Need help from Old Bull log of knowlage.

[terryjhaynesMember]

After a broken leg last March,and a couple of broken sholders in the not to distant past ,all bike realated, I’v been having a real bad time with the wife about my riding future,,,yu cant mention my name and bikes in the same sentence around here. She recons I’m too old and it’s too dangerous,It’s gone even as far as marage counseling,,,cose I cant “wont” quit bush riding because life is so shit with out it,I just cant live without the thrill of it,and it makes me happy.So I want a bike NOW.
Any way the short story is,,we seem to have come to a reluctant compromise,on both sides.
Here it is,,,,If I can minermise the risk of injery signifigantly,and get out and make a $, which I havent done much of lately,I can keep riding,and stay married,,,but that means that I have to hang on a bit longer for a new bike.
I feel ready to go, but others recon the it is to soon for the leg just yet.
So here is the plan…….suit up to the max.
I’v always gone for comfort in riding gear and whore the minimum, but looking back, better quality riding gear would have prevented two broken bones at least, and some other stuff that I didn’t even mention to any one.”didn’t want peaple to think that I fall off all the time or somthing” :laugh: :laugh: So I get all the good gear including a spot tracker,and the bike must follow.

So I,d realy like to hear about your off’s and injeries,,and the riding gear that you have come to trust to prevent further injeries.
I’m liking a pare of Sidi cross fire boots,but thats about all that I’v come up with so far.
Looking forward to your replies.
Cheers Teza.

[Dwayne OMember]

I hear ya Tez :whistle:

I have a bad ankle for a couple of spills (the first was in cheap boots) :dry: Never again will I buy those

I also have knee braces, only middle of the range ones, due to having a bad knee (not from riding but sports as a youngster and 2 bouts of surgery on it)

Spot Tracker is essential I reckon considering you ride a lot solo like me

Decent pressure suit/ armour too mate

Always buy the best protection you can afford is the moto

Good Luck Mate

[Matt BakerMember]

If you buy a good bike that can handle and stop you won’t crash so much

Don’t think any body armour can stop broken or dislocated shoulders its just an injury that can happen very easily in our sport, broken leg probably the same problem, boots and knee braces don’t stop the leg from snapping sideways the way yours did.

If you spend too much on protection you will be mowing the lawn in it because she won’t let you spend anymore on a bike.

I have good boots but have still hurt my ankle and feet in them, cheap body armour that stops roost and elbow grazes, knee pads (which have saved my knees from heaps of bruises) and a good comfy helmet.

Even with the best gear money can buy shit can still happen, but if that what it takes to be allowed to get back out riding without getting a divorce I would buy every piece of protection available.

[MARTIN TWINEMember]

Gday Tez,

I wear Sidi Crossfire boots and find them brilliant,extremely comfortable from new.Very flexible as they have the pivot ankle section.

A good (EVS or LEATT) neck brace i swear by,as i have had some big offs at speed and come up with a slightly sore neck,but without it things could have been alot worse.

Spot tracker as Eags mentioned,good compact size,well priced and very accurate.

A good (Uniden or GME) 5 watt UHF radio,with speaker/microphone lead to clip onto Camelback chest strap for ease of use.I know this is a protection topic but thought i would throw it in there.Its good to chat during the day to the crew,but can be used for help if needed,as all farmers run UHF.

I use external Fox body armour as i find it cooler to ride in,but in Winter i wear a EVS under armour with Enduro jacket over the top.

Good luck with it all mate.Catch up on the trails.

Marty

[Mike WyethMember]

Obviously protective gear is a must have but like LC said it’s not going to stop you from injury, it can help but not stop you getting injuries.

I think the most important thing is to ride to your ability :huh: and resist the temptation to keep up with faster riders than yourself

Tell the wife that and a new bike will be on it’s way i’m sure :whistle: :whistle:

[Bob DowsettMember]

mike wrote:

Obviously protective gear is a must have but like LC said it’s not going to stop you from injury, it can help but not stop you getting injuries.

I think the most important thing is to ride to your ability :huh: and resist the temptation to keep up with faster riders than yourself

Tell the wife that and a new bike will be on it’s way i’m sure :whistle: :whistle:

+1

I can’t comment on the ability thing much cause i have none

wasn’t there something in the bible about
lead us into temptation and deliver us away from evil :unsure:

tell the mrs
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

credit cards are good for bikes ……………………she won’t know for 30 days

[peteMember]

The guys are right, there is no gear that will give you 100% protection from broken bones.

I think that fitness is a good one, the fitter you are the more the body can take.
Better cardio means you don’t fatigue as easily and as we all know, the more fatigued we get the worse we ride.
Muscle can help when it comes to protecting your inners, and you would be surprised how well it can do it, the stronger the muscle around your bones, the better protected they are.
The stronger we can get our bodies the better we will ride or the more chance we have of getting up when we crash.

Look at Grabbo, the guy hits a roo at 150 and broke a vertebra, a wrist, his shoulder and punctured a lung, then gets better and qualifies for Dakar, all in less than 12 months.
Put me in that position wearing the same safety gear as Grabbo and i recon that crash would have killed me instantly.

Safety gear is a good thing for sure but i think if you want to increase your protection then add strength and fitness.

And if you walk in looking all buff, the missus might let you throw your leg over more than just your bike.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Hope it all works out for you Teza.

PTW

[Dwayne OMember]

:laugh: I dig the Trow that leg over comment Pete :woohoo:

Good advice though,,, even though it applies to a very small minority of us “OLD BULLS”

Cheers

[terryjhaynesMember]

Yeh! thanks guyes,,,I,m totaly aware that no amount of riding gear can prevent injeries,but it must help,and it is the diferance between me riding or not,,,so I;m going for the gear.
I totaly agree with Pete T W about fitness,and I’v got some work to do there.
I’d just like to hear about the gear that other Old bulls are happy with or had good results with.
Cheers Teza.

[ChrisMember]

teza as you know I had a heart attack 5 weeks ago, all going good now, 2 weeks till I can ride again with docs blessings, I have to be extra careful, I bruise easy and bleed a lot due to the meds I am on and risk of internal bleeding if I have a big off is greater than before. But I have given up a lot to make sure I have a long and healthy life but dirtbikes is not one of them, there is risk everywhere and you cannot live your life in a sumo suit, as much as your mrs would like you to, My Mrs is encouraging me to ride because she knows that I am much happier after a ride and get cranky if I can’t ride for a long period of time. Tell your mrs it is your marriage counselling we all need time away from the family to de-stress, spend some time with the boys, talk shit, drink beer etc, and I think it makes for a better relationship with your mrs, some time apart is good, you know absence makes the heart grow fonder blah blah,, What I would do is do a couple of really easy rides to start, once she she’s your home safe and sound a couple of times hopefully she will start coming around, better still grab one of my ttr125’s and get her on a bike and show her how much fun she can have, do it together :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy: Just tell her how much better you will be after a ride and you de-stress, Just my .0000002c

Cheers
Chris.

[ChrisMember]

Oh and don’t friggin ride by yourself!!!!

[James RookyardMember]

Do a riding school. It does not matter how good a rider you are, a school will always give some good pointers to improve your riding. Half the time crashes can be avoided through a little change in style.
Use a camel back to keep hydrated, loss of concentration through dehydration is another crash causer too.

[Eric SmithMember]

Always ride for the Monday afterwards. Being self employed, I am always pretty cautious on a bike. Not lacking confidence, but always thinking ahead. Reckon it has saved me more than once. I ain’t quick, but I make it home in one piece.

[JohnMember]

ECKS-Man wrote:

Always ride for the Monday afterwards. Being self employed, I am always pretty cautious on a bike. Not lacking confidence, but always thinking ahead. Reckon it has saved me more than once. I ain’t quick, but I make it home in one piece.

+1

I may not be the fastest and have no interest in racing people which is probably why my only spills have been a low speed.

Ride today so you can ride tomorrow.

[Peter HornMember]

+1 you can still have fun without being Evil Knievel.
If you ride with people about the same speed as you you won’t get as much pressure to keep up and you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more.
GET FIT, worked wonders for me, I can’t even play tennis anymore due to stuffed shoulder (yep Dirt Bike) but i can stilll ride if i Keep Fit!!
Also, no one has mentioned keeping your bike in good nick, lots of crashes are caused by poorly maintained bikes, one leaking fork seal, seized linkage bearings, headstick bearing rooted will all bring you undone.
As for the missus, I make sure i dont’t get speeding fines when I ride regularly and then every couple of years when I have a had some time off the bike I get one so I can tell her its the agression I’m not getting rid of on the bike… yeh OK … works for me but ….
Good luck Tezza, stay upright mate!

[Author]

Posts