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Protect your entire body on every ride

Usually I am 100% ATGATT except when commuting in town to the office. Then it is jacket, helmet and gloves, shorts and hiking shoes…. On anything outside of town I look like a poster boy wearing the whole enchilada.
Some random thoughts fwiw… :deal

Wearing a thin quick dry cotton long sleeved shirt can help prevent skin burns when you go have a get off . You do get what you pay for when going the cheaper gear route.
I find it less confidence inspiring when looking at Bilt and Joe Rocket gear. I know not everyone can afford an expensive suit, but there are better brands out there for not much more money.. YMMV
 
I disagree with "All The Gear All The Time" fanatics.

ATGATT is unrealistic expectation.
Ones definition of ATGATT is another ones definition of utter overkill.
There is no need for MotoGP approved gear, and the raincoat, when the weather is nice and you are going to the store on city roads with max speed of 50 km/h.

I prefer AGFART. Appropriate Gear For All Rides & Trips.
If the weather is good and you are only taking short low speed trip to the store. To pick up groceries and beer. You don't need Airbag west, heavy duty Gore Tex or lined jeans. There will be no slide so there is no need to dress for the slide.
Going on the highway, full of idiots at very high speed, would more reasonably require that equipment.

No matter where you are. Your most important gear is your environmental (Edit. I'm not native English speaker and the voices in my head have been telling me that situational is a better word, so here it is) awareness and fast response. Watch the road far ahead, watch your mirrors, look around you, listen. Riding motorcycles is dangerous. Take appropriate precautions.
 
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Amos Malone said:
I disagree with "All The Gear All The Time" fanatics.

ATGATT is unrealistic expectation.
Ones definition of ATGATT is another ones definition of utter overkill.
There is no need for MotoGP approved gear, and the raincoat, when the weather is nice and you are going to the store on city roads with max speed of 50 km/h.

I prefer AGFART. Appropriate Gear For All Rides & Trips.
If the weather is good and you are only taking short low speed trip to the store. To pick up groceries and beer. You don't need Airbag west, heavy duty Gore Tex or lined jeans. There will be no slide so there is no need to dress for the slide.
Going on the highway, full of idiots at very high speed, would more reasonably require that equipment.

No matter where you are. Your most important gear is your environmental awareness and fast response. Watch the road far ahead, watch your mirrors, look around you, listen. Riding motorcycles is dangerous. Take appropriate precautions.
Click to expand...
What would be your minimum gear?
 
I've always been an ATGATT person. Way back in 2000 I highsided at Deals Gap at about 60mph. Nice flight, but the landing sucked. I broke my left wrist pretty badly (10 screws and two plates to put it together), but the rest of the gear did it's job. I was sore for a few days, but 100% other than the wrist. Still wear all the stuff, you never know.


xray.jpg
 
I learned early in life that ATGATT is the way to go. I was 8 years old and decided to ride down my grand parents hillside driveway on my skate board wearing a pair of cut off shorts and tennis shoes. Almost made it, if it were not for that pesky drain cover in the middle of the landing. Went full on superman flying and proceeded to slide across the drive on my belly. The pain was so intense that I could not even muster a tear, lol!! I spent the next three days on the couch laying on a sheet. On the 4th day I was back on the skateboard.:super Can't imagine having a get off at speed with no Gear. Pretty sure I would be laid up more than three days now!!:kurt
 
Amos Malone said:
I disagree with "All The Gear All The Time" fanatics.

I prefer AGFART. Appropriate Gear For All Rides & Trips.
Click to expand...

Surprised the puritans didn’t rip you for your heresy. :-)

I’ve yet to actually see someone truly in 100% all the gear, no matter what they claim. Darn rare to see a rider in a neck brace or inflatable gear for example.

I wear gear myself, or not. To various levels. Yesterday it was crocs and shorts. It was hot, I was puttering. A bunch of gear would have been silly and miserable. Shockingly, I lived.
 
On a long ride neck brace for sure, but if commuting then I skip it. Finally tossed my SMX Alpinestars, too much stuff worn out and falling apart, but I use my lighter TCX boots otherwise. I like the Olympia gear, seems to wear better than the Joe Rocket sort of stuff- zippers and velcro are definitely better.
 
nmroadrunner said:
Get some Bohn Under Armor...like a leotard with D30 pads in all the right places.
Click to expand...
Yip, wear mine every ride under my riding jeans. If I ever don't wear them its a bit like the feeling of not having a seat-belt on in a car.
 
Amos Malone said:
I disagree with "All The Gear All The Time" fanatics.

ATGATT is unrealistic expectation.
Ones definition of ATGATT is another ones definition of utter overkill.
There is no need for MotoGP approved gear, and the raincoat, when the weather is nice and you are going to the store on city roads with max speed of 50 km/h.

I prefer AGFART. Appropriate Gear For All Rides & Trips.
If the weather is good and you are only taking short low speed trip to the store. To pick up groceries and beer. You don't need Airbag west, heavy duty Gore Tex or lined jeans. There will be no slide so there is no need to dress for the slide.
Going on the highway, full of idiots at very high speed, would more reasonably require that equipment.

No matter where you are. Your most important gear is your environmental (Edit. I'm not native English speaker and the voices in my head have been telling me that situational is a better word, so here it is) awareness and fast response. Watch the road far ahead, watch your mirrors, look around you, listen. Riding motorcycles is dangerous. Take appropriate precautions.
Click to expand...
I'm with you 100%. I know guys that ride harder when geared up vs without gear . It's false security. A buddy was teasing me about going slow on a road we could've been cornering much faster on. " That FZ 09 can't keep up with my little old W800?" I asked if he ever rounded a corner to find a lazy moving tractor with a hay spear hanging off the back before. The look on his face. Sure, the bike can take the corner, but what's on the other side? Environmental awareness, you're 100% on point.

Other than a helmet, gear is basically just abrasion protection. Armor will help with small knocks like a low speed tipover, but gear isn't an exoskeleton/force field.

All the gear we wear...it's foundation is our bones. If you slam in to a truck your body is gonna absorb that impact. No armor can help there.

Road rash suuuuucks. My right knee is ugly as hell, but skin will grow back pretty easily. The price of gear is worth eliminating those weeks of pain while you heal up . A foot under a truck tire is a goner regardless of the boot you got on.

I've spent a lot of gear and I'm a bit of a snob about it. I hate cheap gear. But I understand that if I ever truly have an accident ( not some simple low side) that my body is pretty much probably gonna get wrecked. It's a hazard of the game that I accept. That's not a tough guy statement, I'm just dumb enough not to care 😁 Life is short. Let's do it.
 
I agree that in a high speed head-on into the front end of a truck body armor isn’t going to actually help.

But, in the likes of a far more common ~30 mph collision, it very well may. Especially, it seems, the inflatable stuff.

A whole lot of that counts on the armor being in place. A lot of armor tucked into clothing seems to be very floppy and prone to moving around. Strap on or body-sock armor seems a lot more likely to hold the armor in place so it can actually provide protection. For the first impact, at least.
 
I'm pretty much an ATGATT rider. Living in NYC I don't commute a lot; the subway is often more convenient, less stressful, maybe even safer (the recent attacks are very uncommon), and less idle-time on the engine. Sometimes I'll just wear jeans, but I bought a pair of Hood jeans (out of the UK) that have armor and Kevlar lining, and unless it's way hot/humid (July, August) or the destination asks for a bit of style, I'll wear them. (boots, gloves and jacket go without saying)

Last week I rode up to Lake George for Americade and I wore my Aerostich Darien pants over synthetic hiking pants. This is a great combo when touring, both for comfort and rain protection (Thursday had rain most of the day). I met a guy there who was wearing some BMW armored jeans - both styley and protective. Anyone here wearing 'em? I think they're the "5 Pocket" model - I'm interested to hear about level of protection. The fabric doesn't have a Kevlar or similar from what I can see.
 
Since starting to ride on the road at age 16, I've pretty much always worn a full-face helmet, jacket, boots and gloves. I used to wear jeans up until about 15 years ago but since then I've been wearing some type of riding pants (textile/mesh depending on the weather). For a few years I wore a 3/4 helmet but feel more secure with a full-face. I recently started wearing kevlar riding jeans, but I really need to get some armor for them. I can probably count on 1 hand the number of times I've ridden without what I consider the minimum - helmet, jacket, boots, gloves. These days I'd include riding pants/jeans part of that list too. If I can't be bothered / too hot / etc. to put those on then I get in the car. I don't commute on my bike, but getting to the good riding areas from my house puts me on busy commuter roads before I can get to the "good stuff".
 
I don't ride on the street, and am mostly in 1st-2nd-3rd on our trails. Still wear all the gear...despite that, I'm nursing some cracked/bruised/generally very uncomfortable ribs right now from a stump between the plates of my chest protector. Had a good talk with my 4 year old about gear the other day when he wanted to ride without gloves on. Poked his hand with a stick, and explained that the gloves might prevent that if he wears em, but they definitely won't help at all if he doesn't!
 
Even with ATGATT - bad things can happen... I've ended up twice in the hospital with broken bones from bad landings. :fpalm

Broken Pelvis, broken back in 2020
Broken Tibia and Fibula in 2022

advbikes.com

2022 Around the Bend Rally

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ATGATT saved me from a nasty 55ish mph highside running a wash. Without the leat 5.1 vest I know I would have broken some ribs at a minimum. Thats also part of the reason I switched to more adv style bikes, I can't go fast enough offroad to get as hurt as I could on that Husky 510 lol
 
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