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Just went for a Tuesday ride from Northern Mass to the Kanc (almost)
On 118 about 3 miles before 112, we were going at a pretty good pace and kid I was riding with crashed at around 60 to 70 mph.
Gear clearly saved him, though his boots which were not tied tightly both got tossed off, his Shift jacket zipper broke and he got road rash all over his shoulders and back (I would never buy one of these after seeing how poorly it worked), broken wrist, concussed, etc. He's fine overall, and incredibly lucky overall.
When I first turned around and saw him I helped him, called for help then could not find the bike... it was 40 feet away from him and in a 20 foot ditch, he was very lucky he did not go down the ditch. The bike must have summersaulted based on the damage:
Tail was pretty much gone, exhaust carbon fiber was ripped out of the metal portion, handlebars bent in, etc. etc.
But one thing was very clear:
His helmet saved his life twice over.
After seeings this I'm now reevaluating what I wear. I wear an alpinestars tz-1 jacket which I have lots of faith in, a shoei r900, sidi boots, and dirt bike gloves, but I now want great gloves and pants to wear that zip into my jacket to keep it from folding up. Based on how he was injured I'd feel a lot more protected with the high end gloves and leather pants to match my other gear.
I will say that this also made me tell all my other friends I won't ride with them unless they are geared up, they always wear helmets, but often skip everything else, laugh that I'm the only not squid and have a fun ride... If no gear was worn by my crashed buddy, then he'd be my dead buddy and I'm not cool with that.
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Originally Posted by luukasama
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