Pants are probably the biggest pain in the ass when it comes to motorcycles, mainly because they aren’t “cool” like motorcycle jackets and motorcycle gloves are. Lets face it, a lot of us (if not all of us) started to ride motorcycles at least a little bit because of the ego factor, and how it gives you at least +10 badass points. That being said, I always wear motorcycle overpants.
It only takes about 20-30 seconds to put on my overpants because they zip all the way up the side. One of the reasons I do this is because when I first started riding my motorcycle mentor Ray said, “When you crash, what do you think you will be sliding on?” most likely its going to be your ass.
The only motorcycle accident I have ever got in was where I flipped over the bars when my front end locked up and I was thrown forward to avoid smashing into another car. When I got up and brushed myself off (I was wearing full gear), the ONLY damage was to my gloves which I used to catch myself, and my first gear overpants which had a few holes in the knees (it just tore the waterproof coating, not the abrasion resistance material https://www.bestbeginnermotorcycles.com/first-gear-textile-overpants-crash-tested ). My jacket and helmet were completely untouched. I was on my way to work at the time and since I was wearing full gear I wasn’t hurt at all and went on to work a full 8 hour shift no problem. If I had been wearing jeans instead I have no doubt that I would have been picking gravel out of my knee, or had a nurse doing that in the ER. It would have turned a minor accident into a large medical bill and a missed day of work.
I really don’t think people realize 2 things:
1. How easily jeans rip
2. How much a skinned knee (or skinned ass) hurts.
I know how easily Jeans tear when exposed to pavement, in fact I demonstrate it in this youtube video I made a while back:
(note, I think some people have said that because I was wearing a knee pad which is a hard surface that the jeans ripped easier, I would have to disagree since your knee is made out of BONE, which is hard as hell. Go ahead, touch your knee, feel how hard it is? It’s probably harder than that kneepad I was wearing).
Now like most people I too have fogotten how bad a skinned knee hurts, but just last week I managed to skin my knee on a mat while sparring with some buddies and that son ofa bitch hurt! It’s just now almost healed, and it was barely a scrape at all!@ I highly recommend people go walk out like I did in the video in a pair of jeans and fall to your knees, it will hurt and you will be cut. Now imagine that at 10, 15, 25, 65 miles per hour!! Plus I don’t know about you but I rarely follow the speedlimit, I usually cruise at 75mph at least.
Some further reading:
https://www.bestbeginnermotorcycles.com/top-7-things-will-happen-motorcycle-crash-nsfw-pics-video
https://www.bestbeginnermotorcycles.com/motorcycle-crash-chris-young
Motorcycles are a blast and a great hobby, but I am too goddamn good looking to risk getting road rash to the point of looking like a burn victim. It’s your choice, and you have to decide what level of safety gear you are willing to put on. I ride with textile overpants and I know some people who say that is crazy and will ONLY wear leather pants. It’s all about your personal risk assesment.
~Best Beginner Motorcycles Admin