WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

The Law Office of Paul Gargiulo, P.C. presents Welcome to the Jungle - The Art of Learning to Ride Skillfully

A column dedicated to your riding survival

Dressed for Winter?

During the summer of last year, I had a comment passed to me from another rider at a local motorcycle gathering. As we walked from the counter, after ordering a goodly portion of burgers, fries, and shakes (always keeping an eye on our gures) I heard one other rider comment on our Aerostich suits, as they surely look like they might have been made from JPL or NASA.

For sure it was a hot and humid evening, like what will be coming our way in a few weeks.

What he said was, more or less, “Wow, why are you guys dressed for winter?” I have gotten tired of riders who pass comments like this – while they are dressed in a black t-shirt, chaps, and ngerless gloves. I am certainly not one to judge, but…I have this column so I can and I will.

Riding with proper gear is not just smart… it is smarter.

This is a big conversation that I have had many, many times with riders who actually ride and think about the pros and cons, compared to motorcycle owners who ride if it is only sunny, warm, and a happy Sunday afternoon. Case in point #1

Several years ago I was part of a massive crash in Romania. Well, not me - but worse – Shira, who was bluetoothed to my helmet.

Nothing was as scary as hearing her suddenly slide on a wet spot and hit the ground and yowls of pain and, as she high-sided… luckily to one side and her bike stopped just a yard from a 200-foot drop.

In ve decades of motorcycle riding, I have never seen a street-rider high-side – this is usually reserved for MotoGP rides and the like. It is violent, crazy, and very, very damaging.

But, no – she had to

prove she could do this.

No suit could protect the injury she ended up with – a torn inner tendon to her thigh and a bruise on her leg that looked like a piece of charcoal. She was on crutches or a cane for 10 days, through Greece and Turkey.

Years later she stated at Monkey with a Gun, that she never hit her face in this incident.

It was easy for me to reach up and pull the shield off the deer antlers in the Tiki Bar and say… ‘Really?’ The gouge on the lexan ran down the entire front of the shield and helmet.

When things like this happen – they happened very quickly. Case in point #2

Heck, I was not even on the motorcycle, but walking along the western shore of the Mississippi River.

We had just parked and I scooted across the River Road to get a nice image of both Honda machines – the Gold Wing and NC 750X – but as I went to hop the rocks back to the hotel, 62-year old BS happened and I caught a bit of rock at the top. Suddenly there was a gravity storm.

The trip and fall were not graceful, by any means. But my Aerostich saved my sorry butt from, at the very least, cuts and bruises and, at the worst, journey-ending bone breakage.

Thank you, Andy!

These days many riders I know have added another tool in their defensive wear - In atable vests and jackets.

There are several brands and styles out there, but these all basically work in the same way. When an incident happens, these jackets deploy in 0.25 seconds and their job is to shield the neck, chest, back, sides, and hips from a violent impact. We did a Product Spotlight on Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 which is considered the bench-mark by many riders and professional racers.

Tech-Air 5 is a slim, self-contained wearable airbag vest that can be worn under any proper tting textile jacket, Tech-Air compatible jacket or any leather jacket with 4 cm of space around the circumference of the rider’s chest. Alpinestars’ algorithm has been developed by using MotoGP race data and data from over 2,000 lab-simulated crash scenarios to determine when and how the system deploys. The Tech-Air 5 System has six integrated sensors (3 gyroscopes and 3 accelerometers) that continuously monitor the rider’s position. The Tech-Air 5 system has Bluetooth connectivity to pair with the Tech-Air App, which uses the rider’s phone to display the system’s operational status, battery status and provide a detailed analysis of a ride. Firmware updates are also provided through the Tech-Air App. Other in atable vests and jackets, like Helite, work on a tethered system with a coiled cord attached to the bike and deploy instantly when you and your machine part ways. The Helite is worn over your riding jacket so space cushioning is not a consideration.

None of these jackets and gear come cheap. But you never know when ‘your day’ is arriving. Don’t dress for the winter, but always dress for the fall. ,