Long Way Up

[Rockburner]

I think theres a difference between being reasonably cautious and being scared. If i was scared of the bike i would avoid riding it. Instead I take every opportunity to ride, but given that I have a pre-damaged knee I'm not going to risk a small off disabling me.

[Mr. Dazzle]

With me its more a case of not finding protective gear particularly restrictive. Maybe that is cause I've always worn it...

[Yorick]

If I'm riding on the road then 99% of the time I wear a bike jacket and some sort of boots that are usually Dainese casual basketball style things, but the rest of my clothes are just my normal jeans, etc.

Although if it's offroad in the desert then it might just be jeans/t-shirt.

If I'm off road, it's full armour. The terrain here in parts is not the place to fall off. Most tumbles are slow speed, but lots of opportunity to do damage. And I topple off most rides.

[Dodgy69]

Just watched first episode. All about the planning and getting bike's and support vehicles ready, which are also electric. It's a good watch and one hell and a challenge.

[Bigyin]

I have got hold of 3 episodes so will give it a look over the next few days.

As for wearing protective kit i'll carry on wearing it thanks .......... The fact that my Dainese Goretex jacket was shredded in my slide at 70-80 mph and the armour in the elbow/forearm was scraped to shit but my arm remained unmarked was a good enough evidence to support wearing it. The right shoulder and left elbow armour also took hits along the way

[Taipan]

If you're going to crash, then yes, of course its best to ride with all the best protective gear on, but, I don' t intend to crash and the best part of biking for me has always been riding into a cooling wind on a hot summers day. I love riding round town or into work in shorts and t-shirt. If it was legal i'd probably not wear a lid on hot days either and have often de-lidded on back roads to catch a breeze.

Even after having a replacement knee and knowing that any damage down there will almost certainly mean my ending up being an amputee, i still ride in shorts and t-shirt on hot days. Life is for living, not fearing, but I do understand others risk aversion. Different strokes and all that...

[Potter]

As for wearing protective kit i'll carry on wearing it thanks ..........

If I was using a motorcycle as a commuter on A roads and motorways, in all sorts of weather, then I'd be wearing the same stuff as you.

My comment was aimed at the people that dress up in a literal suit of armour for a pleasure ride on a sunny day on country roads - I'd personally just take the car if that was how I was wired.

[Rockburner]

As for wearing protective kit i'll carry on wearing it thanks ..........

If I was using a motorcycle as a commuter on A roads and motorways, in all sorts of weather, then I'd be wearing the same stuff as you.

My comment was aimed at the people that dress up in a literal suit of armour for a pleasure ride on a sunny day on country roads - I'd personally just take the car if that was how I was wired.

Thing is.... It can happen to you at any time and at any point. When i nearly lost my leg I was less than 100 yards from the house, and I'd just been out for a pootle. I was wearing jeans. If been wearing armoured trousers (which i owned at the time) i could have saved myself 6 months of severe pain.

It's a bit like jumping out of a Chinnook for a routine walk around in a safari suit carrying a packed lunch, its all you'll actually need, but would you do it?

[Potter]

Thing is.... It can happen to you at any time and at any point. When i nearly lost my leg I was less than 100 yards from the house...

Use that as an example then, 100yds from your house, probably going at the sorts of speeds you could do on a bicycle?
Yet cyclists wizz around all the time in lycra and not full body armour filled suits.

You have to make decisions based on what you want vs the risk.
Swimming in the sea, riding a bicycle on the road, going on holiday, letting your kids climb trees...death awaits us all.

[Yorick]

I haven't had a road accident for 20 years.

I average 2 crashes every enduro ride.

I dress accordingly.

[Supermofo]

As for wearing protective kit i'll carry on wearing it thanks .......... The fact that my Dainese Goretex jacket was shredded in my slide at 70-80 mph and the armour in the elbow/forearm was scraped to shit but my arm remained unmarked was a good enough evidence to support wearing it.

And yet I see plenty of people saying they'd avoid Dainese as most of their stuff is A rated at best.

[Rockburner]

Thing is.... It can happen to you at any time and at any point. When i nearly lost my leg I was less than 100 yards from the house...

Use that as an example then, 100yds from your house, probably going at the sorts of speeds you could do on a bicycle?
Yet cyclists wizz around all the time in lycra and not full body armour filled suits.

That risk is their choice.

You have to make decisions based on what you want vs the risk.
Swimming in the sea, riding a bicycle on the road, going on holiday, letting your kids climb trees...death awaits us all.

Absolutely. Weirdly, death I don't really mind so much. Intense pain: I have had quite enough of.

[The Spin Doctor]

I have got hold of 3 episodes so will give it a look over the next few days.

As for wearing protective kit i'll carry on wearing it thanks .......... The fact that my Dainese Goretex jacket was shredded in my slide at 70-80 mph and the armour in the elbow/forearm was scraped to shit but my arm remained unmarked was a good enough evidence to support wearing it. The right shoulder and left elbow armour also took hits along the way

I'd say that's a very good example of a non-protective fabric jacket failing in abrasion, stitching and tear resistance, then relying on the body armour to do the job of abrasion resistance. Mind if I grab it and send it to Paul Varnsverry and Chris Hurren for comment?

FWIW a mate fell off in the US on a mountain road wearing an Aerostich at similar speed. There was a small hole about the size of a 2p piece on the outside panel at the elbow, the inside layer was untouched. The rest of the suit was barely marked. When he was riding again, he had it repaired with a new panel over the elbow.

Mind you, it took a while. He wasn't so good post-crash, and nor was his wife. Having left the road, he went over a drop and bounced around in some rocks before fetching up wrapped round a tree. Broken arm, broken leg, broken shoulder, broken rib, punctured lung and damaged spleen. Her injuries weren't quite so bad but still hospitalised.

[Bigyin]

And yet I see plenty of people saying they'd avoid Dainese as most of their stuff is A rated at best.

I had a Rukka jacket before this one and i have no doubt it would have held up a lot better in the same crash as it was a lot thicker and tougher material. As Spin said it was the armour that gave me the protection as the outer material is, IMO, for weather protection rather than abrasion rsistance

. Mind if I grab it and send it to Paul Varnsverry and Chris Hurren for comment?

The photo or the actual jacket ? ...... i have a couple of other pics of the jacket if thats what you want and i have the actual jacket at the ATB to try and convince the yoofs i teach to wear protective kit and not rely on the usual grey Nike tracksuit of invincibility

[Supermofo]

I had a Rukka jacket before this one and i have no doubt it would have held up a lot better in the same crash as it was a lot thicker and tougher material. As Spin said it was the armour that gave me the protection as the outer material is, IMO, for weather protection rather than abrasion rsistance

But you bought the same again though didn't you?

[Bigyin]

I had a Rukka jacket before this one and i have no doubt it would have held up a lot better in the same crash as it was a lot thicker and tougher material. As Spin said it was the armour that gave me the protection as the outer material is, IMO, for weather protection rather than abrasion rsistance

But you bought the same again though didn't you?

Yes i bought a similar one but the material on the newer ones has more reinforcement on the areas that got trashed. It did its job in both the crash and the 300 mile storm bound ride prior to the off.

I couldnt afford to go the Rukka route again at the time or i would have bought another one of those

[Pirahna]

Here's the video



I'm not a fan of the show. It bigs up leccy vehicles but completely ignores stuff like child exploitation in the Congo cobalt mines or the environmental disaster that is lithium production.

[demographic]

Here's the video



I'm not a fan of the show. It bigs up leccy vehicles but completely ignores stuff like child exploitation in the Congo cobalt mines or the environmental disaster that is lithium production.

Pretty sure he's covered cobalt mining, (he also covered the amount of cobalt thats used once in the petrochemical industry to catalyze fuel and how at least the cobalt in batteries is simpler to reclaim) not sure about the lithium production though.

[Bigyin]

Watched Episode one and i might be wrong but it seems to be aimed at a US audience with the bikes and trucks all being US sourced. Also noticed the custom helmet designs have gone and back to the same plain helmets for the first trip but the modern TourX4 versions. Nice to have a charging station placed for you at convenient intervals by Harley at preplanned points

Episode 2 now starting

[Bigyin]

2 episodes in and the only adventure part so far is "where and how can we charge the bikes and cars" as the route seems to be solely dictated by that and makes the 300 plus miles of the old GSA 1150s seem like an absolute luxury

I hope it develops further but when you have to ride them really slowly to get any range and then have to shift the bikes indoors to charge them as they dont like the cold then its getting a bit meh