How do you feel about seatbelts?

Leaving aside the confirmation bias (you only remember the deadly ones - you would not have been called to investigate the ones that resulted in a property damage claim!), ATGATT is not for deadly crashes - it is for the middle ground between a bad scrape and mincemeat. ATGATT is to ensure that in a crash, you either die, or limp away - instead of surviving with life-altering injuries.

In Australia or Texas, sure - it's very hot and the cops are macho. Someone who is both a trained emergency rider, and spends their entire working days every day on a motorcycle, will make an informed decision that the continuous risk of overheating is a bigger threat. But regular riders don't ride like cops, and don't have the permanent scan-for-threats mindset of cops - and here in Europe, our moto cops are absolutely ATGATT.

So you've been lucky. I've had a few crashes that were caused by my own inattention (and habitual riders WILL be inattentive at least some of the time, especially on holiday when they are enjoying the ride and scenery, to say "if you'd ridden defensively it would not have happened to you" is victim-blaming and unhelpful). In those cases, ATGATT meant that I walked away with some bruises and sore muscles - the damage to my ankles is actually from falling off bicycles, in normal street shoes, not from dropping a heavy motorcycle on my boot!

But the reason that one of my forearms and both of my wrists are held together with titanium is that while I was riding on a straight, empty, countryside road at the posted limit of 90kph, on a dry sunny day with perfect visibility, a dude in an SUV decided to blow through a stop-sign and send me on a helicopter ride to the nearest major trauma center. Your defensive riding will not prevent other people's unbridled idiocy, and if it hasn't happened to you (ever or yet), that's a matter of luck.

Whenever I've flown overseas to ride a rental motorcycle, I've stuffed gloves, papers, etc. into my helmet, and carried that on in a helmet bag. I've worn boots, riding jeans, and a textile riding jacket on the flight. Non-riding clothes get put in checked luggage - if my checked luggage gets lost (and it has) it's a lot easier to buy non-riding clothing than riding gear in a foreign country.

About the only time I've toured overseas without full riding gear is a tour in southern India. It was broiling hot with high humidity, so I'd wear an armoured mesh jacket in the mornings, then have switch to a long-sleeved denim shirt in the afternoons to prevent sunburn on my arms, but not melt in the heat. I still wore boots, gloves, and armoured jeans.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

You make some good points. And yes i probably view riding from the very mindset of constantly checking and adjusting my riding for threats.

Luck? Maybe.

Your seatbelt question perfectly sums this up. I love seatbelts. Best thing ever. So why do we stop there? Why not wear a helmet? Why not put a full roll cage in the car? Because we have come to a balance between safety and practicality.

In the state I worked in we attended every reported accident and reported on them all, which is why our statistics was very thorough. So I saw the lot - from bumps to bruises to death.

And here is my experience;
The majority of serious and fatal motorcycle collisions were primarily the fault of the rider not riding as you say - constantly scanning for threats - combined with riding too fast for the conditions and their ability.

Very few motorcyclists riding maturely, to the conditions and within their abilities were involved in serious crashes where safety gear other than helmet gloves and good jeans would have had a different outcome.

Which brings me back to my point. If you are a mature competent rider your chances of being involved in a serious crash is very low.

I am not, and have not, told anyone not to wear safety gear. I have said to risk assess the situation and decide what suits you and your particular situation.

Your collision is a perfect example of why most riders should wear protective gear. It’s the level that I question.

Tell me more about your collision and how it unfolded.


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I wear all the gear all of the time. I don't trust other road users. There are plenty of moron/ drunk/ drugged cage drivers trying to take you out. And animals, pedestrians etc. And rider error. No-one is infaliable.

I try to plan my riding not to ride somewhere if the weather isn't to my liking.

Because of weight restrictions, I wear my MX boots onto the aeroplane and carry my helmet in a helmet bag. No-one at the airport seems to care about your bike jacket as long as everything is permitted from a security point of view. I recall weighing my jacket once and it came in at 25kg! Knee braces and clothes in the arms, body armour laced into the jacket with zip ties, all the pockets full of my heaviest electronics. Yes, you'll spend time at security while they search everything Just get there early in plenty of time.

At the boarding gate, be able to carry your heavy jacket over your shoulder "casually" (you're clearly unable to wear it ), maybe draped over your helmet too. Use your body to obscure it's size depending on where the boarding gate staff are standing/ looking. Always be friendly (distraction technique ), have your passport/boarding pass ready etc.

On the flight, the boots go in the overhead locker or underneath the seat in front. Sandals/ flipflops/ light weigh shoes go on my feet. To walk off the plane, I carry a length of webbing and tie the boots together so I can carry them over the other shoulder not carrying the jacket.

If my luggage/ bike clothes are only going one way (e.g. I'm repatriating a bike back to home, as I did recently, bike was parked over the winter in the Caucuses and I rode it back to Europe), I put hold luggage in a "Chinese laundry bag" wrapped in cling film for extra security/sturdiness, that can be binned at the destination city/ airport.

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