I’m curious if any of you that owned bikes other than HD used to wear safety gear (helmet, jacket etc) then stopped when you got a Harley.

I was out to dinner with some friends earlier this week and we ate at a restaurant that is frequented by a lot of riders. When we arrived there were some metric bikes in the parking lot. Most of the bikes had full-face helmets next to them. We sat on the outside deck next to these guys and they all had textile jackets and other safety gear. Half way through dinner a couple of Harleys pulled in. The guys were in t-shirts and were not wearing helmets. My friend’s wife asked why so many Harley riders don’t wear helmets etc while riders of other brands do. I didn’t have an answer other than it’s their choice. She then said “they probably don’t wear that stuff so they look cool”.

A guy I know recently sold his V-Star and bought a Harley. He used to wear a helmet, jacket etc all the time. Now that he has a Harley he never wears them.

Do you think some people forego the safety gear solely because they ride a Harley and want to look cool? Personally I don’t care what people do or don’t wear because it’s personal preference. I just found it interesting that a non-rider thinks HD owners don’t wear safely gear just to look cool. I’m sure there are a lot of other people that think the same thing.

I’m not looking for a “what do you care what people wear” response because I don’t care what people do or don’t wear. I’m just curious if you agree or disagree that some HD riders skip wearing safety gear just so they look cool or look like a bad-*** biker.

Personally I think there are more posers that ride HD’s then any other brand. I do agree with my friend’s wife that some riders forego the safety gear just to look cool. Granted, I realize that numerous riders don’t wear a helmet or safety gear for reasons that have nothing to do with how they look, but I’m sure there are quite a few that try to fit into the bad-*** HD biker persona by skipping the safety gear. Agree/Disagree?

 

I stopped wearing a helmut way back when they made it optional in Ohio, before I could afford my first Harley. I think you have it wrong on who is trying to look cool. Most of us who have been riding for 30 plus years don't give a rats *** if we look cool to you or any one else. I feel the ones trying to look cool are all of the kids in their funny little costumes like they think they are some kind of super hero. And no you will never be cool.

 

The only time I wore any "safety gear" other than a helmet was when racing motocross. The rest of the time was leather jacket when cold, or in hot weather, jeans and a t-shirt.

 

When I was young and dumb, 16 on a POS used Yamaha in Texas, I didn't wear any gear. After the helmet law was passed, I wore a helmet. After I joined the Corps, I wore the gear they required which most of the time I needed anyway due to the weather in Virginia.

Now that I'm a civie again, I'm so used to wearing the gear that I continue. I live in Florida now and I wear a helmet, textile mesh jacket and sometimes textile pants. I rarely wear my leather except in the winter (if you can call a Florida winter, winter). Of course now I'm older, wiser and have two sons who I want to see grow up while not giving up my riding.

There are those who dress for the ride and those that dress for the fall. Of course, peer pressure does play a role. Did you ever stop to consider that those metric riders wear all of their gear all the time because all of their riding buddies do as well? Peer pressure works both ways.

 

Disagree.

 

To a limited extent it's also what you ride - (or the same mechanism in reverse...)

My son's and their friends all ride sport bikes.

(They laugh at my Road King....)

There are about 12 of them, so I think its a representative sample of young sport bike riders. To a kid, they ALL wear full-face helmets. I suggested that they may want to consider a half-helmet once. I got all these scornful looks They were like: "Dad, we'd look weird crouching over a GSXR in a half-helmet".

They also wear the Joe Rocket textile mesh jackets and decent gloves and boots, though, so they do have an appreciation for safety gear.

I'm sure, however, that for some riders what they wear is at least influenced by what they ride....

YMMV