Can anyone specify...most likely, during a street riding accident or collision...what part of the body is most vulnerable? What part of the body will collide first, second, third etc....

 

Not here (points to chest), or here so much (points to knee), but right HERE!!! (points from Head to Toes) Protect that and you should be in Ship Shape!!!!

 

My daughter is a nurse and regularly works in the A&E (Emergency) ward. In her experience (and I've asked her the same question) there are no common areas of damage to motorcycle accident victims other than collar bones and exposed skin. Another good reason to wear gear all the time and when it's finally perfected, perhaps the Dianesse air bag.
Personally I just spend all my riding time cringing at the possibilities. I'd never wear an open face helmet, that's for sure.

 

Personal experience

first of all always protect your head...

likely hood of injurt/bruising:
0. skin
1. wrist/palms
2. foot
3. knees
4. elbows
5. after that it is all accident dependant.

Personal order of Importance/ gear
1 head
2 gloves
3 shoes
4 jacket.
5 pants.


not sure about a collision... only low siding... lots of experience wiht that.

 

Here is a little of the actual research (meaning, hard numbers rather than pure speculation) I'm aware of. The link opens a nice Australian literature review. One of the data sets it summarizes is from Otte & Middlehavre (1987).
Here's the google link-through to the paper:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...KlVmgA&cad=rja

That review also cites multiple other studies (including the Hurt report), so between the review and the citations, you should be able to get a pretty clear picture of where injuries most commonly occur, which should in turn allow you to make a more informed decision regarding protection.

 

Okay, here's the other reference I was looking for. It has a nifty interactive picture to help summarize injury frequency a little differently than the graphs in the above literature review (this is also an Aussie site):
What parts of your body should you protect? - Motorcycle Council of NSW - Road Safety