Yeah, You are right. I'd wear boots and a glasses..

 

It never ceases to amaze me how MUCH some riders care about OTHERS safety/choices.

 

I think it should be "How much other riders DON'T care"....

Also, I see it as a self correcting situation.

 

I've used a belt sander with 80 Grit belts and you never want to get your skin or any other body part to come in contact with it, just sayin.

 

I've been riding for 35 years and never been in a serious crash. Will it happen? Quite possibly - that's 35 years that I would have been stuck in a sweaty, foggy helmet instead of enjoying the breeze though. I don't judge people who wear ATGATT - I just figure they aren't very confident riders.

Yea yea, I know... It's the other person you've got to worry about, its not if, it's when... Yadda yadda. Thirty Five years.

 

More people need to adopt this line of thought.

Cheers!

 

The OP had a totally valid observation and so it seems like you don't live your own advise. Me thinks he struck a cord. So, what are your favorite riding flip flops and have you picked out a skin graft surgeon yet?

Moving past my own snarky response, I am lax with gear below the waist preferring jeans and sturdy shoes, but no matter what the temperature is, I will ALWAYS wear a ful face lid, Klim jackets (mesh for summer and non-mesh for winter). The mesh jacket keeps the sun off me and feels cooler to me than riding without one.

In my opinion, there are two classes of riders that go without gear: ones who have carefully and realistically weighed the risk and accept it (I have no issue with their informed choice, but I do pray a little for them that they never have to pay the consequences), and the ones who think they are somehow immune to the risk of a some random idiot that just HAS to send that text message NOW. These future organ donors I have no sympathy for (though I still hope nothing ever happens to them).

I am a highly skilled and conservative rider, know that I could get into and accident every single time I go out. I choose to wear gear.

 

He can wear a full face, mesh jacket, jeans, good shoes, and mesh leather gloves. I live in West Tennessee and the heat index was 107F a week ago and that's what I wore on a six hour ride. In temperatures like that, bare skin in the breeze is NOT your friend.

 

Motorcycle=freedom………

personally, I know if I don’t wear a lid, gloves, and boots on just ONE day……I’ll f#ckin have a wreck…..am I tempted to wear shorts and a tee? Every time in the summer. I choose not to……others do.

If you don’t understand, read the first sentence.

 

This is an example of how people don't realistically assess risk. I agree with the rest of your statement, this thing about confidence though, come on. You really think it's a confidence issue? My local HOG group's most experienced riders got into an accident at an intersection. The cager was texting and ran the red light and t-boned my friend. He lost a foot and had to endure multiple skin grafts to treat the road rash. In another incident, some moron "racing" his Sportster on a highway, rear-ended someone and his bike, and what was left of him, ran across the median and plowed right into the heart a another group of our members and caused several of them to go down, at highway speed. Fortunately, our folks fully recovered. The moron was dead before he hit the ground.

Point is, this "I'm immune because I've never had an incident in x-decades of riding" is EXACTLY the kind the wrong message. Ride your ride, but denial is a very poor basis for a decision.

Yes, I'm overly touchy about this topic.