DRESSED TO KILL OR BE KILLED

The following opinion was also touched upon by our Safety Goddess Catnip Cougar, and can be viewed in the archives of our Safety Corner right here on Krazy Biker Katz. This is my take on it.

One thing that gets my goat is seeing “bikers” riding along, wearing a pair of shorts, a tank top, flip-flops or sneakers. I put the word ‘bikers’ in quotes because these people, in my opinion, aren’t really bikers. They’re often seen riding Japanese crotch-rockets or scooters but sometimes I see people dressed this way riding a $25,000 custom Harley.

Most REAL bikers I know wouldn’t be caught dead or alive riding in shorts and sandals. When I see someone in shorts riding a bike, I say to myself, “That’s no biker.” I believe many of these shorts-wearing wannabes are newbies, people new to the motorcycle world. There are many newbies these days. When the gas prices went soaring a few years ago, lots of people decided to buy a motorcycle and this trend is continuing today. These greenhorns think they know how to ride because they passed an MSF course. If you are riding behind one of these newbies you can tell how little experience they have. I love seeing them go into a curve and watch them lean the bike but keep themselves upright. What a hoot! Or when they come to a light and have to “duck-walk” the bike a few steps before they come to a full stop or take a few steps when they take off after the light turns green. These same people drag their feet when they are going very slow. It’s funny but at the same time, it’s downright scary. PICK YOUR DAMN FEET UP!

Down here in Florida you see people dressed this way a lot. Men and women. I’ll often wear shorts and sneakers, it’s very comfortable. But NEVER when I’m riding. The topper to all this is that in spite of them not wearing appropriate riding apparel, they’ll often have a helmet on their heads resembling the head-gear the Apollo astronauts wore walking on the moon. This cracks me up! They are almost naked but because they have this all-encompassing helmet on, they think they’ll be relatively safe in a crash. I picture these people laying down their bikes at a high speed and sliding for a hundred yards. At the end of this slide, you’ll see a full helmet rolling down the street containing a perfectly preserved head. The body will be imbedded in the asphalt and will require a toothbrush to recover.

In Florida, there is no mandatory helmet law (yet). I, personally, don’t wear a helmet. I think that wearing a helmet often gives one a false sense of security. They may take chances that they wouldn’t take if they weren’t wearing a skid-lid. I ride very carefully, partly do to that fact that if something happens, I know I could get very hurt. I hold no grudges against people wearing helmets. It’s probably a good idea in the long run but I don’t like it for myself. It’s a personal preference.

But one thing you’ll never see is me riding without gloves, jeans and boots! I attempted twice to move my bike just a few feet while wearing shorts. I didn’t want to go and change into jeans just to inch the bike away from some cage runners. On both occasions I burned my leg on the pipes! Damn that hurts.

Many years ago I was in a very serious accident that came close to ending my life. I spent two weeks in the ICU of a Shock Trauma unit in Baltimore, Maryland, where I was riding at the time. I was wearing a helmet and everyone tries to tell me that the helmet saved my life. I don’t know if that’s the case though. I still have that helmet and it has one small scratch. That’s all. I don’t think a helmet will save your life. It could, but you shouldn’t depend on it. Many people die in motorcycle crashes every year with the majority of them wearing helmets. A recent statistic here in Florida showed that 53% of all motorcycle fatalities were people who were wearing helmets. Only 47% were not wearing lids. What’s that tell you? It tells me that I’m probably right when I say helmets are more for making people THINK they’re safer, when in fact they’re not.

So keep in mind that dressing properly on a motorcycle may or may not save your life, but it can sure help you keep your skin intact!

Just my two cents worth.

Till next time, let’s be safe out there.
Johnny