As some of you may know, I wrecked my bike a while ago and have not had the funds to fix it yet... I wouldn't consider my accident severe... I walked away with the usual pains and scrapes, but then again hitting a tree at 55 in the middle of the road at night will do that to you... I landed head first and rolled about 180 feet before stopping... Everybody told me that if i hadn't been wearing my gear I would have been alot worse (dead)... My helmet was scraped down to the innerds, my jacket was in rags, and the carbon fiber on my gloves looked like i put them in a grinder... My helmet hangs on my wall today reminding me that it saved my life, because I know I would have been dead with out it.

We all have read the rider down posts, a good 1-2 every week. We all give our prayers and our sympathy, but should we be doing more? I hear alot of us saying "NO gear, No ride", but every day I see more and more people without helmets no jacket, riding with a pair of shorts and sandals. Now I call these people ignorant. Whether you wear your gear because you are a new rider or scared of other drivers, or just be cause "shit happens", the whole point is you are wearing it...

So i ask you, "what is it that we get that others don't?" Is it expierence, maturity, value of our lives? Maybe a combination of reasons.

Whatever the reason may be, do you find it to be our responsibility to "help others get it?" Wether you do or don't, it could possably make the difference between the life and death of one if not more people.

So how do we do it? What can we do?

IMO:We as tampa bay area motorcycle riders hold a RIDER AWARENESS DAY. I feel it is easier and more effective to inform riders of the dangers associated with riding rather than inform the drivers to look out for motorcycles. If we could just get other people that ride in our area to take some more precaution and be more aware of the risks that they are taking everytime they turn on thier bike it could really make a difference. Many bike manufacturers out there offer a rebate on MSF approved classes taken by riders, MSF itself is a big pusher for motorcycle safety, safety gear manufacturers could provide allot of backing. I have heard a few people say that they know some of those people. We have plenty of local shops that could participate, local clubs, and other motorcycle friendly businesses in the bay area. And also since we strive to be more respected by police we could have them there not harassing but more on an educational aspect...

I know this may seem unreal but it could happen I do not have the resources to put something like this together and I do not want to seem as if i am pushing this on any one person or club or entity... I posted it here because I think that more people visit this site collectively throughout all the bay area clubs more often and this would be a better place to see if this is something that could realistically be done... If one person or group of people feel that they could do something, even if its not my idea I would be willing to help any way that i can.

I really think we need to do something too many people are getting hurt and just because we might not know them, and to us they are just another "squid" it's getting to that time where enough is enough, something must be done.

If anybody has any other ideas or opinions please post...

 

I agree with you, i know there are a lot of people on TR that are apart of other sites and clubs. If we could all get together and hold anevent like this it would be great. I will help out anyway i can. Like jbla23 i am only one man. But if a few clubs or groups get the ball rolling i know a lot of people will follow. Good idea

 

I will be a new rider and will NEVER leave without a helmet and gloves... The only thing I am worried about is the jacket. Each one I try on in the stors are really stiff and uncomfortable.

To me, I think alot of people don't wear jackets because they are expensive and uncomfortable.

 

Keep looking... Hot, uncomfortable, whatever... you'll be glad you had it. Try out the different brands until you find one you like... even try buying one size too big... thats what i did and it worked... As long as you are covered

 

i have some pretty painful scrapes on my left forearm as i type this because my jackets were too hot to wear out sunday. thank god i went down at a low speed - that's all i suffered. these are a bitch and they're VERY MINOR. i couldn't imagine going down at 60mph or higher and having to deal with that shit.

my opinion - nothing is goign to change it. people will be morons like me and think it won't happen to them. then it will, and they'll either heal and start to wear gear or decompose. same thing happened with me and seatbelts, 'til i came around a corner one night in college and saw a half-dead guy laying in the middle of the road who'd been ejected from his truck.

 

Great post.
Leadership by example, not exemption.

 

I think by seeing more and more riders out there riding with gear and example will be set, just as cecil said.

Lately I've been seeing more and more people wearing helmets, even those on cruisers. Collectively I think Tampa has some smart riders (drivers of vehicles can be said to be otherwise) but this is the hot season for bike sales and thus your going to have alot more new riders.

If the local riders could organize a biannual ride where it is a pre-requisite to wear gear and possibly in the near future organize something resembling "trade-shows" for gear manufacturers I think that would also help. However as Matt said, your not going to be able to weed out all the morons that must be left up to social-darwinism.

 

i'm with moldy. there is always someone out there who will think that it will never happen to them.

i think jackets/long sleeveshirt should be required by law. most jackets are hot when you stop but a good textile even in september at 30+mph cools just fine.

if you think jackets are uncomfortable then dont ride. Riding a sport bike is work, your wrists and arm will ache at first. but you use your whole body to manuver the bike, if you cant deal with getting a little sweaty, there is no way your going to be able to deal with being bloody. face it crashing is part of riding, it hurts you just have to get back up on it and ride again. if you cant do that then save your self the money and dont buy a bike.

motorcycles are something we love and thats why we do it. most of us know the consequenses of our actions(thats why we wear gear), while others are a little less concerned

people just dont seem to get it, until it happens to them.

good thought but there are just too many meat heads in the motorcycle community.

 

Alright so I take it that most on here will agree with me in that there have been too many fatalities, but don't feel that doing anything will make that drastic of a difference mostly because of the "it won't happen to me" mindset...

I do do agree with you on that...

However I still feel taking action is something that needs to be done. What I would like to show people is that it does happen to you me and everybody else out there... Maybe with some proof, broken helmets, wrecked bikes, torn jackets, family members, supporters of motorcycle safety, and so on... Not so much showing that riding is going to kill you, just that riding irresponsibly can kill you, and if you let it, it will. I don't see this as being a large scale mass funeral rememberance, but one big life lesson, not one that has to be learned by your own fault but learned from others. Kind of like an educational celebration of life and riding. We all know that every motorcycle accident does not make it into the papers or the news, but if we put them out there for people to see and touch then it might be the wake up call that they need.

I don't want to beat a dead horse with this so if the general idea is that simply setting the example alone is enough then that is fine... I just wish there was more that could be done.

Thanks for your posts everybody

 

I agree with all you guys. We should have some kind of get together to promote bike safety. And if we could get backing from some gear dealers, Just maybe, we could get discounted gear too. The discounted price could be an insentive for those who complain that helmets/jackets ect are to expensive, thus being the reason they don't wear it. Also if we could get a little bit of media coverage, non bikers might be more aware that there are riders around and maybe give us a little bit of space. Or that one person might look twice before pulling out of a parking lot. It could save any one of us.

I think its a great idea overall