Our Gear vs. Harley Riders Gear ??

Discussion in 'Gear & Accessories' started by rigger4343, Mar 21, 2014.

  1. zoom-zoom

    zoom-zoom Member

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    Firstly, my apologies to the OP for the thread jack. Second, $75 per panel to do PDR.... Hell, I must be giving my work away. Just finished fixing a 2011 Infiniti G37 Couple with a dent in every panel but the roof and hood, and I only charged the dealer $200. One crease in the LF door was about 6 inches long. I think I should move to wherever you live ridervfr.
     
  2. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    Broward County, mi casa-su casa or what ever the saying is. Its all good, even thread high jacks, no airplanes please.
     
  3. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Tying this together in the spirit of the OP's intent and even at those Florida prices. Maybe somebody will come up with a system for dents and creases in the heads of harleydoods who insist on not wearing much on their heads but doo-rags.

    " Has your harleydood dented his melon? " " Is his mullet unsightly?" Call us today for that long awaited fix. The first ten callers will receive our huge discount and a months supply of Top Ramen for your loved one to enjoy during recovery.

    ( 1-800 number repeats ten times)
     
  4. 4a15

    4a15 New Member

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    Main difference... if there is at least one harley in the pack, there has to be a "follow up truck".
     
  5. tyarosevich

    tyarosevich New Member

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    Last summer I drove by a motorcycle crash on I 90 in Montana, the crashees being on a harley. They never left asphalt and clearly slid to a stop after some 30 or so feet, and judging from the cars around them I'd guess they just got clipped (the bike wasn't smashed up). So someone side swiped them a bit, they went down and slid. Ambulances were on the way, people were performing first aid, the riders looked really messed up.

    If you went down in this way wearing not-stupid-Harley-gear, you'd most likely walk away from it. These two were probably stuck with a six figure hospital bill.
     
  6. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

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    Again I say "to each his own." There are forces at work beyond logic. If safety was our only concern we wouldn't ride sporting motorcycles. I think the Harley/cruiser mindset to safety is to ride slower heaver bikes and park them in corners. I think there is also a bit of inevitability. "If I am going to die I want to go quick." They have a different mind set in dealing with the risks we all face.

    I was stopped at a gas station and had struck up a conversation with a Harley rider. It was a hot day and he was noting my jacket and helmet. He said "I guess if I rode my bike with my head sticking out over the front wheel like you do I would wear a helmet too." I guess he felt safe with his head back and his feet out in front. I have always found this to be strange logic but once again, to each his own.
     
  7. dogFM

    dogFM New Member

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    I have crashed twice. First time I was wearing armoured mesh gear ~ quite cheap saved me from any harm but was totalled. A Harley guy coming the other way stopped and checked I was OK .... He was wearing t shirt shorts and sandals :)

    Second time I fell off I was wearing rukka suit ~ I had a slow low side, suit totalled and knee hurt, no Harley guy but a van driver stopped and gave me and the bike a lift home.

    I ride in an aerostich roadcrafter now , am sure it would survive low speed accident. The way that rukka suit tore and split ... Sometimes that pricey gear isn t worth the coin!
     
  8. rigger4343

    rigger4343 New Member

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    That is a hell of thing to see. Certainly one story that should be shared. I have seen a few accidents in my time but I have never seen the bloody part of one. I have always missed actually seeing the really bad part of it.

    I grew up on dirt bikes and had a lot of bad spills but some how I never broke one bone! Always had gear on. Guess that is part of why I have always ridden street with gear. A good friend of mine was trying to learn how to pop wheelies on a GSXR1000, sometimes he rode with gear and sometimes he did not. Well one time he did not and that was the time he looped that GSXR! He lost a good bit of skin but thankfully he was okay.

    It might be cool to be a rider with no gear on but its not going to be very cool at all when you have that one time that you might go down.
     
  9. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    I don't dig sitting on my ass bone with my feet up front, its like riding a horse western, and no, I hate horses in the sense that I am scared of them. I hear that all the time, I am around HD people a lot, I could not tell you the difference between a Heritage Soft tail and a Night-Train trust me. Luckily I have never hit the deck with nothing short of full leathers or an thermal suit/ Aerostich suit. I have been doing some test rides as of lately with out a brain bucket and am ashamed of my self. Flip side on this is if I ever hit a car on these short rides, a helmet would not help me. I don't like the noise or the wind making my cheeks flap around like I am skydiving. I will bring a helmet that I tested on the track which is a write off and leave it there, this way I can feel like I am not shucking my duty as a responsible rider/person/:wacko: Cheers :thumbsup:
     
  10. hellboy7

    hellboy7 New Member

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    I see those guys all the time. Makes me really laugh.. but I also see them on normal sportbikes too
    Honestly, i dont understand the appeal of how harly riders wear just a vest. It doens't protect you at all against road rash...
    Check out these leather jackets, they'll do better than the vests but i think harley riders just wanna look cool
    http://www.motorcyclehouse.com/motorcycle-jackets.htm
     
  11. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    What is fun is watching harleydoods do the Pavlov bit when ya tell them you have an old Langlitz jacket for 50 pesos.
     
  12. OOTV

    OOTV Insider

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    It's totally about the image and not looking like a "wimp" because you have gear on. As my earlier post revealed, the rider in the topic KNOWS gear should be worn to help protect you in case of a crash and he does wear gear when riding off-road, but doesn't when he's on his Harley because it "doesn't look cool".

    I think another part of this is the "Won't happen to me" factor or maybe being superstitious, "If you dress for a crash, then you will crash", personally it's all about what you're comfortable with and if you want to ride without gear, so be it. I choose to ride with gear, as my days of a skateboarder taught me, that no matter how fast you go, hitting the pavement without gear can be extremely painful! I have way more stories of skateboard crashes that left me hurting than I do motorcycle crashes. If I was skating at the skate parks safety gear was required, on the street it was up to me, and of course I got "bit" a few times because lack of gear.
     
  13. Big_Jim59

    Big_Jim59 Member

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    I like to think of the standard Harley riding position as akin to a riding gynecological exam.

    I guess my heroes were all racers and I always thought full leathers was really cool. I thought the whole "easy rider", wind in your hair, T-shirt thing looked kind of silly. You never saw a racer in a T-shirt or a leather fringe jacket and mirror shades and no helmet.
     
  14. rigger4343

    rigger4343 New Member

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    Last year on the way back from our trip to the mountains, we stopped at a little motorcycle shop in the mountains. Or it was not really a bike shop, more of a gear shop tailored more to cruisers but still they had some neat stuff in there. A couple of old as hell guys owned it. Really cool guys too, fun to talk to for sure. They had a lot of leather stuff, more cruiser style. My girlfriend picked up a rather nice looking, all black leather jacket with just a touch of pink in it. It actually fit her very well and looked good on her. I told her I would buy it for her to wear if she wanted it but she would not ride with it. No protection in it at all, no ventilation in it at all either. Once she noticed that too, she put it back. I was actually kind of proud of her, she is learning quickly.

    The way I go though bikes, I will probably end up with a little Sportster to play with. More of a build project kind of thing but it would probably get ridden too. If I ever do, I will ride it with the same gear I ride my VFR with now.

    But its really up to the rider. If they choose to ride with no gear, then that is their choice. All I can do is offer my opinion on it.
     
  15. John451

    John451 Member

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    Really it's not that important to compare yourself to the HD boneheads who put looking "cool" over their own safety, rather do yourself a favour and wear Leather or at least Draggin Jeans and proper motorcycle boots for both you and your partner. Know a fellow VFR rider who came off a few years ago at 60 mph on normal jeans, they shredded in a millisecond and he ended up in hospital for many months due to life threatening blood infection and multiple skin grafts...Had he been wearing Leathers he may have been in there for a day or 2 with a broken leg.
     
  16. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    Jeans offer zero protection. Next time your whilstling around a corner, try touching your knee down and see what happens. Depending on the distance of the ride, I dress with what I think will make me feel comfortable. It could be a t-shirt, jeans, boots, gloves, helmet. We are all adults and have to access the risks in our own lives, I think thats what being an American is. Next thing you know, we invite the wolf to dinner and every one of us is gona have to wear a hi-viz priority vest and full armour etc.

    A Sportster? Really? You gota get a Hugger, or what ever they call the lower ones now. :thumbsup: :wink:
     
  17. rigger4343

    rigger4343 New Member

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    Funny you mentioned the jeans. I was just talking with her not long ago about getting us some of those Kevlar jeans. For those of you that have worn them, how comfortable are they for different weather conditions? What I mean is are they okay for warmer weather or colder weather? Can they handle a little rain?

    I think I mentioned this before, I never intended this to be a bashing someone thread. Just talking about the difference in thinking when it comes to riding gear and types of riders. I think people like us are fully aware of the risk and types of gear and are old enough to make our own choices when it comes to that. What gets me is how a lot of the Harley type riders think its better to look cool first and not be safe. Or have the attitude of because they are on a big cruiser, they wont get hurt.

    And with the Sportster thing..... If I ever get one of those, I would probably find an older beat up one that is ugly so I would have a good excuse to take it down to the frame and rebuild it into something that might turn a few heads. I always enjoy projects and that would be one that I could fab up stuff myself for and make it something cool. Or at least try to make it something cool.
     
  18. OOTV

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    I bought the 'Sliders' from Competition Accessories (www.compacc.com) as the were featured in Motorcycle Consumer News and won a 'Best Buy' award so I figured I try them. At first I bought a pair of the "jeans" and wore them as my "commuter" gear along with my textile jacket. Then I bought a pair of the Cargo pants and then Khaki pants and begun to rotate through them during the week. For the most part they appear to be very sturdy with plenty of Kevlar coverage and I find them to be comfortable. Even after many wash and wear cycles they appear to be holding up very well. Although they do have internal pockets to hold knee armor, which can be a little scratchy at first due to the Velcro straps, but I wear knee/shin armor that can be strapped to my leg, which does two things; protect me from the scratchy Velcro and ensures the armor will be better placed if/when I ever need its protection. I also wear padded shorts to cover the hip/thigh and coccyx areas for the impact protection. In the winter time I wear the Bohn Adventure pants underneath as they add to my warmth and provide the same coverage as mentioned above. Just remember that jeans (Kevlar or plain) alone will not provide impact protection, at best, just abrasion resistance, so they should not be considered a "one stop shop" for lower body protection.

    That being said, I only wear this getup if/when I am commuting, especially to job sites so I don't need to worry about changing clothes or finding a place to store my riding gear. If I am out sport riding, I'm in my leather suit, no if, ands or buts!
     
  19. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Any advice for what to wear on my daily pilgrimage to Wal-Mecca?
     
  20. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    What is it with Walmart? Every time I go in there, I want one or two things and end up leaving with a $58.78 bill! A pilgrimage to Walmart for me at least could be, on foot, on bicycle, by car, by motorcycle, or by canoe (no-lie.) If I chose bike, I could almost go with skivvies on, and then maybe I could get on the Youtube vid
    "People of Walmart." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvxNgdFeWqM

    The jeans I had were worn barely, Hot and not worth it in my opinion. Draggin Jeans, anyway.

    Nothing hotter than watching women turn wrenches :mech: don't wana see manicured nails but a little grease is hot. Love watching "All-Girls-Garage." Make sure you have a good assortment of 12 point sockets in Americano, no metric :sad: wut else? BMFH? its a hammer, big one...It could be called the "Persuader" too. You will still spend 3 grand on a trashed unit just because of perceived value.
     
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