Safety Eguipment, and Why Don Should Wear Gloves

Dear Don,

Thanks for trusting me to answer your questions about safety gear. I understand your safety gear consists of a helmet and a motorcycle jacket, and that you wear sneakers with shorts or jeans, and that you never wear gloves. Please stand in the corner while I scold you.

Don, don’t scrimp on safety equipment. Live by this acronym: ATGATT. That stands for All The Gear, All The Time. That means you should be ready to crash every time you leave the house. Like the AMA says, “Dress to hit the road.” Professional racers wear top-notch protective equipment, yet they have gravel runoffs everywhere and don’t have to contend with intersections, Armco barriers and contaminated roadway surfaces, much less cars filled with idiot drivers. Their crashes are in many ways much more controlled and safer than those of a road rider, so why would you wear less in the way of protective gear? Read more here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=235903

Every time, and I mean every single time you ride you should have full protective equipment including hip, knee, elbow and shoulder armor, gloves, helmet and some kind of back protection. Check that the armor in your gear says CE on it, meaning it meets the crashworthiness standards of the European Community. A little piece of foam in the elbow is better than nothing, but it’s better to have properly tested armor. Yes, it’s hot in So Cal in the summer and it’s tempting to ride in jeans and a t-shirt. But there’s no reason to sacrifice safety when there are plenty of good, armored textile or perforated leather jackets and riding trousers (or overpants) that have ventilation to keep you from overheating. Think it’s hot now? How about spending the summer in a cast? Or a coffin. ATGATT. Live by it.

I used to commute on my motorcycle from Linda Vista to Santee in the Highway 8 Traffic From Hell. I wore Alpinestar boots, Tourmaster overpants (which have zippers up the sides so they go on right over slacks), a Held Air-Vent textile jacket, Held gloves, an Arai helmet, and yes, a day-glo safety vest. I would arrive at SEE and strip off all my gear and stash it in the side cases where my flight gear and briefcase had been. Entering the FBO to conduct a flight test I looked like I had arrived by car. On weekend rides I wore the same gear except for the safety vest and Dainese riding trousers instead of for the Tourmaster overpants. Now I’ve got Rukka trousers with Gore-Tex.

I can say with authority that all that gear doesn’t make one too hot to ride. In fact, it isolates you from undesirable distractions like bees going up your sleeves, sunburn on your neck and the horrid thought of what falling off at 75 will feel like. This leaves you free to concentrate on the tasks at hand, namely, situational awareness, risk mitigation through fluid machine control, and incremental improvement of your riding skills by application of knowledge learned from magazines, books and classes. A good pilot is always learning and improving.

Your hands are especially vulnerable in any crash, because you can’t (and shouldn’t) stop yourself from thrusting them out in front of you to stop your body from crashing into whatever it is you are slamming into at the moment, be it asphalt, porous friction concrete, algae (just ask Tom, who high-sided his mountain bike in a algae-rich puddle on the street and spent ten weeks in bed with titatium pins holding his pelvis together), or the lacquered sheet metal of a Ford Excursion. As an experiment, run as fast as you can and then dive hands-first to the pavement like you’re stealing second. Then, as you sit in the ER having your hands bandaged, imagine how often you ride your GS that slowly. Not often. Any crash will only be worse. A lot worse.

I wear a pair of Held “Steve” summer-weight gloves most of the time. They are very protective but not waterproof. Until recently, whenever it was wet or cool out I’d put on my Büse (that’s a brand) gloves that are warm and waterproof, but rather less-protective than the “Steves”. This year, I had a big re-think: Why would I wear gloves that are less protective in a situation when I’m more likely to crash, i.e., when it’s wet?

As it was time to replace the old Büses anyway, I went to Held – which is conveniently located about an hour from my house – and bought their best “Akira Tex” Gore-Tex racing gloves. The cost? €204 ($275). Expensive, yes, but they are the most protective gloves money can buy, plus, they’re waterproof and breathable. That sum may seem like a lot, but it’s a lot less than I’d be willing to pay just to be able to fondle my own dong were my hands to be wrapped in bandages for the sixteen weeks needed for a skin transplant to take. As I expect I’ll get ten years service out of the Akira Tex gloves, that’s only $27.50 per year.

For comparison, my Steves cost €93 ($125) and the Büses €48 ($65). Good gloves aren’t cheap, but they’re less expensive than paying someone to fondle your dong for you. Not that I would know. Cough cough.

I bought my first pair of Held gloves in 1999. I was in San Jose on a day-long layover and I popped out in the crew car to visit the local motorcycle shops. I found this hole-in-the-wall shop called Helimot, named after the owner Helmut from Germany who makes motorcycle racing leathers. Hel-i-Mot, get it? He had a stock of Held gloves, and I tried on a model called “Udo Mark.” (I’ve no idea where they get these names – racers they sponsor?) They fit perfectly and they were so well made I happily shelled out about $100 for them and took them home.

They served me so well, by being so comfortable, durable, good looking and safe that in 2004 I replaced them with the “Steves” (which took the place of the “Udo Mark” in their model lineup). And now I’ve added the expensive “Akira Tex” Gore-Tex pair to my collection. Altogether, I’ve got about $525 invested in just three pair of Held gloves, all because I value my hands. A lot.

As far as the rest of your gear goes, don’t let anyone tell you you are safe in jeans or sneakers. I have a scar on my right knee the size of an oyster from a 10-mph crash (yes, ten mph) in Levi 501s. White 501s, too, dammit, my favorite jeans in the ‘80’s, which I thought would protect me, but they tore through faster than a wet paper bag full of coffee grounds over a new berber carpet. And sneakers? I’ve seen a video of a guy wearing sneakers who botches a wheelie and winds up after the crash with his left foot hanging by a tendon. Want to see it? Always wear boots, like lineman’s boots, or better yet, motorcycling boots. BMW make some really good ones, as do Alpinestars, Oxtar, Sidi, Dainese, Daytona, Gaerne, Tourmaster, Hein Gericke, and many others. Motorcycling boots are better than lineman’s boots because they’re much easier to get in and out of. Read about boots here:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-boots/

The best gear is expensive, but you can get yourself fully outfitted for $1000 or less. (What’s your insurance deductible?) You already have a jacket and a helmet. Now think like a pilot and do a thorough preflight of yourself. Are you ready for an engine failure right after liftoff? Ready for that semi ahead to lose its rear tire in your path? Ready for that SUV to turn directly into your path without a blinker? And just like in the cockpit, the best gear is completely unobtrusive. You put it on, and it becomes part of you. Good gear is worth every penny because you forget about it moments after putting it on. I have no qualms about spending the money required to buy good riding gear.

Go shopping with a discerning eye for what works for you, not what works for the salesman. Ask the sales staff what makes it expensive and what the safety features are. In no time you’ll get an idea about which gear from different brands falls into the same basic price point and safety level. Then pick the gear that (a) will give its life for you should you fall, (b) is so comfortable that you’ll forget you’re wearing it, and (c) makes you look cool. Don’t forget to look cool. Under the day-glo vest.

Cheers, and safe riding