Modern Vespa

What gear do you wear? Do you wear it all the time, or does what you wear depend on the ride at hand (how far, how fast, how much traffic, weather, etc etc)? WHY?

My gear:
3/4 helmet w/ face shield
Corozzo jacket
gloves
over-ankle boots w/ steel soles and toes
jeans (what else is out there?)

Over a few miles: I wear it all.
Around the neighborhood: helmet and boots.
Up to the corner for gas: street clothes.
I only ride surface streets in fair weather.

Seems to be a cost/benifit kind of tradeoff - the higher the perceived risk, the more inconvenience I'm willing to tolerate.

How 'bout YOU?

I always (even for a very short errand ride) wear a MotoGP mesh jacket with armor, a full face helmet, firstgear gloves, long pants and closed toe shoes. I've ordered a pair of firstgear mesh armor pants, which I'll wear sometimes. I know I should wear boots, but since I wear sandals 80% of the time I'm not riding, closed leather shoes is as far as I've been willing to go.

ATTGATT implies that you're wearing all the gear, all the time.

To me, all the gear means just that. Gloves, full face, armored and abrasion resistant jacket, armored and abrasion resistant pants, and good boots.

Not saying that is or isn't how I ride, or what I recommend, but that is the most logical definition for that term.

I guess another way to ask the question would be "Toreador Pants - do you or don't you?"

nope i don't & i won't

As my best friend tells me dress for the fall, not for the ride. Oh, and to Napacoach...For shame! What about that armor jacket you guys showed me when I went to see 250 to take home hmmmm??????? by the way, went to SJVespa, tried on all the jackets...none were juuuuuuust right. The search continues

if the corazzo jackets fit me i would wear one

a neighbor/friend of mine wore all his gear all the time
it did not save him
im bitter

Live and learn. I've joined the "dress for impact" camp, and I don't mean fishnet muscle-T, codpiece and bunny slippers. When I get back on the scoot, I'll always be wearing:

- Full-face helmet
- Mesh, armored jacket
- Gloves
- Close-toe shoes - typically ankle-high boots
- Long pants

I'm still holding on to a wad of risk with the lack of armored pants, but I'll live with that until the next lesson. I'm still waiting for someone to make an airbag suit.

Ride safely.

I always were the gear when on the scoot. No exceptions. If I don't have a few moments to gear up, then I'll take the car. Fortunately, have not had this problem yet!

- FF helmet
- mesh armour jacket
- Olympia hi-viz mesh vest
- gloves
- draggin' jeans with knee armour
- Bohn cool-air thigh armour
- riding boots

I always have all the gear when I am not commuting. Always. And I add ear plugs to the list. Wind noise will eventually keep me from hearing the Carolina Wrens that sing in the morning on the back porch.

And almost always when I am commuting except in the summer when I may "forget" the armored pants and just wear jeans.

I know that all this gear is no guarantee that I won't be seriously injured or killed. It does increase my chances or reducing the severity of injuries though. Just the chances. How much there is no way of knowing.

In the end it is a personal decision though I fear that the government is going to soon get more and more involved in this. If you are really bored and haven't read the latest NTSB report about motorcycle safety or the insurance industry report you might want to check out these posts on Musings of an Intrepid Commuter.

No Longer Flying Under the Radar

or

Insurance Industry Perspective

In the second post there are links to additional information.

Big Brother is watching a lot of stuff including a national helmet law and strict sound restrictions specifically for motorcycles (and scooters).

Let freedom ring and all that...

Good point on the ear plugs!

Here's my daily getup even when I'm just scooting down the street for a coffee. Toreador Pants!

The airbag suit. That's what we need. Just snap a ripcord to the cargo rack, and if you get thrown from the bike, you instantly become the Michelin Man.

Full face helmet and everything but armored pants -- just denims right now. I took a stupid spill on my bike about 5 years ago (dropped a wheel into a rail crossing) and just went over with my feet clipped into the pedals. Last thing to strike was my head, cracked the hard shell on the helmet. Protective gear works and I wouldn't ride without it.

Also, statistically, you are more likely to get into an accident of some sort within a few miles of home that at greater distances -- which suggests running up to the corner for gas is more dangerous than a cross town trip. Just sayin'.

Full-face modular, mesh armor jacket, long pants/jeans, gloves and boots if I'm not wearing dress shoes to work. Sure it's hot sometimes but there is nothing but my gear between me and the pavement flying by at 45 mph...........

I wonder if that's because most rides (and most miles ridden) ARE within a few miles of home. Or are they really riskier miles? Maybe they're more complacent miles which would make them riskier. To me at least, the perceived risk is from the 4-wheeled traffic. If it were just me, the bike, and the road, I'd feel much less at risk. But that's just perception - trying to get to reality

After dumping my bike in March, I won't ride around the block without Toreador Pants.

45mph zone, car pulled right out in front of me (making a left hand turn). No time to swerve. Hit my brakes, skidded on loose gravel, went over the handle bars.

Head hit first, then shoulder, outstretched arm, side, then legs. Skidded a good 20 feet.

Cracked the helmet. Jacket was pretty well abraded. Palm of my glove was worn through. Toe of my boot as well.

As bad a crash as it was, I walked away with just a broken rib, minor road rash on my knee and hand and a ringing head ache.

I was less than a mile from home when it happened too.....

Toreador Pants - yes. pavement is not good for exfoliation.

jacqui

Not quite a full suit, but there is this.

Damn. I wish I'd had that in March. Would have saved me several months of painful breathing and bending over.....

Or, perhaps too good.

ALL the gear, ALL the time? I have to say I live a very big city with a ton of scooters, and only a very small percentage really do this. I don't know too many people who ever wear armored or protective pants, although some do. I don't own a pair. I have two armored jackets, although in the summer I only wear mine on long rides, otherwise I wear a lightweight jacket or occasionally for short rides around the neighborhood, no jacket. I have a full face and half helmet, and wear the full face 90 percent of the time. In winter I wear boots, but in the summer I generally wear sneakers, unless going for a very long ride. I almost always wear gloves, but every once in a blue moon I will ride in shorts, a T-shirt, half helmet, and no gloves. My one crash--this summer in the pouring rain--I had taken off my gloves for a moment after pulling over and then kept riding because I only had a few blocks to go. Luckily I didn't land on my hands. Wish I could say the same for my ribs--I can feel your pain Skrapiron, although I don't think I broke mine--and I wasn't wearing my armored jacket, although I'm not entirely sure it would have made much of a difference, since the Corrozzo hoodie doesn't have rib armor.

Brendan

Maybe part of the reason I haven't been doing jacket and gloves all the time is that, although they may protect you from cuts and scrapes, they won't protect you from broken bones and internal injuries. Still, bleeding is quite the unpleasent experience.

Bleeding is not the issue.
When you make a fall at 40 mph and you slide over the asphalt, it will scrape the flesh off your bones.
Imagine what will happen at higher speeds.

Armored mesh Jacket
Elkskin Roper Gloves
Motorcycle Boots
Draggin' Jeans
Full Face Modular Helmet
(With layers and heavier gloves in cold weather.)
All the time, every time.

If I don't have time to put it on, I take the car. Actually, I have a sort of rule that if I am in a hurry, I don't take the scooter anyway. Mistakes are made when people are in a rush, and mistakes can be painful when they are made on two wheels.

My position comes from a story about an Uncle of mine back when I was but a mere lad. He worked in electronics and steadfastly refused to get a color TV for his family because they were not "perfected" yet. He knew color TVs would get better and felt it was better to wait. After several years, his wife and kids pitched in and bought one anyway.
That was over thirty years ago and they are still not "perfected." There is always room for improvement.

While my gear is not "perfect" and doesn't protect me in every conceivable or extreme circumstance, it's still beneficial and may save me some pain and suffering from lesser mishaps. So I wear it.

I'm not preaching...you asked!

This is my "all the gear all the time as well", I dont do armored pants or boots as they just dont work for me. But I wont ride without all the gear listed above and I think thats fine.

Toreador Pants Poster Child of the Month-- Glad you're doing OK!

--Deborah

I read an article on motorcycle safety somewhere that began, "Imagine holding a belt sander to your leg-- and watching it rip away fabric, then flesh, then grind down through the muscle. OK, now translate this image to an unprotected slide across the asphalt."

Yeah, I agree with Dutchman. If you are prepared to throw yourself out of a car at 30mph, then riding a scooter in jeans is no problem.

If you slide on your jeans, they last one to two seconds before wearing away. After that it is skin (one to two seconds), then muscle. I suppose the thing to do is look at your body and decide which bits could stand to be ground down a little.

If the answer is none, go for Toreador Pants.

And if I remember correctly you are a hard core cold rider!

Full-face helmet
Armored mesh jacket or armored leather jacket (I have both)
Motorcycle boots (I keep a pair of loafers at the office)
Armored leather gloves
Armored mesh pants on order, though I'm thinking of getting a pair of kevlar-lined khakis as well

Protection first, comfort a very close second. If it's not comfortable, you're tempted to forgo wearing it "just this time". Keep looking (and trying) until you find the gear that works for you.

Think of accident risk on a "per mile" basis. 100 trips to the store is just as much exposure as that 100 mile cruise.

It takes me just a couple of minutes (120 seconds) to gear up. Worth it? I think so.

I always where a full face helmet and good gloves. I do not ride on the freewya, so my trips are all surface street. Some trips are over surface streets max 25-30 mph, others are surface streets max 35-50mph.

On the 25 mph trips I usually where pants and an armored jacket, but will sometimes in the southern CA heat where only shirt sleeves. I do not where riding boots, but I always where closed toe shoes.

I have decided that I am not willing to compromise regarding a head injury so I always where the full face helmet, no matter how hot. On the slower going I am willing to risk losing some skin or breaking some bones for the sake of comfort.

My logic is that at 25mph on surface streets there is little more risk to me that there would be if I was riding my bicycle in shorts and a tee shirt.

Further, as a lawyer I can work just fine with some lost skin, broken arm or broken ankle. The only thing that really scares me is the risk of a head injury, so it is full face helmet all the time.

The government can have my PM pipe when they pry it off my cold, dead scoot.

You are correct, Sir!

I draw the line if I think ice/black ice is a possibility.

When I bought my Draggin' Jeans, I also ordered the knee armor which I never got around to using.
With colder weather approaching, I'm going to install it. For protection, and to keep my knees warmer.

I always wear nice underwear when I ride - just in case I end up in hospital

as much as i appreciate the occasional full body exfoliation treatment i'd rather have it in the comfort of a salon than in the middle of the road - so it's Toreador Pants for me. the only exception, which i make less and less these days, is when wear regular trousers rather than my draggin jeans.

Toreador Pants is relative, I don't cover things I'm willing to loose via contact with a SUV or to have ground off on the pavement.


(Threadlocked in 10.....9.....8.....7.....)

omg, i never thought about underwear - at least mine is clean most of the time

can't lock the thread just yet, we have to discuss protective underwear options 1st

kevlar knickers? ouch.

Head to foot leather gimp suit.Well,ok not ALL of the time...