VFRworld - View Single Post

RedRover5683 · 06-15-2008, 06:16 PM

That story is so sad, so unnecessary. Among all of the essential items included in full protective riding gear (a'la ATGATT) high quality, gauntleted riding gloves are truly the least inconvenient, the least expensive, and the easiest to use.

How ironic that this accident happened to your friend within hours after he'd been duly warned about the inadvisibility of riding without wearing highly protective gloves, especially given his occupation, and especially when riding rather competitively (i.e., aggressively) on the street.

In my opinion, adequate hand protection is as critical as head and eye protection. The motor and sensory areas of the human brain's cerebral cortex which are devoted to the fine dexterity and fine touch of our fingers and hands are huge compared to most other motor and sensory areas of the body controlled by the brain. Indeed, the highly evolved, exquisite dexterity and touch sensitivity of our fingers is one of the most defining features that separates humans from lower primates and mammals.

Aside from helping to protect our hands and fingers from severe injuries, wearing gloves also protects our hands and fingers from a multitude of less ominous but very uncomfortable things while riding fast, such as being whacked by airborne pebbles, stones, large insects (often of the stinging variety), large rain droplets, etc. Preventing painful sunburn and wind burn is another good reason to wear riding gloves. Moreover, padded gauntleted gloves which cover the wrists will provide a modicum of wrist protection.

A few other thoughts regarding safe riding gear...

1) Blue jeans provide little if any protection under real-world riding conditions(Extreme RoadRash: Cause Effect and Lesson Learned*-*SpeedFreakInc.com BRC). Unfortunately, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course may be unwittingly perpetuating this myth, because the course currently requires only that students wear, at minimum, blue jean pants. While jeans may provide a modicum of lower body and skin protection during the very slow speed exercises on a typical BRC training range, blue jeans are worthless in the real world. As the above link attests, if one should happen to hit the pavement and slide while wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, these fabrics will disintegrate within a few short seconds, and what remains will become imbedded in one's skin, right along with gravel, dirt, etc.

2) Some feel that it's not necessary to practice ATGATT when riding only short trips to the local grocery store, or wherever. However, statistics repeatedly show that the vast majority of motorcycle accidents actually occur within a small radius of home or other very familiar locations. The BRC emphasizes this pitfall in which we may tend to be less vigilant and more easily distracted when we're riding within a self-perceived, false zone of comfort, when in fact this is when we may be most likely to get into trouble.

Indeed, I've often found that local neighborhoods, streets, and shopping center parking lots are often the most treacherous and unpredictable situations. In these familiar locations, I find that if I'm not paying attention, cagers tend to not only fail to see motorcycles, they may just as well see us and assume that it's perfectly OK to pull out in front of us, often with direct eye contact (never trust that) along with a friendly wave and smile as they do so (often while they're talking on a cell phone, or while they're simultaneously talking to, and looking at their kids in the rearview mirror).

These morons seem to be oblivous of the fact that motorcyclists have equal road rights and an equal share of the road. They often misjudge our speed; they often tailgate us; they often closely pull in, in front of us, totally ignorant of the fact that we're trying to maintain a 2-4 second separation and a safe distance between ourselves and forward traffic. How silly. It's as if they're going to get where they're going much faster by angrily and impatiently tailgating us, then passing (often on the inside), and then abruptly cutting in front of us. Gee, I guess they showed us who's boss...

3) I'm a relatively new rider (~24,000 miles since 6/06). I mostly ride alone, although last year I gained some invaluable experience riding with another motorcyclist (mainly with my older brother, who is a veteran motorcyclist), but I've not yet been part of a group ride.

At any rate, when I first rode with my brother last summer, my bike was equipped with Autocom's Super Pro AVi kit, but his was not. As we rode, I was ignorant of the basic rule of riding with other motorcyclists, which is to ride your own ride. Thus, I found myself struggling to keep up with him at times, yet I was unable to directly communicate with him. He'd assumed that I knew the rule of "ride you own ride".

Soon after this, I provided him with all of the necessary Autocom gear, along with a Kenwood FreeTalk XL 2-way radio for hands-free, VOX-activated bike-to-bike communication, and my God, what a difference this made when we rode throughout southwestern North Carolina and Tennessee, including Deal's Gap, etc.

I think it's unfortunate that a great many riders seem to dismiss or fail to even think about the inestimable value of going to the considerable trouble and expense of equipping their bikes and helmets with a communication system such as those offered by Autocom. (My advice would be to avoid any current BlueTooth products. BlueTooth eats battery power, while Autocom is hard-wired for power, rider-to-passenger communication, as well as directly powered bike-to-bike FM radios.)

When riding with another biker, the ability to effortlessly talk (hands-free) with another rider is not only a powerful safety tool, it's also great fun. For example, the lead rider can effortlessly report and alert trailing riders of any potential problems, such as curves with nasty patches of gravel, a loose dog hell-bent on chasing bikes, a treacherous decreasing radius curve, etc., etc. Moreover, simple messages can be exchanged such as being low on fuel, needing to take a break, etc., as well as sending out a SOS if one breaks down or goes down.

In the case of your friend, in which he was in the lead while you were trailing him, a bike-to-bike communication system would've allowed you to alert him that the upcoming curve is very tricky, so please slow down, and be extra careful.

06-15-2008, 06:16 PM	#33 (permalink)
RedRover5683 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Last Online: Yesterday 07:21 PM Location: Ohio My Ride: 2007 VFR 800A View my Photo Gallery Posts: 256 Thanks: 156 Thanked 87 Times in 47 Posts	That story is so sad, so unnecessary. Among all of the essential items included in full protective riding gear (a'la ATGATT) high quality, gauntleted riding gloves are truly the least inconvenient, the least expensive, and the easiest to use. How ironic that this accident happened to your friend within hours after he'd been duly warned about the inadvisibility of riding without wearing highly protective gloves, especially given his occupation, and especially when riding rather competitively (i.e., aggressively) on the street. In my opinion, adequate hand protection is as critical as head and eye protection. The motor and sensory areas of the human brain's cerebral cortex which are devoted to the fine dexterity and fine touch of our fingers and hands are huge compared to most other motor and sensory areas of the body controlled by the brain. Indeed, the highly evolved, exquisite dexterity and touch sensitivity of our fingers is one of the most defining features that separates humans from lower primates and mammals. Aside from helping to protect our hands and fingers from severe injuries, wearing gloves also protects our hands and fingers from a multitude of less ominous but very uncomfortable things while riding fast, such as being whacked by airborne pebbles, stones, large insects (often of the stinging variety), large rain droplets, etc. Preventing painful sunburn and wind burn is another good reason to wear riding gloves. Moreover, padded gauntleted gloves which cover the wrists will provide a modicum of wrist protection. A few other thoughts regarding safe riding gear... 1) Blue jeans provide little if any protection under real-world riding conditions(Extreme RoadRash: Cause Effect and Lesson Learned-SpeedFreakInc.com BRC). Unfortunately, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course may be unwittingly perpetuating this myth, because the course currently requires only that students wear, at minimum, blue jean pants. While jeans may provide a modicum of lower body and skin protection during the very slow speed exercises on a typical BRC training range, blue jeans are worthless in the real world. As the above link attests, if one should happen to hit the pavement and slide while wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, these fabrics will disintegrate within a few short seconds, and what remains will become imbedded in one's skin, right along with gravel, dirt, etc. 2) Some feel that it's not necessary to practice ATGATT when riding only short trips to the local grocery store, or wherever. However, statistics repeatedly show that the vast majority of motorcycle accidents actually occur within a small radius of home or other very familiar locations. The BRC emphasizes this pitfall in which we may tend to be less vigilant and more easily distracted when we're riding within a self-perceived, false zone of comfort, when in fact this is when we may be most likely to get into trouble. Indeed, I've often found that local neighborhoods, streets, and shopping center parking lots are often the most treacherous and unpredictable situations. In these familiar locations, I find that if I'm not paying attention, cagers tend to not only fail to see motorcycles, they may just as well see us and assume that it's perfectly OK to pull out in front of us, often with direct eye contact (never trust that) along with a friendly wave and smile as they do so (often while they're talking on a cell phone, or while they're simultaneously talking to, and looking at their kids in the rearview mirror). These morons seem to be oblivous of the fact that motorcyclists have equal road rights and an equal share of the road. They often misjudge our speed; they often tailgate us; they often closely pull in, in front of us, totally ignorant of the fact that we're trying to maintain a 2-4 second separation and a safe distance between ourselves and forward traffic. How silly. It's as if they're going to get where they're going much faster by angrily and impatiently tailgating us, then passing (often on the inside), and then abruptly cutting in front of us. Gee, I guess they showed us who's boss... 3) I'm a relatively new rider (~24,000 miles since 6/06). I mostly ride alone, although last year I gained some invaluable experience riding with another motorcyclist (mainly with my older brother, who is a veteran motorcyclist), but I've not yet been part of a group ride. At any rate, when I first rode with my brother last summer, my bike was equipped with Autocom's Super Pro AVi kit, but his was not. As we rode, I was ignorant of the basic rule of riding with other motorcyclists, which is to ride your own ride. Thus, I found myself struggling to keep up with him at times, yet I was unable to directly communicate with him. He'd assumed that I knew the rule of "ride you own ride". Soon after this, I provided him with all of the necessary Autocom gear, along with a Kenwood FreeTalk XL 2-way radio for hands-free, VOX-activated bike-to-bike communication, and my God, what a difference this made when we rode throughout southwestern North Carolina and Tennessee, including Deal's Gap, etc. I think it's unfortunate that a great many riders seem to dismiss or fail to even think about the inestimable value of going to the considerable trouble and expense of equipping their bikes and helmets with a communication system such as those offered by Autocom. (My advice would be to avoid any current BlueTooth products. BlueTooth eats battery power, while Autocom is hard-wired for power, rider-to-passenger communication, as well as directly powered bike-to-bike FM radios.) When riding with another biker, the ability to effortlessly talk (hands-free) with another rider is not only a powerful safety tool, it's also great fun. For example, the lead rider can effortlessly report and alert trailing riders of any potential problems, such as curves with nasty patches of gravel, a loose dog hell-bent on chasing bikes, a treacherous decreasing radius curve, etc., etc. Moreover, simple messages can be exchanged such as being low on fuel, needing to take a break, etc., as well as sending out a SOS if one breaks down or goes down. In the case of your friend, in which he was in the lead while you were trailing him, a bike-to-bike communication system would've allowed you to alert him that the upcoming curve is very tricky, so please slow down, and be extra careful.