- Local time
- 10:55 AM
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2020
- Messages
- 10,363
- Reaction score
- 25,332
- Location
- western Maryland
I used to do a lot of track days - and not MotoX, either.
I was never a ranked rider with sponsors or anything like that, but I have definitely pushed the laws of physics more than once. Such as turn 9, Road America, about 85mph with my (now ex-) wife on the back of my then-13-year-old motorcycle during a factory "parade lap"...drop into the turn...start the carousel...and there's a rider just parked on the apex, going about 30mph. Stood it up for a second, darted it outside, dropped back down, forced her leg out of my way so I could get a knee down for stability, and passed on the outside.
I cut a deer in half in '18. 70 mph. Over the bars, somersaulted in the air, landed on my back feet first. Full gear (always). Shredded my boot soles. Burned through my hip padding. Burned through my shoulder padding. I arched my back trying to keep only my heels and helmet on the ground, until I stopped sliding 110 yards later. BIG flat spot on the helmet - better than my skull!
I had a brake failure (so they tell me) in '08. Through a T intersection into a cattle fence. Dead on scene. Flatlined in the air. Flatlined on the table. Multiple internal injuries (the fence was made of old telephone poles - my 200# plus the 400# motorcycle didn't stand a chance). But...I'm alive, and not a vegetable. Because my HEAD, was in a helmet.
MD has a helmet law.
PA - a mile from my house - does not.
Physics, however....well...there's a reason physics is a law, and not a suggestion.
I gear up, head to toe. Every. Single. Ride.
If you don't want to....well...
I asked a Harley guy once (riding in shorts, flip flops - no idea how the hell he was shifting - and a tank top) if he ever fell down concrete steps dressed like that. He said yes. I asked "what do you think will happen if you lay over that 800 lb machine, at even 15 mph?" The light bulb came on.
Riders can do what they want...but families need to accept it when they die on scene. It's not the motorcycle accident that kills, 90% of the time - it's the lack of proper gear.
ATGATT is a motto for me and most of my riding buddies - All The Gear, All The Time. I'll take sweat over blood, any day.
Sorry for those who never come home from their rides - it happened to me in '08, I didn't come home for five months - but...you made the choice.
If I want sun on me, or don't want to gear up...I get in the Wrangler, with no doors and no roof. If I want the adrenaline of a 390 lb motorcycle with 160 rwhp; if I want the rush....I gear up. Every time.
I was never a ranked rider with sponsors or anything like that, but I have definitely pushed the laws of physics more than once. Such as turn 9, Road America, about 85mph with my (now ex-) wife on the back of my then-13-year-old motorcycle during a factory "parade lap"...drop into the turn...start the carousel...and there's a rider just parked on the apex, going about 30mph. Stood it up for a second, darted it outside, dropped back down, forced her leg out of my way so I could get a knee down for stability, and passed on the outside.
I cut a deer in half in '18. 70 mph. Over the bars, somersaulted in the air, landed on my back feet first. Full gear (always). Shredded my boot soles. Burned through my hip padding. Burned through my shoulder padding. I arched my back trying to keep only my heels and helmet on the ground, until I stopped sliding 110 yards later. BIG flat spot on the helmet - better than my skull!
I had a brake failure (so they tell me) in '08. Through a T intersection into a cattle fence. Dead on scene. Flatlined in the air. Flatlined on the table. Multiple internal injuries (the fence was made of old telephone poles - my 200# plus the 400# motorcycle didn't stand a chance). But...I'm alive, and not a vegetable. Because my HEAD, was in a helmet.
MD has a helmet law.
PA - a mile from my house - does not.
Physics, however....well...there's a reason physics is a law, and not a suggestion.
I gear up, head to toe. Every. Single. Ride.
If you don't want to....well...
I asked a Harley guy once (riding in shorts, flip flops - no idea how the hell he was shifting - and a tank top) if he ever fell down concrete steps dressed like that. He said yes. I asked "what do you think will happen if you lay over that 800 lb machine, at even 15 mph?" The light bulb came on.
Riders can do what they want...but families need to accept it when they die on scene. It's not the motorcycle accident that kills, 90% of the time - it's the lack of proper gear.
ATGATT is a motto for me and most of my riding buddies - All The Gear, All The Time. I'll take sweat over blood, any day.
Sorry for those who never come home from their rides - it happened to me in '08, I didn't come home for five months - but...you made the choice.
If I want sun on me, or don't want to gear up...I get in the Wrangler, with no doors and no roof. If I want the adrenaline of a 390 lb motorcycle with 160 rwhp; if I want the rush....I gear up. Every time.