Timely reminder

[MerlinPV12]

With the prospect of a dry salt free road, out came the bike for a quick blast. Within a few mins I was "buzzed" by one of the invincible scooter boys, you know the type...

Well, the inevitable (for him) happened. Heading for the M4 slip road, weaving in and out of cars and wagons, he failed to notice the lights on red and a stationary car. While he manged to brake, it was too late. His luck was in as the front wheel lost grip and the scooter laid itself down. Had he been upright into the back of the car, it could well have been a very serious injury or fatality.

I mention this event only because of the state of his clothing after the accident. He was head to toe in civvies. His fashion jeans shredded on touching the tarmac, from what I could see they offered no protection at all, it was all of 15/20ft he slid. Shoes, gloves and jacket didn't fare much better. Although the wait for the ambulance cut short my eventual ride, it did allow me the time to think that the discomfort and inconvenience I sometimes feel of "dressing up" for a ride, far outweighs the pain and inconvenience of having your skin ripped off.

Safe riding all

[Uncle Bob]

Natural selection at work methinks. I find it mind boggling that anyone would ride without (at least) some proper gloves.

[J.P]

Riding aggressively and not taking into account what you're wearing is a recipe for disaster.
I'm very happy wearing civies if I'm riding, but I change how I ride.

[Dirty]

Exactly, though I would always wear gloves as a minimum what I am wearing to a large extent dictates my ride style that day.

I don't really think how you ride should dictate what you wear because if you've got normal jeans, footwear etc on and you come off at 20mph you can still end up with some nasty gravel rash. This happened to someone I know and the hospital was picking bits of road out of his hands and legs for quite some time, his legs took for ever to heal and he couldn't use his hands for a while either.

[NewMon]

That is indeed a timely reminder. I work at home but occasionally have to go to our 'factory' (a small industrial unit). My car is off sick and I have been using the bike. I always get fully togged up which often seems silly for a 2 mile ride and involves having to change 4 times per visit. I think I'll carry on doing exactly that.

[Mr Gazza]

What I'm reading here Merlin, is that there were plenty of people about, judging by the traffic that you describe.
But even though you were not involved in the incident and could have filtered past. It was you who stopped, and stayed with the peeled muppet until professional assistance arrived.

Well done mate... I would have probably giggled as I went past?

[MerlinPV12]

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

What I'm reading here Merlin, is that there were plenty of people about, judging by the traffic that you describe.
But even though you were not involved in the incident and could have filtered past. It was you who stopped, and stayed with the peeled muppet until professional assistance arrived.

Well done mate... I would have probably giggled as I went past?

Thanks Mr G. He'd gone in to the back of an elderly couples car, they were clearly distressed and didn't know what to do. So I stopped a) because he was on two wheels, and b) someone needed to get a grip or it could have become a whole lot worse.

They were blocking the outside lane and car drivers were coming down that stretch at a good lick. What stunned me was the irritation shown by the car drivers, one chap actually lent out of the window of his car to hurl abuse because "we were blocking the road" No thought about helping or picking up bits of scooter!

My guess is that this young chap will have learnt a very painful lesson!

I have a "biker down" course booked for the 24th March, so at least I will be able to use this as an example!

[slob]

Every time I get stuck in a queue of cars I try to remind myself I'm lucky I'm not the one causing it

[utopia]

I was considering getting a pair of Kevlar longjohns last year, but the idea kinda went off the boil.
I will take this as a "timely reminder".

In Italy last year for WDW, three of us out for a ride were going pretty quickly, in fact just about as quickly as I was comfortable with for a public road, along a delightfully tortuous stretch of valley pass.
Bikes appeared in my mirrors but they were unable to get past us without risking ill-advised overtakes on blind approaches etc.
This they eventually did, raising a thumbs-up or a cheery wave as they did so.
These guys were clad in shorts, t-shirts and trainers !

Tbh, I don't think I modify my riding all that much according to what I'm wearing.
Full protective gear might inspire confidence but it can lull you into a false sense of security.
And it doesn't do a lot to protect you against sudden impact with the myriad hard obstacles at the roadside.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by utopia

I was considering getting a pair of Kevlar longjohns last year, but the idea kinda went off the boil.
I will take this as a "timely reminder".

In Italy last year for WDW, three of us out for a ride were going pretty quickly, in fact just about as quickly as I was comfortable with for a public road, along a delightfully tortuous stretch of valley pass.
Bikes appeared in my mirrors but they were unable to get past us without risking ill-advised overtakes on blind approaches etc.
This they eventually did, raising a thumbs-up or a cheery wave as they did so.
These guys were clad in shorts, t-shirts and trainers !

Tbh, I don't think I modify my riding all that much according to what I'm wearing.
Full protective gear might inspire confidence but it can lull you into a false sense of security.
And it doesn't do a lot to protect you against sudden impact with the myriad hard obstacles at the roadside.

So true. I'm more inclined to wear my kevlar jeans these days instead of full leathers, although my jacket is still leather, and obviously this makes me weary of leaning the bike over too far since getting my knee down by mistake would be very unpleasant!

Point is, technically I'm in full protective gear, but it can't protect you from everything... So yeah I suppose I do adjust my riding depending on what I'm wearing.

*Note to self: Must get some armour for my kevlar jeans...

[Mr Gazza]

Originally Posted by MerlinPV12

I have a "biker down" course booked for the 24th March, so at least I will be able to use this as an example!

This sounds interesting. Please tell us more.

[Dirty]

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

This sounds interesting. Please tell us more.

It's a course run by the fire brigade in how to deal with things if you come across a bike crash. It's very highly regarded apparently.

[MerlinPV12]

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

This sounds interesting. Please tell us more.

While out on our RT at the tail end of last year my better half raised a couple of good points "what would each of us do if the bike went down, and "what would we do if we came upon another bike accident" We both came up with varied options, but who was correct/had the best answers? We didn't disagree as such, we just realised it wasn't necessarily clear cut.

After some research we found the London Fire Brigade ran these biker down courses. The course we are on is at West Norward Fire Station, on the 25th, not 24th as quoted previously. Will report back after the day for those interested.

[Mr Gazza]

Thank you for bringing this up Merlin.
I've done a bit of research and the nearest Fire Station to me, that runs these courses is at Bury St Edmunds.
It's run by the "Fire Bikes" and covers more than accident response, including roadcraft and how to be visible without acres of reflective gear.
The course is about 3 hours and is free.
I don't mind a run to Bury at all, but unfortunately there are no courses planned this year... However my brother-in-law just happens to be a Station Officer in Norwich ( as well as being a Paramedic and a motorcyclist) ... and I've got him on the case.