wear your armour + is anyone else up?

[DancingMillie]

so... i had my first crash today and i'm up not able to sleep because i'm so wired. whee! well, not good, but i'm glad i had a relatively positive first wipe-out experience.

i took a corner faster than i was comfortable steering properly though and got intimiately acquainted with the grass in the ditch. i also didn't look far enough through the turn (i looked at the ditch i landed in, actually). i *know* you go exactly where you look. it's just a hard reflex for me to override. i have to say i found out that i'm very calm, level-headed, rational, make good decisions and have quick reflexes in emergency situations. too bad i can't be like that all the time, like when i'm riding normally lol. skidded out nicely. once i realized i was going down it was all ok. throttle off, aim trajectory/balance so as to skid smoothly into ditch and not flip over myself/the bike and break my back, etc. kept my head up too. i have to say though, i will never get all the grass stains out of my jeans, my boots have some nice scuffs and my armour jacket and gloves literally saved me from some nasty injuries. they're ok too. i just cleaned my jacket though! i doubt i'll even have a bruise to show for it. i'm pretty sore though. so yeah. wear your armour. makes things hurt less. i don't understand skin-donor-wannabes who drive around in their t-shirts and shorts around here.

the people who live in the house on that very corner said people wipe-out on that corner all the time. they keep a garage full of tools and cold drinks (i declined the beer, i had to get home still) for just such cases. made me feel a wee bit better that i wasn't the only one but still, i'm feeling pretty sheepish at being so cocky and getting ahead of myself. thankfully it wasn't really bad! anyway, my friend straightened out the couple bent parts and took her up and down the road for me to make sure she was still ok. i drove her home. got back on the city horse after falling off. on that note - i've come to the conclusion that falling off bikes is much better than falling off horses because a) it's much closer to the ground, and b) there are no flailing limbs with sharp hooves to kick you.

so my baby needs a new front fender and new left turn signals (which will really just end up being both right and left), which is ok. the turn signals are FUGLY and i wanted to change them anyway. i have a first gen interceptor. other than that just a little bent here and there but my bike guru friend already fixed that. i'm really freaking lucky.

the crappy part is after my friend righted my bike for me i took off my helmet to sneeze/rub my nose and i lost my nose piercing in the tall grass. it was my fav one - i'll have to get a new new favourite one now.

WEAR YOUR ARMOUR!!!

if anyone's up i prolly won't sleep for a while yet...

[volks6000]

aleast your home not in the hospital. glad you alright. wear armor everytime I ride. not like the fool's in shorts and tee shirts I see everyday. E-bay has some cool turn signals you could add.

[DancingMillie]

aleast your home not in the hospital. glad you alright. wear armor everytime I ride. not like the fool's in shorts and tee shirts I see everyday. E-bay has some cool turn signals you could add.

being in the hospital would really suck right now, for sure. i had a quick look on ebay - there are some neat ones there!! i'm hoping to find something in a local store but... i'll keep those in mind. i'm pretty picky, and if i can't find something neat locally i'll go online. did it for my boots!

i'm going to try to sleep again... ugh.

[btay67]

Glad your okay! I wear my gear all the time too, although I need to get some better hot weather gear soon.

[34468 Randy]

That really sucks. Nice nose piercings are hard to find. I did the same thing at Slo3. Tried to keep up with someone who I had no business trying to. And yup. I looked at where I was headed, not where I wanted to go. Fortunately I was stopped before I fell over. Good thing too. I was looking at the grill of an oncoming Ford van.

Be safe.

[300shooter]

Glad to hear you're OK, yep, gotta wear your gear, just wish there was more selection around here so you can try it on. I hate buying sized items online, it's never right.

[Pliskin]

Hey - Glad to hear your OK. Smart move wearing the gear - but you did mention something about "jeans". Get yourself a pair of riding pants/overpants too! :)

Not to get off topic too much, but on the subject of gear (300shooter), there are some on-line places that do an excellent job describing measurements. New Enough happens to be my personal favorite, as they provide great write ups. I hate buying clothing/gear on-line, but I gotta tell you, they've been pretty good with sizing.

[Heretic]

I wear my gear all the time.
I have a Joe Rocket Yellow Honda jacket and I just got some Firstgear Escape pants yesterday (replaced my other textile pants as they were too short).

I also wear Joe Rocket Meteor boots.

Glad you're okay.

[DancingMillie]

That really sucks. Nice nose piercings are hard to find. I did the same thing at Slo3. Tried to keep up with someone who I had no business trying to. And yup. I looked at where I was headed, not where I wanted to go. Fortunately I was stopped before I fell over. Good thing too. I was looking at the grill of an oncoming Ford van.

Be safe.

vans are a lot less squishy than grass!!!

my helmet and jacket are scorpion, and they are GORGEOUS. fit perfectly! they're extremely functional too :P the boots are harley davidson melia boots - only available in stores in the US so i got them on ebay. they totally don't look like tyical harleys. it was a bit scary buying them online because i hadn't tried them on but they fit great. yeah i want to get armour pants but the budget won't allow it yet... i might have at least found some leather chaps in case i get into a skid on an abraisve surface. leather pants on a sport bike though????

[proverbio]

My first was on an intersection. A minivan crossed my path and I went down. My bike smashed against the passenger side of the van while I slid away from it. When I got up, I was staring at a MTA bus. The driver was waiting for my ass to move out of the way. I only had my helmet on, thank goodness. I suffered a few scratches and a mild strain on my ankle. Since then, I wear protective gear.

My second, I landed on top of an automobile trunk...too long and stupid to tell. But, definitely wear protective gear.

[cebuVFR]

glad you're ok. remember: ATGATT (all the gear, all the time).