Modern Buddy

Well, I purchased a great jacket from Motorcycle Superstore and it arrived the other day.

The problem was that it was so flashy that my girlfriend 'suggested' I return it for another jacket that was less over the top and less motocrossy.

I tried to tell her that the visibility of the jacket and the armor inside was a benefit to me because others could see me on the road and I'd have less skin ripped from my bones if I fell.

She contends that scooting is more a fun thing and wearing regular clothes are fine if you're just going to scoot around town (I live in a suburb of Boston and the downtown area is a mile away and the speed limit is 35MPH max with much of it around 30 or less.

I said that I'd rather have full protective gear on no matter how far I ride.

She said....and this is a critical point....that we both ride our road bikes with only shorts and a shirt - thin lycra - on these same roads. We are less visible to cars and are relegated to thin areas on the side of the road.

And we're wearing a bike helmet and not a motorcycle helmet while on the bikes.

So, do I lock her in the shed and only feed her once a day or should I present her with a better argument?

**I DID order a black and grey jacket as a replacement for the flashy blue one with all the motocross patches. But it's the same CE-rated armor and pads.**

Well, two motorized vehicles in a crash have more inertia involved by combined speeds and forward force, which will cause a harder crash, than with your slower moving bicycle.

Fwiw, I have a Rattler 110. Made a left last week a block from home and had to lay it down to avoid a collision. The helmet, gloves, and mesh jacket saved me a lot of physical trauma. Here's my post from the Rattler forum, maybe she should read it. 30 mph is 30 mph when you hit the pavement no matter what you wear... I, too, like my skin on.

Had to lay down the rattler making a 20 mph left turn onto my street, 1 block from home tonight. No oncoming traffic, no moving vehicles on the block as I committed to the turn. First parked car, an SUV, abruptly pulled forward and out into the middle of the street to prepare to make a left. Guy never saw me... I'm guessing he checked his side mirror, saw nobody was coming and just pulled on out. I braked hard and swerved, did an endo, then came down on the right side of the bike. Quickly assessed that neither I nor the Rattler was broken, hopped back on and drove the block home.

I came down pretty hard on my right side... I bounced off my rib cage and hit the side of my head on the pavement, taboot. If not for my helmet, mesh jacket and gloves, I'd probably be in the trauma center. Instead...

Bruised right ribs, knee, and ankle.
Severely bruised right shoulder (would surely be broken if not for the jacket armor)
Broken bone in my left thumb and a fractured bone in my left wrist. (apparently from the braking force and my hand position when it happened)
Scuff on the end of the brake lever, 2 small scuffs on the slanted under edge of the carriage, and a shattered exhaust shield (the stock exhaust).

I've already got the Prima pipe on order, and the scuffs will go unnoticed under the Malossi decal I've been wondering where to place, so the damage to the bike is basically nil.

Won't be riding for a few weeks, though, and damn does my thumb hurt... and I play banjo, taboot, so there goes all of my recreation.

I see too many people here in Denver riding little 50cc's without helmets, or other protection (tonight I saw a woman with a helmet, in a flowing skirt and flip-flops for frak sake )as if a 20 mph accident like the one I had today couldn't change their lives forever.

Please wear a helmet, and something to protect that wonderful skin you were born with. You only get one skull and one skin suit.

Oh, I forgot to add that my leather and cordura pants are on their way too.

Jeff

Here's how we look at it:

We ride a 1500cc cruiser. We wear full gear (FF helmets, leathers) on the highways. In town, we're in street clothes.

My OH is MSF schooled and I will be shortly. Not that it matters. Neither of us is that risky and even though it's the cagers we'll be in most danger from, and the OH is fiercely over-protective of me, it will be a denim jacket and a 3/4 helmet (if that big) for summer riding and a FF and leather jacket for winter riding.

As it is on the bike, it will be on the Italia.

Thanks for the input. To this point, while waiting for jacket and pants, I'm wearing jeans and synthetic jacket.

And of course a FF helmet and gloves.

I take the MSF course in two weeks, but already have my motorcycle license.

Will be happy when the gear arrives.

30mph doesn't sound like much now that we're used to driving around at 70 all the time, but I don't think the human body's really evolved for either of those impact speeds. In the car you get a seat belt, airbags, the stability of four wheels, and thousands of pounds of scrunchable metal to absorb the impact. On the scoot you get your body, and what you're wearing. Heck, think about all the padding football players wear, and they're just crashing into other people at people-speeds (granted: many, many times).


There are just too many dolts out there licensed to drive cars. When they make the tests harder and on a weekly-recurring basis, I'll wear gear appropriate to my own skill. Until then, I have to wear gear appropriate to the lowest common denominator.

I'm not sure it matters what you fall FROM. If you're sliding across pavement at 30mph or even 15mph it's going to hurt. A lot.

Anything between me and more hurting is a good thing. And having had (at least one) low speed fall from my bicycle and seeing what happened to my gloves...

To me is not about what other people say or don't say, but rather about my comfort level with risk.
I do FF Modular, boots, gloves, jacket. I wear jeans as I have not found overpants that fit me well.

I look at it from this point of view. I hop on a pick up truck's bed. Tell the driver to get to ___mph (fill in the blank) and then I jump off unto the road . . . what would I like to wear?

i've thought about this as well, and i can't believe i haven't been more hurt in some of the bicycle crashes that i have been in. i have been up to 50 mph on a single bike and well over on a tandem with nothing but some bike shorts a jersey gloves and a helmet. the one thing to keep in mind is that when you are riding a bicycle you are off to one side of the road and people are passing you, you are only sometimes actively participating in the road traffic. but to me it isn't that i think to wear less on the scoot it's that i can't believe people don't wear more on the bicycle.

i will carry scars on my arms and legs for the rest of my life from fairly high speed crashes i had on my bicycles and i'd like to avoid adding any more of them from riding the scooter.

From what I learned in my MSF class, the second cause of death for motorcyclists/scooterists involved in an accident is... skin loss.

I'd like to keep my skin on me rather than on the road, and dress accordingly.

Statistically, it's the short city trips that get you, not the long highway jaunts. You're at your greatest risk at intersections, where like was stated earlier, you're part of the traffic flow in a way you're not on a bicycle. Somebody will turn left in front of you and you've got to get 200-300 lbs of scooter plus yourself out of their way. That's a much different equation than whipping your bike up onto the curb. I can bunny hop a road bike - can't do that on a Buddy or Blur. So it's actually more about the type of traffic you're dealing with than about speed per say.

I wear a FF helmet, armored gloves, boots, denim pants, and an armored jacket every time I ride. I like ep_scoot's analogy. You're about to jump out of a truck at 35 mph, what would you like wear?

Have broken my collarbone twice in biking crashes. Both off the mountain bike where traffic wasn't an issue. Have not really gone down on the road bike, but have had close calls at 40MPH....SCARY.

But you're right. I can pick the whole bike up in an instant and hop over a curb or a muscrat or a dingo carcass, but you're not clipped in on the 300lb Buddy.

I'm gonna start wearing my boots when I ride too.

Jeff

sotied wrote:Have broken my collarbone twice in biking crashes. Both off the mountain bike where traffic wasn't an issue. Have not really gone down on the road bike, but have had close calls at 40MPH....SCARY.

But you're right. I can pick the whole bike up in an instant and hop over a curb or a muscrat or a dingo carcass, but you're not clipped in on the 300lb Buddy.

I'm gonna start wearing my boots when I ride too.

Jeff

Good call. My ankle is still jacked up from my crash last Tuesday because I figured I could wear my sneekers for a day.

arguments for her?
How would she feel if you DID get into a crash and wound up in a hospital with large chunks of skin missing?
Could she handle the guilt of having talked you out of your original intentions of wearing gear that could have prevented that much damage?
Would she still love you and want to kiss you with your face all messed up? or if certain special parts get damaged?
What does it really hurt to make that kind of investment?

I'm new to scootering. I've been learning how around my neighborhood. Basically waiting for my "armor" to come in before I go out onto the road that connects the community I live in with the outside world. I don't know how 'flashy' the jacket you ordered is, but mine is neon yellow with black pants: http://www.olympiamotosports.com/ast_la ... ladies.htm
Have her read some of the responses people wrote about their experiences with the protective gear and high visibility colors: http://www.olympiamotosports.com/Testimonials.htm
(Note: I'm not promoting the site, I just think that the testimonials are a good 'argument' you can give her for your choice in protection and visibility. Particularly the ones that talk about how they've had far fewer close calls since getting the high visibility jackets.)

But more importantly, remember... it's how much risk you're willing to take...as well as assessing the risk factors well. She may be willing to risk your life/limbs, but are YOU willing to do so as well?

(Runs away before girlfriend can beat me up!)

Wear what you want. Let her wear what she wants. Works at my house.

By the way, my crash was much less than 30mph with jacket, gloves and helmet. Knees were a mess. Minimal road rash on forearm because armor protected me. Shredded the jacket sleeve, skinned up the helmet instead of my head. My wife picked me up at the emergency room with a pair of jeans to wear home. The nurse said, "Forget those, he won't want to wear anything but shorts for a while."

Wear what you want. Let her wear what she wants. Works at my house.

Dennis

sotied wrote:Well, I purchased a great jacket from Motorcycle Superstore and it arrived the other day.

The problem was that it was so flashy that my girlfriend 'suggested' I return it for another jacket that was less over the top and less motocrossy.

I tried to tell her that the visibility of the jacket and the armor inside was a benefit to me because others could see me on the road and I'd have less skin ripped from my bones if I fell.

She contends that scooting is more a fun thing and wearing regular clothes are fine if you're just going to scoot around town (I live in a suburb of Boston and the downtown area is a mile away and the speed limit is 35MPH max with much of it around 30 or less.

I said that I'd rather have full protective gear on no matter how far I ride.

She said....and this is a critical point....that we both ride our road bikes with only shorts and a shirt - thin lycra - on these same roads. We are less visible to cars and are relegated to thin areas on the side of the road.

And we're wearing a bike helmet and not a motorcycle helmet while on the bikes.

So, do I lock her in the shed and only feed her once a day or should I present her with a better argument?

**I DID order a black and grey jacket as a replacement for the flashy blue one with all the motocross patches. But it's the same CE-rated armor and pads.**

LOL! From what I see, you'd better set your girlfriend straight or she's gonna end up running your life for you! You're not joined at the hip; let her wear whatever gear she want's to wear, and you wear what you decide is right for you!
(Shhheeesh! Looks like a case of p-whipped to me.... )

Jeff-

From day one with the scoots we both agreed we would buy as much safety gear as we could, in the most obnoxious colors it came in. The goal is to be seen! We hooked up the deadlights and changed all the lights to silverstars for that extra little visibility. We ordered Corazzo jackets in colors that we woudn't normally wear just for a jacket that you wear outdoors, we got ones with good contrasting colors that catch the eye. We wear white helmets. Even after spending $229 on Carazzo 5.0 jackets, we went to Brockton Cycle (great store- huge selection) and bought clearance mesh jackets with armor- just to have somethign to wear when it was too hot for the Corazzo. We're not made of money, but the cost of a jacket is significantly lower than the cost of a hospital stay and rehab.

All that being said, some days, like you know last week's heat wave, we wore T-shirts, shorts, sneakers, and full helmets on a ride around town to the video store and post office. Still undecided about pants. Probably get some draggin' jeans. Or I saw at Dick's sporting goods these painters pants made by Wrangler that are made of Cordura ripstop nylon. Might check those out. All in all we have the gear, we usually wear it, and we're lucky that we're both on the same page with safety.

-Danny

Penguinboy wrote:Jeff-

From day one with the scoots we both agreed we would buy as much safety gear as we could, in the most obnoxious colors it came in. The goal is to be seen! We hooked up the deadlights and changed all the lights to silverstars for that extra little visibility. We ordered Corazzo jackets in colors that we woudn't normally wear just for a jacket that you wear outdoors, we got ones with good contrasting colors that catch the eye. We wear white helmets. Even after spending $229 on Carazzo 5.0 jackets, we went to Brockton Cycle (great store- huge selection) and bought clearance mesh jackets with armor- just to have somethign to wear when it was too hot for the Corazzo. We're not made of money, but the cost of a jacket is significantly lower than the cost of a hospital stay and rehab.

All that being said, some days, like you know last week's heat wave, we wore T-shirts, shorts, sneakers, and full helmets on a ride around town to the video store and post office. Still undecided about pants. Probably get some draggin' jeans. Or I saw at Dick's sporting goods these painters pants made by Wrangler that are made of Cordura ripstop nylon. Might check those out. All in all we have the gear, we usually wear it, and we're lucky that we're both on the same page with safety.

-Danny

Might dash down to Brockton Cycle.

I already have my Joe Rocket summer-ish jacket on the way (went with black and grey after returning the blue moto-look jacket) and the pants should arrive today (cordura and leather).

Am thinking about getting something with more color in it, but my helmet is yellow so the orange scoot and the yellow helmet will likely get some attention.

Thanks.

What I usually say to people is:

The next time your driving down the road at "only 30-35 mph" open the car door...look down...and think about jumping out.

As far as colors I figure that is is stuff I am going to be wearing ALOT. If want to have fun with it while staying safer...why not?

Why wear gear?

WHY RED IS RED!

sotied wrote:Might dash down to Brockton Cycle.

I already have my Joe Rocket summer-ish jacket on the way (went with black and grey after returning the blue moto-look jacket) and the pants should arrive today (cordura and leather).

Am thinking about getting something with more color in it, but my helmet is yellow so the orange scoot and the yellow helmet will likely get some attention.

Thanks.

Since you exchanged for the darker less visible jacket, you could get a visibility vest to put over it for when you're actually ON the scooter, that way you can take it off when you go into the stores and such. I doubt she can complain too much about that idea.

Jeff-

Brockton Cycle is purely motorcycle, but I picked up a mesh jacket, black with blue trim, shoulder, elbow, forearm, back armor (foam type- not Knox or anything fancy) with zip out liner for $70. Some of the cycle stuff isn't that obnoxious and you can try tons of stuff on...