Originally Posted by harleyrider

Some of the comments here are typical "do-gooder" "you must be protected from yourself" type of mentality.
If a rider chooses to ride with bald tyres or ineffective brakes etc then he is a danger to other road users and should be stopped.
But if a rider chooses to ride without a helmet, or boots or gloves then that is his risk to take and what right do others have to criticise him for taking it.
We all have a line at which we draw for our own safety. Motorcycling is a dangerous activity and some of us feel more comfortable with full safety gear and others make do with less. That is their choice. Some people choose not to ride motorbikes at all as they consider them too dangerous.
If I choose to ride across India in shorts and helmetless that is a risk I have chosen to make. What right does someone have to say I shouldn't do it or I am a cheapskate just because their level of risk determines they always wear full leathers and body armour.
Someone else higher up in the food chain might well decide that riding motorbikes is too much of a risk and we must be all protected from ourselves by being prevented from doing it.
I fully accept that there should be laws to prevent us or reduce the risk of us harming others but there should be a basic right for us to choose the level of personal risk we are prepared to take. If we give up the belief to that right then we eventually risk losing the right to enjoy the pastime we love so much.