Riding without protective clothing

[UK Pete]

Hi, i know the majority of people will frown upon thius but i decided today that it was to hot for all the bike gear and went out for a short ride with just my shorts a vest top and ankle boots, before i get shot down in flames i must say each to their own and the only person who comes off badly in event of an accident is me,
Every hot country i have ever been to i notice they ride their bikes with just shorts and trainers, i see young blokes girls,and even pensioners riding like this,  and in turkey i have seen a whole family on one  bike even mother with baby in arms ( which i do not agree with, I find over here we dont enforce  protective clothing, but we get the dirtiest of looks and abuse for doing what seems to be normal in other countries
What is the general feeling on this as i really enjoyed my ride and will be doing it again if the weather stays real hot
Pete

[kifer]

Well Pete, The choice is as you say yours. I must be honest back in the 70's and 80's have ridden in jeans and tee shirt have even rode a mad sunday at the TT. But Having had the odd off over the years I would no longer ride without leathers especially gloves and would not allow anyone on back without the right gear.
Enjoy the sun did a quick 50 miles today can't beat it 

[Bryanj]

Your life you do what you want with it mate, personally i hate being forced to do anything wether it's good for me or not!

[Spitfire]

I can remember in the olden days coming back from an airshow on the M6 in trainers, jeans, T shirt and helmet, this was normal  back then, I must admit with all this UK health and safety stuff I was surprised to find out that biking gear was not compulsory. We had been out of the UK for 10 years and I was sure that something would have put into law requiring protective clothing.
But I still slip out in jeans and a T shirt for short distances, long distances tend to be leathers, more in case of a change in the weather than protecting my puny pink body, and yes I do still bear the scars of gravel rash so I do know what could happen, you pays your money and takes your chances.

Cheers

Den

[Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP)]

Hi All.
Told you all I was old.In my day when I started on bikes we did not have to wear helmets come out of the swimming baths hair bone dry within 5 mins.In them days if there was 20 percent cars on the road of today it was busy.In summer we rode around in jeans maybe gloves only because at one time we all suffered gravel rash.In them days we me and my mates it was the norm to come off at one time every bike you owned.Today different ball game you have to have eyes up your ass because of know it all drivers Never gonna happen to me I am the business.I remember the summer of 76 but do not remember being so hot always had the leather on.Today in France its 31 degrees try riding a yam xjr1300 in that OK providing you do not stop unbearable for me at my age.I think even at my age it should be up to me its my life and providing I DO TAKE ANYONE WITH ME its my choice but consider I am not now a boy racer.Even now if I do go out in these temperatures its beach trousers tee shirt and denim top and that's because of the flying bugs in this poxy country.Riding bikes was supposed to freedom I am fed up with so called educated boys telling me what I can do when most of transport minister do not the difference between a Honda to a yamaha.That's it had my shout I dare say I will get in the ears by the do gooders.
Bitsa
All the best
Bitsa

[the-chauffeur]

Like a lot of philosophical/moral/ethical questions, I'm not sure there's such a thing as a general position of this kind of thing.  It depends on your point of view . . . and a bunch of other factors . . .

The question I ask myself every time I think about getting on a bike is whether I am prepared to take responsibility for my actions, the actions of everyone around me, the conditions - and the consequences of wearing/not wearing protective gear.  Generally, I'm comfortable with all of those criteria, so no, I don't wear much protective gear beyond gloves, lid and boots when commuting into and out of Canary Wharf on the Pan every day.

On that note, I have mused on whether I would wear a helmet given the choice, but I know my response/reaction to that question is never going to be totally unbiased because I've been conditioned to wearing one - I've never known a time when they weren't a legal requirement anywhere I've ridden, so it's now an unconscious, second nature behaviour.  But would I be the same if I'd grown up in the states of the US where there's no helmet law?  Dunno, but . . .

 . . . I'm not a protective gear guy, and I say that having had a fairly impressive off where I separating my shoulder and scraped up my legs.  I'm like Bryan in that I'm not a great fan of conformity for the sake of it and am hugely pro-individual choice - although I have nothing against the gear and have a lot of it.  But I also see getting from point A to B safely as a technical skill; I've never been a speed guy and only started using bikes in my 30s as a means to get to and from places - and not because I was interested in/thrilled by speed.  No gear would have prevented the main injury I inflicted on myself (although the suit I was wearing came away without a mark on it, which I thought was impressive), but using the no gear logic above, I guess I might have ridden without a lid had they not been obligatory. 

Having said that, I reckon it's better to have been conditioned the way we have rather than the alternative . . .

[matthewmosse]

On really hot days when on my outfit I'll happily leave the gear off, particuarly in traffic, and find myself quite resenting the helmet law. In the US where some states require helmets and others do not they appear to save 5% of lives but cause 5% more cases of neck down paralisis. I know for me the choice between dead or that is clear, I'd sooner die than be trapped unable to move or do anything. On solo bikes as opposed to outfits I'd probably only bother with leathers for distance riding (and my 20 mile commute) or winter. I'm an adult and can make my own decisions on my life, on a bike the chancees of me making decisions that end others are lower than in a car, also the factor of feeling invulnerable making ones driving worse, something that our increasingly boxed in and cussioned cars are making in my own oppinion far worse. Take a drive in something like our landrover with it's all metal dash and no airbags and it adds a cirtain focus, maybe that partly explains the figures on helmetless bikers vs helmeted from the states, the helmetless ones may ride a bit more carefully.

[andy120t]

For me it's generally jeans, leather & bike boots. Helmets are great as they keep the flies out of my face- but if they weren't a legal requirement I'm sure there would be hot days when I would go without - or times when i was only out for a short distance - I think I would feel pretty vulnerable though.

I feel more vulnerable without leathers on; but don't really rush around so much anymore - hence am quite happy in my jeans.

Each to their own, though. I'm not a fan of enforcing any type of riding apparel.

[kifer]

I can see the attraction of the freedom feel and again its down to the choice of the individual but have just returned from a 700m
road trip, on the ride had quite a few front and rear slides and must admit feel safer with all the kit on if not a bit warm at times.