just do it

[Hangster]

Just cover yourself up as best as possible , it f???ing hurts hitting pavement  ..that is all 

[Adam Roby]

I take it you speak from some experience?  Makes me wonder, how many of you have had a bad spill?  Any road rash pictures to share?  Don't mean to steal your thread but it might be an interesting subject.

[Bumblebee]

Just cover yourself up as best as possible , it f???ing hurts hitting pavement  ..that is all 

+9999999999999

ATGATT. Enough is never enough when the Earth falls on you.

Did you fall down and go boom?

Makes me wonder, how many of you have had a bad spill?  Any road rash pictures to share?

1. Road rash pictures lack class.
2. Road rash is fairly avoidable with proper crash gear planning ahead of time.

A few of us are members of the Faceplant Club. Don't join. The entry fee generally involves getting bodyslammed by the Earth which sux to no end even with proper gear.

[Adam Roby]

Let me clarify, bike road rash.. not skin!

[JB1290]

Like Ive always said... There are 2 kinds of riders, those who have crashed and those who are going to crash. Im already a member of the faceplant club and dont have any plans to renew my membership.

[Bumblebee]

IMHO, there are actually 3 types of riders.
1. Those who have gone down.
2. Those who will go down.
3. Those who do absolutely everything possible to not end up in either of the above two categories.

I was in category #3 until some cager deliberately crossed the centerline to run me off the road. (I still want his head, just his head, nothing else. You can do with the body as you wish)


Once you go down, you'll never look at riding the same way again.

[coffee_brake]

Once you go down, you'll never look at riding the same way again.

Amen, brother.
I'll never forget exactly what it was like to suddenly be sliding UPHILL on my hands and knees and hearing my bike grinding along the road in front of me. The low-side was instantaneous, once that rear tire hit the wet painted line.

My knees were already in bad shape, the additional damage seems to be permanent, because I wasn't wearing armor on my knees. Now I do, always and always and always.


Six months after my crash, it doesn't seem to be a bother at all to run inside and jump into a pair of riding pants over my jeans before I thumb the starter, even just to run to the post office.

[JB1290]

Just reading that made my knees hurt, coffee_brake. 

[brickerenator]

I will have acquired head to toe gear before I ride.

[FocusPlayer]

I have thought about getting moto- armor and wearing it under my non-armored jackets.   

Not a need now that I have two for different seasons, but does anybody do this?

[Bumblebee]

wasn't wearing armor on my knees.

Oh sheesh. I don't even want to think about how much that hurt.
I'm with you on the gear is never a hassle mindset. It's 1.5 miles from the motorhome to the theatre. One mile to the supermarket. It takes me about as long to fish out ATGATT and put it on as it does to make the ride.

Just reading that made my knees hurt

Well, here's a picture to make your head hurt too...From the actual crash site about 10 minutes after going over the bars. That would be your face.

What you can't see is inside the helmet about where the C is in KBC is located. There is a 5 inch diameter compression area where the foam is permanently compressed 3/8". Don't bother getting one of those idiotic open face helmets. It doesn't show that well in the picture however most of the sliding was on the visor, chinbar and lower forehead area. The areas protected by open face helmets (even 3/4 helmets) is mostly unscratched. It wasn't happy little soft beach sand to gently slide on either. It was a over the bars through the plexifairing windscreen high g ground impact followed by literally 4-grit beltsander size gravel. Initial impact was about 20mph. The time from being on the bike under emergency braking to sliding on my nose was instantaneous..or faster.

I was ATGATT in the crash. Unprotected, the head impact was probably catastrophic and the belt sander would have ground off a good bit of me. Guaranteed ride in the owie wagon stuff. ATGATT changed that to, "well, that was interesting, no point in laying here, might as well get up and do something useful." No owie wagon was needed. I just had a very minor headache for a few hours.

BTW, there is a very unique sound a helmet makes while sliding along on 4-grit belt sander gravel. You will never forget that sound while watching the belt sander grinding away on the visor and helmet just 2 inches away. Time slowed way down and I recall very clearly and calmly thinking that I am so glad I'm inside the helmet instead of out there with that angry belt sander grinding on everything it can touch. $1000 in crash gear paid for itself in full.

You can never have enough protection in a crash.

ATGATT always.

[coffee_brake]

 

[JB1290]

That is exactly why I just went and purchased all new helmets, jackets, boots, gloves, etc... Road rash hurts and broken bones hurt even more. Glad you walked away from that one basically unhurt, Bumblebee.

[LOKi]

IMHO, there are actually 3 types of riders.
1. Those who have gone down.
2. Those who will go down.
3. Those who do absolutely everything possible to not end up in either of the above two categories.

I was in category #3 until some cager deliberately crossed the centerline to run me off the road. (I still want his head, just his head, nothing else. You can do with the body as you wish)

So that takes us back to two. The 3rd is just wishful thinking from someone who hasn't fallen yet.

[Bumblebee]

So that takes us back to two. The 3rd is just wishful thinking from someone who hasn't fallen yet.

Motorcycle riding does not equal unconditional 100% crash rate. Some riders actually never go down. Thus we're back up to 3.

Nitpicking details aside, ride ATGATT even if it's half a mile to get milk.

[lew750]

IMHO, there are actually 3 types of riders.
1. Those who have gone down.
2. Those who will go down.
3. Those who do absolutely everything possible to not end up in either of the above two categories.

I was in category #3 until some cager deliberately crossed the centerline to run me off the road. (I still want his head, just his head, nothing else. You can do with the body as you wish)


Once you go down, you'll never look at riding the same way again.

I guess I'm lucky.  I've been down 3 times in my 40+ years of riding motorcycles and it hasn't affected me except for the time recovering.  I observe ATGATT, but when I started, ATGATT was jeans, a 3/4 helmet, gauntlet gloves, and harness boots.

BTW, people in your category 3 who think they aren't also in category 2 are in serious denial.

[coffee_brake]

I thought that since I had been riding for 10 years, maybe I was gonna be lucky.
In fact, since we seem to remember every thought that was going through our heads while we were sliding, I know I thought, "I can't believe I finally went down!" (Then, "Owwww!")
I'm glad it happened, it woke me up and though I've always recognized my mortality and rode carefully with gear, I wasn't serious about it like I am now.

BTW I was wearing riding gloves and an armored jacket and real motorcycle boots. Everything, I mean every piece of clothing, had rash or rips, including my jeans (and the skin under them). Helmet never touched the ground...

[chromy]

ATGATT was armour jacket, full face helmet, leather gloves steel toe leather boots, and JEANS.  I'll be making a change to my line up.  Not sure I want to spend 150 for a pair of MC pants thought???

Anybody have experience with this product?

http://www.jafrum.com/Motorcycle-Gear/Mens-Textile-Motorcycle-Pants/LP2821

[chromy]

Oh, forgot the geeky looking florescent green vest (with reflective tape) that I wear over my armour coat. 

[hppants]

Anybody have experience with this product?

http://www.jafrum.com/Motorcycle-Gear/Mens-Textile-Motorcycle-Pants/LP2821

I have the mesh pants (to the upper right of these, $45.00).  Have had them for about 3 months, wear them about one per week.  No problems yet, good fit (size chart was accurate), comfortable.  Also, this vendor is pretty good IMO.  I bought some cheap gloves from them, they split after one ride, and the vendor returned my money including shipping within 3 days of my request no questions asked.

[Bumblebee]

BTW, people in your category 3 who think they aren't also in category 2 are in serious denial.

Agreed. However it's really about the mindset to do whatever is necessary to avoid going down that makes the difference when things get brutal. It's the difference between the rider that gives up at 40mph because the crash they're facing is inevitable vs the one that deliberately pilots the motorcycle as far as possible into the crash and keeps scrubbing velocity until they finally get ejected at 10mph while aimed between the trees instead of at one.

ATGATT was armour jacket, full face helmet, leather gloves steel toe leather boots, and JEANS.  I'll be making a change to my line up.  Not sure I want to spend 150 for a pair of MC pants thought???

Keep things in perspective. Most people blow $150 at the movies or fast food joints or in beer in a few weeks and have nothing to show for it. I've heard of people blowing the cost of good crash pants or more in a single weekend and thinking nothing of it. You're talking something like $200, not $20,000.

Think of crash gear in terms of a one time payment real world life insurance policy. The money in your bank account means absolutely nothing while you're sliding on the ground. Assuming no crashes, $1000 will get you about 10 years of riding before forking out another penny and is far less expensive and way less painful than skin grafts on your derrier and the long term side effects that skin grafts or head injuries cause.


Remember when you were a kid and good jeans shredded from a simple fall in the playground and you skinned your knee really bad? Now multiply by several thousand in the owie department. I have no clue about the $45 crash pants though I'm willing to bet that those crash pants are far far far far far superior in a crash than jeans.

[green427]

Anybody have experience with this product?

http://www.jafrum.com/Motorcycle-Gear/Mens-Textile-Motorcycle-Pants/LP2821

I have the mesh pants (to the upper right of these, $45.00).  Have had them for about 3 months, wear them about one per week.  No problems yet, good fit (size chart was accurate), comfortable.  Also, this vendor is pretty good IMO.  I bought some cheap gloves from them, they split after one ride, and the vendor returned my money including shipping within 3 days of my request no questions asked.

I have the overpants from motodirect.com, all their stuff appears to be made by the same mfr as Jafrum's.

They are very warm, comfortable, and have thick armor in the knees and hips. My only complaints are they are baggy, causing the knee armor to move around too much, and the leg zippers need to be longer. For $50, I can't complain too much.

I also have motodirect's armored jeans. They are very comfortable, a little bulky, and very warm with the removable liner. Not recommended for wearing all day, though. Too hot to wear when temps are over 85. I plan to get motodirect's armored mesh pants soon.