If you only read one article about gear: Difference between revisions

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A very common question among new motoryclists is, "What kind of riding gear should I get?" It's a really good question, and it shows that you're on the right track. Unfortunately, it's also hard to answer well, because everyone will have a different set of requirements for their gear.

A simple fact of life, faced by every motorcyclist (whether they acknowledge it consciously or not) is that motorcycles are unsafe. Being on two wheels, they're much less stable (able to resist tipping over) than cars. There's no safety cage around a motorcyclist, protecting them from the outside world.

A simple fact of life, faced by every motorcyclist (whether they acknowledge it consciously or not) is that motorcycles are unsafe. Being on two wheels, they're much less stable (able to resist tipping over) than cars. There's no safety cage around a motorcyclist protecting them from the outside world.

~~Perhaps~~ the most important lesson about motorcycles (and cars): It is impossible to reduce your risk of collision to zero.

This is perhaps the most important lesson about motorcycles (and cars): It is impossible to reduce your risk of collision to zero. You can make that risk very small, but it will always exist. That is why we wear riding gear: it protects us in that instant where circumstances coincide to separate bike from rider. When someone makes a mistake, the safety gear being worn can mean the difference between waking up sore the next morning and waking up in the hospital, or not at all. Note that it doesn't matter whose mistake we're talking about: the rider's, the SUV driver's, or the deer's. Any one of them can cause a serious enough problem that the rider is suddenly separated from her bike.

~~There is literally nothing you can do~~ to ~~completely eliminate all risk of~~ a ~~motorcycle accident when you~~'~~re riding. You can make that chance very small~~, ~~but it will always exist~~. ~~That~~ is ~~why we wear riding~~ gear~~: it protects us in that instant where circumstances coincide~~ to ~~separate bike from rider, whenever and wherever it may happen~~.

In a "typical accident" another vehicle does something to cause the motorcyclist to crash, and the motorcyclist then slides along the pavement until they come to a stop. Although there's not a clear breakdown of the kinds of injuries sustained, a lot of damage potential exists for abrasion damage. This is the scenario from which most safety gear is intended to protect.

~~In a situation where someone makes a mistake, and the rider~~ is ~~separated from his or her motorcycle~~, ~~the safety gear being worn~~ can ~~mean the difference~~ between ~~waking up sore~~ the ~~next morning~~ and ~~waking up in~~ the ~~hospital~~, ~~or not at all. Note that it doesn~~'t ~~matter whose mistake we~~'~~re talking about: the rider~~'s, ~~the SUV driver's~~, ~~or the deer's~~. ~~Any one~~ of ~~them can cause~~ a ~~serious enough problem that the rider is suddenly separated from her bike~~.

Safety gear is utterly useless unless you wear it, every single time you ride. You can't control when and where a collision happens. The time between the crash starting and you hitting the ground is on the order of tenths of a second, in which time you can't put on any gear you didn't happen to feel like wearing. There's a phrase used by many motorcyclists, ATGATT: All The Gear, All The Time. If you do that, you will have substantially increased your chances of surviving a motorcycle accident unscathed.

In a large number of accidents another vehicle does something to violate the motorcycle's right-of-way. Although there's not a clear breakdown of the kinds of injuries sustained, a lot of damage potential exists for abrasion damage. This could be called a "typical accident" -- another vehicle does something to cause the motorcyclist to crash, and the motorcyclist then slides along the pavement until they come to a stop. This is the scenario from which most safety gear is intended to protect.

This is not all to say that "accidents are inevitable, so sit back and relax", for the opposite is true. There is so much you can do to prevent collisions. You need to take the [[Should I take an MSF course?|MSF beginning rider's class]], if you haven't already. You need to read [[Riding Techniques|articles]] and [[Ninja 250 Rider's bookshelf|books]] on how to ride safely. You need to think about how you ride, and learn lessons when you make mistakes. By no means should you come away from this article saying to yourself, "accidents just happen; there's nothing I can do about it."

Safety gear is utterly useless unless you wear it, every single time you ride. You can't control when and where a collision happens. The time between the crash starting and you hitting the ground is on the order of tenths of a second, in which time you can't put on any gear you didn't happen to feel like wearing. There's a phrase used on some motorcycle forums, ATGATT: All The Gear, All The Time. If you do that, you will have substantially increased your chances of surviving a motorcycle accident unscathed.

This is not all to say that "accidents are inevitable, so sit back and relax," for the opposite is true. There is so much you can do to prevent collisions. You need to take the [[Should I take an MSF course?|MSF beginning rider's class]], if you haven't already. You need to read [[Riding Techniques|articles]] and [[Ninja 250 Rider's bookshelf|books]] on how to ride safely. You need to think about how you ride, and learn lessons when you make mistakes. By no means should you come away from this article saying to yourself, "accidents just happen; there's nothing I can do about it."

====What the Gear Does====

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 A very common question among new motoryclists is, "What kind of riding gear should I get?" It's a really good question, and it shows that you're on the right track. Unfortunately, it's also hard to answer well, because everyone will have a different set of requirements for their gear.
-A simple fact of life, faced by every motorcyclist (whether they acknowledge it consciously or not) is that motorcycles are unsafe. Being on two wheels, they're much less stable (able to resist tipping over) than cars. There's no safety cage around a motorcyclist, protecting them from the outside world.
+A simple fact of life, faced by every motorcyclist (whether they acknowledge it consciously or not) is that motorcycles are unsafe. Being on two wheels, they're much less stable (able to resist tipping over) than cars. There's no safety cage around a motorcyclist protecting them from the outside world.
-Perhaps the most important lesson about motorcycles (and cars): It is impossible to reduce your risk of collision to zero.
+This is perhaps the most important lesson about motorcycles (and cars): It is impossible to reduce your risk of collision to zero. You can make that risk very small, but it will always exist. That is why we wear riding gear: it protects us in that instant where circumstances coincide to separate bike from rider. When someone makes a mistake, the safety gear being worn can mean the difference between waking up sore the next morning and waking up in the hospital, or not at all. Note that it doesn't matter whose mistake we're talking about: the rider's, the SUV driver's, or the deer's. Any one of them can cause a serious enough problem that the rider is suddenly separated from her bike.
-There is literally nothing you can do to completely eliminate all risk of a motorcycle accident when you're riding. You can make that chance very small, but it will always exist. That is why we wear riding gear: it protects us in that instant where circumstances coincide to separate bike from rider, whenever and wherever it may happen.
+In a "typical accident" another vehicle does something to cause the motorcyclist to crash, and the motorcyclist then slides along the pavement until they come to a stop. Although there's not a clear breakdown of the kinds of injuries sustained, a lot of damage potential exists for abrasion damage.  This is the scenario from which most safety gear is intended to protect.
-In a situation where someone makes a mistake, and the rider is separated from his or her motorcycle, the safety gear being worn can mean the difference between waking up sore the next morning and waking up in the hospital, or not at all. Note that it doesn't matter whose mistake we're talking about: the rider's, the SUV driver's, or the deer's. Any one of them can cause a serious enough problem that the rider is suddenly separated from her bike.
+Safety gear is utterly useless unless you wear it, every single time you ride. You can't control when and where a collision happens. The time between the crash starting and you hitting the ground is on the order of tenths of a second, in which time you can't put on any gear you didn't happen to feel like wearing. There's a phrase used by many motorcyclists, ATGATT: All The Gear, All The Time. If you do that, you will have substantially increased your chances of surviving a motorcycle accident unscathed.
-In a large number of accidents another vehicle does something to violate the motorcycle's right-of-way. Although there's not a clear breakdown of the kinds of injuries sustained, a lot of damage potential exists for abrasion damage. This could be called a "typical accident" -- another vehicle does something to cause the motorcyclist to crash, and the motorcyclist then slides along the pavement until they come to a stop. This is the scenario from which most safety gear is intended to protect.
+This is not all to say that "accidents are inevitable, so sit back and relax", for the opposite is true. There is so much you can do to prevent collisions.  You need to take the [[Should I take an MSF course?|MSF beginning rider's class]], if you haven't already. You need to read [[Riding Techniques|articles]] and [[Ninja 250 Rider's bookshelf|books]] on how to ride safely. You need to think about how you ride, and learn lessons when you make mistakes. By no means should you come away from this article saying to yourself, "accidents just happen; there's nothing I can do about it."
-Safety gear is utterly useless unless you wear it, every single time you ride. You can't control when and where a collision happens. The time between the crash starting and you hitting the ground is on the order of tenths of a second, in which time you can't put on any gear you didn't happen to feel like wearing. There's a phrase used on some motorcycle forums, ATGATT: All The Gear, All The Time. If you do that, you will have substantially increased your chances of surviving a motorcycle accident unscathed.
-This is not all to say that "accidents are inevitable, so sit back and relax," for the opposite is true. There is so much you can do to prevent collisions.  You need to take the [[Should I take an MSF course?|MSF beginning rider's class]], if you haven't already. You need to read [[Riding Techniques|articles]] and [[Ninja 250 Rider's bookshelf|books]] on how to ride safely. You need to think about how you ride, and learn lessons when you make mistakes. By no means should you come away from this article saying to yourself, "accidents just happen; there's nothing I can do about it."
 ====What the Gear Does====