See my earlier comments about cotton next to the skin. Polypro doesn't do this: it wicks sweat away. What I really want (listen up, Underweasel!) is a bike equivalent of my nylon travelling pants ... they look neat, they're very comfortable and the fabric is unwettable ... I fell in a bog in Ireland and they were dry 15 minutes later, even though it was raining! -----sharks
So basically what you're saying is that you don't want to stop for a piss... but you will stop for a bog. Nev.. '03 ZX12R
I'm too lazy to look up the link,but he does cordura reinforced Spammin Jeans for $150 or so. Postman Pat (Off to hide up a jacaranda in his new Draggin Ultraviolet Camos--ordered at GP Expo,arrived yesterday)
jacket Textile, nylon, whatever they call it these days...Rivet adventurer, DriRider alpine etc... Boots Steel Blue safety boot! good for walking in, satisfies WHS requirements, employer supplied too! Gloves Some with holes in for summer, some without for winter Pants Umm...jeans, with scotchguard for waterpfoofing, should get some draggin' or such jeans one day for crash protection...but I crashed once without 'em and they wouldn't have helped anyway everyday wear A chambray work shirt with a 'scunge' (denim cut-off armoured with rally and event badges), boots, jeans, and open face helmet/Bill Bass sunnies (hand made, glass lenses, polarised...good kit) Wet weather Umm...DriRider suit, hardly ever worn but real good when needed, otherwise jacket/scotchguarded jeans, or jacket/some old heavy plastic pants from vinnies in 1990...motorbicycle provides good weather protection unless stopped OH!, if i had $1000 for bike wear...i'd get me some underdogz leathers so i would! For a 1500km trip 'up north' i'd recommend some comfortable clothing and a good eye out for trouble...if yer going scratching be aware that if you overcook it, it could hurt no matter what you wear Nothing stops impact damage from trees, table drains, cars, cliff faces, when decelerating @ 300 m/s But leather will prevent abrasion damage better than most materials, that's why racing ppl wear it
But keep in mind too, that a $1000 armoured leather race suit strapped on the back of the bike 'cause its 40 degrees in the shade provides no more protection than a t shirt... If the "1500km up north" trip involves summer and the inland route, have a serious think about some of the new armoured mesh gear - something like: http://www.underdog-leathers.com/jackets/jacketsflexspeedair.html to showcase our favourite spammer bitches version of that style of product... (I rode most of the way to Brisbane from Sydney one summer with my black leather jacket occy strapped to the pillion seat - at some stage you decide the risk of crashing while wearing leather due to heatstroke is greater than the risk of riding in a long sleeved cotton shirt and not crashing due to heatstroke...) big
Lasted a full 2 years before I needed to reapply mine. Liberally applied it to the seams and used a hair dryer before covering the rest.
That would be little boy. Once a year I get to hand out lollies to kiddies in public, and the Toy Run is only four weeks away. Theo
Mine held up OK when I was un-ceremonially dismounted at 90kph down the motorway last year. Slid for a fair way. The denim ripped straight off, but the kevlar held up quite well. It ended up with a small hole in it - about 1cm diameter. This ripped a bit of skin off my knee, but the worst result was the burnt skin on the knee from the friction between road + kevlar. Even still, I reckon this was not too bad a result, all things considered. The burn healed pretty quick, and alls I've got to show for it is a 10c piece-sized scar right on the top of my knee. They'd probably still be usable in a pinch, if the Ambos hadn't cut them off me. I'll give you one tip though - don't go near the special sissors that those guys carry! Sliced straight through the kevlar as if it was paper. I've been meaning to buy a new pair ever since, which is probably as good an endorsement of them as anything. I'm gunning for the new cargo pants that you can unzip the legs off - maybe not so stylish, but at least you can ride somewhere and then get around in shortly-comfort, instead of being the only one at a mid-Brisbane-summer BBQ with jeans. Recommended. I've also got a vote for the textile jackets. Mine was/is just a cheap RJays one, but it held up fine. When I bought it, a couple of mates said things along the lines of "well, they're really only single use items, you'd be better with a leather". I couldn't afford a leather jacket (still don't have one), and when we were commuting every day on the bike, it just wouldn't have been practicle or comfortable. After the stack, the jacket was still largely intact and servicable. It's got a couple of small, 5c sized holes in the lower arms, but the brunt of the sliding was done on my shoulder, elbow and back. The cordura stuff is all rubbed shiny, but it's not torn or otherwise visibly damaged - all the stitching is all still good, etc. I still use it during winter, and it seems to work fine (although I've not crashed in it since, and don't really plan on it). I now mainly use a dririder RallyCross (which, on the whole, is great, the main zipper notwithstanding), but by design, it's a bit more delicate, and I don't imagine it would survive a good bit of road surfing and come out in as good condition... Matto 05 Sprint
I've had two slides down the road in jeans, Levis both times if it makes a difference. First time decelerating from 120ish kph, jeans remained intact while sliding with the exception of one of the rear pockets becoming half unstitched, and second time decelerating from 80ish kph and not a mark on the jeans at all. Nev.. '03 ZX12R
I've crashed and slid in jeans - once from 80K ish - very slight abrasion to the butt - wore through next to the pocket - no big deal. Once from maybe 60K - lowsided and slid along with the bike on my foot - wrecked my boots and almost wore through the jeans. JL
Shite, you bastards must be lucky (though obviously not as lucky as if you hadn't fallen off...) The only time my jeans kissed the tar at low speed (around 60-70kph) a hole was ripped in the knee of the jeans, knee of the trackies I was wearing under the jeans followed closely by my knee. I was a lowside so I got dumped on the road, then slid. Maybe if the dismount had been more gentle my knee would have faired better.
Knee damage from a low side ? How did you end up on your face ? More usual to get that on a high side. And yeah what you're sliding on makes a big difference - knees are pointy and hence more likely to wear through JL
Left/right transition, flick bike from left hander into right, weight transfer made worse by stupid rider overloading bike with luggage. Improperly adjusted soft rear suspension loads up, front gets light, shitty hard front tyre steps out on dew on road in shade. Down I go. I was taken a bit by surprise to be honest, and it went really quick. I had time to think, "Oh, the front's sliding a bit" then bam, I was down. On the upside, the camp chair saved the bike from worse damage ;-) And I learnt that winding on a shitload of preload makes your comfy, spongy feeling bike, still comfy, but it handles 100% better. Nothing like a bit of practical application to get a little bit of understanding about suspension adjustments.
There you go, eh! That surprises me. I've not crashed in normal jeans myself, but a mate dropped his VFR400 at 40kph half way up Glorious one day wearing just normal jeans, and the jeans shredded, followed closely by his knee itself. They weren't expensive jeans though - I think he payed $15 for em from Lowes. Interesting aside : Of course, he picked the bike up and kept riding up the mountain. The jacket he was wearing was fine, since it was two sizes too big, so it just slid up his arms as soon as he touched down - his elbow was suitably worse for wear. Upon getting to the top, complete with snapped clutch lever and stuffed shifter, he met up with the people he was meeting up there, had a coffee and bandaged his knee with his t-shirt. He then proceeded to ride back to our place, where he used actual hygenic medical products to bandage himself up. We arrived home to find him out the back with the BBQ fired up, holding the gear-shifter with the kitchen tongs, trying to straighten it from it's current bent-back-on-itself orientation. I'm afraid I don't have that kind of determination... Anyway, back on topic. I'm surprised. I suppose that it pays to buy the good quality jeans, as I doubt that my normal jeans (which I have actually been using ever since the Draggin's untimely demise) would stand up to the punishment. Interesting! Thanks! Matto 05 Sprint
Apparently studies show that well worn jeans are more effective than brand new jeans (they get smoother and slide rather than abrade), obviously thicker is better (although it doesn't follow that name brand = better material). Off hand I think both crashes I've had were in Levis (mostly because that's what I usually buy), I'm not sure that means anything though. JL
