A stupid mistake made when riding......

[wyliec]

This is not about whether you should wear a jacket or not, or wear armor or not.

Yesterday I got a little lazy. I took the spyder when I went hiking. That's not the lazy part. I wore my low cut hiking shoes with a speed lace loop, and what appear to be rubber cleats; that's the lazy part. Everything went fine for about 10 miles, and then I noticed with upshifting (2008 GS SM5) my foot not moving freely to get into a down shift movement. Then it happened, as I was speeding up and upshifting, a car pulled out from a side street, and I immediately tried to downshift but couldn't move my left foot; so, I hit the brake. I then freed my left foot, and pulled into a parking lot. With a speed lace loop, you typically have excess lace, and I tuck it in close to the bottom lace. What was happening with each upshift, the excess lace was moving, and ended up over one of the cleats, and there was enough space for the shifter to get stuck under the lace. Lesson learned.

[cuznjohn]

i always had a problem with shoes, so i wore work boots. i enjoyed them

[Zip]

Glad you found out before it was a real issue, also good thing it wasn't your brake foot that was caught.

[Bob Denman]

No harm: no foul... even though it may have been a "Big Eyes, and Brown Shorts" moment!

[oldgoat]

All my motorcycle riding life I wore m/c boots. For the first 5 years of Spyder riding I wore m/c boots.

This season I became lazy & wore hiking boots that fastened like yours. I worried about the long laces so I wind them round the ankles once & then double bow them on the front. I make sure the bow is tight. Don't want loose laces flapping around as you had.

I've also started to wear jeans rather than leather pants so as to not get too hot.

I'm sure this laxness will come back to hurt me one day.

I always feel very secure on the Spyder & am maybe being led into a false sense of security. Hope not.


Glad you were OK.

[ARtraveler]

Thanks for posting folks. Another thing that I have never thought about. I do wear boots all the time, and have been since my first MC in 1966 or so.

At least you got fair warning and did not end up in a crash over it.

And yes, the does seem to give a false sense of security. I am down to jeans (Kevlar or Carharts with extra padding) in summer. The chaps are once again coming out, the heavier (non-mesh) jackets & liners, and the full gloves. Another month and it will be the textile pants with liners. Where the heck did the summer go?

[kep-up]

Thanks for posting folks. Another thing that I have never thought about. I do wear boots all the time, and have been since my first MC in 1966 or so.

At least you got fair warning and did not end up in a crash over it.

And yes, the does seem to give a false sense of security. I am down to jeans (Kevlar or Carharts with extra padding) in summer. The chaps are once again coming out, the heavier (non-mesh) jackets & liners, and the full gloves. Another month and it will be the textile pants with liners. Where the heck did the summer go?

Go up to Fairbanks. It was 80f there a month ago. Steam was rising off the Chena.

[Lew L]

Those decades of riding two wheels I've caught my laces on the shift lever twice. Those were truly Oh $h(t moments. I now ALWAYS tuck the laces of my hiking boots deep into boot. Motorcycle boots on longer trips have no such problem. And no tipping the over at a stop cause ya can't put you foot down.

Speaking of two wheels----- I took the V-Max out today. V-boost is addicting.

Kaos

[oldgoat]

Speaking of two wheels----- I took the V-Max out today. V-boost is addicting.

Kaos

It can be downright suicidal !

[ARtraveler]

Go up to Fairbanks. It was 80f there a month ago. Steam was rising off the Chena.

Yup, weather usually very different in Fairbanks. They get 100 sometimes in the summer, and 50 below zero in the winter. It is amazing what 350 miles North will do.