What do you consider ATGATT?

What I know for sure is at 40 I crashed at 110mph (on poluce radar). I flew 70 feet, landing on railroad tracks then slid down balast rocks for another 30 feet.
Broke back, pelvis, 3 ribs, deeply sliced right arm and an ankle. Was in ICU for 4 days and hospital nearly 4 weeks after a pulmonary embolism.
My full face Bell saved my life and allowed me to be riding still at 72. 32 years of my wife, children, grand children and riding motor I would have missed!
 
 
I think if you have ever had an off where your gear has saved you, you are more likely to wear protective gear.
I shudder when i remember seeing injuries that gear could have prevented..it takes forever for skin to grow back if your torn to the bone!
That ashpalt is the coarsest grade of sandpaper you can get!!
 
I consider AGATT to be not riding drunk, not speeding like an idiot, paying full attention to everyone around me, and practicing my skills regularly. If some feel that putting a piece of plastic on their head and some cowhide on is 'safety', then more power to them. If I was really going to dress for a crash, I would surround myself with a couple thousand pounds of steel (a car) and call it a day. Gear is fine. Not crashing is better. Skilled riding is best.
 

Had back surgery to repair the 1987 repair in 2007 and I still have frequent iching from all the skin (asscrack to shoulder blades) I lost that grew over.
A minor inconvenience, but a constant reminder of that crash.
No complaints and I am SO happy to still be upright and riding!
 
Gear is not safety - it's insurance. But that said - studies show that folk who "prepare" via the "dressing up" ritual are also less likely to need it. It's an acknowledgement of risk.

Ask ANY professional (think LEO) rider if "the gear" is necessary. They are out 8 hours a day, every day.

No preaching from me - you do as you feel.
I have sacrificed flesh to tarmac - from the only unprotected bit of me . It F*CKING HURT.
No amount of training will prepare you for a sheet of drywall flying off a van roof and onto your head.
 

The AMA themselves are against mandatory helmet laws. Why? Because crashing better doesn't work, that's why. Training, preparation and good riding skills work. I work with LEO's every day. They wear a half helmet and no jackets. They depend on their skills and training to stay alive. I just asked them. I work for the Daytona Beach PD. I was a career Chicago firefighter. Picked up hundreds of dead guys and horribly injured with full gear. So much for insurance. I already acknowledged the danger of riding by riding safely, not being impaired, and practicing my skills while riding 360 days a year. I'm certainly not saying not to wear gear. I wear it myself most days. Other days I don't. If I was worried about getting injured or killed, I wouldn't ride at all. I get on the bike knowing I am the best I can be, and could still get wiped out tomorrow. That is the nature of the beast. The day I feel I need gear on every inch of my body to ride, is the day I will take up golf and forget the whole thing. I could get hit on the head by a golf ball though, so maybe a helmet won't be a bad idea there either!
 
This wasn't meant to be a those who do vs. those who don't and who's right or wrong thread. I fully acknowledge everyone has a right to do what they think is right IRT wearing or not wearing gear. I've been riding in one form or another since I could balance on two wheels and as a child, no helmet meant no riding a motorcycle - period. Although at times we did MUCH dumber things on bicycles, but never wore a helmet-go figure right?!
We could get into VERY HEATED discussions on helmets and mandatory helmet laws, etc. ad nauseum ...….but that's not what this thread was started for, however, we all know threads NEVER stay on topic, especially here.
 
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