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good morning spring time,
Riding season in here, bikers in Chicagoland have taken to the streets this last weekend and it was awesome. I have personally met with a group of Indian owners and went for a beautiful ride on Saturday that took us from American Heritage Motorcycle in south Elgin west on Il 20 and Il 72 to Il 2 and then back to Addison on Il 64.
All in 160 miles of smiles, v twin exhaust rumble, beautiful scenery, friends to share beer and tasty burgers. However that's not the topic of my thread here, the topic would be gear, more specifically head and body gear.
I remember like it was yesterday a joke my instructor told us at the MSF class back in the day: when he told his students that while riding a motorcycle you should always protect your most valuable part of your body, a lady in the class who was there with her future husband to be turned around and told him: honey, from now on you are wearing a cup!
I remember being told the best protection that you can buy for yourself comes in the shape of a full face Dot and/or Snell approved helmet, a leather jacket, leather pants or pants that were specifically designed for motorcycle riding with armor for your knees and other parts of your body that might end up in contact with the asphalt in the unfortunate event of a spill. So I rode in jeans, converse, $ 50 helmet I got for free when I bought my first bike and a winter leather jacket because hey, leather is leather, no? Or so I thought!
And then one of my friends died in a motorcycle accident. There's no easy way to put this, he died because he had no gear! He had shorts on, snickers, t-shirt and a really cool pair of Raybans on. He was a real ladies man, cool as ice, I was looking up to him, because I had no previous motorcycle experience and was probably gullible to what really means to be a rider. Long story short, they had a closed casket at his funeral. So gear it's important, just as important as having the proper skills and education when you get on a bike. This brings me to Saturday ride and the gear people in my group was wearing for our ride. Out of 9 riders, only three were wearing a helmet, one full face and two modular open face. Three people had no motorcycle jackets, outerwear being replaced by T-shirts and Blackhawks jerseys or a simple leathe vest and three people in our group were wearing the always stylish converse. Now I am all for the freedom of expressing yourself and looking cool on a motorcycle and the idea of saying something bad about my riding buddies troubles me profoundly but I can't help asking what happens when your ride doesn't end with your bike parked nicely in the garage but on the side of the road scratched, mangled, probably inoperable with all your chrome bits looking a little bit less shiny?
Here is why: two miles away from home, riding on Il-64 eastbound at the junction with I-355, I was right behind a group of three riders wearing "look cool" gear when a lady in the straight ahead lane decided, in front of four motocycles, myself included, decided to make a sudden stop and try to push a left turn on the I-355 ramp even though the preselect lanes and two left turn lanes were right next to her. Guess what, emergency braking all the way down her rear bumper and then nervously watching behind you so you don't get run over by the four wheelers behind you.
Imagine this scenario, the bikers fail to observe her intentions and hit her minivan, the relatively low speed of the accident would have meant you have 50/50 chance of escaping unharmed versus broken bones, crushed skulls or burned skin from the inevitable impact with a rear windshield, asphalt, your own bike hot exhaust and motor etc. that would have put an abrupt and unceremonious end to what could have been an amazing Saturday afternoon ride.
Now, I ride with all my gear on, since I've purchased my first bike I've also purchased a series of helmets, gloves, jackets, boots, jeans, cold weather and rain gear to name a few. Some of my gear has failed me, literally I've "burned" through a mesh jacket when I had my second accident, I've scraped the visor on a open face helmet and only a miracle has saved my mug, I've had two sets of book that only thought like a good idea when I watched the promotional pictures on the website I bought them from. The key word was "website", buying online without trying them on first.
Now if you have no problem paying a bit more for sales tax and if you like connecting with real people go try on and buy the best gear money can possibly buy, for your head, for your body and don't cheap out. You are worth it. If you paid in some cases tens of thousands on a motorcycle I'm sure you can cough up a couple of grand for a nice helmet, boots, riding pants, jacket and gloves. Your kids, your wife or husband will appreciate it.
Riding season in here, bikers in Chicagoland have taken to the streets this last weekend and it was awesome. I have personally met with a group of Indian owners and went for a beautiful ride on Saturday that took us from American Heritage Motorcycle in south Elgin west on Il 20 and Il 72 to Il 2 and then back to Addison on Il 64.
All in 160 miles of smiles, v twin exhaust rumble, beautiful scenery, friends to share beer and tasty burgers. However that's not the topic of my thread here, the topic would be gear, more specifically head and body gear.
I remember like it was yesterday a joke my instructor told us at the MSF class back in the day: when he told his students that while riding a motorcycle you should always protect your most valuable part of your body, a lady in the class who was there with her future husband to be turned around and told him: honey, from now on you are wearing a cup!
I remember being told the best protection that you can buy for yourself comes in the shape of a full face Dot and/or Snell approved helmet, a leather jacket, leather pants or pants that were specifically designed for motorcycle riding with armor for your knees and other parts of your body that might end up in contact with the asphalt in the unfortunate event of a spill. So I rode in jeans, converse, $ 50 helmet I got for free when I bought my first bike and a winter leather jacket because hey, leather is leather, no? Or so I thought!
And then one of my friends died in a motorcycle accident. There's no easy way to put this, he died because he had no gear! He had shorts on, snickers, t-shirt and a really cool pair of Raybans on. He was a real ladies man, cool as ice, I was looking up to him, because I had no previous motorcycle experience and was probably gullible to what really means to be a rider. Long story short, they had a closed casket at his funeral. So gear it's important, just as important as having the proper skills and education when you get on a bike. This brings me to Saturday ride and the gear people in my group was wearing for our ride. Out of 9 riders, only three were wearing a helmet, one full face and two modular open face. Three people had no motorcycle jackets, outerwear being replaced by T-shirts and Blackhawks jerseys or a simple leathe vest and three people in our group were wearing the always stylish converse. Now I am all for the freedom of expressing yourself and looking cool on a motorcycle and the idea of saying something bad about my riding buddies troubles me profoundly but I can't help asking what happens when your ride doesn't end with your bike parked nicely in the garage but on the side of the road scratched, mangled, probably inoperable with all your chrome bits looking a little bit less shiny?
Here is why: two miles away from home, riding on Il-64 eastbound at the junction with I-355, I was right behind a group of three riders wearing "look cool" gear when a lady in the straight ahead lane decided, in front of four motocycles, myself included, decided to make a sudden stop and try to push a left turn on the I-355 ramp even though the preselect lanes and two left turn lanes were right next to her. Guess what, emergency braking all the way down her rear bumper and then nervously watching behind you so you don't get run over by the four wheelers behind you.
Imagine this scenario, the bikers fail to observe her intentions and hit her minivan, the relatively low speed of the accident would have meant you have 50/50 chance of escaping unharmed versus broken bones, crushed skulls or burned skin from the inevitable impact with a rear windshield, asphalt, your own bike hot exhaust and motor etc. that would have put an abrupt and unceremonious end to what could have been an amazing Saturday afternoon ride.
Now, I ride with all my gear on, since I've purchased my first bike I've also purchased a series of helmets, gloves, jackets, boots, jeans, cold weather and rain gear to name a few. Some of my gear has failed me, literally I've "burned" through a mesh jacket when I had my second accident, I've scraped the visor on a open face helmet and only a miracle has saved my mug, I've had two sets of book that only thought like a good idea when I watched the promotional pictures on the website I bought them from. The key word was "website", buying online without trying them on first.
Now if you have no problem paying a bit more for sales tax and if you like connecting with real people go try on and buy the best gear money can possibly buy, for your head, for your body and don't cheap out. You are worth it. If you paid in some cases tens of thousands on a motorcycle I'm sure you can cough up a couple of grand for a nice helmet, boots, riding pants, jacket and gloves. Your kids, your wife or husband will appreciate it.
