UTMC

So I work out most days at the UC Davis activities and recreation center (aka, "The ARC"). Today I was parking my truck, and this young dude on a sportbike rolls up and parks right in front of me (motorcycle parking was in front of my truck).

He is wearing a full face helmet, leather jacket, gloves, nylon basketball shorts, and running shoes.
He's *almost* got it.

For some reason, I decided to hold my tongue. But the way things worked out, he ended up walking in front of me for a relatively substantial amount of time, and then was in line in front of me at the equipment check out desk.

I finally couldn't help myself.

"Where's your pants dude!?"

"What?"

"Where's your pants!?"

"I'm going to the gym!"

"So!?"

Kid says something else, but I forget what.

And here's the part that made me laugh: "Kid, I've had more motorcycle wrecks than you've had orgasms, and I'd never ever ride without pants on."

His reply was "Yeah, I've never gone down, so I probably just haven't learned yet."

"Well, learn the easy way and get some pants!!"

Yeah, I had a similar conversation with people at Duc NY when they didn't want to buy or wear anything including knee armor.

I'd tell them to try falling on the concrete floor, knees first, in the showroom. At 0 mph. Then see how well their knees worked afterwards.

Sold a lot of armor that way... and at least one person came in later to thank me, after they had gone down in the armor I sold them and had been able to walk away as a result.

I took the RD to see a movie last week, the motorcycle parking area had two other riders just pulling into it; between the three of us we took the whole of the space up.
One guy, fully geared up, R1. Other guy, probably about 40, jeans, sneakers, t-shirt. On an Aprilia (forget what model, but it looked and sounded awesome).
Aprilia guy looks at me, "Whatisthat...a...Honda?" The other guy is like "No man, its a fuckin' Yamaha, a two stroke." I could see him rolling his eyes in his helmet, obviously embarrassed for his buddy.
I asked him if he wanted to trade, said nope.

WeAintFoundShit wrote: His reply was "Yeah, I've never gone down, so I probably just haven't learned yet."

For someone acting as un-smart as him, that is a GENIUS level of self-awareness!

I'm always judgmental as hell when I see guys riding in shorts, despite the fact that I frequently ride in jeans, which aren't that much better.

I always picture stuff like this when I see the squids out and about




Wonder how his elbow as after that?

Rabbit_Fighter wrote:I'm always judgmental as hell when I see guys riding in shorts, despite the fact that I frequently ride in jeans, which aren't that much better.

You make me think of something.
I thought they were way too expensive and stuff, but apart from that, I've heard good things about those kevlar-fiber-mix jeans that give jeans look and (supposedly) jeans comfort combined with actual riding gear protection level.
The squids, they are starting to camouflage!

DerGolgo wrote:

Rabbit_Fighter wrote:I'm always judgmental as hell when I see guys riding in shorts, despite the fact that I frequently ride in jeans, which aren't that much better.

You make me think of something.
I thought they were way too expensive and stuff, but apart from that, I've heard good things about those kevlar-fiber-mix jeans that give jeans look and (supposedly) jeans comfort combined with actual riding gear protection level.
The squids, they are starting to camouflage!

The only problem I have with the kevlar lined jeans is none of them have or come with any provision for armour. The kevlar is good for abrasion resistance but provides zero impact resistance which I think is way more important for normal everyday street riding. Sure you can wear extra strap on armour underneath them but it would be nice if they'd include pockets for removable armour.

Actually the Draggin jeans come w/ knee stuff. But they're really sweaty.
And overall the fit is kinda tight. If you've ever seen me in person, that's saying a lot.

But if I buy armor I won't have enough for the douchey fluorescent helmet Mohawk that I reaaly want.

Groove wrote:But if I buy armor I won't have enough for the douchey fluorescent helmet Mohawk that I reaaly want.

Just spike your hair and keep your helmet on the latch on the side of your bike. Free mohawk, and you have a spare helmet for the bitches. Duh.

Not meaning to be rude, but he'll probably need to buy that fluorescent mohawk anyway...

Jonny wrote:Not meaning to be rude, but he'll probably need to buy that fluorescent mohawk anyway...

I mean: Jonny! Shame on you!

Sisyphus wrote:Actually the Draggin jeans come w/ knee stuff. But they're really sweaty.
And overall the fit is kinda tight. If you've ever seen me in person, that's saying a lot.

Red Route makes kevlar jeans as well, knee armor and all. Also very warm but baggy (of course, potentially limiting the benefit of the armor). Best options are dedicated riding pants or armor underneath, but really, with work and heat and general laziness I think some of us make the conscious choice to risk a little road rash.

The amount of people I see rocking the mohawk is actually astonishing to me, as is the fact that I only ever seem to see people rocking it in pink.

/RM

So, speaking of protective gear and such, am I the only person who has seen those stupid fake WW2 German helmets being worn....backwards?

I hope you weren't looking in the mirror.

I've actually got a pair of cortek jeans with knee armor underneath and leather reinforced in the arse; just look like normal jeans. The pads stay right where they belong while riding. I've not had the fortue to field test them when riding comes to an abrupt halt, and hope not to win that lottery. Not full armor, but somethin.

stiles wrote:Yeah, I had a similar conversation with people at Duc NY when they didn't want to buy or wear anything including knee armor.

I'd tell them to try falling on the concrete floor, knees first, in the showroom. At 0 mph. Then see how well their knees worked afterwards.

Sold a lot of armor that way... and at least one person came in later to thank me, after they had gone down in the armor I sold them and had been able to walk away as a result.

Similarly, I've had the impulse to throw a rock at their legs, commenting about the joy of flying gravel from trucks.

Im on the Reddit motorcycle sub and am definitely one of the more outspoken proponents of ATGATT. The squids really dont like being preached to. Especially when you use facts, statistics, and common sense logic in your reply.

Good thing I dont give two flying fucks about their precious "karma" dick measuring contest they have on the subs.

been riding in shorts all day and pulling wheelies I'ma squid!

(total mileage for the day 4 miles)

I too have armored kev jeans. From CycleGear. Fit is ok, kinda loose for my taste. Armor fit is not so great either, it tends to hang on the inside of my knees, not so far as to interference with grip, but not where I think it should be either.

I see they have MK3's pants on sale now too (cyclegear), I may go for a set. (cortech dsx). I like the thought of leather pannels.

I dont think any of the armored jeans would hold up as well as my looks-be-damed armored pants, but they breath nice and look normalish when one is off bike.

I've got some icon strap on armor that's comfortable enough to wear all day. I cut the sleeves off of one of those hot weather performance undershirts and pull them on under the armor. The only time I notice they're on is when I kneel to work on a computer under a desk, and then I'm kinda happy I still have them on. I've got overpants that I pulled the armor from and I usually go with jeans or khaki's when it's hot out. I know, I'm a horrible horrible person. Been looking at the Sliders khaki's.