing or something. These words will save your life.

My bikes a BMW, toes would get a little toasty, hell they get warm with leather boots.