Leather the Storm.
Who hasn’t watched a motorcycle race, and seen a rider hop right back up from a sliding, high-speed crash? Even more amazing is when the rider runs over to his bike, and speeds back into the race. Ever wonder how they do that?
The answer is protective gear. We should all learn from these motorcycle racers. If a biker with no protective gear hits the ground, the road will act like a cheese grater, shredding the skin. Road rash can vary from first-degree, which is much like rug burn, up to third-degree, which is very painful and requires immediate medical care. We can protect ourselves from unnecessary injury year-round by simply donning safety gear.
Get this: In a drag test of various fabrics, normal jeans wore through after being drug on the road for less than four feet. Kevlar jeans will up that number to 22 feet before fabric wears through to skin. Heavy leathers keep skin and pavement apart for about 86 feet of sliding.
Some bikers complain that safety gear is too hot. While adding gear generally will increase body temperature, it doesn’t always have to be leather. I generally roll with full armored leather up to about 80 degrees. After that, I’ll trade in the leather jacket for a mesh textile jacket with body armor. Amazingly, I stay cooler with my mesh jacket in hot weather than if I were riding in a sleeveless t-shirt. Of course, once stopped, I get the jacket off immediately, as lack of airflow makes the jacket get hot in a hurry.
I roll with either chaps or leather riding pants up to about 90 degrees. After that, a pair of CoolAir Mesh Bohn armored pants (www.bohnarmor.com) is the ticket. These armored pants are invisible under jeans, just like long johns (but a lot cooler), and have body armor at all the crucial points. Take a slide in these, and the chance of skin loss becomes negligible.
The same considerations apply to gloves and boots. Heavy leather and padding over feet, ankles, palms, knuckles, and joints will spare the biker considerable skin loss and pain in a crash. There are numerous glove options depending on weather conditions.
If a biker wants to keep skin intact, there are protective gear options for all seasons. The gear isn’t cheap, but compared to pain, medical bills, and lost income, well … ‘nuff said.
