As some of you know I am heavily involved in the study of motorcycle protective clothing and i have to act as a consultant to various bodies on what is good, what is bad and how clothing reacts in crash situations.
I have just been going through some old files, updating and adding to the reports which have been ongoing for nearly 20 years, and I came a cross a few real cases which i thought you might be interested in, and which may convince some the importance of being properly protected, but without the sales/racing/ publicity hype that tends to be rammed downthe throat particularly to those of you who are perhaps new to riding. So, I hope you find them interesting and of some help.
Case study 1
An experienced rider having recently passed his RoSPA advanced riding test, is riding to work one morning on his Honda CBX550. He is wearing his leather jacket and leather trousers purchased a few weeks before, having previously not been convicned of the value of leathers!
As he commenced to overtake a slower moving vehicle on a main A class road, he misjudged the speed and distance of an approaching vehicle and collided head on with a closing impact speed of about 120 MPH. The rider was found lying in a ditch about 200 yards from point if impact suffering multiple fractures to his left leg, knee, right arm as well as severe internal injuries.
He was conveyed to hospital where his family were advised that if he survived they would have to consider the amputation of both his arm and leg, particularly his leg. He was admitted into theatre and as they commenced cutting of his leather trousers he lost in excess of three pints of blood in less than 30 seconds. They also found that his leg was more severely injured than they at first thought, but due to the close fitting of his trousers, they had actually acted as a splint and restricted the loss of blood giving him vital time to get Hospital treatment. Because both his trousers and jacket had fitted so well, this the requirement to amputate either his leg or arm was eliminated.
An estimated 12 month stay in Hospital was reduced to 6 weeks, and within 10 weeks he was driving again, albeit an automatic, and within 16 weeks he was driving manual gearboxes.
His speedy recovery was attributed to good well fitting leathers. Had he been wearing anything else, as he had done only a few weeks earlier, it is thought that he would have bled to death at the side of the road.
Although he is now permanently disabled, he is for the main part able to live a normal life although he will never ride a motorcycle again.
He was not wearing any armour, and this accidentt occured about 18 years ago!
This was my Brother in laws accident, and he now lives happily in Austria with his second wife and young son. I am delighted that I was able to talk him into wearing the correct kit.
A couple of case studies, might be of interest to you?
Moderators: Aladinsaneuk, MartDude, D-Rider, Moderators
TC
As you seem to have a lot of Knowledge of safety motorcycle clothing what would your opinion be on Draggin Jeans which is what I wear along with Alberg Boots and a Hein Gericke Jacket with a Uvex Crash helmet......
The only issue I have is the Draggin Jeans but with all the touring I do I find them so much of a convenience compared to leather Trousers
I would be surprised if you had a low opinion of them for around town but I would value your input regarding general wear
Many Regards
Peter
As you seem to have a lot of Knowledge of safety motorcycle clothing what would your opinion be on Draggin Jeans which is what I wear along with Alberg Boots and a Hein Gericke Jacket with a Uvex Crash helmet......
The only issue I have is the Draggin Jeans but with all the touring I do I find them so much of a convenience compared to leather Trousers
I would be surprised if you had a low opinion of them for around town but I would value your input regarding general wear
Many Regards
Peter
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TC
At the end of the day, they are just over glorified jeans, and despite the claims and the armour fitted to them, the injuries I have seen sustained by riders wearing these trousers are horrific, you might as well just wear a normal pair of jeans.peterpan wrote:TC
As you seem to have a lot of Knowledge of safety motorcycle clothing what would your opinion be on Draggin Jeans which is what I wear along with Alberg Boots and a Hein Gericke Jacket with a Uvex Crash helmet......
The only issue I have is the Draggin Jeans but with all the touring I do I find them so much of a convenience compared to leather Trousers
I would be surprised if you had a low opinion of them for around town but I would value your input regarding general wear
Many Regards
Peter
Different people will have different opinions, but inthe thousands of accidents I have been required to deal with, all of those in these type of jeans have never faired particularly well, and they are certainly not something I would ever spend my money on.
Sorry!
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TC
Here are a few more cases for you.
A rider wearing proper protective clothing and lightly padded leather motorcycle summer gloves is travelling down a main road, when another motorcycle in front throws up a loose sharp stone chipping from the back wheel, hitting the following riders middle finger. The rider flinches at the initial impact but gives it no further thought until he arrives home an hour or so later, although he did find it increasingly difficult to operate the clutch lever.
On arriving home he notices that his middle finger is becoming quite painful and swollen, and severe bruising is starting to appear. Examination of his glove reveals a razor sharp cut from just below the knuckle of the middle finger to the tip of his finger with the cut extending through the full layer of leather and the lining, althoughthe skin on his finger had not been broken.
The finger took about 10 days to heal properly, but the question is still asked to this day, how much more severe would the injury have been had the rider not been wearing gloves, motorcycle or otherwise.
Heavily padded gloves would have made no difference at it was the section from the knuckle to the tip of the finger that was injured.
In another case relating to helmets
A Police motorcyclist with over 20 years operational experience (Not me I hasten to add, but a good friend) attended his annual audiometric test, only to be told that his hearing was at least 30% defective at certain frequencies.
During his service, he had never worn any form of ear defender, and in the days of issue open face helmets, no noticeable degradation of his hearing had been recorded, although he had been wearing a flip style helmet for the previous 3 years.
Because of the type of helmet, his helmet radio earpiece volume varied according to the type of riding. The two tone horns/sirens required the radio volume to be louder than would normally be expected, the wind noise passing through this particular style of helmet also increased the wind noise level well above that accepted as a safe level.
He was subsequently suspended from riding and his condition was recorded as an industrial injury.
It was then made a condition of appointment to the motorcycle wing that all riders must wear some form of ear defender, and flip front helmets were withdrawn from service.
The rider who first raised the problem is now retired and is currently inthe process of suing his force for his disability which was ignored by health and safety experts within the force.
On the subject of riding without any protective clothing on at all.
One hot summer afternoon, a young female provisional licence holder who rode a 100cc machine decided to nip down to the local shop on her motorcycle for a packet of cigarettes. Rather than change into suitable clothing, she decided to put on her crash helmet as was required by law, but otherwise she was dressed in nothing more than a bikini.
about a mile into her journey, she was travelling at about 50 MPH on a national speed limit road. A car pulled out of a minor road into her path causing her to brake and lose control. She fell fromthe machine and slid for about 100 feet rolling over and over as she went. On arrival at Hospital it was found that not one part of her body had escaped being either torn, burnt, bruised or otherwise damaged. For three years after the accident she was admitted to Hospital on a regular basis for plastic surgery and skin grafts.
It is probably fair to assume that had she been wearing clothing a little more substantial than her bikini, whilst she may still have been injured, the long lasting damage would have been far less severe.
I attended this accident, and I have to say that the young lady had a body to die for, she was drop dead beautiful prior to the accident (and I don't mean this in any sexist way, it is just a fact). I still see her from time to time even now and she still bears the scars of that horrible day.
Not surprisingly she has never ridden a motorcycle since, but before the accident she was a bike nut, but was one of those believed that accidents always happened to other people, she learnt the hard way.
All too often riders will spend large amounts of money on the latest high specification motorcycle and pay scant attention to the equipment they wear. many times a rider may have nothing more than a plastic shell on his head, covering his body with a pair of jeans, trainers and a lightweight jacket.
Too many riders think that the helmet and jacket are the most important items of kit, rather than recognising that head, legs and feet are the parts of the body that receive 90% of all serious injuries, not the upper body.
It should perhaps be remembered that a motorcycle can be repaired or replaced, but your skin is a dam site harder to put right.
The advice should always be,
Buy the best quality at a price you can afford, not because it is a fancy label.
Ensure that it fits correctly.
If it becomes damaged or worn, replace it straight away.
If you have friends or family considering taking up motorcycling, then advise them to consider buyingtheir protective clothing first, and then use the balance of their budget to buy the bike rather than theother way round.
Sorry if that sounds like I am preaching a bit!
A rider wearing proper protective clothing and lightly padded leather motorcycle summer gloves is travelling down a main road, when another motorcycle in front throws up a loose sharp stone chipping from the back wheel, hitting the following riders middle finger. The rider flinches at the initial impact but gives it no further thought until he arrives home an hour or so later, although he did find it increasingly difficult to operate the clutch lever.
On arriving home he notices that his middle finger is becoming quite painful and swollen, and severe bruising is starting to appear. Examination of his glove reveals a razor sharp cut from just below the knuckle of the middle finger to the tip of his finger with the cut extending through the full layer of leather and the lining, althoughthe skin on his finger had not been broken.
The finger took about 10 days to heal properly, but the question is still asked to this day, how much more severe would the injury have been had the rider not been wearing gloves, motorcycle or otherwise.
Heavily padded gloves would have made no difference at it was the section from the knuckle to the tip of the finger that was injured.
In another case relating to helmets
A Police motorcyclist with over 20 years operational experience (Not me I hasten to add, but a good friend) attended his annual audiometric test, only to be told that his hearing was at least 30% defective at certain frequencies.
During his service, he had never worn any form of ear defender, and in the days of issue open face helmets, no noticeable degradation of his hearing had been recorded, although he had been wearing a flip style helmet for the previous 3 years.
Because of the type of helmet, his helmet radio earpiece volume varied according to the type of riding. The two tone horns/sirens required the radio volume to be louder than would normally be expected, the wind noise passing through this particular style of helmet also increased the wind noise level well above that accepted as a safe level.
He was subsequently suspended from riding and his condition was recorded as an industrial injury.
It was then made a condition of appointment to the motorcycle wing that all riders must wear some form of ear defender, and flip front helmets were withdrawn from service.
The rider who first raised the problem is now retired and is currently inthe process of suing his force for his disability which was ignored by health and safety experts within the force.
On the subject of riding without any protective clothing on at all.
One hot summer afternoon, a young female provisional licence holder who rode a 100cc machine decided to nip down to the local shop on her motorcycle for a packet of cigarettes. Rather than change into suitable clothing, she decided to put on her crash helmet as was required by law, but otherwise she was dressed in nothing more than a bikini.
about a mile into her journey, she was travelling at about 50 MPH on a national speed limit road. A car pulled out of a minor road into her path causing her to brake and lose control. She fell fromthe machine and slid for about 100 feet rolling over and over as she went. On arrival at Hospital it was found that not one part of her body had escaped being either torn, burnt, bruised or otherwise damaged. For three years after the accident she was admitted to Hospital on a regular basis for plastic surgery and skin grafts.
It is probably fair to assume that had she been wearing clothing a little more substantial than her bikini, whilst she may still have been injured, the long lasting damage would have been far less severe.
I attended this accident, and I have to say that the young lady had a body to die for, she was drop dead beautiful prior to the accident (and I don't mean this in any sexist way, it is just a fact). I still see her from time to time even now and she still bears the scars of that horrible day.
Not surprisingly she has never ridden a motorcycle since, but before the accident she was a bike nut, but was one of those believed that accidents always happened to other people, she learnt the hard way.
All too often riders will spend large amounts of money on the latest high specification motorcycle and pay scant attention to the equipment they wear. many times a rider may have nothing more than a plastic shell on his head, covering his body with a pair of jeans, trainers and a lightweight jacket.
Too many riders think that the helmet and jacket are the most important items of kit, rather than recognising that head, legs and feet are the parts of the body that receive 90% of all serious injuries, not the upper body.
It should perhaps be remembered that a motorcycle can be repaired or replaced, but your skin is a dam site harder to put right.
The advice should always be,
Buy the best quality at a price you can afford, not because it is a fancy label.
Ensure that it fits correctly.
If it becomes damaged or worn, replace it straight away.
If you have friends or family considering taking up motorcycling, then advise them to consider buyingtheir protective clothing first, and then use the balance of their budget to buy the bike rather than theother way round.
Sorry if that sounds like I am preaching a bit!
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HowardQ
- World Champion
- Posts: 3921
- Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 10:20 pm
- Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Bike clothing - a case study of my own!
TC
Thanks for some very interesting information, I had a relatively minor off last December, when a car pulled out on me, the detail doesn’t really matter in this case, but there were some interesting differences in the performance of the kit I was wearing.
 Had decent quality, but quite cheap, well protected GSB all-season boots.
 Frank Thomas Auqapore winter gloves, 60 or 70% leather, rest fabric with good knuckle protection and general insulation/waterproofing.
 Six year old pair of Skintan leather jeans, good quality leather, but comfort padding rather than CE armour in the knee and thigh/hip areas, with extra thickness around hips and rear end! (I often wear these as they are more comfortable, because armour often puts pressure on the arthritic joints in my knees, when my knees are bent on the bike.),
 Frank Thomas waterproof jacket, quite recent purchase, has CE armour in elbows and shoulders plus foam back protector. Interesting bit is that from well below the elbow area it looks like it is double thickness on top of the outer skin. The main colour of the jacket is red and this seemingly double thickness area is black all around the underside of the elbow. This area is also the same general area of the CE armour pocket on the inside. There is also a small area with a Kevlar type pad to make it look even safer.
 Also wearing an Arai helmet but it definitely never touched down.
Anyway, road conditions were damp, greasy and I ended up braking in the centre of the road, where there was nothing much in my favour, quite a bit of salt/sand/(sugar beat or whatever they mix it with) and broken white lines, (also damp).
The upshot was I managed to miss the car, but went down on my right hand side at about 20-25mph, when I locked the front wheel.
The R/Hand bar end, my right knee, right elbow and hip all hit at about same time and then I came out from under the bike and I slid down the road for a while whilst the bike spun away a little faster.
The differences in the damage to me and the different clothing were interesting.
Boots - Even though the protection was fairly cheap and plasticky on the outside, they seem to work well, especially when you consider my right leg and foot were trapped under the bike initially.
Bruises in this area were not too bad and dissipated well. No obvious damage other than some slight scuffing, particularly on the slider.
FT Gloves - Again worked very well even though my right hand in particular went down at a very early stage and kept my head off the ground as I slid for some distance with my hands flat down on the road. Only some very minor scuff marks, no obvious damage to gloves or my hands.
Leather Jeans - First point to make is that I have always looked after them well with leather care and also use some stuff the keeps them supple and shiny. The "Comfort Padding" meant that the bruising on my knee was worse than it would have been with CE armour, but otherwise saved me from damage when my leg was still under the bike. Very little damage anywhere to be seen on the jeans other than minor scuffing, since buffed up well. The road was damp but I did slid for a while on my side and then finally on my rear! The leather and the joints in the jeans held up brilliantly, think the regular treatment helped the leather and the stitching to survive well.
FT Jacket - This was the not so good area. First the good news, the CE armour in the elbows and shoulders worked well. You could actually clearly see the difference between the bruise on my elbow and my knee. My elbow was much less bruised and you could see a slight line where the edge of the armour was and the impact had been obviously dissipated over this whole protected area right to to the edge. Sorry to go on, but it really has an effect when you can see how something has worked to save you.
Now the bad news, what looked like double thickness around the elbow had ripped open at the bottom to reveal that the whole area around the elbow had been cut out from the main “red” jacket and the new black area, which also covers the CE armour pocket, stitched in. There was just a small double stitched overlap area. Luckily, with the road being damp/greasy, there was not too much friction and only the stitching at the bottom was ripped open and the whole elbow area was not ripped off. Cannot be sure if I could have lost the actual CE pocket, as I would have needed to rip the jacket apart to check, (had it repaired), but I would not have liked to slide down a dry or rougher surface road in this jacket.
It was also zipped to the leather jeans and that feature did work well.
Overall once the pain went away, it was an interesting exercise, which I learnt from in many ways!
The main worry was obviously the FT jacket, which failed in an area, which looked like a good point!
Always wear the best protection you can, to suit the weather conditions.
In summer this usually means leathers for me, but have always worn "Winter" jackets much more than leathers in winter.
Some time ago. I used to occasionally wear denims and a leather jacket on hot summer days, but not any more!
Thanks for some very interesting information, I had a relatively minor off last December, when a car pulled out on me, the detail doesn’t really matter in this case, but there were some interesting differences in the performance of the kit I was wearing.
 Had decent quality, but quite cheap, well protected GSB all-season boots.
 Frank Thomas Auqapore winter gloves, 60 or 70% leather, rest fabric with good knuckle protection and general insulation/waterproofing.
 Six year old pair of Skintan leather jeans, good quality leather, but comfort padding rather than CE armour in the knee and thigh/hip areas, with extra thickness around hips and rear end! (I often wear these as they are more comfortable, because armour often puts pressure on the arthritic joints in my knees, when my knees are bent on the bike.),
 Frank Thomas waterproof jacket, quite recent purchase, has CE armour in elbows and shoulders plus foam back protector. Interesting bit is that from well below the elbow area it looks like it is double thickness on top of the outer skin. The main colour of the jacket is red and this seemingly double thickness area is black all around the underside of the elbow. This area is also the same general area of the CE armour pocket on the inside. There is also a small area with a Kevlar type pad to make it look even safer.
 Also wearing an Arai helmet but it definitely never touched down.
Anyway, road conditions were damp, greasy and I ended up braking in the centre of the road, where there was nothing much in my favour, quite a bit of salt/sand/(sugar beat or whatever they mix it with) and broken white lines, (also damp).
The upshot was I managed to miss the car, but went down on my right hand side at about 20-25mph, when I locked the front wheel.
The R/Hand bar end, my right knee, right elbow and hip all hit at about same time and then I came out from under the bike and I slid down the road for a while whilst the bike spun away a little faster.
The differences in the damage to me and the different clothing were interesting.
Boots - Even though the protection was fairly cheap and plasticky on the outside, they seem to work well, especially when you consider my right leg and foot were trapped under the bike initially.
Bruises in this area were not too bad and dissipated well. No obvious damage other than some slight scuffing, particularly on the slider.
FT Gloves - Again worked very well even though my right hand in particular went down at a very early stage and kept my head off the ground as I slid for some distance with my hands flat down on the road. Only some very minor scuff marks, no obvious damage to gloves or my hands.
Leather Jeans - First point to make is that I have always looked after them well with leather care and also use some stuff the keeps them supple and shiny. The "Comfort Padding" meant that the bruising on my knee was worse than it would have been with CE armour, but otherwise saved me from damage when my leg was still under the bike. Very little damage anywhere to be seen on the jeans other than minor scuffing, since buffed up well. The road was damp but I did slid for a while on my side and then finally on my rear! The leather and the joints in the jeans held up brilliantly, think the regular treatment helped the leather and the stitching to survive well.
FT Jacket - This was the not so good area. First the good news, the CE armour in the elbows and shoulders worked well. You could actually clearly see the difference between the bruise on my elbow and my knee. My elbow was much less bruised and you could see a slight line where the edge of the armour was and the impact had been obviously dissipated over this whole protected area right to to the edge. Sorry to go on, but it really has an effect when you can see how something has worked to save you.
Now the bad news, what looked like double thickness around the elbow had ripped open at the bottom to reveal that the whole area around the elbow had been cut out from the main “red” jacket and the new black area, which also covers the CE armour pocket, stitched in. There was just a small double stitched overlap area. Luckily, with the road being damp/greasy, there was not too much friction and only the stitching at the bottom was ripped open and the whole elbow area was not ripped off. Cannot be sure if I could have lost the actual CE pocket, as I would have needed to rip the jacket apart to check, (had it repaired), but I would not have liked to slide down a dry or rougher surface road in this jacket.
It was also zipped to the leather jeans and that feature did work well.
Overall once the pain went away, it was an interesting exercise, which I learnt from in many ways!
The main worry was obviously the FT jacket, which failed in an area, which looked like a good point!
Always wear the best protection you can, to suit the weather conditions.
In summer this usually means leathers for me, but have always worn "Winter" jackets much more than leathers in winter.
Some time ago. I used to occasionally wear denims and a leather jacket on hot summer days, but not any more!
Hi TC,
One point I'd like to make is that not much will save you from injuries caused by an impact, but the Draggin's claim to help reduce or prevent injuries caused by abrasion.
Whilst I have yet to crash-test my Draggin' jeans, I feel that anything that improves my chances of avoiding an injury is a good thing.TC wrote:At the end of the day, they are just over glorified jeans, and despite the claims and the armour fitted to them, the injuries I have seen sustained by riders wearing these trousers are horrific, you might as well just wear a normal pair of jeans.
Different people will have different opinions, but inthe thousands of accidents I have been required to deal with, all of those in these type of jeans have never faired particularly well, and they are certainly not something I would ever spend my money on.
Sorry!
One point I'd like to make is that not much will save you from injuries caused by an impact, but the Draggin's claim to help reduce or prevent injuries caused by abrasion.
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TC
They may claim it reduces friction, experience of anything denim produces evidence totally contrary to the claims.Viking wrote:
One point I'd like to make is that not much will save you from injuries caused by an impact, but the Draggin's claim to help reduce or prevent injuries caused by abrasion.
Whilst it is a hard wearing material for everyday wear, in a crash situation the material rucks up causing friction, and then starts to burn the skin underneath.
There may be a little more protection in the areas where they are armoured, but that still won't prevent the rider from losing acres of skin.
I thought the main claims were for the protection from abrasion provided by the kevlar lining.TC wrote:They may claim it reduces friction, experience of anything denim produces evidence totally contrary to the claims.Viking wrote:
One point I'd like to make is that not much will save you from injuries caused by an impact, but the Draggin's claim to help reduce or prevent injuries caused by abrasion.
Whilst it is a hard wearing material for everyday wear, in a crash situation the material rucks up causing friction, and then starts to burn the skin underneath.
There may be a little more protection in the areas where they are armoured, but that still won't prevent the rider from losing acres of skin.
I have no doubt that these are nowhere near as protective as a good set of leathers but I had assumed them to be substantially better than normal jeans or trousers.
Do they fall a long way short of their claims?
If you go to http://www.dragginjeans.com.au/productTesting/index.htm and look at the pictures and the Video then tell me Draggin Jeans are the same as Levi's then I will eat my HatD-Rider wrote:I thought the main claims were for the protection from abrasion provided by the kevlar lining.TC wrote:They may claim it reduces friction, experience of anything denim produces evidence totally contrary to the claims.Viking wrote:
One point I'd like to make is that not much will save you from injuries caused by an impact, but the Draggin's claim to help reduce or prevent injuries caused by abrasion.
Whilst it is a hard wearing material for everyday wear, in a crash situation the material rucks up causing friction, and then starts to burn the skin underneath.
There may be a little more protection in the areas where they are armoured, but that still won't prevent the rider from losing acres of skin.
I have no doubt that these are nowhere near as protective as a good set of leathers but I had assumed them to be substantially better than normal jeans or trousers.
Do they fall a long way short of their claims?
Peter
They aren't going to show a bad video are they? Most companies I know do their utmost to sell themselves, why should they be any different? It's called sales and advertising, I was good at exaggerating, when I was in that line of work!
All I know is TC is a seasoned professional who I would listen to before the claims of an advert
All I know is TC is a seasoned professional who I would listen to before the claims of an advert
I looked a bit closer at my Draggin's and there is Kevlar in the knees, hip and bum areas. Seeing how I wear them tucked into my boots at all times, most of the parts of my lower half are _reasonably_ protected against abrasion should I come off.
I know that the jeans will move, that parts of me not covered by the Kevlar will hit the ground, and that I will be hurt in an accident. I accept these risks, and know that the only way to avoid injury is to avoid an accident.
However, on track days or ride days in the hills, I will wear leathers if it's warm enough to do so.
I know that the jeans will move, that parts of me not covered by the Kevlar will hit the ground, and that I will be hurt in an accident. I accept these risks, and know that the only way to avoid injury is to avoid an accident.
However, on track days or ride days in the hills, I will wear leathers if it's warm enough to do so.