ATGATT

When I broke my ankle and 5 ribs I did not have one scratch on me. Gear kept me from more damage, and helmet was scraped so replaced before I road again (many months latter). I know i would have made more injuries if not for the gear. As for the NT, only minor damage too: less then I received.
 
Camelot said:
Every so often I think about taking a break from riding, especially when I think about folks who were seriously injured or killed just going for a pleasure cruise. Although my wife fully supports my riding she doesn’t enjoy being on a bike and has never told me to stop but it would be fun to get something my wife and I can enjoy touring together in. I like this Honda as much as she does so we are thinking about getting one.

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It may be a Honda, but it ain't gonna be as much fun as your NT. Would she compromise with a Spyder or a Mazda Miata? That way you'd still have the wind in your face on nice summer days...

Mike
 
Frosty and I have breakfast with a guy whose wife "made" him stop riding after she saw a bad accident. I am lucky enough to have a wife who would never do such a thing. Life is full of danger and no one gets out alive....half of spouses in all lifetime marriages will have to deal with the hideous sorrow of loosing their life partner to something. I would never ask my wife to stop driving incredible miles to dog shows/dog clubs in the middle of the night in winter and summer. She loves it. Why take someone you love and kill what they love? Sure our sport is dangerous,,,,but that cheeseburger we all love is one of the number one killers in the country....yet we all eat them. Half of all Americans avoid getting a flu shot even though we are now up to 10,000-20,000 dead this year....Sorry for the rant....but perhaps some people would be better off suggesting their spouses get professional help for hysterical fear syndrome...better to love your life and die a few years early than to sit in a nursing home peeing in your depends while watching I Love Lucy reruns. Dont stay home! Yes, ride smart, but dont stay home.
 
Phil Tarman said:
Other than my getting-on-and-off-the-bike drops, I've only had one get-off. It was at night in the mountains west of Longmont, CO. Two friends and I had been to another friend's funeral after he had been killed in a motorcycle accident near Moab.

(He had come around a corner to see a Suburban doing a U-turn on a 2-lane road. He would have had room to go behind the Suburban, whose driver had stopped because he saw Paul. For some unknown reason Paul had only used his rear brake, leaving a streak of rubber nearly 150' long, then had high-sided and come straight down on his head and broken his neck, killing him instantly. He had on All the Gear. Sometimes it doesn't help.)

My wreck came at about 10PM. We were on the Peak-to-Peak Highway and had been in rain. My friends (one was the guy who had been with Paul when he died) were riding faster than I was comfortable with and I had slowed down to about 50-55. I went into a linked series of curves and when I got to the 3rd curve thought I was way too fast. Rather than leaning more, I tried trail-braking and the bike straightened and I went off the outside of the curve into pea-gravel. The bike flipped and after I was clear of it, hit a mailbox mounted on a sawed-off telephone pole and was totaled.

I was wearing my 'Stitch and a two-week old HJC modular helmet (plus boots and gloves). The first thing I remember is laying flat on my back with my hands folded on my chest. I remember wondering where I was and if I'd had a motorcycle crash. I wiggled my hands and feet and they moved and I went back to "sleep." The next thing I remember, one of my friends was standing over me and shouting my name. When I answered, he told me not to move and that he was going to the house where we were to borrow their phone. That time I didn't go back to sleep. Again I wiggled hands and feet and they worked. I moved my head a little and nothing hurt. Then I realized I didn't have my helmet on. I turned my head a bit more and it was sitting neatly on the ground with my gloves folded on top of it! I turned my head the other way and saw my totaled bike.

The homeowners had let Mike call the ambulance from their house and Mike and the woman came back out to me and again told me not to move. I told them that I had apparently taken off my helmet and that my extremities were moving OK, but we all agreed that I shouldn't be moving. An ambulance came quickly and got me onto a gurney (without a cervical collar!) and then waited for a better equipped and staffed ambulance to come. That crew took me to the hospital in Longmont. I had bruised ribs on my left side and a sore left knee (one that had been replaced twice). My 'Stitch had little damage except for where the EMT had cut the full-length zipper rather than listening to me and zipping both pulls to my neck.

My helmet was scraped deeply pretty much all over. My friend who had been with Paul took me to his house for the night. I slept 8 hours and was very dizzy when I sat up. My ribs stayed sore for about six weeks and for about a month I would be dizzy when I laid down at night. I had a huge bruise on my right buttock that never really hurt.

State Farm totaled my bike and refused to pay me for the 'Stitch or the helmet. But they paid me $1700 for my '99 Concours which had 115K miles on it and paid me full price for all the accessories I had on the bike. That all totaled $3700 and allowed me to replace the Connie with very little out-of-pocket expense. My 'Stitch repair cost me about $150, mostly for the zipper) and of course a new helmet cost me full price. I also got a $60 ticket for "failure to maintain control of my vehicle."

I bought a 2nd '99 Connie that had mostly the same equipment my totaled one did and was back riding within about 2 1/2 months. It took me that long to work up the nerve to ask Joanne if I could buy another bike! When I did, she told me to go ahead and get one because she couldn't stand me when I wasn't riding.

I'm a firm believer in ATGATT and still can't figure out why so many LEOs wear short sleeve shirts. My ex-wife and her partner crashed a Goldwing 3 days after our divorce was final. My ex- was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Connie, her partner was wearing a long-sleeved denim shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. They both had open-face helmets on. They crashed when they had a rear-tire blow-out at about 75mph on I-76. Carolyn had road rash on her right arm and left ankle that went almost to the bone. That was over 20 years ago and the scar on the forearm still hurts her some. Connie had much less road rash but received a lacerated liver and was in ICU for five days. I'm not sure protective gear would have kept that from happening.
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Good story. Thanks for being honest. Long ago, there was a rumor that most bike accidents were the fault of the "Car/truck/ Freight train/Younameit." From what I have heard from my friends' stories, most accidents are avoidable with common sense and conservative riding, mixed with a whole bunch of situational awareness. Not all of them, of course. But even though we are not the guy driving the Suburban sideways in the middle of the road in a blind curve, we are the guy going too fast for conditions at night in the rain doing a 1,000 mile day.....
(Like you, I look at the gear some of the departments let their motor units get away with (Including the Washington State Patrol) and just shake my head. It seems many Euro depts do a better job....
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Victoria Australia
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That last picture is a familiar sight to me as Victoria is my home state. You will never see a motorcycle Policeman here without ATGATT.
I have been stopped a few times for random or "Blitz" licence, booze and registration checks and have always found them to be polite and courteous.
One of them was even happy to take my picture standing next to his Highway Patrol car on a deserted road, miles from the nearest country town.

Macka
 
Macka said:
That last picture is a familiar sight to me as Victoria is my home state. You will never see a motorcycle Policeman here without ATGATT.
I have been stopped a few times for random or "Blitz" licence, booze and registration checks and have always found them to be polite and courteous.
One of them was even happy to take my picture standing next to his Highway Patrol car on a deserted road, miles from the nearest country town.

Macka
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Great comment. When I worked for our state patrol, blitz stops were and are against patrol policy, even though our state supreame court has OKed them. My trooper friends get blasted in the press that they "profile" people. Ever try and see a driver at night in a tinted window car going by you at 80 mph? The press cries that facts and figures show my friends stop certain classes of individuals more than others.....maybe so....but there are other reasons for that.
I have said it before and I will say it again. If there is any leaway, the troop lets the violator write his own ticket...if the violater is polite and hangdog and honest, 9 out of 10 times he/she just gets a warning. Otherwise, the troop has no issues with issuing a ticket. I am glad your police go ATGATT.
 
When I was breaking in the new NT some years ago, I was awarded a "performance award" by a Sheriff's Deputy. I went to traffic school to avoid a speeding ticket on my record. The two things that I remember:
If you are over the age of 50, the chances of surviving a motorcycle accident are cut in half. (I do not want to know about over 70!)
At the time in the state of WA, the #1 fatal motorcycle accident type was a single vehicle incident. Loss of control, failure to negotiate a turn, etc.
Anything that can increase my chances. I am intrigued by inflatable vests w/collar.
 
I have been wearing an airbag vest for the last 3-4 years. I would not think of riding without it.
 
Interesting thoughts from Ryan at FortNine on the value of armor in motorcycle gear.
I will not remove mine but he has some valid points.

 
He does put out some things to think about.
I believe in my crash 30 years ago the pads would have prevented the deep cut (headlight glass) and the resulting surgery afterwards.
Accidents are not predicable so use what protects you to a level you are comfortable with.

Arknt
 
I saw that video.
And removing body armor because it doesn't help as much as one thinks.
Is just as silly as nor wearing hi-vz because it's not as visible as claimed.

The question should be; "Does it do harm ?"
 
mikesim said:
While I agree that the armor in jackets, pants etc. will not protect you from injury, it has to by virtue of its design mitigate the injury to some extent. I'm willing to wear it to receive that protection. Sumpin' is better than nuffin'.

Mike
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mikesim said:
While I agree that the armor in jackets, pants etc. will not protect you from injury, it has to by virtue of its design mitigate the injury to some extent. I'm willing to wear it to receive that protection. Sumpin' is better than nuffin'.

Mike
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The proof of that is watching people crash during bike races, Isle of Mann, etc. Stand in front of a train with all your gear on and see what happens. But fall and slide to a slow speed before you hit something and you will be much better off with some gear on
 
You may want to watch this video (below) from Bennetts Bike Social on the subject. John, who presents the channel, has proven himself to be balanced, open, transparent and honest time and time again. As he explains, Ryan was possibly a little selective in presenting the facts. They weren't incorrect, on the contrary, they are correct - just carefully selected to fit the narrative...

Ryan, on the whole, makes well crafted videos which are factually correct. Where I have a problem with Ryan is in the selection of those facts. He needs people to watch his videos as it is now his livelihood and that of the production team (has he sold his soul for views?).

A case in point was his video on ABS vs Non ABS. In it he states you can stop in a shorter distance on a non-ABS bike and, that is correct. I've definitely achieved it, from what I can remember, once, possibly twice, in 40 years and over 300,000 miles of riding! I may have achieved it on other, not so notable, occasions but have no proof or recollection. The elephant in the room is that, most riders won't be able to stop in a shorter distance on a non-ABS bike and, when the surface is wet or slippery, will never be able to do so without copious amounts of daily practice.

 
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JQL said:
You may want to watch this video (below) from Bennetts Bike Social on the subject. John, who presents the channel, has proven himself to be balanced, open, transparent and honest time and time again. As he explains, Ryan was possibly a little selective in presenting the facts. They weren't incorrect, on the contrary, they are correct - just carefully selected to fit the narrative...

Ryan, on the whole, makes well crafted videos which are factually correct. Where I have a problem with Ryan is in the selection of those facts. He needs people to watch his videos as it is now his livelihood and that of the production team (has he sold his soul for views?).

A case in point was his video on ABS vs Non ABS. In it he states you can stop in a shorter distance on a non-ABS bike and, that is correct. I've definitely achieved it, from what I can remember, once, possibly twice, in 40 years and over 300,000 miles of riding! I may have achieved it on other, not so notable, occasions but have no proof or recollection. The elephant in the room is that, most riders won't be able to stop in a shorter distance on a non-ABS bike and, when the surface is wet or slippery, will never be able to do so without copious amounts of daily practice.

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I have never crashed hard. The only down side to body armor is it makes pants and coats bulky to pack. The upside is that if you hit something and you hit the body armor in your jacket...on the elbow, shoulder, back, hip,....and the hit isnt too bad...like a brick wall.....it can help you. Someone at a race track or Isle of Mann should do a research paper on how much it helps....I have no idea what a full out racer wears......but I will tell you this and you can take it to the bank. Besides a good helmet, I have seen gory pics of people's feet who think they dont need good boots. I am guilty as the next guy of riding from Chris campground to Wallmart without them....and I know the risks....So I says helmet first, good boots second, good jacket third and good pants fourth along with gloves.
 
From one of the Doctors at the Isle of Man TT: "If the boot has come off, the ankle is broken".

The riders use airbags and, unless they hit an immovable object hard (very likely), it offers excellent protection to the torso and neck. Arms and legs don't seem to count... 🤔 😀
 
JQL said:
From one of the Doctors at the Isle of Man TT: "If the boot has come off, the ankle is broken".

The riders use airbags and, unless they hit an immovable object hard (very likely), it offers excellent protection to the torso and neck. Arms and legs don't seem to count... 🤔 😀
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Thanks! Do the GP guys use airbags too?
 
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