Frustation with a young rider.

[Pfloydgad]

Ok..... the skinny.

38 yrs riding, 328k miles, personal believer in ATGATT.

I am gassing up, and a young man and his GF pull up on a YZ1.

He, is in t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, she is in shorts, half-t and ff's. No helmets or even gloves. He parks and she gets off, very cute , maybe 17 or 18, He looked 16, but was 19. Only 1 yr riding experience on a very fast bike.

He starts by asking me waht kind of bike I was riding, I told him a Kawi Concours, he asked me why I messed it up and put bags on it. He then asked if I was hot in all that gear.

I asked him if he really wanted to start a conversation with a question like that. He looked at me like I was from Mars. So I asked him if he was going to a barbecue, because he had on his Backyard barbecue gear.

I go 6'3 and 245, and geared up my wife says I look like a Stormtrooper. This little fucker might have been 5' nothin and 140 lbs soaking wet.

And he just shook his head and walked away.

I looked at his GF and told her that she was to young to have settled already. All she could do was drop her head and follow the little asshole.

I knew it wasn't going to get any better, so I mounted up and rode off.

I kinda wonder how he will be when her DAD gets ahold of him because his daughter is in an ICU burn unit and not concious.

Maybe i just care to much, but it just seems llke such a waste.

Sorry for my rambleing, I know it is a personal choice, and I shouldn't get so upset. I guess it is the Dad / Grandpa safety thing coming out in me.

Please, everyone ride safe out there, and gear up if can.

Greg

Edited July 31, 2011 by Pfloydgad

[Disclaimer]

So you're the creeper they were talking about trying to pickup a 17yr old girl.

Nice try old man.

[jagr]

I totally agree with you. Every year I see more dumb kids rolling in ladybeaters and flomps. I just shake my helmeted head and don't wave but give them a finger.

Jrmiii don't try it, you are a gear nazi as well.

[max power]

I see it all the time. All you can do is hope they wise up before they find out the hard way.

It IS a personal choice.

[bambam]

Doesn't sound like you gave him much of a rational argument to think about. He'll probably just remember you as the barbecue guy! Next time try stating your views clearly and educate the guy about the value of riding gear, and leave him with a valid alternative to his current preferences. You are the adult after all.

[Jst2fst]

I passes a guy on a gixxer Sure it was a 600 caught up to him pretty quick on 71 south comin down to Cincinnati no gear on and I just looked at him then took off. Had a guy at the gas station say it's a bit too hot out to be wearing a jacket. You kinda just wanna slap them in the face for not having any common sense.

[Gump]

I'm mixed on this topic. I think a lot of the older crowd all rode around without helmets and gear 20 years ago. To each his own. Although, he sounded like a punk.

[SWing'R]

I'm mixed on this topic. I think a lot of the older crowd all rode around without helmets and gear 20 years ago. To each his own. Although, he sounded like a punk.

And how many of the older guys have lost friends because of their "choice".

[JStump]

I don't understand the "it's too hot" argument, if you are hot in gear you need different gear. I have a perforated leather jacket and on 90* days I'm warm but not hot, and that's only when I'm stopped, when I'm moving the air cools me down.

[TSB67]

Ok..... the skinny.

38 yrs riding, 328k miles, personal believer in ATGATT.

Just out of curiosity, how many times have you gone down?

[buildit]

Well, I'm 41. Done mostly off road riding but I've got plenty on road too. The one time I went down on road I was in full off road gear. I low sided, leg trapped under the bike till it caught and shot out under me ripping the ligaments in my ankle and breaking my fibula just above the boot. Externally I had a lightly skinned knee you could cover with a band aid. Imagine if I'd skidded along without that protection.

Too many friends with worse experiences and I've seen off road accidents that all you can think is call a medic. Gear saved them or at least gave them a fighting chance. Like Pfloyd said, it gets under your skin because you know better and can't understand why they don't. All we can do is try to make it seem like an acceptable norm to be in full gear and not a inconvenience to ruin the fun. Unfortunately I see too many older riders on cruisers doing the same thing your young friend was. So there is proof age doesn't always bring wisdom.

I'll share some photos I took of a friend who went down on a rock covered trail.

After rolling down the hill and the bike nearly landing on him he was otherwise unharmed. Shook up, but physically okay and rode the rest of the day.

The gear saved his butt. I wear it all the time and so do the people I ride with. I have CPR and first aid training that I'd rather see go to waste than have lots of people to practice on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xIlME6q-kE

Edited July 31, 2011 by buildit

[Pfloydgad]

Just out of curiosity, how many times have you gone down?

1 time down, a little boy followed his ball into the street. I couldn't go left, so I dropped it into the ditch to the right. It was a 1200 Gold Wing, the boy was 7 and the bike was totaled due to frame damage. The ditch was 6' below road grade and it broke my left tib and fib 6" above my ankle.

The most important thing was the boy was just fine, he pissed his pants, but if I was in a car, I don't think I could have missed him. And that is not something I would like to live with.

Ride safe all.

Greg

[serpentracer]

you'll never convince most of them to wear anything. I've realized there are many types that own motorcycles.

some of us own them because we like to ride them. we're almost always the kind that wear riding gear 99.9% of the time.

then you have the guys that own them because it's something cool to have. they almost never wear gear because they're not really into the riding aspect of owning a motorcycle.

and they just don't care about getting any riding gear. they don't get it and don't care enough to get it. some of these people even try to tell me a helmet will break your neck in a crash....

the typical harley rider who never wears anything for the same reason. it's hot out yada yada yada. the same guy that rides around the block or up town to the bar. and they call that riding.

a few years ago I went on a group ride with a handfull of guys from another forum. one of the guys not wearing anything but a helmet went down. rode right off the road and almost into a tree. he wasn't hurt all that much thankfully. but he still said he'd never wear a jacket in this heat..just minutes after he crashed.

Edited July 31, 2011 by serpentracer

[Jamez]

I hate the looks from guys in no gear like I'm the asshole for being geared up in 90+ heat.

[the_silverfox]

Riding any motorcycle with absolutely no gear...it's my biggest pet peeve about working in the motorcycle industry out here.

Eight years. 175,000+ miles on the road. 43 states. Been down on the FJR alone at least six times, and that's only one of the four bikes I've owned, not ridden. Wore gear every single time and avoided major damage to myself.

I will always get the same questions here in Ohio, "Isn't it too hot to wear that gear?" or "Can you still breathe in that helmet?" or "Are you planning to go into space with that getup?"

When I'm back home in California, I will still get the flip-flop/t-shirt/naked-as-the-day-they-were-born squids (that's inevitable anywhere). But somewhere in that crowd will be the guy on the H-D V-Rod in full leather jacket, chaps, and a frost black Arai helmet. Out there, NOBODY asks why you wear the gear, you either choose to do or you don't.

For being the state that has more licensed motorcycle operators than anywhere else in the country, it still appalls me how uneducated many riders are and how many willfully choose to ride without protective gear.

As for that young buck that found your saddlebags tacky and believes he's still invincible, I'm just waiting for the accident report on the next newscast.

[20thGix]

I rode back to work after lunch one day last week and a co-worker told me I was fing stupid for wearing a leather jacket. He usually has something to say about me wearing a helmet also. I don't even argue with him. He wrecked his 4 Wheeler a while back and it looked like someone hit him in the face with a rake 100 times. Then told me it would have been worse if he had a helmet on!

I don't care what anybody else wears or don't wear. Just don't harp on me for my choice.

[JStump]

It would have been worse with a helmet? I love when people say that because it's just there ignorant dumb ass trying to cover up the fact that they are an ignorant dumb ass.

[dugan n rita]

Ok..... the skinny.

38 yrs riding, 328k miles, personal believer in ATGATT.

I am gassing up, and a young man and his GF pull up on a YZ1.

He, is in t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, she is in shorts, half-t and ff's. No helmets or even gloves. He parks and she gets off, very cute , maybe 17 or 18, He looked 16, but was 19. Only 1 yr riding experience on a very fast bike.

He starts by asking me waht kind of bike I was riding, I told him a Kawi Concours, he asked me why I messed it up and put bags on it. He then asked if I was hot in all that gear.

I asked him if he really wanted to start a conversation with a question like that. He looked at me like I was from Mars. So I asked him if he was going to a barbecue, because he had on his Backyard barbecue gear.

I go 6'3 and 245, and geared up my wife says I look like a Stormtrooper. This little fucker might have been 5' nothin and 140 lbs soaking wet.

And he just shook his head and walked away.

I looked at his GF and told her that she was to young to have settled already. All she could do was drop her head and follow the little asshole.

I knew it wasn't going to get any better, so I mounted up and rode off.

I kinda wonder how he will be when her DAD gets ahold of him because his daughter is in an ICU burn unit and not concious.

Maybe i just care to much, but it just seems llke such a waste.

Sorry for my rambleing, I know it is a personal choice, and I shouldn't get so upset. I guess it is the Dad / Grandpa safety thing coming out in me.

Please, everyone ride safe out there, and gear up if can.

Greg

You could have beet him over the head with why its not cool to be cool, but all you would have had was sore arms.

[MeefZah]

I don't waste my breath with those assholes.

If they ask me a stupid question (isn't it hot...) I just cock my head at them like the RCA dog and ignore them.

While the "right thing" might be to try and edumacate him, we all know he ain't gonna listen, so why waste time and energy?

[SpeedTriple44444]

I rode the Triple yesterday in shorts, flip flops, no helmet, no glasses. I had just washed it and took it for the 1 mile down my back country road and back to blow some water off of it. Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but I knew the risks and took it easy.

The problem I have with your story is that he was also putting someone else at risk. Let the dumb ones get taken out of the food chain. It leaves the road open for the rest of us. Just hope they don't take somebody with them.

When I went out later yesterday and did a couple hundred miles, it was boots, jeans, jacket with armor, full face Shoei.

[flyinglow]

I have a few (HARLY) freinds who poke at me for my gear, guess thay think im a wimp but I challege them to keep up to me any day.

[buildit]

The problem I have with your story is that he was also putting someone else at risk. Let the dumb ones get taken out of the food chain. It leaves the road open for the rest of us. Just hope they don't take somebody with them.

You know why we all have to wear seat belts now? Because it was the idiots who didn't wear them and died in the accidents. You know why a lot of states require a helmet? Because idiots who don't wear them die in their accidents. I'm not saying it's right but we all know the US is two faced about Darwin and evolution. We force his theories to be taught in schools but then we outlaw the things that would assist evolution of the human species.

[MeefZah]

You know why we all have to wear seat belts now? Because it was the idiots who didn't wear them and died in the accidents. You know why a lot of states require a helmet? Because idiots who don't wear them die in their accidents. I'm not saying it's right but we all know the US is two faced about Darwin and evolution. We force his theories to be taught in schools but then we outlaw the things that would assist evolution of the human species.

Actually it has nothing to do with the deaths, directly.

What it has to do with is the injuries which require treatment / hospitalization and for which the injured parties cannot pay or do not have insurance. Cost savings.

I would venture to say the health insurance industry also lobbied for the seat belt law. Cost savings.

I'd also speculate that agencies, both public and private, which pay death benefits (SSI, insurance) probably lobbied for the law. Cost savings.

We as a society like to make a lot of claims about "safety" but really it all comes down to money.

And while I won't even address the Darwin comment I will say that stupid people dying is technically not part of the evolutionary process.

[Mick783]

It's a personal choice about how much risk you are willing to accept. I wear a helmet 100% of the time but ride without my jacket very rarely and always in jeans. One of my riding buddies regularly wears shorts and no helmet. Save yourself some grief and don't worry about it you can't save the world...

[20thGix]

It's a personal choice about how much risk you are willing to accept. Save yourself some grief and don't worry about it you can't save the world...

Bingo!