I get where your all coming from. I have tried talking to a few riders here and no one want's to bother. It's more of a "look at me I have a helmet" thing then a "lets all go for a ride". I didn't see the dude with the leathers today but I did see a bunch of people walking around with helmets and it's still the same old thing.

I know it's a free country and I know I shouldn't judge someone who doesn't gear up but its hard not to judge these kids when they are walking around in a wife beater carrying a helmet and don't have any books or a book bag. It's like why the hell do you come to class? So you can show off your new gixxer that you already dumped?

As for the NJIT thing. Your parking garage is trash. No spots for bikes accept in the corners. There's not enough room for all the cars as it is and having a parking pass is a waste of money but there's no way in hell I would leave my bike unattended on the streets of Newark.

 

I'm an EMT, so whenever I see someone on a bike not wearing gear all I can think is "Ka-Ching"!!!! Job security.

I will admit that with me living in Atlanta itself that if I have to run a mile from my place to a store, I'll go with just a helmet. But if I get rolling down the road past that, then I get the jacket, gloves, and jeans at the least on.

 

Dont the stats show that most motorcycle accidents happen within a few miles from home, when nobody expects and accident, so they wear less gear?

Like I told my troops when I was deployed in Iraq,

Complacency kills

 

I'm gonna side with gump on this. Seems like the less gear a person wears, the less friendly they act around here. While riding on the streets I definitely get more waves from people wearing jackets than the wife-beater + sunglasses crowd. Observing our mortal frenemies, the HD riders, the ones wearing gear seem more likely to wave as well.

I figure there's a possibility they are also jumping to an unwarranted conclusion about me as well: that I'm a stuck up, elitist prig who wouldn't say anything back cause of the gear I wear. Anyone that knows gear might be thrown by the Dianese jacket & boots I wear, believing I'd not deign to speak to someone that couldn't afford to buy equivalent gear. Which isn't true, of course. I'll talk to them. Just not ride with them (hate the sight of blood & brains)

Another possibility is the image what you wear gives of your riding preferences. Meaning the two groups may not think there's a common ground to talk about because they ride in different ways. When I see gear, I see someone who likes the twisted path more than the straights. Less gear, the straight the path. Or they tend to cruise more. I think most of us here on the forum, even the guys that skip gear often, don't go hitting the mountain road without making sure their gear is tight.

Of course I could be just over-thinking it all and go back to the stereotypical Elitist Gear Prig vs the Irresponsible Gearless Squid theory

 

I'm not sure how true that is. If it is true then my guess is that you spend most time around your home. If you spend most of your time around your house then it is likely that you'll have an accident near your house. Most people have heart attacks in their home. Doesn't mean that staying at home is the problem.

Basically you aren't in any more danger driving around your home than you are driving 1000miles away.

I just use a calculated risk. I'm willing to risk road rash for a 1-2 mile ride to the store/restaurant in a 40mph speed zone and not putting on gear. If people judge me for it then big deal. I can't hear them from the wind in my helmet.

 

Actually, even with cars most people get into accidents close to home. In part the spending more time around home will apply, but a large part of it comes from people just feeling more comfortable close to home and being more distracted, ie thinking of what they'll do when they get there/excited to be home from work.

You're risk to take though.

Oddly enough, around here I've only seen a couple riders that aren't geared up. There's a Safety Council that offers a training course, from never been on a bike before -> full licence that a large majority of people seem to have taken here. The course requires full gear, jacket, leather palmed gloves, full face helmet, jeans and at least ankle high leather boots. So I think most people just started getting into the habit and continue.

Most people seem to be friendly enough as well, though you get the occasional HD rider that won't wave and there's a guy with a custom chopper that looks ugly/impracticable, it's for sale for 40k+ CD that wont wave. Aside from them though, everyone talks to you.

 

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Did you take the MSF? I didn't and I somehow know these stats.

Its what kept me from loosing my skin when I drove to the gas station a few miles from home, and someone cut me off, I swerved, laid the bike down but didn't get to hurt - full helmet, jacket and whatnot. Im not saying my story is the definition of accidents, but the thought had crossed my mind... "You know Kris, your JUST going to get a drink, its right down the road, nothing will happen."

Now please don't take this as me preaching about wearing gear all day long when on a bike, Im not, I just don't want people misinformed. And knowing this just might save someones hide someday, and it makes my day a tad bit better because of this. Ride naked for all I care man ahaha.

That is your choice, but when national reports say certain things, its hard to ignore.



once again, complacency kills


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...CAL_REPORT.pdf

Page 65

This is the quote from the report.

Note that 94.5% of the accidents occurred within one hour. The
conclusion available is that fatigue due to riding is not a factor in these
accidents. Also, the short trip lengths related in Section 5.9 and these
short riding times may be associated with low priorities for rider protective
equipment such as safety helmets, eye protection , gloves, etc.

page 411

Table 11.19.3 shows a comparison of the time riding before the accident or
observation at the exposure site. These data show clearly that the accident
occurs relatively close to the origin of the trip and only a short time after
departure. The short trip, end the short time riding before the accident, is a
special feature of the accident-involved motorcycle rider. Note that 95% of the
accidents occurred within the first hour; 50% occurred within the first six
minutes!

Page 426

*Most motorcycle accidents involve a short trip associated with shopping,
errands, friends, entertainment or recreation, and the accident is likely to
happen in very short time close to the trip origin.












And wow. That post was way longer then I thought It would be...
Back to topic - yeah, I have noticed that the more "hardcore" riders with less gear are to cool to wave or talk to anyone. It doesn't bother me either way.

 

So you are saying that the guy who cut you off was within a few miles of his home?

Looking at the article I did notice some stats. Seems you are much safer leaving a bar/party than you are visiting relatives or going to work. Work had 315 accidents out of 900. The bar/party only had 18 accidents out of 900. And only 1 accident out of 900 of going to the bar/party.

On page 426 it concluded that most motorcycle accidents happen on short errands. Yet on that same page it mentioned that 3/4 of accidents are multiple vehicle collisions (aka car crash) and 2/3rds of those were the fault of the passenger vehicle operator.

If most of those are the fault of another person then I don't see how being close to your home has anything to do with the likely hood of you crashing your motorcycle. If you are 1000miles away and you are surrounded by people who are within 2miles of their home I think you'd be at a greater risk than if you are within 2 miles of your home surrounded by people from out of town. Infact in that last part you'd be the biggest threat on the road.

Statistics mean very little to the individual

 

right...
in an attempt to stay on topic Im not going to continue this


And it happened to me again today, someone wearing nothing but shorts flops and a helmet saw me with my helmet jacket ect and i said hey to him... he just nodded and looked away (he was on a gsxr)

 

WTF^ Just cuz someone isnt social and doesnt immediately spark a conversation with a total stranger makes him a complete dick?? He nodded to you right, that means he acknoledged you and then carried on with his day.