Protective clothing

[TKPM]

Found this on another site, makes you think!

As some of you know I am heavily involved in the study of motorcycle protective clothing and I have to act as a consultant to various bodies on what is good, what is bad and how clothing reacts in crash situations.

I have just been going through some old files, updating and adding to the reports which have been ongoing for nearly 20 years, and I came a cross a few real cases which i thought you might be interested in, and which may convince some the importance of being properly protected, but without the sales/racing/ publicity hype that tends to be rammed down the throat particularly to those of you who are perhaps new to riding. So, I hope you find them interesting and of some help.

Case study 1

An experienced rider having recently passed his RoSPA advanced riding test, is riding to work one morning on his Honda CBX550. He is wearing his leather jacket and leather trousers purchased a few weeks before, having previously not been convicned of the value of leathers!

As he commenced to overtake a slower moving vehicle on a main A class road, he misjudged the speed and distance of an approaching vehicle and collided head on with a closing impact speed of about 120 MPH. The rider was found lying in a ditch about 200 yards from point if impact suffering multiple fractures to his left leg, knee, right arm as well as severe internal injuries.

He was conveyed to hospital where his family were advised that if he survived they would have to consider the amputation of both his arm and leg, particularly his leg. He was admitted into theatre and as they commenced cutting of his leather trousers he lost in excess of three pints of blood in less than 30 seconds. They also found that his leg was more severely injured than they at first thought, but due to the close fitting of his trousers, they had actually acted as a splint and restricted the loss of blood giving him vital time to get Hospital treatment. Because both his trousers and jacket had fitted so well, this the requirement to amputate either his leg or arm was eliminated.

An estimated 12 month stay in Hospital was reduced to 6 weeks, and within 10 weeks he was driving again, albeit an automatic, and within 16 weeks he was driving manual gearboxes.

His speedy recovery was attributed to good well fitting leathers. Had he been wearing anything else, as he had done only a few weeks earlier, it is thought that he would have bled to death at the side of the road.

Although he is now permanently disabled, he is for the main part able to live a normal life although he will never ride a motorcycle again.

He was not wearing any armour, and this accident occured about 18 years ago!

This was my Brother in laws accident, and he now lives happily in Austria with his second wife and young son. I am delighted that I was able to talk him into wearing the correct kit.

Case Study 2

A Police rider was issued with a very expensive pair of black leather full length touring boots as part of his riding uniform. They took about 2 months to break in due to the hardness of the leather, but as soon as they had bedded in they started to collapse and fold reducing the support around the ankle. However this particular force only issued 1 pair of boots a year, and therefore the rider had no option but to continue wearing the boots until he received his next issue.

About 4 months after the date of thses boots being issued, the rider was involved in a crash and received serious injuries to his left leg. Despite the high purchase price of the boots, they had failed to afford the full degree of protection that would normally be expected.

The sloppy fit had not held his foot together or prevented crush injuries. This accident caused 5 ligaments to become detatched, calcifying of the bone amongst many other injuries, as a result of which he was pensioned off from the Police service with a registered 25% disability.

The rider to this day still walks with a limp, has a size 14 left foot instead of a normal size 11, is in constant pain and will require the foot to be amputated at some time in the future. there are also other associated back and joint problems as a result of this injury.

Specialist safety footwear manufacturers examined the boots worn at the time of the accident along with medical professionals, and confirmed that had the rider been wearing footwear even a cheap but protective boot, then the chances are that the rider would have ade a full recovery and would probably still be serving to this day.

The rider in question was me!

Case Study 3

A young man was out riding his motorcycle (not me this time ) one sunny summer afternoon, wearing a pair of jeans and training shoes. He was travelling at a speed when the bike lost power despite the fact that the engine was revving quite freely. The rider coasted to a hgalt at the side of the road in order to investigate the problem. As he stopped, he put his left leg down to support the machine and promptly fell onto the floor with the motorcycle falling on top of him.

The mechanical problem was due to the final drive chain snapping. As it broke, it smashed its way through the left hand engine casing and then sliced through the riders lower left leg like a knife through butter.

As it had happened so quickly and suddenly the rider had not felt his lower limb being suddenly amputated and had tried to stop normally. His foot and ankle were found some 250 yards back down the road still wearing the training shoe and a rather bloodied sock.

The surgeons were unable to reattach the severed foot, but they went onto confirm that had the rider been wearing a good quality leather boot, it would have been unlikely that the chain would have managed to penetrate the leather, although he would have probably been very bruised, but! His foot would have remained attached to his left leg.

Want any more?

[r1dave]

Yes it does make you think, I wear my prtective gear all the time, You never know.

[PeterM]

TKPM

As you seem to have alot of Knowledge of safety motorcycle clothing what would your opinion be on Draggin Jeans which is what I wear with Alberg Boots and a Hein Gericke Jacket with a Uvex Crash helmet......

The only issue I have is the Draggin Jeans but with all the touring I do I find them so much of a convenience compared to leather Trousers

Many Regards

Peter

[Funky]

Oh my lord this has made me think:

My leathers are too large for me...

My boots are falling apart and give me a funny walk...

Thankfully i never wear trainers on the plus side...

[pedro]

that last one scared me as my chain snapped a while ago but I was wearing the right stuff for once.

Had been wondering what sort of damage it could do

[TKPM]

Sorry PeterM.
I only found this on another site mate.

[PeterM]

I should have read your post more thoroughly as I can now see that you had said that

Peter

[Mike Daytona600]

That's scary. I always wear leatheres except on test rides at work when I wear jeans and work boots (with the laces double notted and tuckin in the boot).

To think when I was younger and couldn't afford leathers I used to wear jeans and trainers, but always a coat and gloves.

[TLS-Moose]

I have travelled thousands and thousands of miles wearing just jeans, work boots/DM's and a leather or heavy textile (Ex-Army cammo) jacket. I have fallen off wearing said atire and am still here to tell the tale

I have also fallen over because my laces got caught in the footpeg and my foot couldn't reach the floor when I stopped

Early on, I couldn't really afford decent leathers, so did the best I could - several layers, heavy clothes, etc., but ALWAYS wore gloves and boots that cover the ankles.

That said, It always does to wear the most protective clothes you can afford Insurance - you may never wish to use it, but when you really need it, you're bl**dy glad you've got it

[deej]

goes to show that you should always ride properly dressed

[AndyS4]

so what about these textile trouser thing's. are they good enough.

[LWR GERRY]

From someone who repairs more Bike clothing than you've had hot dinners.............................

I would ALWAYS recommend leathers when affordable to the biker.
Failing that.... ALWAYS wear your armours in the ALL the correct places.
It does pay to have your clothing fitting you properly rather than lose.

After years of sewing these items of attire I would recommend leather that is triple stitched in all the seams and checked over every 3-5 years.
The thread life span is 3-5 years, I try and persuade people to have this checked regularly.

Gortex is ok so long as there is plenty of armour.

That reminds me Funky, I beleive I did mention to you (Last year on the Moors)that you were showing signs of a bucket seat in your leathers!

[Ricky_t]

When i started riding, i only had jacket, gloves and helmet. My parents convinced me that i needed boots and trousers.

My parents are in the medical profession and they got me in touch with a guy who rode for decades and one day didn't bother with boots and fell off and managed to destroy his foot so much it is now just a ball. If he had boots he would still have a foot!

They bought me £320 worth of dainese leathers and boots and i have worn them all the time i ride now.

[baskie]

Found this on another site, makes you think!


The mechanical problem was due to the final drive chain snapping. As it broke, it smashed its way through the left hand engine casing and then sliced through the riders lower left leg like a knife through butter.

As it had happened so quickly and suddenly the rider had not felt his lower limb being suddenly amputated and had tried to stop normally. His foot and ankle were found some 250 yards back down the road still wearing the training shoe and a rather bloodied sock.

The surgeons were unable to reattach the severed foot, but they went onto confirm that had the rider been wearing a good quality leather boot, it would have been unlikely that the chain would have managed to penetrate the leather, although he would have probably been very bruised, but! His foot would have remained attached to his left leg.

Want any more?

im sure if it manage to cut althe way through his bone a bit of crappy leather would have been cut just as easly. i can see this guys is obsessed wiht foot ware. but i know 9/10 nobody wears a back protector. and u may wear a jacket with elbow pads and sholder pads but 9/10 jackets dont have a back protector. i think that is fart more important then wearing boots. if u can wear boots, thats fine. but thanks for the study whoever u are. and sorry about ur foot .

p.s dont drive with steel toecaps.

[tomr6]

If you wanna wear leathers then wear em. If you dont then dont wear em. Its a free world. I choose to wear mine all the time.

If your old enough to ride a bike on the public highway then you are old enough to decide whether or not you want to reduce your chances of injury by wearing the correct kit.