ddd269
Registered
Hi guys... I wanted to comment about the importance of good riding gear. I know that this has been discussed many times but figured a refresher with my own experience couldn't hurt.
It happened in January of this year. I had a track day and had run about 2 tank full of gas before I decided to head home. All my friends had taken their bikes on trailers but I rode my bike because I had to leave earlier than them.
To make long story short... on the way back I was exhausted and felt sleepy. I miscalculated an exit and slid on some dirt and pebbles near the edge of pavement. The bike and I slid about 20 ft or so and I hit a curb, head first.
I was lucky to hit the curb with my helmet at a glancing blow (upwards) and not at a right angle. All in all I ended up with a headache, stiff neck and a few road rash. I was lucky that I had full gear when it happened and not my normal street stuff. It took me a few weeks for the pain to go away but I'm really happy that I walked away from this.
I think I mentioned on a related thread about the accident but haven't posted anything in detail until now because I wanted this to settle in my mind.
3 weeks after this, I low sided on this same track... on the same curb with a friend's Ducati Monster 696. Great month! So, I learned my lesson... Don't ride when you're tired, wear good equipment, and buy a track bike that you can crash and forget about. So I bought a 2005 GSXR750
Here are the pics.
On the track... a few hours before the accident
Bike after the accident
My equipment...
Holding my daughter at the end of this ordeal...
It was great to hold my daughter at the end of that same day and can't explain how thankful I was to be able to do that...
My equipment list on that day: Premier Dragon Carbon Helmet, Teknic Mercury Jacket, AGV Sport Willow Perforated Pants, Sidi Power Gloves, Sidi Vertigo Boots.
All the equipment performed extremely well. The only equipment that I felt that performed under par was the Teknic Mercury Jacket. I know it wasn't meant to be used as a track jacket but with the weather hot as it was (January is summer in the southern hemisphere) it was the right jacket to have on that day. The inner arm is made of a fabric material and the part where the leather and the fabric met, tore up (see photo). Also, the perforated goat leather didn't hold up very well. Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad that I got the protection that it provided... as a matter of fact, I'm ordering another one for the summer season.
It happened in January of this year. I had a track day and had run about 2 tank full of gas before I decided to head home. All my friends had taken their bikes on trailers but I rode my bike because I had to leave earlier than them.
To make long story short... on the way back I was exhausted and felt sleepy. I miscalculated an exit and slid on some dirt and pebbles near the edge of pavement. The bike and I slid about 20 ft or so and I hit a curb, head first.
I was lucky to hit the curb with my helmet at a glancing blow (upwards) and not at a right angle. All in all I ended up with a headache, stiff neck and a few road rash. I was lucky that I had full gear when it happened and not my normal street stuff. It took me a few weeks for the pain to go away but I'm really happy that I walked away from this.
I think I mentioned on a related thread about the accident but haven't posted anything in detail until now because I wanted this to settle in my mind.
3 weeks after this, I low sided on this same track... on the same curb with a friend's Ducati Monster 696. Great month! So, I learned my lesson... Don't ride when you're tired, wear good equipment, and buy a track bike that you can crash and forget about. So I bought a 2005 GSXR750
Here are the pics.
On the track... a few hours before the accident
Bike after the accident
My equipment...
Holding my daughter at the end of this ordeal...
It was great to hold my daughter at the end of that same day and can't explain how thankful I was to be able to do that...
My equipment list on that day: Premier Dragon Carbon Helmet, Teknic Mercury Jacket, AGV Sport Willow Perforated Pants, Sidi Power Gloves, Sidi Vertigo Boots.
All the equipment performed extremely well. The only equipment that I felt that performed under par was the Teknic Mercury Jacket. I know it wasn't meant to be used as a track jacket but with the weather hot as it was (January is summer in the southern hemisphere) it was the right jacket to have on that day. The inner arm is made of a fabric material and the part where the leather and the fabric met, tore up (see photo). Also, the perforated goat leather didn't hold up very well. Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad that I got the protection that it provided... as a matter of fact, I'm ordering another one for the summer season.
It was good non-the-less.
