Motorcycle Gumbies

[F5 Dave]

We’ve all seen them & we cringe as they pass. Who are they & what is their mission? Usually on some old semi cruiser, sitting right back on the pillion seat. PVC jacket, Milk bottle bottom glasses, Half face helmet so you can see their gorky look.

Where do they find these old helmets? Polstars with the ‘safety crack’ in them

(remember them? They were supposed to sacrificially split in an accident, heaven help you if you knocked your head twice & no other manufacturer thought it was a good idea)

Plastic half visor (I mean where do you find one of those?) & for the truly tragic they have one of those chin cups on the helmet strap like a comic army sergeant.

They are getting rarer these days (being breed out of existence?) but one trundled past on an XS650 or something or other today.

What is their evil plan? :doobey:

[Oscar]

The off-road version rides a ratty old Xr200 or KDX with a gutted muffler, snapped of rear fender (wheelies gone wrong), whilst wearing an open face helmet with no peak, a bush shirt and gumboots.

[Hitcher]

What is their evil plan?
To torment the likes of your good self!

We each have our own demons, with its own metaphor. Gumbies on bikes is clearly yours...

[Mongoose]

The off-road version rides a ratty old Xr200 or KDX with a gutted muffler, snapped of rear fender (wheelies gone wrong), whilst wearing an open face helmet with no peak, a bush shirt and gumboots.


:Oi: , YES YOU, that has just discribed about half of the southerns best trailies :2thumbsup They breed em tough in these parts, safety :bleh:

[Oscar]

:Oi: , YES YOU, that has just discribed about half of the southerns best trailies :2thumbsup They breed em tough in these parts, safety :bleh:


They're not restricted to banjo picking country by any means...


We had a one turn up to the Raglan Enduro. Rat CR250, good helmet and gumboots on his feet...we gently explained to them that ambition was all very well, but attempting a National A-Grade Enduro (particularly one with a rep. like Raglan) as your first event was probably over-reaching...he helped us instead (and had a great time).

[Motu]

We used to wear firemans gum boots for trials,stopped water getting in,but if the water was too deep they held water pretty well too! They may have had steel toe caps and shanks,but shit,I wouldn't think about in now - yuk!!!! There's a guy round here who rides a black Dhama with a white open face and the biggest half visor I've ever seen,it's huge - out there like a Previa windscreen...I reckon if he tilted his head back he'd loop the bike!

I helped lay out a mountain bike race once,and was goffer around the course on my trials bike - one local clown entered on his BMX wearing toe capped work boots...you could hear him coming on the downhills,he took a more direct route than the other riders!

[NC]

:lol: I haven't seen one of those wowsers for a while.

[Velox]

Well I can proudly say that if it's absolutely pouring down I wear my gumboots on the bike. I don't have a car so I have to survive with soaking boots for the rest of the week if I don't. Not nice. I think it's great - keeps me amused as I ride along. I once bought some of those rubber overboots to go over your bike boots which was the biggest waste of money I've ever experienced. So hard to get them on and when they are on they look like big pointy elephant turds with sawdust on the bottom.

[Mongoose]

Well I can proudly say that if it's absolutely pouring down I wear my gumboots on the bike. I don't have a car so I have to survive with soaking boots for the rest of the week if I don't. Not nice. I think it's great - keeps me amused as I ride along. I once bought some of those rubber overboots to go over your bike boots which was the biggest waste of money I've ever experienced. So hard to get them on and when they are on they look like big pointy elephant turds with sawdust on the bottom.

The secret to them rubber overboots is to put a plastic grocery bag over your boot first, the rubber one just slips on then. Great things for long distance touring in the wet

[F5 Dave]

From a protection point of view gumboots provide as much as sandals. No ankle support, no arch of foot support & when rubber hits the ground it is likely to grip & be pulled off (as easy as it went on).

NC30 chick: What is a scenic route? We did it on the grass by the beach near a gravel road, but a car drove by & we got all embarrassed. :o

[Oscar]

We used to wear firemans gum boots for trials,stopped water getting in,but if the water was too deep they held water pretty well too! They may have had steel toe caps and shanks,but shit,I wouldn't think about in now - yuk!!!! There's a guy round here who rides a black Dhama with a white open face and the biggest half visor I've ever seen,it's huge - out there like a Previa windscreen...I reckon if he tilted his head back he'd loop the bike!

I helped lay out a mountain bike race once,and was goffer around the course on my trials bike - one local clown entered on his BMX wearing toe capped work boots...you could hear him coming on the downhills,he took a more direct route than the other riders!

Yeah, I remeber when you could get away wid gummies and no helmet in trials...not a good look for speed events though. I was in the A&E ward once with a guy whose foot had been dragged under his footpeg by a stump...his AXO's had saved most of the bones in his foot, but the ankle was a mess.

[marty]

They are getting rarer these days (being breed out of existence?) but one trundled past on an XS650 or something or other today.

What is their evil plan? :doobey:

hope it wasn't one of the XS650 riders on here.....

[F5 Dave]

You’re right, they might be onto us that we’ve rumbled them. :shit:

Nah, this guy looked like he was pre keyboard capable.

[vifferman]

Key... bored...

Up there

[Dodgyiti]

I was wearing gumboots back in the day, when some bastard slammed me into the median barrier for 80-100 metres. My gummy left a cool black skiddy for 5o meters until it wore right through, then ouch, so they are not a good idea, take it from someone who knows. :nono:

[scumdog]

For me it's the lovely 'safety orange' logging boots keep your feet dry but are a pain when it comes to changing gear.
Wore them a couple of times but the red-band wearers though I was trying to outclass them!! :banana:
I've worn the boot-condom deals, they work ok but walking is awkward and they are hard to get off without taking your boots off first.
Now it's just lots of dubbin on my freezing works steel-caps with dubbined-up ex-army leather gaiters - work well with my hi-teck Warehouse leggings with elastic cuffs and waist. (all class & show-off eh??)

[F5 Dave]

I’ve stood up on the pegs (stretching legs after a long ride back from the Cold Kiwi on my RG50 touring bike :scooter: ) & had some of those overboots ‘roll-over’ the boots & slide off the pegs. Not something I’d like to repeat.

[Big Dog]

I’ve stood up on the pegs (stretching legs after a long ride back from the Cold Kiwi on my RG50 touring bike :scooter: ) & had some of those overboots ‘roll-over’ the boots & slide off the pegs. Not something I’d like to repeat.
sounds a lot like darwinian selection to me. :pinch: :confused2

[F5 Dave]

Hey, only the fittest will survive, & you've gotta be fairly hardy to do the Kiwi 6 times on a 50 when there are several other more suitable bikes in the garage. :ride:

[Oscar]

Hey, only the fittest will survive, & you've gotta be fairly hardy to do the Kiwi 6 times on a 50 when there are several other more suitable bikes in the garage. :ride:


When I think back on some of the dumb stuff I did on motorsiccles over the years, I realize that it's the lucky that survive, not the fittest.

I remember when werkin' in the same building as ACC, they used to dumb all their claims shit out the back, sliced up boots, scratched helmets and the like. One day I discovered a scuffed but intact "moggy man" suit - you know the plastic one piece weather suit wid the racing stripe.

I think "you bewdy, just the thing fer trail riding". Problem is, the plastic kept the water out and the sweat in....phew, meltdown...

So I takes it off, we finish riding and adjourn to the Red Fox for the afternoon. Shortly thereafter I'm hooning down SH2, the suit is tied around my waist by the arms, the legs flapping in the breeze behind me. We arrive at the farm (about 5 miles away) and I stop to open the gate. After everyone goes thru, I close it, and jump on the trusty DT250 and give it the berries to catch up...a sharp pain suddenly blooms in my guts....getting more agonising...as I'm thinking "burst appendix!", I realise I'm being pulled backwards off the bike. The instant my hand is pulled from the throttle, the pain subsides, and I fall to the ground, confused and relieved...

...the goddamn suit had become tangled in the chain and sprocket. I had to remove the wheel to get it out.

[Big Dog]

Hey, only the fittest will survive, & you've gotta be fairly hardy to do the Kiwi 6 times on a 50 when there are several other more suitable bikes in the garage. :ride:
Yes but can you still reproduce after slipping off a peg on a chesse cutter? :mellow:

[Big Dog]

When I think .....
:killingme excellent story Oscar.