Squids in the US?

[SARGE]

ive been riding since 1972 or 73... ( farm bikes .. mini bikes .. dirt bikes .. blah blah) been off a few times and most of them were sans gear.. few scuffs and a broken bone or 2 but i lived..


i have been riding in NZ since 2002.. off 3 times total here (one my fault) and been hurt worse WEARING gear than without


sure .. the leather , gloves, sturdy boots, helmet and bubble wrap will help the coroner ID your body easily, it does NOT guarantee you will come out unharmed.. how many KB'rs have been killed on the roads here while wearing full gear?.. didnt seem to help them did it?


our roads in the US are better maintained .. better designed and better constructed than the ones ive ridden in NZ.. dont take alot to figure out that shit roads (loose metal, potholes, tar snakes, off-camber corners, horse shit etc) will hurt more bikers than lack of gear..

[Squiggles]

Oooh, seems we now have our own ATGATT debate thread :O

[SARGE]

10 whatevers

[Motu]

Anyone who's had at off at even 50kph will see our point of view.

I've crashed plenty of times at over 50kph with no helmet,no gloves,denim jacket,jeans and sneakers.I have all my limbs,no scars,and like Sarge have only died when no one was watching.Good gears good,very good - but lack of it is not a death sentence.

[Squiggles]

10 whatevers

End of the day its a persons choice, a calculated risk. Most've seen my gear... i believe rob has some pictures (Homo honda rider!) I feel for those who are oblivious to the potential consequences, and as such pick an option they otherwise might not have.

[Danae]

I bought the gear, may as well use it

Road rash looks painful

[limbimtimwim]

our roads in the US are better maintained .. better designed and better constructed than the ones ive ridden in NZ.. dont take alot to figure out that shit roads (loose metal, potholes, tar snakes, off-camber corners, horse shit etc) will hurt more bikers than lack of gear..

I disagree with you! Some roads are far better, but I think on average NZ roads are actually better than US roads. I was quite surprised by this, but there you go.

When did you last go home? The bad roads in the US seem to be a maintenance issue, not a design issue. The design of the road is almost always better.

[Real_Wolf]

When you go flying into another vehicle from a crash, or along the road, or into a building, whatever, should your head not be concussed thanks to a helmet, the gear just helped you.

Should the bruise be lessened by the cushioning from some of the armour, the gear just helped you.

Should the pressure disappated upon your elbow, shoulder, or back be spread over a larger surface, providing less instantaneous force due to the change in momentum, then the gear just helped you.

You can crash with gear and die, you can crash without gear and not get hurt. That doesn't mean that either is 'correct' or 'wrong', it simply is a fact of statistics. There is always one person who can get crushed under railway tracks and live.

The bigger points are the actual tests done to determine the impact pressures upon a 'dummy' which has a similar density and size to a regular person. Using this, it can be shown that the pressure exerted on various body parts that armour protects, is significantly decreased. Often from the point of a critical injury to that of one which is no longer life threatening/limb losing/paralyzing.

[SARGE]

I disagree with you! Some roads are far better, but I think on average NZ roads are actually better than US roads. I was quite surprised by this, but there you go.

When did you last go home? The bad roads in the US seem to be a maintenance issue, not a design issue. The design of the road is almost always better.

I was back home a year ago March.. the Federal Gubbment is responsible for maintaining the interstates and the States are responsible for the numbered highways in each state. paid for by fuel taxes and property taxes.

granted, with the meltdown over there .. maintenance may have slipped in the last year due to funding shortfalls, but for the most part , they are all hotmix.. NOT chipseal

[Squiggles]

Blah

And? Are you procrastinating about study

[macros87]

i forgot i had even opened this thread, busy with holiday and all the roads thing... seems to be mostly true... depends on were you are going high ways and city roads and very well maintained...

the gear thing was just an observation.. i am about freedom of choice as well, if they want to wear nothing they should... i just thought it was interesting that so many people out here make that choice, compared to new zealand. thats all i was trying to say, but jetlag had made me completely unable to articulate sentences...

[16silver]

my 2 cents :P everybody has and are entitled to their own opinions, mine is that if u crash Ur probably gonna break something, and if you're wearing gear your skin is saved and takes weeks off healing time so that i can get back on a bike quicker, also gloves save your palm from being spliced by rocks etc making u unable to grip a handle bar when the tendon is cut and cant heal in the same way that it was grown, also making it hard to pick up that bottle of vodka or beer etc, im just happy that i was wearing gear when i had my crash, it saved my life, i would have no ear, and a split artery in my neck, hand and knees if i had not been wearing gear, i would have had wayyyy more grazed knees if i wasnt wearing normal jeans, i have since upgraded to kevlar, you cant put a price on your safety im glad that i wear gear

[SPman]

Oh and the other during my morning commute (raining) I saw someone on a scooter in boardshorts. I assume the logic was that he'd just get wet and when he got to work change into dry clothing.

Saw a guy on a KTM in the rain on the Great Eastern by the Roe highway, in shorts and work shirt only, last night. Heavy traffic, knobbies and greasy road surface - didn't seem to faze him none.....

[Racer X]

It's because of our stupid nanny state mentality that rules everything we do. The US has it right in suggesting that maybe, just perhaps people CAN think for themselves.

[Phurrball]

It's because of our stupid nanny state mentality that rules everything we do. The US has it right in suggesting that maybe, just perhaps people CAN think for themselves.

In very few words: In the US, the State does not pick up the pieces via ACC...

You're on your own if you turn yourself into man-mush and survive.

Choice is all good - but it has consequences.

Look at the amount motorcyclists pay in ACC premiums as part of vehicle licensing.