Just a thought about safety.

[OldWrench]

I just had a thought, as my wife will say sometimes that is a scary thing. I’m wondering how many of you would be interested in a thread about riding safety, or related issues. I subscribe to Rider Magazine and each month they have article on riding safety.
What has prompted me is an accident I went to this week, young man bit the farm pushing way outside the safety envelop.

 

[Omega Man]

Sounds good to me, but will I listen? I push it sometimes.... pffft all the time. oh2:

~O~

 

[dan filipi]

A thread is a good idea, can't hurt to get others prospectives...and maybe learn a thing or 3.

 

[mcgovern61]

I'll read it! I am always willing to learn something new! :yes:

 

[slabghost]

I'll read and post.

 

[OldWrench]

I'm certainly no expert, actually probably need to learn a lot more.

Where I live is a very popular area for bikers, and we have three types that come through here. We have the Harley or Cruiser guys that like to hang out at the local bars, the sport bike guys that like to see how fast they can go between certain communities, and then the riders that are just traveling through and site seeing.

We have had way too many motorcycle accidents up hear, and ninety percent are the riders fault. DUI accidents are probably the most common, but speed and inexperience seems to be the most deadly ones. The CHP and our local Sheriff constantly clocks sport bikes at well over 100 mph. Our volunteer fire department gets to clean up the mess when thing go wrong.

So maybe we can start with alcohol and speed.

 

[Rednaxs60]

Excellent idea! No matter how long you have been riding, or driving, skills diminish over time as we all get complacent, or don't ride for several months. This is especially true on a bike.

I am a proponent of taking an advanced rider course in the spring of the year (drive all year round here in Victoria, BC). You also meet like minded riders. It's amazing how much your skill level drops after a few months off of riding.

Let's go for the thread.

Start us off OldWrench!

 

[OldWrench]

How about starting with Helmets and riding gear, or what we wear when we ride.

As for me I wear a full face modular helmet, boots, and gloves. I know I should wear my riding jacket all the time, but hey it gets real hot up here in the summer and I don't many times.

 

[Daeouse]

a safety thread is a great idea!

 

[Rednaxs60]

OldWrench » Today, 6:50 am[/url]":166zfvfb]
How about starting with Helmets and riding gear, or what we wear when we ride.

As for me I wear a full face modular helmet, boots, and gloves. I know I should wear my riding jacket all the time, but hey it gets real hot up here in the summer and I don't many times.

Have not been able to not wear proper riding gear when on the bike. Almost all my riding gear is BMW; helmet, Street Guard jacket and pants (waterproof and extremely warm), boots and gauntlet gloves. Use the BMW pants as rain gear, and ride mostly with jeans specifically made for riding (made by Scorpion); have kevlar from waist to below the knees and places for knee and hip armour. In perusing various sites, notice that there are a lot of alternatives to the bulky type of armour that comes with riding gear.

Have seen a few articles from people who have experienced road rash up close and personal. Jeans last about 10 seconds, then you give up your skin.

Use a modular helmet for the convenience of lifting the front. The BMW helmet is good (made by Schubert - DOT and ECE certified) in that the securing mechanism is metal, not plastic.

On my last riding course, they had an older helmet marked with the areas where head hits the road in an accident and the percentages associated with each area. The least number of head hits were on top. The most head hits were full face hits because even in an accident we want to see where we are going to hit. Good reason in my opinion to have face protection.

Good riding gear is warm and can be expensive, but the alternative is not the best.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[zman]

Here`s my thought on boots and helmets, they need to be light but still take an impact, I think kinetic energy plays a part in injuries and you don't need something overly heavy swinging about in a fall , I think neck/brain damage is more likely with a heavy helmet and ankle/leg injuries with heavy boots....don't know any science behind it but seemed to always make sence to me.

 

[wedoo2]

zman » Today, 12:43 pm[/url]":3a59ploi]
Here`s my thought on boots and helmets, they need to be light but still take an impact, I think kinetic energy plays a part in injuries and you don't need something overly heavy swinging about in a fall , I think neck/brain damage is more likely with a heavy helmet and ankle/leg injuries with heavy boots....don't know any science behind it but seemed to always make sence to me.

That's an interesting thought. Most helmets today are pretty light especially compared to the old days. I remember helmets that actually strained your neck after a day of riding. Doesn't happen to me anymore. Seems like there are a couple of prevalent types of accidents; car coming into your path and rider going off the side and making impact with something stronger than grass. I think that in both examples that you are pretty much at the ignition stage and just fling forward. I doubt that at that point not a lot is swinging around. Never been in either so I don't know for sure.

BTW, those Rider articles are good, along with the rest of the magazine.

 

[chuck c]

Not just riding skills but also deal with gear, helmets, and accessories.

 

[OldWrench]

Red, you sound like you are well protected. I do have a armored jacked and will wear it on long rides, but just can't go the armored pants especially on 90+ degree days. I did start wearing a cool vest under the jacket on hot days and that did help a lot.

The last time I went down was on my old 450 honda and I ended up rolling for about forty feet, until my body hit a curb, that hurt. Put a big crack in my helmet so it went in the trash. That was many years ago so I have been very fortunate because I have had six bikes since then.

I think one of the things some of us old timers do is get too comfortable with riding and start getting a little careless at times. I went to an accident last year where a guy came off his bike head first, he was wearing a full face helmet and the pavement just ate that helmet up, but he was just a bit beat up and bruised and no internal injures. He also had full riding gear on. If he hadn't had a full face helmet I fear his face would have been mush.

As for Rider magazine, it has many great articles each month, and lots of good advice.

 

[Ansimp]

I am an ATGATT ( All The Gear All The Time ) the only deviation are my work boots and overalls when I am working and using a bike. Leather armoured jacket no matter what the temperature and modular full face helmet. :yes:

 

[OldWrench]

Obviously that is the safest way to ride.

 

[slabghost]

I am not attgat. Never could afford full gear. Now that I can afford it I have no real desire for it. I prefer full face helmet and clothing that is durable and covers most of me. However I suffered heat stroke last year and do all I can to remain cool now. I have two cooling vests and a very light open helmet for hot days. I've learned over the years the safety of my ride is ALL up to me. Traffic laws and rules be damned. If I see a signal light or otherwise a car wants to turn I plan for him to do so without considering me. The most often uttered statement after traffic mishaps is "I didn't see him!".I ride like I'm invisible.

 

[Ansimp]

:good: the Invisible Man

 

[Rednaxs60]

To compliment good riding gear, or what you are comfortable with is the need to continuously refresh and upgrade your riding skills.

After a layoff -generally the winter season - ride a few 1000 Kms/miles and you are up to speed again is actually a misnomer IMHO. We are all creatures of habit and we tend to repeat the same habits (good, bad, or indifferent) over and over. Riding skills will also continue to diminish year after year unless we take a refresher course and have a trained someone point out our diminishing skill set(s) (something like trying to teach your buddy how to golf).

It's also good to practice, but to practice the right way. This can only be accomplished if one is shown the correct way. I know I have tried to practice a lot of techniques, but find I need that objective set of eyes to point out to me what and how I should be doing an exercise. I know this from having taught recreation and racing skiing. Hard to develop past a certain skill level without having taken additional training.

I also found it beneficial to take a course on a new to me bike. I practice quite often - 2-3 times a week in a parking lot, but there are skill patterns I don't do regularly because of time and inconvenience to me. A course provides a venue to do additional skill patterns, and forces me to get to know my bike a lot faster.

I have heard it said that when an emergency occurs, we go into an auto pilot routine and let muscle memory take over. If we have been practicing good motorcycle skills, hopefully our auto pilot will use these to safeguard us, if not, most of us drive cars/trucks more than our bikes and it is the skills that we use in the car/truck that will be used for a motorcycle emergency. The issue here is that the two skill sets are not as compatible as one might think, and we are on the loosing end of the stick so to speak.

Another saying I've seen and heard is that "I had to lay my bike down". There is no recreational basic or advanced course that teaches this particular technique.

Just some thoughts on the safety issue, and of course, IMHO.

Cheers

 

[OldWrench]

Red, now you are picking on a bad one, but so true. We all do develop habits that may go against proper technique. A friend that I ride with frequently told me I was getting lazy in my cornering, at first I was somewhat offended, but on that particular ride I had video tapped it and when we reviewed the ride I seen what he was talking about, and he was right.

Ansimp & Slabghost, good points. We are invisible to people in cars at times, mainly in city traffic and I do forget that at times because I rarely ride in the city, in fact I avoid it. What I did learn is that people can't judge the closure rate of an approaching motorcycle. Do we see them make left turns in front of an 18 wheeler. It is visual perception, and one of the dangers is if we are going too fast the average person may feel they have plenty of time to make their turn when in reality they don't, or like you said, we are invisible to them, but I really find that hard to believe.