Coming off...Protection below the waist?

sonny said:

Most of the time when I ride it is back and forth to work. Been doing a hell of that lately. To buy special pants for that seems to me to be pretty **** silly. I have a leather Jacket with pads still in and winter pants with pads still in. I will not ride with out a helmet but the idea of being so concern about getting into a bad situation that you go out and spend money on even more protection tells me one that maybe you do not ride much or you just have a lot of money to piss away. Can understand the need for it I guess.

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You don't need to buy the most expensive gear out there. Ordinary Kevlar jeans which offer good protection can be bought here for as little as AUD$65 - 100 (US$50-75), about the same or less than std 'economy' denim jeans and offer vastly more protection but appear and feel the same. Falls etc can be caused by natural events or random acts of stupidity of the rider and other road users including animals day or night. Then there is the gravel washed out on the road after rain, oil spills, 'black ice' in frosty areas, and wet and greasy roads after infrequent rain has allowed oil to build up in the road surface that only emerges after rain.

It is impossible to always be aware of these risks, especially if riding in an unfamiliar spot like on a w/e ride. For someone happy to spend US$600 on ultra high grade lights to reduce risk while implying that those who buy lesser but still much improved versions are under investing and then ignoring other easy and far cheaper risk reduction strategies seems a bit as well.

You can lose a hell of a lot of skin on even a low speed fall (especially without gloves) and having gravel scrubbed out with a bristle brush w/o painkillers is std hospital procedure here in Oz.

A couple of years ago because of a double version of a Factor V Leiden gene I was unaware of, I had about 10 blood clot embolisms in each lung and was put on a non reversible clotting inhibitor for life that means I will now bleed out internally and/or externally in 5-10 mins after any serious fall. I still ride and accept the risk but everyone is entitled to use as many precautions as they wish. Just say'in.

It's hard enough finding regular jeans that fit my tall, thick legs. Let alone kevlar ones.

sonny said:

Most of the time when I ride it is back and forth to work. Been doing a hell of that lately. To buy special pants for that seems to me to be pretty **** silly. I have a leather Jacket with pads still in and winter pants with pads still in. I will not ride with out a helmet but the idea of being so concern about getting into a bad situation that you go out and spend money on even more protection tells me one that maybe you do not ride much or you just have a lot of money to piss away. Can understand the need for it I guess.

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Well, Sonny,
I have been riding near 60 years at the sport and professional levels. The older I become, the less invincible I realize I be.
My latest of several serious crashes was just two years ago. A year and a half ago a simple little crash at 25 mph left me with 2 surgeries, 2 plates and 13 screws in three leg, ankle and foot bones.
At then 68, the healing and rehabilitating processes were very difficult. Now at 70, I wish to minimize any future crash injuries best as I can. AGATT for me here on!

Ishrub hats off to you. You earned my respect. Anybody with that type of medical problems and still rides is a better man than me. I really mean that. For the average rider with out the medical conditions I find it almost comical that they wear fancy pants to protect themselves. I ride a hell of a lot. Got a Rocket X I bought back about six months ago brand new with 2.2 miles on it and now have well over 16,000 miles. I ride in rural Oklahoma and face A lot of different situations every day.

Seems like most folks on here have road at a professional level . Me I have been just your every day jerk on the road nothing special. Last three bikes never got laid down. The Bonneville (05 to 2010 175,000 miles never laid down)( 2010 to 2015 Harley 85.000 miles never laid down).( Rocket X 16,000 miles and still riding never laid down) Yes I have screwed up in the past. Been real lucky and always walked away. Then again we have been riding non Professional for a few years since 1975. My worse was on a Honda 750 after riding for three days in Northern California got home to Sacramento and laid her up going out for Hamburgers. Broke my tailbone. Can say this with a hell of a lot miles riding time ( non Professional) and a hell of a lot of motorcycle safety courses basic and advance ( Have A instructor certification for teaching motorcycle safety) There are times when we are just not impressed.

MikeDeY said:

It's hard enough finding regular jeans that fit my tall, thick legs. Let alone kevlar ones.

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I'll send you some unused with labels real 'fatboy' ones if you like or do you enjoy 'cyclists thighs' like I did many, many years ago.

Wannbe said:

"All The Gear All The Time"

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I knew That......

PThink you got your facts wrong there old bean..

It says they will loose the watwrproofness after 30 washes.. Which can easily be put back with any proprietary waterproofing spray used for field sport clothing

sonny said:

Ishrub hats off to you. You earned my respect. Anybody with that type of medical problems and still rides is a better man than me. I really mean that.

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Luckily that condition is not really a problem and does not affect me in any other way. The advantage is I am unlikely to live as a veggie or quad in either old age or after a fall. Without the drug I have a 80-100 x greater chance of having a thrombosis than the next person and my homozygous dual copy version occurs in 1:2000 Caucasians. Funnily I found out only 7 years ago at 48 that I have only had one very large kidney from birth when the nurse doing an ultrasound scan couldn't find the LHS one and later confirmed a monstrous RHS version. That surprisingly occurs in 1:750 people. Then I found last year after having acute anterior uveitis in one eye that temporarily lost vision that I also have another gene snafu HLA B27 that can cause a whole range of auto-immune issues including Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) found in 1:1500 Caucasians. I am booked in to see a rheumatologist to confirm AS.
Statistically I am therefore possibly a 1:2.5 billion rarity without even counting my other quirks, peccadilloes and foibles.

I'm blaming the Neanderthals and my pissy week Cornish ancestors who got flogged and bred with conquering Vikings who had inherited some of their genes from far earlier generations of Homo Sapiens' cross species interbreeding with Neanderthals leaving about 2-4% of their genes now found in most Caucasian individuals and up to 30% of their total DNA now discovered scattered throughout the Caucasian population (which could help explain Uncle Jack's proclivities but strangely not 'white fellas' inflated opinions of ourselves over the years). But I am probably being harsh on the Cornish as they probably already shared the Neanderthal genes by then as they came from the same population as the Vikings ancestors before Britain became an island.

My 86yr old Mum on the other hand blames it all on her having severe kidney failure from Dengue fever during her pregnancy in Papua New Guinea when she was advised I may never see the light of day. I like my version better though.

Just as well we have public access to medical and hospital service here in Australia (- heh @cr0ft), a 1970's remnant reminder of a great socialist utopian ex Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, an alumnus of mine who I can proudly say was expelled in the 1930's about 40 years before my time. I've worn a neck tie only a few times in my life and certainly never a school one since leaving.

El Bruto said:

PThink you got your facts wrong there old bean..

It says they will loose the watwrproofness after 30 washes.. Which can easily be put back with any proprietary waterproofing spray used for field sport clothing

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You should'na told him that, he will be going Commando forever now