Dressing For The Ride
The first of the Deadly Risks of Riding does not directly cause accidents, but significantly increases the chances of sustaining an injury during a crash. The motorcyclist is constantly surrounded by rigid objects and is moving at considerable speeds. When you lose control of your motorcycle, or your surroundings, it’s a safe bet that you are going to hit an object, go for a slide, or both, if you’re unlucky. The soft human body stands no chance against high speed impacts and abrasion. While riding a motorcycle, you are a small fish swimming in a big pond. Everything around you has the potential to do significant damage to any unprotected parts of the body should you fall. Motorcycle helmets, jackets, pants, gloves, and boots are purpose built and extremely tough. They are designed to slide against concrete, and good gear will prevent shattered joints with armour built into the apparel. Remember: nothing can help you when you have lost control. Not other motorists, not paramedics (they can help later), not the police, not your motorcycle. When all else has failed, only the gear you have chosen is on your side.
Helmets
The most important of all the motorcycle gear is the helmet. The human brain is very susceptible to impacts, shocks and jolts that can easily be experienced in a motorcycle crash. To put things into perspective, 1g is the equivalent of the force of gravity. Everyone experiences a force of 1g throughout their life as the gravitation of Earth pulls them downward. While riding a roller coaster, one can experience up to 4.5g (4.5 times the strength of gravity). An impact to the head of 85g can cause permanent brain damage and death. For those who are inclined to think that 85g is a lot of leeway, a car accident at 40km/h can create over 100g of impact force. Most speed limits are well over 40 km/h which means anyone riding a motorcycle without a helmet can be one mistake away from permanent brain damage or death. There are many styles of helmets, with full-face helmets offering the greatest protection to virtually all sides of the skull, chin and face. Keep in mind while considering helmets that there is often flying debris (rocks/sand/insects) that can strike the front of the head/face and that most collisions throw the rider forward. Striking the face and chin are not uncommon during an accident and are extremely sensitive areas of the body.
Boots and Gloves
Motorcycle boots and gloves offer protection to the isolated extremities of the body. Humans are used to interacting with their environment with the hands and feet. During threatening situations such as crashes, it is instinctive to protect the vital organs by use of the hands and feet. Your extremities will naturally come out if you are sliding or are expecting an impact, often making them the first point of impact and abrasion. The body is stronger when considered in its totality as opposed to its individual parts. If 1 hand or 1 foot, for example, is caught up in a motorcycle wreck when the rest of your body is not, it is very likely that the body part in question will not fair well due to its isolation. In these situations, dislocations, crushed bones, lacerations, and punctures are common place. A good example of this is a foot and ankle being pinned between cement and a sliding motorcycle following a loss of rear-tire traction. Protect your vulnerable extremities from harm with boots and gloves. Motorcycle boots offer sturdy soles and rigid construction, encompassing the foot and ankle and sometimes lower leg. Gloves will protect the fragile fingers, knuckles, and palms (some gloves also cover the wrist) if there is ever a need to “brace for impact,” or attempts to control the direction of a slide are made. In addition to the reduction of risk, wearing boots and gloves increases the ability to use the controls effectively. Everything on a motorcycle is exposed and has to be built tough. The controls are fairly rugged causing rigid control feedback to the hands and feet. Using the controls assertively is often impaired in the absence of foot and hand protection, due to the feedback being too rough for the bare skin to mesh with.
Jackets and Pants
Motorcycle jackets and pants protect the vital organs, as well as limbs and torso, from impacts, punctures, abrasion, and inclement weather. As soon as one hits a considerable speed on their motorcycle (60+km/h or 40+mph), the characteristics of crashes change from bumps and tumbles, to impacts and slides. It is at this point that the main portions of the body (arms/legs/torso), will be experiencing a majority of the crash forces due to the increased time it takes to come to a complete stop. Whether this happens gradually through sliding, or suddenly through an impact along the way, the increase in crash forces of the higher speeds greatly raises the risk of injury and death. These forces can easily scrape away skin and flesh or smash bone to bits. Jackets and pants almost completely eliminate the risk of abrasion and significantly reduce the force experience from impacts by spreading the impact force over a larger area. Areas of concern for impacts include: shoulders, elbows, spine, hips, tailbone and knees. When travelling at high speeds, (100+km/h or 65+mph) it is not possible for gear to absorb all of the force regarding instant deceleration. Instant deceleration refers to the immediate stopping of the rider through contact with an immovable object such as a car, guard rail, pole, tree, etc. If you want maximum protection, there are companies that produce airbag systems for motorcycle riders. Upon collision detection, the airbag rapidly inflates to protect vital areas of the body. These systems are expensive, but have been becoming more affordable and can help absorb excessive impacts, as well as help prevent neck injuries during accidents.
The Bottom Line
Gear will often turn what would have been a major injury, into a mild or moderate one. Street clothes provide no shield from impacts, and negligible protection from abrasion as they strip away quickly.
There are three lines of defence to prevent injuries/fatalities: Ride Plans are the primary strategy for managing risk, motorcycle control is the secondary, and wearing motorcycle gear is the third. Being the last line of defence, motorcycle gear does an excellent job of protecting the rider when all else fails. Asides from being hot, gear is something you’ll barely notice on a daily basis, but makes a monumental difference the day that you need it. A sound adage that runs throughout the motorcycle community is, All The Gear, All The Time. You never know when you will need your gear, so it’s best to always wear it.
While gear can be uncomfortable and hot, give this a go; next time you are on a sidewalk, bend down and drag your hand across the cement. Now imagine doing that with your bare leg at 80 kilometres an hour. But wait! Your leg is pinned under your 500 pound bike while in direct contact with the exhaust pipe. Yikes! It is much easier to grow accustomed to hot gear than it is to grow accustomed with missing layers of skin or irreparably damaged body parts… If you need any more convincing, remember these accidents can embed sand/gravel, glass, and other debris deep into your tissue. Then you get to visit the emergency room to have someone scrape or pluck out every morsel from your open wound with tweezers and metal brushes. Cement will shred skin and muscle like a cheese grater. Dress for the slide, not for the ride.
Warning: The following buttons will reveal images from motorcycle accidents where the riders were not wearing appropriate gear. They contain graphic images, and viewer discretion is advised. If you do not wish to see them, click “next topic” at the bottom of the page.
