How do you guys make people "Understand" why gear is important?


Motivation that worked for me when I hadn't quite realized the horror of road rash or really accepted that I could get hurt: All that gear is expensive and not wearing it would be a severe waste of money.

If she is even considering going without some gear, the reality of crashing is clearly not standing out in her mind. She may see all those pictures and think, "yeah but that's if we crash...we probably won't crash."
 
Two suggestions. Remember that you are blocking any cooling effect from the wind. Also, I suggest telling her that cops hold the driver of a motorcycle responsible for the safety gear of both rider and passenger and that you simply don't want any trouble while out riding.

You can also cater to her intelligence and tell her that the high weight of a sport bike makes them more likely to tip over.

Ultimately, you will probably have to tell her it makes you uncomfortable, without making it an argument.
 
My wife is all about having to look good. She thinks bikes were ment for one thing, to look sexy on. Shes slowly coming around, she would never be on a bike without a jacket and helmet and gloves, but she wont do knee guards or riding pants and I fear for her. But I cant win, shes even in the med field. Im going to show her this thread and hope it changes!
 
Im glad my wife is well aware of the dangers and takes it seriously. She wears full gear.
 
Chucker said:
I don't let people ride on my bike without gear, or in my car without a seatbelt. Even if I can't make them understand, I can be sure that I am not a party to them getting injured unecessarily. My rules are THE rules when you're dealing with my stuff. If you don't like it, that's your problem, not mine.
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When I first started driving, 5 years ago, my younger sister tried to manipulate me like she does my dad. I went with my sister to drop my dad off at the train station and I was left with my sister. I'm about to head back home but I look at her and she isn't even in her seat she was in the back of the minivan playing with her toys. Long story short I sat there 20 minutes in 95 degree weather with the windows almost closed waiting for her to put her seatbelt on because I was not budging. After that we had one more incident like that because she tried to do it while I was driving, and my parents were in the car. My dad said forget it lets go. I said no and we sat there for 10 minutes again. Now she wears her seatbelt every time. Sometimes you just have to be stubborn and adamant about safety.


FZRblack said:
Took care of that for you, because I agree. It is very annoying to me to see people not wearing gear and I think that I piss a lot of new riders off because they are all gung ho until I tell them to wear everything all the time.
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Might send you some more links from time to time so you can update the thread. I see them all the time on the gixxer and r6 forums. I'm an addict to all the forums but lurk more than post...The stuff that shows up just makes me cringe.
 
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XTRAWLD said:
Since we are on the topic.....how protective are jeans? I don't wear jeans, I wear motorcycle pants (Alter Ego with liner for colder weather and a similar mesh version for warm days). I've always been scared to wear just jeans....how do jeans hold up to road rash? I am thinking about Sartso jeans (which are obviously above and beyond regular jeans), but I wonder how protective an every day pair really are.
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have you looked into those sartso jeans anymore? I looked at their site and they look pretty legit, i ride with jeans most of the time but after reading this thread i will never ever ride without full gear again. I thought i was on top of the world and that nothing could happen to me. I look back now and how stupid Ive been all year (wear gym shorts to the gym, muscle shirt to the lake). I am thankful for all of the great riders on this forum and opening my eyes to the danger that can happen. Thank you all for being great role models and putting the knowledge into my head about what can happen and how to protect ourselves. With that being said, i can promise you that you will never see me wearing shorts on my bike ever again and that i will always be fully protected!
 
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bakkenlab said:
have you looked into those sartso jeans anymore? I looked at their site and they look pretty legit, i ride with jeans most of the time but after reading this thread i will never ever ride without full gear again. I thought i was on top of the world and that nothing could happen to me. I look back now and how stupid Ive been all year (wear gym shorts to the gym, muscle shirt to the lake). I am thankful for all of the great riders on this forum and opening my eyes to the danger that can happen. Thank you all for being great role models and putting the knowledge into my head about what can happen and how to protect ourselves. With that being said, i can promise you that you will never see me wearing shorts on my bike ever again and that i will always be fully protected!
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THANK YOU!

There ya go... THIS IS WHY WE PREACH ATGATT! By helping change peoples minds about safety and the REAL dangers that exist, we are helping save people from massive amounts of pain and even death.

Again, THANK YOU to all that have listened and opened their eyes to this and to those that preach it.
 
Thank you Jay and all the other mods on the forum because you are the main safety preachers here and we all look up to you guys. The young and old riders here! :)
 
i saw what wearing full gear does not even two weeks ago when my dad hit a deer on his bike. I will always at least my helmet jacket gloves and boots. always . gear saves lives , ive seen to many wrecks too much skin on the road not to
 
All I can do is insist that whoever I ride with wears their gear. I have a friend who I flat told I refuse to ride again with him if he doesn't wear his gear again. I kind of do what I can with all the pics of the crazy riders in the "What Not To Wear" thread. But I've just given up really trying to convince some. One of the girls I work with, her boyfriend just went down last week. He was in jeans and a mesh jacket and short gloves tucked under the jacket. His jacket pulled up to his elbows, and both forearms (he went down forward when his front tire was clipped by a car changing lanes) are hamburger. I think that's the biggest mistake people make. Full gauntlet gloves should always be used and the jacket tucked under them. I showed her my gloves and the way they go over the jacket. She told him about them. He said something to the effect of "those are for pussies" Dude is calling his girlfriend at work all the time, whining because he's in so much pain and the Vicodin isn't doing enough for him. Yet he's not willing to wear the proper gear even after feeling first hand how bad it is because he thinks they're stupid looking. Seriously?!? I even offered to give him a set of my older Held Kangaroo and Stingray gloves that are still in useable condition and he wouldn't take them. You just can't fix stupid. I do what I can, but I've given up with the crusade that I was on a year or so ago.
 
Don't give up Jon. You have probably helped more young riders than you realize on here to get the message. Thanks to you for being persistant!
 
I am sure Jon that you do get very frustrated. It's kind of like being a parent and telling your kids that "we" have to know where you are all the time,and getting flack from them. I am not saying that you should give up the Crusade, just suggest better options of gear. If people do not want to listen,like you said,,you can't fix stupid. Laurie
 
I want to thank dekaliber for posting this, this is another reason to wear gear. It specifically talks about mesh gear. For the people that say that it is too hot to ride, mesh is safe to wear and doesn't feel like you have much gear on.

Don Tai (Canada) Blog » Blog Archive » Does Motorcycle Mesh Gear Melt in a Crash?

It is frustrating, and I think that I have convinced a few people, and it always makes me sick to see when a motorcyclist has been killed because he was wearing no gear, and by no fault of his/her own, was in an accident because a cage did not see them. While the driver of the car is at fault, and the motorcyclist should have not been involved, accidents do happen, and they were killed because they didn't have gear, most importantly a helmet. Everyone has something to lose, a family, wife, children, even just friends. No one wants to die that way. If you aren't wearing all your gear, think about what could happen to you, and then what your family and friends would do without you. You wouldn't go into battle without a weapon, so how is this any different?
 
I always wear helmet, jacket and glove to a minimum. But with all the pictures and video that you guys post yesterday gave me nightmare! Now I wear my pants and boots too.

Hey John! The FT pants don't have the hip protectors on your too? I tough it was just mine... The pocket is there, just no padding! I'll cut some from high density foam for now until I order the real stuff! Now I'm freaking paranoid!!!
 
DragonBlu said:
Thank you Jay and all the other mods on the forum because you are the main safety preachers here and we all look up to you guys. The young and old riders here! :)
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Dragon,,, What do you mean OLD RIDERS? There are no old riders here....wait a minute,,,,aaaaaaa,,,, what was I talkin about? Any one here seen my keys,slippers, teeth? :p Laurie:thumbup:
 
JonKerr said:
All I can do is insist that whoever I ride with wears their gear. I have a friend who I flat told I refuse to ride again with him if he doesn't wear his gear again. I kind of do what I can with all the pics of the crazy riders in the "What Not To Wear" thread. But I've just given up really trying to convince some. One of the girls I work with, her boyfriend just went down last week. He was in jeans and a mesh jacket and short gloves tucked under the jacket. His jacket pulled up to his elbows, and both forearms (he went down forward when his front tire was clipped by a car changing lanes) are hamburger. I think that's the biggest mistake people make. Full gauntlet gloves should always be used and the jacket tucked under them. I showed her my gloves and the way they go over the jacket. She told him about them. He said something to the effect of "those are for pussies" Dude is calling his girlfriend at work all the time, whining because he's in so much pain and the Vicodin isn't doing enough for him. Yet he's not willing to wear the proper gear even after feeling first hand how bad it is because he thinks they're stupid looking. Seriously?!? I even offered to give him a set of my older Held Kangaroo and Stingray gloves that are still in useable condition and he wouldn't take them. You just can't fix stupid. I do what I can, but I've given up with the crusade that I was on a year or so ago.
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Once again... If you're going to be stupid, you gotta be tough! (I just love that quote, so thru!)
 
CDN6R said:
Dragon,,, What do you mean OLD RIDERS? There are no old riders here....wait a minute,,,,aaaaaaa,,,, what was I talkin about? Any one here seen my keys,slippers, teeth? :p Laurie:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Maybe youleft your teeth under the passenger seat again... :canada:
 

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