What level of protection do you guys wear?

[Damrongsak]

28 minutes ago, White Christmas13 said:

I always wear a good condom for protection

 

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, 2long said:

This is Thailand!

The roads or so incredibly dangerous, it's amazing.

I really don't understand people like you who take that view, I've passengered motorbikes since I was born and been riding from a young age the UK e.g. is no safer on a motorbike than Thailand, you are obviously very inexperienced or have've practice motorcycling skills. 

[OneMoreFarang]

8 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I really don't understand people like you who take that view, I've passengered motorbikes since I was born and been riding from a young age the UK e.g. is no safer on a motorbike than Thailand, you are obviously very inexperienced or have've practice motorcycling skills. 

Do you have so many undisciplined ignorant riders on UK roads? I have my doubts.

 

I think many riders will agree that the biggest risks on Thai roads are all those maniacs who do things which nobody with at least half a brain would do.  They try to squeeze through gaps which don't exist, they hope nobody will move a little to the left or right, they would never be able to brake if it would be necessary, etc.

[geoffbezoz]

9 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

On the missus's Wave, into town or down to the village - shorts, loud shirt, flip flops, sunglasses, flat cap if i can get away with it, otherwise my Beenie helmet. Certainly no gloves.

Dead serious, no joke.

And i've been riding motorcycles non stop for the last 42 years.

Getting on my proper motorcycles - different ball game, but i certainly aint no H&S Paranoid Child like some on here.

By the way - whats a full face helmet?

non stop for 42 years must be a Guinness record, bet your bum is sore ????

[Rhys]

Gloves, proper shoes, full helmet, jean jacket...

[dotpoom]

Another one of those "Let's find something to worry about" posts?

[Asquith Production]

In the UK and US most accidents happen around the one and a half to five mile range. I always wear for short journeys a open face helmet and elbow/knee pads plus lightweight gloves. T-shirts etc will give horrendous gravel rash if you come off.

[soistalker]

Is it juSt me, or does anyone else get a sick chuckle out of the car crash and motorbike crashes where the flip flops go flying, as well as those on the motorbike?

[justin case]

best protection = don't ride those death traps

 

motorbikes = DONOR bikes

[Sunmaster]

For city riding on an underbone bike: open face helmet and whatever I'm wearing at the time.
For spirited riding and touring on my Triumph: modular helmet (Schuberth C3 Pro, great helmet and very practical), leather gloves, sturdy leather jacket with armor bits, kevlar jeans and mostly normal shoes/boots (not riding specific). 
Now I've just bought a textile jacket, but haven't used it yet because I broke my collarbone losing the front in a 25kmh corner. Thankfully not on my bike....
PS: I was wearing the leather jacket at the time, but even the best armor couldn't have prevented that.

[Catoni]

16 hours ago, MekkOne said:

I've been hit by a car just a few days ago, I was driving slowly, around 30km/h with a mopad, light dress and flip-flops, standard Thai helmet, in front of me in this 3 lane road I had the Left lane occupied by parked cars, in the second lane a cistern of water was cleaning the drains and so I moved to the 3rd lane bu I cannot see anything of what was happening in the 1st and 2nd lane behind the cistern, the idiot came out in reverse in the middle of the 3rd lane exactly when I passed by, obviously he hit me (he says I hit him because I should have probabli drive on the opposite side of the road, but anyway I'm fine, little bruises, cracked ribs... Best protection are condoms for him so he cannot procreate another idiot.

Cisterns are receptacles for holding water that are built on or in the ground. They are fixed in place and do not move. What you saw has another name. 

   What you probably saw was a jetting and vacuum truck cleaning the drains and sewers that run below ground level. 

   Cisterns do not move along roads. 

[alx123]

Ride everyday to work (28kms). Full face helmet, padded mesh jacket and gloves are my basics. I have knee pads in my under seat storage but haven't really used it yet. 

 

It's hotter to bare your skin under the sun with short sleeves and short pants imo. 

 

 

[unamazedloso]

Hate to say it im an idiot 300kph rider and barely have more than a jacket and helmet. Gloves, pants, jackets seem to break repeatedly so rarely do i even have enough protection. On the scooter flipflops and a gstring????????

[Formaleins]

Full face quality helmet (well, maybe...Shark) above ankle length steel cappers. As for jeans / T-shirts jackets etc. unless you are wearing proper leathers then it makes virtually no difference whether you slide in bare skin or a pair of jeans and a t shirt, after a second or two sliding on tarmac you will be ripped up unless you have decent leathers or reinforced gear. Cotton is not going to buy you much time.

[bbz404]

14 hours ago, 2long said:

Some think I'm crazy, but my philosophy is that the faster you go*, the harder you are to hit and the less time you're on the road.

Whenever I state this, people think I've gone mad. But it is the truth. People on motorbikes hesitating to go the proper speed to flow with traffic are at a much greater risk. I constantly see people on motorbikes going incredible slow or not even daring to move into the oncoming traffic at U Turns by accelerating properly so that they are exposed to much greater danger than somebody who uses the full potential of acceleration. Brakes are as essential as acceleration and speed can save your life. 

Fully agreed with this post on "knowing your surroundings" at all times and having a good portion of luck.

[Unify]

Full face helmet. In about 20% of cases of head impact, your chin hits something. It's good to have that covered.

 

You can get one with vents. That helps a bit with the heat.

 

I'm thinking of adding hard shoes to my outfit. I would feel better about putting my feet down, then.

[Deli]

Usually Durex from 7/11, otherwise Arai. trainers and gloves. Man, it's hot...

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Do you have so many undisciplined ignorant riders on UK roads? I have my doubts.

 

I think many riders will agree that the biggest risks on Thai roads are all those maniacs who do things which nobody with at least half a brain would do.  They try to squeeze through gaps which don't exist, they hope nobody will move a little to the left or right, they would never be able to brake if it would be necessary, etc.

Yeah I agree with you the UK has better driver training compared to Thailand so as I ride about yeah you see some stupid road use, the safe thing is to get to know all the silly maneuvers and be prepared.

Except for city riding my personal experiences is no worse riding in Thailand that it is in UK, France was worse.

I find motorcycle riding a pleasure with Thailand if you make routes away from Cities, highways as much as you can there is so little traffic about and many of the roads are good.

OK r8de to live. ????

[scubascuba3]

Around Pattaya a good quality Open face helmet. Then shorts, vest, sandals.

 

If say a trip to Ban Chang, jeans, gloves, trainers, full arm top.

 

It's so hot in Thailand it's just impractical to wear much. Thais don't sweat so they can wear jeans, jacket no problem although around town most are lightly dressed.

 

In the UK at greater speeds i had full armour and a full face Shoei helmet.

 

More important is to ride defensively, i see many farang going to fast

 

 

[Tom89]

How many of you wear some sort of high viz clothing when you ride?

[rwill]

best protection is to not ride motorbikes here...

[Denim]

I wear a car. Very comfortable with air conditioning.

 

Look at it this way. Its just two motorcycles bolted together side by side with a full fairing and luggage add ons.

[connda]

Locally, like the 0.5 km to the one of the local markets - a helmet.  I'm in a minority of helmet wearers in my village.  But in the 12 years I've lived here, I've seen more than one person rolled up the hill past our house to be burnt after getting hit in the village by cars and suffering head injuries that were fatal. 

A helmet is a must.

 

Outside the village - jeans, shoes, shirt, jacket, gloves, and my 'best' helmet.  That's a minimum. 

[David in the north]

ATGATT
All the gear all the time.
It is far easier to replace sweat than skin.

[connda]

What level of protection do you guys wear?

 

Of course, once you get to where your going, belt back a couple of brews, and are approached by a sweet young thing, it's always best to suit up before considering any additional riding activities as the "road rash" from these riding activities may well end up to be fatal. 

 

[bkk6060]

I think as little as possible would certainly make the world a better place.

[fxe1200]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

 

......More important is to ride defensively, i see many farang going to fast

 

 

What is too fast? I always try to keep the traffic behind myself, there it cannot become dangerous for me.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah I agree with you the UK has better driver training compared to Thailand so as I ride about yeah you see some stupid road use, the safe thing is to get to know all the silly maneuvers and be prepared.

Except for city riding my personal experiences is no worse riding in Thailand that it is in UK, France was worse.

I find motorcycle riding a pleasure with Thailand if you make routes away from Cities, highways as much as you can there is so little traffic about and many of the roads are good.

OK r8de to live. ????

It seems it depends very much on what people are used to.

I am in Bangkok at least 90% of the time and I have a good idea what to expect from other riders. There are still some surprises, but not often.

 

I feel already uncomfortable sitting in a bus outside of Bangkok and looking out of the front window. Lots of crazy drivers overtake even when they clearly see others on the road and they know the others must drive to the side to create some space.

And lot of idiots with very slow vehicles or hand carts move slowly over a couple of lanes. Horrible!

That is one reason for me to avoid bike trips like that completely. In the bus I try to get a seat in the back and don't look through the front window.

[EVENKEEL]

Top notch flip flops and sun screen, don't want racoon eyes.

[scubascuba3]

What is too fast? I always try to keep the traffic behind myself, there it cannot become dangerous for me.

If people are honest with themselves they should know whether they are going too fast.

There are benefits of keeping with traffic rather than clearing it i.e. hidden junctions, local knowledge is important.

If people look around at the riders in Pattaya only 1 in 100 if that are wearing protective clothing and they look completely out of place in this heat