Dress for the fall, not for the ride...a compelling perspective

[bernardk]

that was a very interesting write up while i fully agree with u its impossible to get everyone to suit up considering the weather of singapore. while i ask every of my friends to buy insurance prevention is better then cure. just the other day i faced a car exiting from a minor road. despite i flashed the headlights at him, he stil decided to come out. i braked like crazy afterwhich i confronted the car to see a gentleman apologizing non stop. while he seem sincere, the fact many of them try such "stunts" rather then just wait a second or two is simple because they don realise such acts can cause so much pain. im would encourage you to write in to newspaper forum. each time i do so my letter get so heavily edited.. (of cos i don write like that when to the press)

 

if my father is the minister of transport i make sure u needa get 2b before u can get cl3!

 

the other day, someone wrote in to encourage bikers wear visbility vest.

i drive a car too. while i agree there are bikes that jus simply appear out of no where, its jus too convenient to check the mirrors without checking blind spot. so its not about visibility issues don ppl don check or jus simply unpatient. we shld all write in to highlight.

 

we are not 2nd class citizen on the roads jus because we pay lower road tax. if that is the case. bmw n lambo should have a special lane for the road tax they pay. more should be said so drivers can understand our phlight.

 

Yea kana alot of time this kinna of filtre driver just SIMPLY dun check AT ALL.... If they say we are 2nd class citizen, then please tell them alot of bikers here own more than 1 transport. Some own 3 bikes and 1 car. I hope these arses wake up their farging idea. Its their farging laziness that they should address.

 

one of the reviewers in webbikeworld did a retrofit to his prescription glasses which worked really well.

 

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r4/motorcycle-glasses/

 

Wahahaha i dun think need to do all these ba. If you want can just go to any optical shop to ask them to do for you. but of cos there are charges hahaha.... Thats why i still prefer Flip Face.

 

Thanks. Looks like i would be shopping for a FF.

 

Good decision More to come. Best if you can get used to fully covered gloves. Now for me i cant do without a glove while riding.

[contrarian]

However I've yet to find the perfect gloves for everyday use though. offroad gloves provide minimal protection during a fall but its way more comfortable and easier to slip on/off. Full leather/thick gloves with knuckle protectors are a good safety measure but they cause a lack of feel of the throttle hence it may instead be detrimental to safety.

 

Try leather gloves that use kangaroo skin for the palm. Excellent protection and better feel of the throttle. I've been using several pairs for years and will attest to that.

[denniz]

being thru 1x crash on open face and 1x crash on full face

 

1st accident was quite serious : i flew and landed face first on the grass patch @ PG and skid across like a meteor crash-landed onto earth. Suffered headaches and visited the CGH for a skull and neck x-ray due to vomitting sensation experienced hours after the fall, was lucky to escape with no injuries or fractures except a stiff neck but 1.7k repairs for my s4. And yes, i was wearing a full face helmet, armored jacket, jeans and track boots.

 

the other accidents was not so severe : I self-skidded across the normal road, head kissed the road and a flower was "bloomed" on my helmet, and 2 "bak guas" on my knee and 1 mini bak gua on my elbow. during tat accidents, i was casually dress and yes, an open face helmets.

 

what i realised so far, is that if u wan to be 100% safe on the road, u need to be "disciplined" on ur throttle and follow thru all the blindspot checks while riding and also your riding attitude towards other road users.

 

u can buy all the good gears and "ultimate protections" but all will still fails u if u lacks in consideration towards road users and self-discipline.

 

at the end of the day, what u wear is can only protect u for awhile, what is going to happen after that, no1 is knows.

 

therefore, i agreed on necessary protection a rider needs to has. but also, his attitude.

 

jus my personal opinion.

[scubasimon]

@denniz: you are absolutely right that it takes more than gear to be safe.

 

i added my second article to the end of the first in post #1. go have a read if you are interested to hear about my choices and why i made them. please note this isn't a lobby for people to make the same choices. rather it is meant to show that there are choices to be made when it comes to safety...and compromises...so newbies can make a more informed decision about their gear.

 

enjoy!

[ephroman]

Try leather gloves that use kangaroo skin for the palm. Excellent protection and better feel of the throttle. I've been using several pairs for years and will attest to that.

 

oooh...ok thanks for the advice..will go glove hunting

[ephroman]

what i realised so far, is that if u wan to be 100% safe on the road, u need to be "disciplined" on ur throttle and follow thru all the blindspot checks while riding and also your riding attitude towards other road users.

 

u can buy all the good gears and "ultimate protections" but all will still fails u if u lacks in consideration towards road users and self-discipline.

 

at the end of the day, what u wear is can only protect u for awhile, what is going to happen after that, no1 is knows.

 

therefore, i agreed on necessary protection a rider needs to has. but also, his attitude.

 

jus my personal opinion.

 

ditto...thats why we gotta always have a defensive riding mindset cause we're always at the losing end no matter who's fault..

pays to keep a cool head while riding too cause if we're angry or just had an argument, try not to ride immediately cause we'll tend to vent our frustrations with the twisting of the throttle....

[bernardk]

ditto...thats why we gotta always have a defensive riding mindset cause we're always at the losing end no matter who's fault..

pays to keep a cool head while riding too cause if we're angry or just had an argument, try not to ride immediately cause we'll tend to vent our frustrations with the twisting of the throttle....

 

Thats only part of it. Not to mention if you are feeling sleepy or drowsy or worst still DRUNK.

 

And also be early for your appointment than to rush for it. If late nvm, you have the whole life time to do the thing you are going to do. But if one mistake on the road then i guess you knw wat im going to say.

[prettymussel]

Then I read about how hot it would be if I was sliding on the roads after falling off a bike. Remember that road rash picture? Well, apparently the heat generated by the friction that causes the rash (even through jeans) is so high that it can melt some materials! I realized then that many jackets available today are coated on the inside with PolyUrethane. While the coating gives the material a nice feel and makes it wear better, it can (and will) melt in a slide. There were several accounts where bikers wearing such jackets had the PU coating melted onto their road rash…and those had to be vacuum sucked out before anyone can tend to their wounds. OUCH!!! So I narrowed my search to jackets and pants that are made with 500D Cordura (or similar) material without a PU coating..

 

now that u mention it..

i really hope my komine mesh jacket doesnt melt!

[scubasimon]

@prettymussel: i think for short slides is probably ok. but if it was a slide at >60kph under the weight of the bike...then i would seriously worry. still...ANY jacket is better than no jacket

[prettymussel]

yup.. any jacket is better than no jacket!

[swiftee]

@prettymussel: i think for short slides is probably ok. but if it was a slide at >60kph under the weight of the bike...then i would seriously worry. still...ANY jacket is better than no jacket

 

tested an rs taichi cheapo mesh jacket at a crash of more than >60kph on nshw

 

mesh did not melt, arm was totally unhurt

 

but buy the best you can afford anyway

[scubasimon]

@swiftee: good on you

@prettymussel: some peace of mind

[scubasimon]

Somebody rode in jeans and had a bad fall...hopefully we will not be in the same situation.

 

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11916732&postcount=133

 

Melted plastic from some gear...

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=334911

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488246

Edited February 22, 2010 by scubasimon

[Zhi Ming]

thanks for this website , lots of good tips there !

[sh3rman]

now that u mention it..

i really hope my komine mesh jacket doesnt melt!

 

in my crash, my komine melted very slightly.

didnt melt through but it was obvious it was melted.

still. i will choose it over any other.

[bernardk]

Somebody rode in jeans and had a bad fall...hopefully we will not be in the same situation.

 

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11916732&postcount=133

 

Argh damn it... i really hate to see such photos... makes me argh... feel pain and reminds me of my falls.

[prettymussel]

in my crash, my komine melted very slightly.

didnt melt through but it was obvious it was melted.

still. i will choose it over any other.

 

yes i guess wearing a mesh jacket is definitely a better choice than not wearing a jacket because of the heat.

[nikonll]

in my line of work, i see crashes regularly. What i have to add is, if u had a minimal budget, get the best helmet, of course, a FF helmet.

 

I rem a case where a lad had an open head fracture and his helmet was still on his head. i suppose it was a lousy cheap helmet.

 

Whenever i see the injuries these motorcyclists have, i always notice that most of them could be avoided if they had some protection on. And yes, most injuries are on the lower front face.

 

If you can spend so much money modding your ride, why not spend it on your safety

[cypher]

Sorry if this has been asked before... but where do you guys keep your riding gear if your bike doesn't have box/some form of storage? No problem if going office, but how about places where you can't just hang the jacket up somewhere? E.g. shopping.

 

I have an armoured jacket, but it's quite heavy and I definitely don't want to wear it around while off the bike.

 

I've seen people in colder climates wearing their gear walking around but I suppose it's not really practical here because of the weather.

[scubasimon]

i wear mine everywhere i go....not ideal...but that's how i do it.

[wanaero]

Looks like my topic LOL

[Zhi Ming]

Thankfully i have a Givi E33 rear box to keep my armoured jacket and rain gear...helmet will clip on bike.

 

If got pillion , then will bring out the E45 for the extra helmet

[JackOHJack]

Argh damn it... i really hate to see such photos... makes me argh... feel pain and reminds me of my falls.

 

feel pain and reminded den got use ma.

[dfthd]

Hi guys,

 

I just passed my tp last thursday and am getting my bike this saturday. Even though I know I'll look like a spanner sitting on a tiny cbr150r putting on my mesh jacket, gloves, bala and FF, I think I'd rather risk looking stupid than actually being stupid and believing that nothing will happen to me hehehe.

[prettymussel]

Hi guys,

 

I just passed my tp last thursday and am getting my bike this saturday. Even though I know I'll look like a spanner sitting on a tiny cbr150r putting on my mesh jacket, gloves, bala and FF, I think I'd rather risk looking stupid than actually being stupid and believing that nothing will happen to me hehehe.

 

???????? never heard of this being used to describe anyone before..