Jump to content
The MT-07 Forum

New rider squid


rich01760

Recommended Posts

I have a friend that I took the MSF course with 3 years ago. I have been riding for 3 years but he didn't buy a bike until a few days ago. Went for first ride yesterday and he comes out with a sweatshirt, track pants and sneakers. At least he had a brand new full face helmet (which he is considering returning). He is very rusty and needs a lot of practice. I wear all the gear all the time and I encouraged him to get gear. He nods his head yes, but his actions don't match his words. Should I continue to urge him and what is the best way to do this without being a nag or do you feel it is totally his choice? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have encountered similar situations and I flat out tell them that I don’t want to be the guy scraping them off the pavement or watching them lay in more agony than they should. I can’t enjoy a ride with someone wearing flip flops and a T shirt. My .02

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, rich01760 said:

I have a friend that I took the MSF course with 3 years ago. I have been riding for 3 years but he didn't buy a bike until a few days ago. Went for first ride yesterday and he comes out with a sweatshirt, track pants and sneakers. At least he had a brand new full face helmet (which he is considering returning). He is very rusty and needs a lot of practice. I wear all the gear all the time and I encouraged him to get gear. He nods his head yes, but his actions don't match his words. Should I continue to urge him and what is the best way to do this without being a nag or do you feel it is totally his choice? 

You could try but his actions speak for themselves. You're both adults, I assume, so beyond modeling good behavior there's little you can do to change another's beliefs. Help him knock the rust off his skills by riding safely, in low traffic areas and skip the foolery lest his first crash either teaches him the value of good gear or helps him decide to find a different hobby. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 I rarely ride with others (only with my son).  I did once recently and found myself doing things I never would have done on my own. There is a case for refusing to ride with your friend because it is riskier anyway - until that is he buys and wears the right gear. Then y'all take care.

Just do it! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

It is his choice but please keep nagging him too.

Send him links to stupid cager vs MC crash videos regularly to remind him of what may eventually happen if you want to drive the point home.

DewMan
 
Just shut up and ride.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bigturbomax

If this was MY friend id ride him about it pretty hard, and do with some friends. Why? Cuz i care. Most of them understand that. I had a friend....always wore good jacket and helmet. Took me 6 months to convince him to wear some damn gloves. Im STILL trying to convince him to put away the nikes and wear some damn boots. 1 thing at a time. I hate to be crass, but dont worry about loosing a friend over harping. Cuz when you got friends that dont wanna gear up you could lose em to something worse. Thats my outlook anyway. 

Like Dewman said, it is his choice at the end of the day but to me friend ought to try and look out for eachother. I feel like this falls squarely under that general rule. Thats just me tho. 

Edited by Bigturbomax
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would make a friendly suggestion just one time and leave it at that. He's a big boy and he knows the dangers and consequences of wrecking. No sense in acting like a nagging mother, especially if he left the house to get away from that and make his own choices, whether good or bad.

Beemer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If he's a really good friend, buy him a low buck jacket, like a cut out from some retailer like Iron Pony in Ohio or Revzilla.  Iron Pony has some super deals on close outs, they buy out inventory and sell it off on the cheap with some stuff.  An older style leather coat can easily be had for less than $100 and some enduro style coats around the same.   I think they still had some old style Kawasaki white/purple/green leather jackets for under $50.   

Get him a jacket... then tell him  how stupid it looks riding in a jacket with sweat pants, at least wear some jeans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Show him all the crash videos on YouTube. There’s plenty of narly footage to convince anyone to wear a full deployable bubble. 
 

Taking a wild guess here and it sounds like your friend exhausted his budget on bike rather than calculating for gear along with the bike. Pretty common decision because majority of people would rather have a bike to ride than to spend all the money being protected and not have the bike of their dreams.  People get into riding because of bikes (especially the FZ/MT 07) not because of protective gear. If this is true just give him some of your old gear, look for some good deals for him on Craigslist/ eBay, go gear shopping with him or just buy him some. 
 

At that point if he chooses not to wear it than I would not to ride with your friend. Would you want to witness your friend sliding 50 feet across the pavement? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now, fact is I often ride in shorts, Converse All Stars, and tees in short runs.  I've got a few years riding under my butt and other experience though.   

I know the dangers, but I make my own risk evaluation knowing how I will be riding.   When going on a serious ride I will wear jeans, coat, and boots, work boots on the road and MX boots for dual sporting and sliding around gravel roads, often an enduro jacket dual sporting too.  Again, my choice.  Anyone riding with me  can dress how they want, but...

... But I do not ride with people not wearing helmets.   I would be a bit iffy about a half shell and also open face.   I just know head injuries don't heal very well and can be horrendously disfiguring.     I just don't want to be on that ride with someone hitting their head.   Broken bones and lost skin can heal, but severe concussions or worse can be debilitating in the lightest of hit under the simplest of accidents.

I always have my full face helmet on and buckled, even if going across the street.  I rode from one side of a school to the other side in a virtually empty parking lot when picking up my laptop - I put on my helmet and buckled it for the 1/4 mile ride.   I know a rider who died of injuries from a crash when he was only riding a city block down the street with his full face helmet on top of his head, unbuckled.  The first hit knocked off the helmet, the second one his head hit unprotected.  I will not go without a full face, not even an open face.  I went face down on a coarse limestone road and actually remember the face shield hitting the gravel, no face or head injury.  I also wear gloves, knowing the first hits are often head and palms of hands.

No helmet feels absolutely foreign to me.   

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.