Do you wear ATGATT?

[Chris]

OOhhhhh Happy, I'm so sorry. That made me think twice. Do you wear gloves with the finger ends cut off? I imagine you're a fan of the full glove now. Did you recover?

A couple of times I found myself sliding on my backside at 50 to 60 mph - I automatically put my hands out to the sides and my gloves were heavily abraded on the heel of the palm and fingertips. I currently wear a pair of Held gloves - they're two gloves in one. Put my hand inside the Gore-Tex section and they're a warm and waterproof glove, slide my hand underneath the Gore-Tex and the palm of the glove is a perforated leather light glove - but with reinforcing on the heel of the palm.

I would not recommend fingerless gloves for motor bikes - they're fine for pedal bikes though

 

[netizen]

Strat: I recommend mesh. I have a similar pair with thigh vents, and riding around in San Diego during the summer my pants are soaked when I'm done. Most come with some sort of zip in liner so you could use it all year in this area.

zip in liners for mesh gear to make them year round? cool! I have both a mesh 2 piece riding suit and a regular one. I had no idea there were zip in liners to make the mesh a year round suit.

I will have to look into this. I normally take both with me on trips and change out as temps change, the liners are a cool idea and could save a little space in the gear I have to pack.

If anybody knows of some brands like this I'd like to hear about them and if you have used them what your opinions are on them.

 

[Rocker66]

When I had my accident way back in 66 I recieved a broken femur ankle and wrist as there was body armour in those days. However due to wearing leather jacket and trousers plus bike boots there was not a cut on me. I'm sure with todays armoured bike clothing I would have got off a lot lighter and wouldn't walk with a limp today. For me protective gear is a must

 

[happy]

OOhhhhh Happy, I'm so sorry. That made me think twice. Do you wear gloves with the finger ends cut off? I imagine you're a fan of the full glove now. Did you recover?

Thanks.
yes I recovered with brand new skins.
gloves when you are 17? I am guessing not. I wasn't wearing any gloves then.

Nowadays I wear 1 pair and put a spare in the box (in case of rain).
Before Goretex was available, I used to wear my mother's dishwashing yellow gloves over my bike gloves during a rain storm while on tour. Every biker thought I was nuts.
Shortly after, they invented the wearover wellies for biking boots.

I wear a leather jacket whenever I can. If it is too hot, I wear my BMW airflow mesh jacket.
for my underparts, I wear a Dainese Goretex cordura pants. I don't like the cordura but I don't like the leather stench even more. I try to remember to roll instead of slide if I fall.

Another tip, don't try to save your bike if you fall. Save your ass first.

 

[Chestnut]

Netizen: sorry, that was directed at another resident of sunny, warm, southern california. We don't get nearly the cold and wet that you do where you live. Most of the mesh gear I've seen would work on days where there aren't drastic temperature shifts, say starting at 60 degrees and getting hot...

 

[dduelin]

Snipped..............

..........So YES, I'm a firm believer in wearing gear when riding. I cringe everytime I see some one in shorts and a tee shirt riding a motorcycle. I wouldn't wish road rash on my worst enemy.

While I agree with everything you posted that I snipped I remember one time when I was riding down in Central Fl on a twisty road. We don't have too many in FL and you have to go looking for them but anyway there I was on 39A near Brooksville when three young guys on sportbikes came up behind me. I wasn't exactly holding up traffic on my ST1300 but a spirited pace was not fast enough for them and zip zip zip they passed me and disappeared around the next turn. Two turns later as the road opened up I saw rider #3 get highsided off his Kawasaki 636 as he missed the turn his buddies made and locked up the brakes. We was wearing a nice leather jacket, helmet, gloves, boots and a pair of jeans. Of course he ended up sliding on his butt. This is not funny but it was kind of comical at the time. The road tore the entire seat out of those pants and bloodied his backside. As I rode up to a stop the adreneline was peaking and he was trying to pick up his bike with his bare --- in the breeze. I admit to wearing jeans from time to time - the ones with kevlar and steel mesh in the knees and butt sections but I probably won't again for a while after remembering what the back of his thighs and glutes looked like. I bet he slept on his stomach for three months.

 

[Beemerphile]

Do you wear gloves with the finger ends cut off? I imagine you're a fan of the full glove now.

That is more of the American Brand influence. I'd really recommend you shake that off. I was in an Army-Navy surplus store in the North Carolina mountains one very cool morning and two American Brand riders came in shivering like wet kittens. They asked the proprietor "Do you have any gloves with, you know, fingers in them?" The guy looked at them like they were from Mars and said "I don't have any gloves WITHOUT fingers in them!

Poor suckers, thought they were asking for something special.

 

[bamamate]

Mesh with liners.......I have the TourMaster Flex pants. They have outer panels that zip off to be mesh pants and then internal zip out rain liner and seperate zip out thermal liner.

 

[jelo]

zip in liners for mesh gear to make them year round? cool! I have both a mesh 2 piece riding suit and a regular one. I had no idea there were zip in liners to make the mesh a year round suit.

I will have to look into this. I normally take both with me on trips and change out as temps change, the liners are a cool idea and could save a little space in the gear I have to pack.

If anybody knows of some brands like this I'd like to hear about them and if you have used them what your opinions are on them.

I have several of the Icon jackets - the Brawnson is a textile jacket with zip vents and a zip-in vest liner. Also have their Hooligan 2 mesh jacket with full-sleeve zip-in liner - not all versions of this jacket have the full-sleeve liner though. Temps here can vary quite a bit through the day and with altitude changes, so I have a down vest I sometimes use with them too - but I do like the convenience of their integrated liner system. I think there are some video reviews on Revzilla for some of their stuff.

 

[JDE]

While I agree with everything you posted that I snipped I remember one time when I was riding down in Central Fl on a twisty road. We don't have too many in FL and you have to go looking for them but anyway there I was on 39A near Brooksville when three young guys on sportbikes came up behind me. I wasn't exactly holding up traffic on my ST1300 but a spirited pace was not fast enough for them and zip zip zip they passed me and disappeared around the next turn. Two turns later as the road opened up I saw rider #3 get highsided off his Kawasaki 636 as he missed the turn his buddies made and locked up the brakes. We was wearing a nice leather jacket, helmet, gloves, boots and a pair of jeans. Of course he ended up sliding on his butt. This is not funny but it was kind of comical at the time. The road tore the entire seat out of those pants and bloodied his backside. As I rode up to a stop the adreneline was peaking and he was trying to pick up his bike with his bare --- in the breeze. I admit to wearing jeans from time to time - the ones with kevlar and steel mesh in the knees and butt sections but I probably won't again for a while after remembering what the back of his thighs and glutes looked like. I bet he slept on his stomach for three months.

I bet he earned a new nickname of "baboon butt" after that! Ouch!

 

[netizen]

Another tip, don't try to save your bike if you fall. Save your ass first.

I had to laugh when I read this... at 18 or 19 I was hit in a parking lot by a car when riding my 1980 Yamaha Secca 550. The bike had been a dream of mine for several years. as the bike headed for the concrete curb of the parking lot island I could have stepped off and rolled into the gas, but instead I fought to keep the bike upright and not let it fall over.
The result was I ended up with my right leg pinched between the handle bar and the tank when the forces of nature took over and the bike tried to go down. I ended up straddling the handlebars which you would have thought was impossible considering the small fairing which was mounted there.
I did manage to keep the bike from hitting the ground because my leg was twisted at an angle that would not allow the bike to go to the pavement without it snapping in two.

Unfortunately my heroic efforts were for naught as the bike was totaled due to the rear swing arm being bent by the impact of the 1970 nova's front bumper.

I got a ride to the hospital in an ambulance but was released a few hours later with only a severe sprained/twisted leg. I was not able to walk for several days and walked with a limp for weeks after.

I did end up with a brand new 1982 Yamaha 550 secca after my insurance paid for the totaled bike and I came up with another $300 via a loan from my Mom (remember I was 18 or 19).

So I could have benefited from your wisdom back then Happy ... too bad you weren't around back then. But I doubt I would have listened .... I loved that bike too much.

 

[netizen]

Mesh with liners.......I have the TourMaster Flex pants. They have outer panels that zip off to be mesh pants and then internal zip out rain liner and seperate zip out thermal liner.

How hard is it to add/remove the liners/pannels? Is it something you would be able to do on the side of the road?

 

[bamamate]

You have to take the pants off since the rain and thermal liners go on the inside of the pants. Yes I've done that on the side of the road. The pants zip up the side to the top of your leg so they are easy to get on/off. The rain liner doesn't have a side zipper so it is a little difficult to get on/off with boots on. The thermal liner, I think, has a calf high zipper so again not real easy with boots on. I've only used the thermal liner a couple of times when it was really cold.

 

[Mike Cash]

zip in liners for mesh gear to make them year round? cool! I have both a mesh 2 piece riding suit and a regular one. I had no idea there were zip in liners to make the mesh a year round suit.

I will have to look into this. I normally take both with me on trips and change out as temps change, the liners are a cool idea and could save a little space in the gear I have to pack.

If anybody knows of some brands like this I'd like to hear about them and if you have used them what your opinions are on them.

Komine has a line-up of several different jackets which can take any of three zip-in liners: windproof; waterproof; quilted.

I have their three-season ventilated jacket and adding the windproof lining does extend its usability for a greater portion of the year. The lining is mesh but the outside is a solid fabric, with about eight zippable ventilation openings. Chest, back, shoulder, and elbow protectors are standard equipment and you can get another set of the shoulder pads to use as rib protectors (optional, but the pockets to hold the protectors are already there). I also have their more fully mesh summer-only jacket, which will also accept any of the three linings mentioned above. It comes standard with back, shoulder, and elbow protectors, and pockets built-in for chest protectors (I just moved mine from the other jacket).

 

[nemesis98]

I do - no matter what the weather.

Jacket: Aplinestars Cape Town 3/4 length jacket. Hi-Viz yellow/Black color for greater visibility. Big mesh panels, and both a water proof liner and a separate quilted liner (both zip in)
Can wear without either, with both, or one or the other zipped in. Very versatile.

Pants - Fieldsheer Mercury 2.0 with zip in quilted liner. Just tested in an unexpected thunder storm today - not bad. Stayed fairly dry

Gloves (2 pair cold weather & warm weather) -
Cold Weather: Olympia Cold Throttle full gauntlet. These are awesome. Very warm, flexible and protective
Warm Weather: Icon Compound Mesh Long (gauntlet). These are BRAND new to me (as in, they haven't even arrived at my house yet after ordering them yesterday) But they has the mesh to keep me cooler, the padding and the gauntlet to keep me safer

Helmet (A MUST HAVE!) - Vega Attitude in Hi-Viz yellow with integrated drop down sun visor (nice!)

Boots - Here in lies the issue. I have been wearing 6" shorty work boots, just barely at my ankle. But I just bought a much taller pair of Dr. Martens (Franco 9-Tie) which I think will solve that issue

People always ask me if I'm hot in all that gear (yes, a little when stopped) But I would rather be a bit hot at stop lights than a torn up if the pavement stops me.

I just don't get the folks that ride in shorts & a t-shirt. Yea, that will do a whole lot of nothing if they hit the pavement.

Like Beemer said (I think it was him) in an earlier post - dress for the crash, not for the ride

 

[OriginalRocket]

Yes, it I admit I do not have riding pants. I want mesh pants for the summer, and the ones that zip off as shorts are highly appealing to me! Thanks for the link!

I have 2 sets of everything else, one for cool weather, and one for hot weather. I do not ride below 50F.

I need a helmet that flows air better, I love my HJC modular max bt but the vents leave a lot to be desired in hot weather.

I just got my alpine stars Arbiter Glove, armored, and fully vented. Unbelievable comfy!

 

[Fuzzy]

For boots, don't forget good ankle protection. As a new rider, I had a low speed off in a gravel parking lot when someone pulled out in front of me. I was wearing good steel toed boots. My ankle got caught under bike and impact on ankle bone had me limping for weeks. Those bones sticking out the side of ankles bruise easy. Doctor told me I was lucky I didn't break one of tthe small bones in there. The leather of boots not even scratched but provided no impact protection. I immediately started shopping for motorcycle boots and was surprised how few had any more ankle protection than my work boots. Just a layer of leather isn't enough

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

I'm not ATTGAT a lot of the time. I am working on it though. I'm adding more gear as I can afford it, but the good stuff cost a ton!
I'm not fan of the hot, humid weather. Heat is one thing but 100 degrees with 90%+ humidity is my Achilles heel.
I'm still adding to my gear and will probably never stop, but I'm trying!
I do wear a jacket,gloves,boots and leather over pants in the winter but no MC pants while commuting in the summer.
That's still in progress.

 

[shadowsmurf]

I haven't been riding for that long, but I always wear all my gear when I'm riding, no matter how hot it is; jacket zipped to pants, gloves and boots. Always remember that saying from my motorcycle training, "the day you don't wear that piece of gear is the day you need it". Previously, if it was to hot to ride bearably in my existing partially vented gear, I just wouldn't ride. I have recently bought a rev'it air waive jacket+pants set, so I should be good for even the hottest weather in my area. Will probably pick up a good pair of mesh gloves also. I have a healthy respect for avoiding road rash, I am scrawny thin guy and there is not much skin or meat before the bones. That road rash link should be enough to make everyone wear gear imo. Bad things happen to good people all the time, and you can be the most skilled rider out there, but when you go down, all the riding skill in the world will not help that skin, flesh and bone where not designed to survive being dragged across pavement/asphalt/gravel/dirt at high speeds.

I know I spend a lot on gear, but you don't need to if you don't have the cash. You can outfit yourself with stuff that does the job for not all that much money (jacket, pants, boots, helmet and gloves for 400-500 bucks). Not much compared to what you spend to get your bike. It may not look the "best", but in the end if it does the job that's all that should really matter.

 

[Fuzzy]

Utah patch