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Let's be honest, who truly rides ATGATT?

I'd say no protection for your legs absolutely doesn't qualify as ATG. Or is there some sort of leather below the belt?
 
Junkie said:
I'd say no protection for your legs absolutely doesn't qualify as ATG. Or is there some sort of leather below the belt?
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There seems to be a different perception of ATGATT between riders of different types of bikes. I've noticed that a lot of standard or cruiser riders will consider everything including riding boots but no leg protection other than jeans as full gear.

Whereas sportbike riders seem to consider ATGATT as everything that you would wear on the track.

I suppose it's driven by what is deemed "full gear" for the discipline involved. You wouldn't see someone on the track in jeans as that would be strange, and you don't normally see standard or cruiser riders in full leathers, chest armor and kneesliders as that would seem "strange" as well, though well prepared.
 
I ride ATGATT 100% of the time, never drink and ride (not even one, ever, my personal rule), and take my own personal safety very seriously. I won't ride to the grocery store without a full-face helmet, jacket and overpants (or one-piece suit), gloves, and boots. Asphalt hurts: been there, done that. I've ridden over 150k miles in the past 7 years, and have never been uncomfortable wearing all of this stuff. If anything, it's part of the experience for me.

I don't tell others what to do, though I do recommend ATGATT if asked, but won't force the issue. Each to their own. What you do on your machine is none of my business, or anybody else's, IMHO.
 
Right now I wear helmet, spine protector and gloves. I have a leather jacket, non moto, that I wear under my carhartt and my work boots. I will buy more gear as I can afford it.
 
Superman lets me borrow his suits. I realized it didn't' work because it's like a pajamas. So I ask Batman and it works, the same suit he used for beating the living dipshit out of Superman. Armor and all, sah-weet.

Kidding aside, I wear Aerostitch with built-in back armor and thick warm gloves for long trips and cool rides. Warmer climate, I wear a leather jacket, 21oz to 14oz selvage thick jeans (with armor'ed knees), leather gloves. My boots are Daytona Tran Open GTX, Sidi Vertigo, Red Wing Classic Moc toes, and Red Wing Iron Rangers.

Real Helmets, every single fucking time. None of that ultra-ridiculous tiny bowl helmet that hill-billies on hogs wear.

Right now hunting down a good pair of made for riding jeans, possibly UglyBros or Saints. I'm ATGATT.
 
PunkRockMonkey said:
I am 95% ATGATT.

I have, on occasion worn all my gear, except for my leather, armored pants. When not wearing those, I'm wearing armored knee/shin guards under Carhartt work pants.
Everything else is my regular moto gear.
(track jacket with spine armor, heavily armored track boots and gloves, full-face helmet)

I started out ATGATT, due to the insistence of all of my friends who rode and my instructors at MSF. After 15 years of riding, I feel naked riding without it–even in the Carhartts. (Which makes me feel even more reluctant to ever go on the Vampires Kilt/Naked rides.)

Now, a story:
I have always worn heavily armored (read:racetrack/moto-x gear) gear. I have full length A* Tech-8 enduro boots and Dainese Torque RS boots.

I was involved in a major side-impact while wearing the enduro boots on the street. Snapped my foot peg off and crushed the shit out of my leg, but nothing broke*. I was unable to walk for over a month. I attribute my luck heavily to the fact that I was wearing hard-armored boots.

Just over a month ago, a good friend was not so fortunate. She was wearing motorcycle boots (but only with a small, internal heel-cup for armor) when she was t-boned at an intersection by a left-turn bandit cager at about 25-35mph.

Here is the result:
View attachment 457731View attachment 457732
Yup. That's the stump where a leg used to be.
(How it happened)

The boot pic is where a piece of car went through the soft part of the boot and smashed the heel to pieces. There was so much damage that the blood vessels couldn't deliver blood about halfway past the knee, so that's where they amputated from.

Would a heavier armored boot have made a difference? Maybe. Maybe not.
Would you rather have that extra percentage of advantage where it might save your leg? Your hands? Your face below the chin? I sure as hell would.

I rode in 95 degree weather in full-black leathers in NYC when I lived there. People looked at me like I was crazy. I don't care. As the saying goes, "I'd rather sweat than bleed". If I can't wear my gear, I'm driving. Taking a cab. The bus. Walking. It's just not worth the risk (to me).

Everyone else is entitled to wear as little or as much gear as they like. For me, I'm ATG95%OTT. I'm not going to lie and say I don't break the rules, every now and again, but man, am I distracted when doing it. Not safe by any means.

*dislocated the hell out of my knee, though. ;)
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Thanks for posting that. Very sobering. I'm a 98% myself. The only time I'm not ATTGAT is to ride around the corner to fuel up in my residential neighborhood.
 
PunkRockMonkey said:
I rode in 95 degree weather in full-black leathers in NYC when I lived there. People looked at me like I was crazy. I don't care. As the saying goes, "I'd rather sweat than bleed". If I can't wear my gear, I'm driving. Taking a cab. The bus. Walking. It's just not worth the risk (to me).
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Anyone who has ridden ATGATT in the heat has had that conversation.

Mine was one summer day at an intersection, when a rider and his pillion on a CBR 1000 "Hurricane" pulled up next to me in their DOT approved tank top, flip flops and shorts.

"Dude, aren't you hot?"

"Rather sweat it off than scrape it off!"

"Dude, it's all skill."

"Ok!"

and off they went. No horrific karma event, thank God. But we've all had those conversations.

To be honest, if I had a tiny scooter (one of those 50cc+ things), I would not ATGATT were I to pop over to the store 1/2 mile away. Helmet and gloves, but that would be about it.

And the reason is simply that were I to ride a bicycle, I wouldn't be wearing ATGATT either, and in this scenario, the scooter and the bicycle are basically similar (especially since we're on 25mph neighborhood streets). Biggest difference being the scooter accelerates a little faster than the bicycle. Arguably the bike is safer simply because you're taller and larger than the scooter.
 
I make a point of riding 100% AGATT. On my R1 its my full track gear on my Capo its my ADV gear.

On the former, I strongly believe that riding in full track gear all the time makes track-days - at least gear wise - feel like any other ride, so I have zero gear distractions on track.
 
I have both mesh and leather suits, but my 3mi commute to work gets done in slacks dress shirt and a sweater. God forbid....
 
I was ATGATT for decades, but not so much lately. You get to a certain age, and you just don't give a fuck anymore, about anything.
 
I don’t use the bikes for running errands. I just use them for real riding.

I gotta wear something. So yeah, always full protection.

Also, with ObomaCare, I have a $6000 deductible. Gear is inexpensive compared to that. That and my tolerance for pain has changed.
 
I wear a one piece leather suit all the time. But when riding to work I just wear an off-road body armor jacket. I'll get a leather jacket eventually
 
rsrider said:
I was ATGATT for decades, but not so much lately. You get to a certain age, and you just don't give a fuck anymore, about anything.
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:rofl
Not really true for me. Survival of Cancer ( I think) and other stuff, actually made me realize how simple it is to minimize other injuries. And how stupid it is not to minimize the insults to the ONE body you are given. Yes, I rode to work for years in a suit with a jumpsuit over it. That doesn't mean it was smart.

I have been ATGATT for a long time now. I wear the same kind of junk on the street as I do on the track. I just wish the armor was good enough to actually stop broken bones at speed. I REALLY would like a Batman suit, thank you very much. I have broken my body in "minor" crashes with injuries that I don't think we should suffer. The armor is NOT good enough, but the more is better than the less.
 
Since I'm a scared noob I'm ATGATT. Jacket with armor, bull-it sr6 jeans, riding boots, FF helmet, gauntlet gloves. I was just thinking how funny it is I ride some of the same downhills on my bicycle about the same speed maybe even faster than I do on the motorcycle. Wearing a thin pair of bicycle shorts, short sleeve jersey, half finger gloves, and a bike helmet...
 
ATGATT for me, I won't even ride down the cul-de-sac without my flip flops and heavy duty cargo shorts.
 
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