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Motorcycle Gear Observation

bicyclenut

bicyclenut

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Jun 29, 2016
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246
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Chicago Suburbs, IL
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Today driving in the car for about 3-4 hours I saw a lot of motorcyclist out, solo and in groups. The weather was quite warm, just a tad under 90 degrees and I made some unscientific observations.

BMW riders, Sport Touring riders (Honda ST1300, FJR's, Concours) and some Goldwing riders - most wear riding pants or jeans, a riding jacket and a helmet, usually full face or modular.

Sport Bike riders - many wear helmets but then there is a mix of jeans and riding jackets, or a helmet and t-shirts/jeans/shorts.

Harley riders, Cruiser/V-Rod riders and some Goldwing riders - most do not wear helmets, a few wear dome type helmets, many wear jeans and t-shirts or tank tops. Some cruiser riders wear shorts and t-shirts. Very few wear the more typical leather jackets you see due to the temperatures.

Usually if there is a passenger either both wear a helmet or neither wear a helmet.

I didn't see any C650/C600 riders or Maxi Scooter riders today, but my experience with smaller scooters is 50/50 helmets, rarely any dedicated gear. The larger scooter riders (C650/C600, Honda Silverwings, Burgmans) usually wear a helmet and most seem to wear jackets and gear or a mix of jeans and a riding jacket. Not all, I think it depends if they ride to commute/tour vs just ride for fun or errands as I have a guy I see at work all the time riding his Honda Reflex in shorts, no shirt and no helmet.

I found an article from All About Bikes Magazine that did a survey of riders at Americade back in 2011

"Stereotype: Harley riders hate full faced helmets; BMW riders love them.

Conclusion: True

Oh, those predictable BMW riders. 91% of those who rolled past us wore a full face helmet* (and 82% wore long sleeves and pants), staying true to the unwritten by-laws of the BMW club that geared up-edness is next to godliness. How many Harley riders did the same? We checked off only 14% with full-face helmets (14%!!). The rest donned their signature half-helmets that wouldn't save a kid on a big wheel in the park. (They did, however, score high in the long pants category, at 95%. Long sleeves were a different story... only 29% had coverage down to the wrists.)"
 
As most of you know ATGAT I try to adhere to that but I must confess I have not been 100% atgat during he hot days of Summer. I do have some mesh Kevlar clothing, but being in a hurry have not used them. Luckly I have not had to use the safety equipment and that has probably been by luck hopefully that continues.
 
As the weather warms up I know that will again be appalled at the number of sport bike riders that I will see in tshirt, shorts and flip flops here in Oklahoma.
 
Driving from Kohler, WI to Chagrin Falls, Ohio just yesterday. While I love Chicago (excluding the last World Series, of course), the traffic and slow downs on the interstates was something else. I bring this up here only because this thread is about gear, and I gotta tell yah, I am very happy I ended up not taking my bike. No type of gear would have made me happy. Sometimes the best gear is the car.
 
I saw a couple guys obviously doing some touring together on California Highway 101. One had a decked out BMW K1600: Schuberth C3, Some kind of tactical riding coat and pants and fancy boots. The other on a Road King: 3/4 helmet, leather chaps, Black Combat boots, jean jacket. Both having a great time. All I could hear was the Harley.
 
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