R1 rider

pmcq · Post by **pmcq** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:08 pm

Right then....

Coming home thru rush hour traffic on the Dublin's orbital M50 'motorway' (me butt) I am making my way up slowly through the traffic watching for possibly the most dangerous hazard known to bikerss: lane jumpers - those ejits who see a gap the size of their car in the 20mph traffic, turn quicker than a hot snot off a shovel and sometimes discovering the indicator switch half way though.

Anyway - I look in my mirror and see the front of a brand new R1 - stonking looking machine. What really got my eye was the riders protective gear - a frickin' T-Shirt! Call me old fashioned but it seems that the bike was more of a fashion accessory than a means of travelling! Am I getting old? I decided to move into a gap to let him past, upon which he tore up the middle of the traffic... with a nice breeze on his arms I'd say! I wont even talk about the gsxr rider i saw wearing a basketball vest, shorts and nike air max runners last year....

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh .... glad i got that of my chest!

pmcq

Seeker 77 · Post by **Seeker 77** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:20 pm

I must confess to having worn a t-shirt and shorts for the 200m to work when i was about to go on PT but nowhere near the dual carriageway or major roads (i live in the middle of nowhere). I only do that when riding the GSXR of course, the rest of the time on the storm i wear all the proper kit

.

pmcq · Post by **pmcq** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:24 pm

Ah yea - I've worn a t-shirt too for a quick blast down to the local shops but not on a motorway in rush hour... I'll probably read my posts tomorrow and realise I was in grumpy old man mode last night :-) Cheers!

Seeker 77 · Post by **Seeker 77** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:26 pm

pmcq wrote:Ah yea - I've worn a t-shirt too for a quick blast down to the local shops but not on a motorway in rush hour... I'll probably read my posts tomorrow and realise I was in grumpy old man mode last night :-) Cheers!

Mate, i am 27 and live in permanent grumpy land!! Everything i see on the roads winds me up. Thats why i leave for work at 6 and get there at 8!!

Squiffythewombat · Post by **Squiffythewombat** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:29 pm

do you read mcn? theres an article in the letters part called no leathers no sympathy written about a local biker here that i know, he got knocked off at 70mph in a tshirt and hes still in hospital now (thankfully ok) but will be for at least another month.....they are looneys!!!!

mattbridges · Post by **mattbridges** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:31 pm

I'm 28 and also very grumpy!

<rant>
Coming home from work last week I was carefully filtering through the traffic at a particularly busy set of light, in all the gear, checking mirrors etc. notice something on two wheels stonking up behing me so I move in a gap to let them pass. What was it? - Bloody peugeot moped with a young lad in shorts and a tshirt.

Got back to filtering and reached the front of the queue just in time to see him bin it into the side of a car that had to stop in the middle of the lights for the fireengine coming the other way. I parked up and checked him over (stopped the car driver trying to take his lid off) - not a nice view - when the ambulance people got there they said he'd be looking a some quite significant surgery to replace the skin he'd lost.

Only once I've ridden with a jumper instead of my jacket (back from the MOT station) and I felt so vulnerable and cold that I decided I'd never do it again.

Having see the mess that kid made of himself I think the cops should take pictures and show the little scroats exactly what happens to your arms, legs, back chest, butt etc when you come off at 20 mph. And what it looks like 6 months down the line.

I went into the hospital a few days later to give him my details and he was doped up to the eyeballs and looking like a raw hamburger. His mum and dad were there and told me that they bought him all the stuff but he'd never worn it.
</rant>

Zer0Zer0 · Post by **Zer0Zer0** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:01 pm

shadenfreude anyone! sorry but i totally lack any sympathy
for the braindead, which is what they are if they CHOOSE not to wear the gear, and are likley to become if they dont wize up.....

Squiffythewombat · Post by **Squiffythewombat** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:03 am

i reccon a campain backed by rossi or someone promoting bike safety gear would work, hell even if it saved one life it would be worth it! how they ride however......

....mind you im a fine one to talk i ride like a n0b!

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:25 am

My turn...

Ease up fellas. I know you're going to take more skin off if you ride without an extra one, but you wanna come over here & say that??? You try riding in 40 degree heat in stop start traffic (where lane-splitting is most illegal and frowned upon) and try doing it in full leathers? I have a reeeeeeally old leather jacket that I don for most longer trips, but it's that thin I may as well be wearing felt. More or less just to keep the mother happy if I happen to turn up at her place

. I've just bought an armoured thingy with waterproof bitzies for when it gets a tad chilly (which is a rarity), but you'd be lucky to find 5% of Aussie riders who actually own leather pants. It's not because we're stupid, although there are the token ones (like the guy in board shorts I scooped out of a ditch a wee while back), it's just toooo damn hot!

In saying that though... If I was unlucky enough to live somewhere constantly cold & rainy, I might be a tad more inclined to agree with you

.

hemmy · Post by **hemmy** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:00 am

I grew outta my jacket been riding for 3 years and i ride hard wheelies after every corner and stretch i but a kneel down wheelie or high chair or tank wheelie all in a t shirt or long sleeve but ill never wear shorts Oh and im still riding the same bike with the same fairings same everything no crashes

Squiffythewombat · Post by **Squiffythewombat** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:58 am

VTRgirl, thats why they made cordura????? Theres other materials apart from leather to protect you these days. Theres even bog standard levis with armour built into them! Ive ridden round london and leicester couriring on the hottest days of this year so i know exactly what u mean, but id rather sweat a little bit and be that more glader im safe :-)

hemmy u mentalist :-)

Sharpe1 · Post by **Sharpe1** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:50 am

VTRGirly,try the RJays fully vented Superflow thingy. I can't remember what they call them but good flow thru mesh with body armour and stuff (I've got all the technical terms) Can still get hot sitting in traffic but while moving, very good.

VTRgirl · Post by **VTRgirl** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:38 pm

Thanks Squiff & Larry... I've got some good gear. Figured I deserved it after selling the car & going 100% bike, but still don't bother wearing it unless it's cool (or I'm riding to Mum & Dad's:roll:). Actually, I rarely go on a ride ride without suiting up, but around town almost never. I'm a nurse. I've seen it all. I know what I'm risking. Just reckon it's worth the risk sometimes. Of course, in saying that, I've obviously not had a prang... Been riding 12 years, so either I'm damn good or damn lucky

. Maybe you should ask someone who rides with me.

And Squiffy... You may have ridden around London & the likes on the hottest day of the year, but I had to laugh when I read that in this context... You don't know what "hot" is until you've experienced an Aussie Christmas. Did you know you can actually get sunburnt through jeans???8O I have had my hair get so hot, just from sitting in the sun, that my reflexes have made me flinch when I touched the top of it

.

Dare I say that I have been known to actually ride completely topless on the odd occasion on a mid-summer's night...

pmcq · Post by **pmcq** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:47 pm

Dont suppose they are in the gallery by any chance

Squiffythewombat · Post by **Squiffythewombat** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:03 pm

ok, ok i take it back....but still....what happens if you come off? hot arms+ tarmac = vtrgirlsoup

topless eh? im sure many people here would pay for photos of that!

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R1 rider

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