Riding Gear Poll

[rational]

I chose ATGATT based on habits from motorcycle days. Haven't ridden a Spyder yet (except for the one day Trike course). The ink is still wet on my 2023 Spyder RTL purchase and I'm expecting to take delivery in a few days. Before I saw this thread, I was considering only helmet/gloves for Summer riding on the Spyder; but, after reading through, guess I'll continue with ATGATT.

My helmet is 10+ years old, so I'll be updating it soon. General recommendation is to change your helmet if it is dropped or it's 5+ years old, whichever happens first.

 

[RayBJ]

Chose ATGATT based on habits from motorcycle days. Haven't yet ridden a Spyder (except the one day Trike course). The ink is still wet on my 2023 Spyder RTL purchase and expecting to take delivery in a few days. Before I saw this thread I was considering only helmet/gloves for summer riding on the Spyder. but, after reading through, guess I'll continue with ATGATT.

My helmet is 10+ years old, so I'll be updating it soon. General recommendation is to change helmet if it is dropped or 5+ years old, whichever happens first.

:agree: DON'T CHANGE GOOD HABITS! :2thumbs: (And check the age of the rest of your gear too). :yikes:

 

[BamaJohn]

(I took the survey, so this post is just commentary)
Recalling the 60's when my ride was a beat up Cushman Scooter... no riding gear at all (lucky I survived)!
Over the past 40 or so years ATGATT kept getting more & more the standard.
Nowadays, I really dislike extreme hot or cold, so I've added to the standard ATGATT. I add an electric jacket liner, heated seat and grips in cold riding; & for hot riding, it's a mesh armored jacket with a small cooler strapped on the back seat that pumps ice-water thru the vest. The pump is controlled via a timer on the dash and when the pump kicks on, it's almost orgasmic!
One final piece of safety gear is an inflatable vest worn outside the jacket and tethered to the bike. In case of a get-off, it auto-inflates... I hope I never have that happen! Ride like we're invisible...

 

[Vincef329]

A short errand I’ll wear just about anything. Otherwise it’s boots, aramid jeans, woven Kevlar no armor jacket, good helmet, gloves but maybe on the thin side.

 

[WRCLVR]

This is just a comment, as I already voted for ATGATT. We use mesh jackets with armor in Spring, Summer, and Fall in Georgia. Leather jackets with linings for the cooler rides. Mine is a BRP jacket, hers is a custom jacket. We also have heated vests and pant liners for the occasional cooler ride in the mountains, and Neck liners. We wear Shoei full face helmets with Sena 50s; Leather boots and gloves. We ride like someone is aiming for us. We love the mountain rides and we tend to ride under the speed limit (yes, we may hold the traffic up, but we are enjoying the scenery... what's your hurry?) but we have seen too many accidents to be foolish and not gear up. YMMV!

 

[jarrett]

I'm glad to find this thread. As a 2 wheel rider for the last 7 years, I was pretty much in the 'all the gear, all the time' camp. I quit wearing kevlar pants & just wore regular jeans, but I had everything else on. I've crashed on 2 wheel motorcycles a number of times, on dirt and on the street. I've crashed in regular jeans and didn't get torn up, but the helmet & gloves were always really important I found.

But thinking about it, most of the crashes that I had on a two wheel motorcycle just wouldn't have occurred on a three wheel machine. Like low sides, for example. I don't even think it would be possible to low side a 3 wheel motorcycle. And that's most of the wrecks that I've seen over the years. Low sides, or just tipping and dropping the bike, which can land on your leg or foot or something... Neither would happen on a Spyder.

I have seen a few high side wrecks over the years. And in that case, the gear that they were wearing on their body didn't really help much. They still broke their ribs, broke their collarbone, punctured lungs, and things like that. I mean, those mesh jackets have no protection for that sort of impact.

And it seems to me that a wreck on a 3 wheel motorcycle would mostly be similar to a high side or a high impact wreck. Like a car hitting you from behind or the side; and again, in that case, those mesh jackets have little protection against that kind of high impact. They're mainly built for sliding along the pavement from a low side wreck.

So given all of that, I've been rethinking what I want to wear when I ride the Spyder, especially in the summer and of course, in the winter. I would just put on all the stuff normally, because it's cold. And I need some weather protection. So I might as well wear the riding gear. But when I go out in 90 plus degree weather on a 3 wheel motorcycle, I just don't know if it makes any sense to wear hot gear that was specifically designed to protect me during a slide or not.

When I rode my Spyder home 600 miles last weekend, I didn't have any real protective gear on, mainly because I wasn't planning on buying it that weekend. I did 600 miles on various roads and interstates, wearing just a long sleeve T-shirt, blue jeans, and tennis shoes along with a helmet and some gloves.

So I guess I'm looking for instances where wearing riding gear specifically helped during a Spyder crash. I read the one above, where the person was thrown off and landed on their head and their back, and they got a bruise from the the pad within the jacket.

I'm curious to hear if there are any other instances of Spyder wrecks where gear or no gear played a factor one way or another? I have a hard time finding any reports of crashes with Spyders when I look for them. You can find years of videos of two wheel motorcycle crashes, but I can't really find much info on Spyder crashes.

 

[RayBJ]

You left out another "get-off" method, head-on animal hits that throw you over the bars in a 'superman' fly & slide. I did this on a Tiger1200, but it just as easily could have been off the RT. Tore my gloves, pants, jacket, and boots. Funny, no helmet damage.

I agree we are less likely to have a get-off on the Spyders but long-held habits of ATGATT are hard to break.

 

[Snoking1127]

I wear riding pants with liner and knee protection; boots that cover the ankle bones; a motorcycle jacket with elbow and back pads; gloves; and a modular helmet. I am on Warfarin, and I hope to not bleed out on the side of the road.

 

[racoon]

ATGATT - Safety First

 

[PistonBlown]

I think that Sport vs Cruiser should be the riding style in the poll, not the type of Spyder.

 

[jzeiler]

While I am not delusional in thinking ATGATT will save me in all cases I am, however, confident I will be able to have an open casket funeral.

I choose Track Ready as my choice as it was the only one that listed riding pants and I always wear ATGATT.

 

[jarrett]

You left out another "get-off" method, head-on animal hits that throw you over the bars in a 'superman' fly & slide. I did this on a Tiger1200, but it just as easily could have been off the RT. Tore my gloves, pants, jacket, and boots. Funny, no helmet damage.

I agree we are less likely to have a get-off on the Spyders but long-held habits of ATGATT are hard to break.

I wondered about animal strikes. I've hit quite a few over the years. Mainly buzzards and turkeys. The deer usually miss by an inch or two. I wondered with all of that inertia and 3 wheels, what would happen. My gut feeling is the rider stays on the bike.

Something like this:

 

[Snoking1127]

We had a nice ride today. Pic on Chuckanut Drive NW Washington.

 

[vito1943]

As a former MSF Instructor, I should say ATGATT; but then again, I should be honest. I was much more diligent about protective gear when riding a 2 wheeler. On my Spyder, I always wear a helmet and gloves, and if the temps are below 80°, I wear an armored jacket. If I am going on more than just a day ride of a couple of hours, I will wear motorcycle boots as well. But as an example, today was about 85° out and I went out for about an hour's ride of about 50 miles on local country roads. I was wearing jeans, tennis sneakers, a regular t-shirt, an open face helmet, and fingerless HD gloves. Risky? Yes, but all riding is risky. I ride for the pleasure of the ride; and when it's too cold, too hot, or hot enough that all the right gear will make me sweaty and miserable, I accept the greater degree of risk.

 

[Snoking1127]

I wondered about animal strikes. I've hit quite a few over the years. Mainly buzzards and turkeys. The deer usually miss by an inch or two. I wondered with all of that inertia and 3 wheels, what would happen. My gut feeling is the rider stays on the bike.

Something like this:

My German Shepard hit cost $5525 to be fixed. The Champagne color upped the cost, as panels had to be painted.

 

[crna59]

Almost lost my life during a hit 'n run in 2015. Had so much thoracic damage. Since then... I never ride without my Astars Tech5 airbag. I'm also an Instructor and must lead by example! ATGATT+

 

[Tslepebull]

My standard response to anyone questioning my full gear (even during hot weather) is that "I would rather sweat than bleed". Look closely at my avatar, it is what was left of my BMW GS when the Honda Accord driver turned left in front of me. Both the GS and I flipped over the car and down the road; fortunately with different tragetories. I sustained a compound fracture of the right wrist that resulted in permanent limited range of motion and nerve damage to my hand which is why I am now on three wheels with foot-only braking.

I was not expecting a wreck that day but was still fully ATGATT in Aerostich and Nolan gear. To prevent further damage to my wrist the ER doc cut my Darien jacket off; I have since replaced it with another. Even at the height of summer I use a one-piece Roadcrafter for short trips (because it is so easy on and off) or Olympia mesh Jacket and pants (with armor) for longer trips.

 

[Snoking1127]

While I am not delusional in thinking ATGATT will save me in all cases I am, however, confident I will be able to have an open casket funeral.

I choose Track Ready as my choice as it was the only one that listed riding pants and I always wear ATGATT.

That is why I choose Track Ready as I have riding pants.

 

[Peter Aawen]

... < snip > ...

So I guess I'm looking for instances where wearing riding gear specifically helped during a Spyder crash. I read the one above, where the person was thrown off and landed on their head and their back, and they got a bruise from the the pad within the jacket.

I'm curious to hear if there are any other instances of Spyder wrecks where gear or no gear played a factor one way or another? I have a hard time finding any reports of crashes with Spyders when I look for them. You can find years of videos of two wheel motorcycle crashes, but I can't really find much info on Spyder crashes.

If you search back thru the older threads, there are a few accidents reported & discussed here, including at least one (eventual) fatality, largely due to the injuries caused thru the lack of wearing protective clothing.

I think the important thing to remember about riding is that on a Spyder or a 2-wheeled motorcycle, you aren't cocooned within a steel cage with crumple zones and air bags and all sorts of other stuff designed to lessen any injuries in the event of even a mild collision - on a Spyder, even tho it's got 3 wheels and is more stable than a 2 wheeled machine so you might not drop it so often, there's still NOTHING between you and anything you hit/that hits you &/or any surface you end up coming into contact with at speed, EXCEPT for any protective clothing & armour that you may be wearing. Sure, protective clothing and armour might not stop all of the lost skin, broken bones, &/or crush & other injuries that hitting something/being hit can cause, but they definitely lessen it, and I for one am still walking, talking, and still riding my Spyder today simply BECAUSE I wear appropriate gear with armour included pretty much ALL the time.

At the very least, wearing ATGATT (WITH armour) will lessen if not minimise the damage that even a mild 'accident' can cause when you aren't protected by a metal cage surrounding you. Spyders do tend to make it a lot harder for YOU to be the reason behind you parting company with your ride, but the incidents that tend to damage us the most aren't usually caused by the Spyder rider so much as the driver who just didn't see you; or decided they'd get across that intersection before you; or who couldn't stay on their side of the road; or... you get the drift, I'm sure!!

In my experience, the relatively minor 'tossed off' or 'parted company with the machine' incidents that can occur while testing the limits of the machine &/or doing track work tend to produce little more than bruises and the odd broken bone in an extremity IF you're wearing the right gear; but the far more serious stuff is when you & maybe your Spyder too, come into contact with maybe a couple of tonnes or more of lethal weapon travelling at speed and loosely guided by someone who's probably on their bloody phone, drunk, or both - and in those cases, YOU'RE often the meat in the sandwich! If you're not wearing anything that has SOME degree of protection & impact resistant armour built in, then you're just meat, probably something akin to ground beef!! But if you ARE wearing gear with some degree of protection & impact resistance built in, then at least you have some chance!

But, as always, it's your ride, and your choice... But I'll still be wearing All The Gear, All The Time - and so far, I've lived to share that with the rest of you. Some of us know or at least know of people who didn't, and who haven't lived to tell us that they made a poor choice, even if it was hot that day!