How much protective clothing do you wear?

[egsols]

Half helmet,

Jeans, never shorts.

Leather jacket, bought 20 ye'ars ago and still fits (well at least I think it does and that's whats important, right?), feels like it weighs 20 pounds but has padding and ribbing in all the right places.

Either work boots or nose pickers, never ridden with shoes, oh, hold on, I went for a test spin around the block in crocs once, although now I wouldn't recommend it.

Sunglasses of the saftey variety. (two pairs, one for day and one for night, also have a pair of goggles on hand for the heavy rain days.)

Gloves, sometimes, depending on temperature and bug count.

[DenyP]

Always full helmet, levis, boots. Great thread, time to be looking for more gear!

Deny

[xs650mike]

Better the cow's hide than my hide!

Leather Brando jacket, leather vest, leather pants, steel toe 17" Chippewa engineer boots, leather gloves, alternate between full face helmet and 3/4 helmet depending mostly on comfort factor. If weather is above 100F degrees I leave off the jacket and wear leather vest above a white cotton long sleeve dress shirt.

Don't like chaps since nearly every time I unloaded I landed on my butt. Seems stupid to leave butt unprotected. Jeans will shred on contact with pavement, don't ask me how I know.

Haven't gone down at speed in 20 years or more (knock on wood). I would wear modern armor if I could afford it, at my age bones are brittle and I don't heal as quickly.

[DJinNH]

I bought some Timberland boots not as much for safety but more for ankle support as I have injuries to my legs, left ankle and feet from an aircraft accident. I alway wear a neoprene ankle support that straps tight. Seems to be working great for support at stop lights along with the boots.

I wear those fingerless workout gloves when it's not cold like you wear at the gym.

Helmets; I have a full face and a couple of half helmets. If it's really hot, I'll go with the half helmet. My days of riding without a helmet are far behind me now that I have two sons. My brother won't even ride anymore now that he has sons. He had one bad accident on a bike years ago when a driver cut him off.

Leather jacket...same, on the hot days I will go with a t-shirt but try to wear the jacket whenever I can.

ALWAYS jeans as my legs are torn up enough. Don't need to scare any kids who might see them and think I am freakin Frankenstein.

Don

[Paintman]

keeping your skin

I wear an Arai Full face helmet , Full body armor jacket gloves. riding boots.
<-----Has been hit by cars twice in 31 yrs...


John

[madmax-im]

Full gear here

Those of you that met me at XSEast know I am ATGATT...geez how can you miss hi-viz Lime/YellowOlympia Airglide Jacket and pearl Yellow Nolan N102 Flip Face helmet.My pants are Olympia Ranger ll and my boots are Danner Striker GTX 8''with side zips.I also have several pairs of gloves and LD riding shorts ..like bicycle shorts only much better quality.I also have an Olympia AST Jacket for the winter and for rain.It too is the same hi-viz color as the mesh jacket.BTW in 32 years of riding Ive only been ATGATT..for 1 year.Prior to that my gear was minimal and my helmets were always half or 3/4 open face jobs..no more.I have been very lucky in that I can claim to have never had a serious accident and have never been down...with the exception of some parking lot tipovers.But as I age I hopefully have gained some insights into the dangers of riding without the proper gear.Many of you and others on another website for the ST1100 convinced me that I should not tempt fate any longer.So thats it...you'll never fail to see me out there...just check the pics from the XEEast thread and you'll see who had the brightest colors on..."Loud colors save lives."

[SiP]

I wear everything to be safe but that doesn't mean it's uncomfortable.
Mesh motorcycle jacket and gloves - lovely in the warm weather but still has armor in the appropriate places.
Work trousers - these are tough and durable and would provide the same protection as a pair of jeans but at half the weight, probably not as good as leather trousers but I've never been that kind of freak - leave that to the Hardley gang.
The only thin I slip on is boots, often out in trainers - but I've been off 5 times once at 80 Mph+ and never done anything more serious than break a toe; and "No" that isn't becuase I was wearing trainers.

[thewiz]

Big into saftey ...

I wear a KBC VR2 full face helmet, Motoboss reflective armored mesh jacket, zip in liner when cold outside, levis, leather gloves and high top leather boots. Earlier this year, this gear no doubt saved my a$$ and face during a hard spill in which I hit the pavement head first. I remember thinking after whacking my head on the asphalt, as I was flopping down the road, "Geeez ... that didn't hurt at all ... ". Separated shoulder and a spot the size of a quarter of road rash on the side of my knee. Planedick kept 'em from runnin' me over thankfully ... rode the wrecked bike 30 miles back home with Richard following ...

[Rundle]

I'm pretty much a full-gear guy.

Harry Hurt once said, "Tell me what kind of accident you're going to have, and I'll design the perfect helmet for it." He was joking, of course, but he was also telling the truth. If we all knew exactly what damage we'd be sustaining in a crash, we'd make sure to be perfectly protected when the time came. And, in a perfect world, we'd know when it was going to happen, and take steps to avoid it, or further minimize the badness. Unfortunately, this world ain't perfect, and we all know it.

Personally, I have no intention of having another accident; but then again, I had no intention of having the last one, either. I carry a general mistrust of everyone on the road whose mind I cannot read, and ride as though everyone on four wheels is out to kill me. Some days it feels like I'm right, and that's why I wear full leathers whenever I ride. Leather pants, jacket, vintage Gaerne off-road boots, heavy full-pro racing gloves, Arai racing helmet, and sunglasses during the day, yellow sport/safety glasses at night. Seems like overkill, I know. But like they say: just 'cause I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really out to get me.

I do feel that there's a point where comfort becomes a point of safety; that is, when wearing all the pro gear makes you so hot and uncomfortable that it becomes a potentially dangerous distraction. And when the temperature hits 35 degrees Celcius (100-ish Fahrenheit), it gets plenty toasty. Getting heat stroke does not improve one's ability to ride, but living in a crowded urban center amongst lousy drivers with abundant road rage, I just don't feel safe without all my gear on. When it gets too hot to ride safe all wrapped up, I'll just play in the garage with an ice cold beer.

Stay well, everyone.

Cheers,
-chris

[wa407mpp]

When I started riding, very few people even owned a helmet and most everyone just wore a denim jacket. Now with me it depends on the weather or where I'm going, my favorite helmet is a 1/2 helmet for good weather and a 3/4 helmet with a flip up shield for wet weather. I have a leather bomber jacket with removable fur collar and lining, and my wife just bought me a new Tour master Transition II jacket, with lots of armour and vents and a removable liner, I also wear Dragon jeans, which I wear with a wet sweat shirt and a windbreaker in hot weather or under a pair of waterproof lined riding pants in cold weather, or for real cold days I have an old pair of snowmobile bibs, For boots it's engineering boots or jump boots, and gloves to match the conditions, but just to run to the store it's jeans, long sleeve canvas shirt over a t-shirt and hiking boots and whatever gloves are handy.

[petejw]

i like 2 wear/ride acording to the weather
or depending on the duration of the ride,
i always wear a helmet and shoes,
if its hot and not a real long ride, ill wear shorts and a t.shirt.

[petejw]

i like 2 wear/ride acording to the weather
or depending on the duration of the ride,
i always wear a helmet and shoes,
if its hot and not a real long ride, ill wear shorts and a t.shirt.

[REFFI]

I've been reading the posts and no one has mentioned whether they wear ear protection! I was just reading an article today in RoadRunner about how they've determined that Vancouver motor officers have suffered hearing loss due to their uniform requirement of a shorty helmet.

I'm also going to buy buckle-on leg armor for wearing under jeans (which is what I love to wear when riding).

I wear ear plugs even if I'm only going to the gas station a few blocks away.

Ralph

[CarolynS]

I agree with Rundle

When I was the driver(20 years ago in the dirt)I wore the full motocross set up-full helmet, boots, pants, chest protector-you know the deal.
I've spent the last 20 years as a passenger on HD's and 2 rice rockets. In the last 10 years as that passenger, I've changed what I wear. I wear DOT approved 1/2 helmet, Walter Dyer leather jacket with vents front and back, Dyer chaps, steel toed work boots, and gauntlet gloves no matter how hot it is. I don't even care that the chaps make my backside too prominent for my taste. If we go down, I want to be ready.
Now that I am taking up being the pilot again, and on the street this time, I have been shopping for some other options. A one piece suit would be nice, water proof yet breathable. I may go back to motocross style boots, or something similar. I may even swap to a full helmet.
20 years ago, I cared what I looked like on the bike-had to be cool. 10 years ago, I wanted to be comfortable yet attractive, but safer. Now that I have my own bike, that I absolutely adore, I want to be as safe as possible, and to me there is really nothing that looks cooler than a nice street bike with a rider in full gear going down the road. I want to be THAT cool! I guess as we get older we take better care of ourselves and begin to realize our limitations. On a 'chick note'-I've always wanted to be that girl that pulls up on the cool(our bikes are COOL!)motorcycle-everyone thinks it's a guy-then she takes off the helmet and tosses her hair. I know, that's lame, but I'm still young enough to pull it off-LOL!
If the thermometer goes above 90-remember I've been riding HD's. They don't like heat nor do their owners(too hot to wear their cool outfits)-like Rundle said, we do some washing and polishing with an appropriate beverage until it's dark and cool out. Then take off for a cruise up the coast-leather clad once again.

[wa407mpp]

I have nothing against full face helmets, except that I don't like drinking from a hose, and with a full face that was what you had to do, until they came out with the flips-ups, so now I might try a full face again. As for ear plugs, my fairing has a large still air pocket behind it, so hearing protection isn't a big concern. One thing I worry about is dehydration, I ride across eastern Washington a lot during the summer and it gets up to 105+ during the day with low humidity, which will dry you out real quick, if you don't drink lots of fluids, and drinking only during gas stops, isn't enough. That is when I turn to the wet sweatshirt and windbreaker, For those not familiar with this, you soak a sweatshirt until it is saturated, then put it on, and over that you wear a light windbreaker, the sweat shirt will keep you hydrated and cool and the windbreaker will keep the sweatshirt from drying out to quickly, and you can adjust the zipper up and down to regulate the temperature.