1 in 2 riders are at risk, are you one of them?
The simple fact is that 1 in 2 riders regularly wear non protective denim (or worse shorts or trackies) whilst riding a motorcycle.
You won’t find an exhaustive list here on why you SHOULD ALWAYS wear motorcyle jeans. After all, the reasons are blatantly obvious aren't they? It's when you hear the horror stories of people that have come off that you start to realise (if you haven't already.)
Motorcycle jackets don’t suffer the same compromise. It’s likely because for either fashion or comfort reasons you can simply take your motorcycle jacket off when you are done riding and go about your day. Not so easy with jeans unfortunately.
According to The Motorcycle Council of NSW “Most riders wear a motorcycle jacket (97%) but fewer wear motorcycle pants (45%). This is despite the fact there is actually far more risk of injury to the legs than to the upper body or arms”
Also Read: Kevlar Vs UHMWPE (Dyneema)
So for the sake of comfort, or to save having to get changed, over half of the riders out there are putting themselves at a higher risk of injury. Traditional Kevlar jeans perform extremely well, there is no doubt about that. Brands like Draggin Jeans revolutionised the market decades ago. The trade off is and will always be performance vs practicality. Whilst Kevlar lined jeans were a better alternative to leathers for casual riding, the stats still show that they still were not comfortable/practical enough for riders 55% of the time.
Now, I absolutely fall into this category. I remember a not so enjoyable ride to the Hunter Valley via The Putty road on a 45 degree summer's day in Kevlar jeans. Not stopping at the Grey Gum Cafe for a water break (last stop for around 150 kms) was also a rather large oversight, brutal, in fact.
Regardless of the reasons why riders don't always wear motorcycle jeans, there is no doubt they absolutely always should be.
Here's Why:
Between 2008 and 2015 there were 20,805 hospitalisations. During this period an average of 170,000 motorcycles were registered over that time.
In a seven year period that's close to one in eight hospitalisations for every motorcycle registration. Yes that’s an average and yes we could go further down the semantics rabbit hole of where and when, active vs inactive riders/registrations and so on, but I can only imagine these stats get even worse.
Fortunately, new technology such as single-layer motorcycle jeans containing UHMWPE (Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) fibre offer a high standard of protection whilst also being comfortable and friendlier in summer. Camino have developed a motorcycle jean that is aimed at those who still wear normal denim.
We want you to look good, be comfortable and survive the summer without having to change out of your Kevlar jeans. Even if you want to ride in 30+ degree days with no water breaks.
For some more sobering stats you probably don’t want your non-riding significant other to see, click here https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/downloads/trauma-trends-motorcycles.pdf or here for VIC http://www.tac.vic.gov.au/road-safety/statistics/summaries/motorcycle-crash-data
