Originally Posted by Tim Cullis

The receptionist questioned my wisdom and my response was that the route through London was 20mph zones all the way and I was in no more danger than a cyclist.

Originally Posted by AnTyx

If you have clean socks, there's no reason not to just take off your boots when you are in your seat. I do this on long flights even when I am wearing comfy slip-ons! Boots will fit under the seat in front of you.

I actually do. The predicament is I fly with Air Asia which is a LCC (low cost carrier) and the seats are super narrow. I normally get a window seat and when everyone is seated there is hardly any space for me to take out my boots. I can alleviate this by getting aisle seat in future and that would give me space to take off my boots mid flight by using the aisle space. LOL


I heartily recommend the Scorpion Exo-Tech - it works as both a fullface/modular, and as a jet if you fold the chinbar to the back. LS2 makes one like that, and the Shark Evoline is the original in this category, but in my experience the Exo-Tech has a smaller overall shell (I wear an XL) and the extra-large jet-sized visor is also good for riding with the chinbar closed. Anyway, if your holiday is entirely bike-based, then yes, bringing your own helmet is worthwhile.

I use a HJC RPHA90 modular. Trusty helmet and lightweight. I like Scorpion helmets as they are reasonably priced especially the ADX2/AT960.


If you really travel like you describe - flying into a place, renting a bike, riding around, returning it and flying out - then I think minimizing your in-flight luggage is actually not where the value is. I'd invest in a good gear bag (I like the Ogio Rig 9800) where you can pack your helmet, boots, suit, etc. - and a folded drybag/duffel - and just store the gear bag at the rental place. No reason at all why you should travel on the bike with the same luggage that you travel with on the plane! I've even left a large wheeled suitcase in a truck cargo terminal while I was riding my bike for two weeks, and it wasn't a problem.

Originally Posted by AnTyx

How do you feel about seatbelts?



Leaving aside the confirmation bias (you only remember the deadly ones - you would not have been called to investigate the ones that resulted in a property damage claim!), ATGATT is not for deadly crashes - it is for the middle ground between a bad scrape and mincemeat. ATGATT is to ensure that in a crash, you either die, or limp away - instead of surviving with life-altering injuries.



In Australia or Texas, sure - it's very hot and the cops are macho. Someone who is both a trained emergency rider, and spends their entire working days every day on a motorcycle, will make an informed decision that the continuous risk of overheating is a bigger threat. But regular riders don't ride like cops, and don't have the permanent scan-for-threats mindset of cops - and here in Europe, our moto cops are absolutely ATGATT.



So you've been lucky. I've had a few crashes that were caused by my own inattention (and habitual riders WILL be inattentive at least some of the time, especially on holiday when they are enjoying the ride and scenery, to say "if you'd ridden defensively it would not have happened to you" is victim-blaming and unhelpful). In those cases, ATGATT meant that I walked away with some bruises and sore muscles - the damage to my ankles is actually from falling off bicycles, in normal street shoes, not from dropping a heavy motorcycle on my boot!

But the reason that one of my forearms and both of my wrists are held together with titanium is that while I was riding on a straight, empty, countryside road at the posted limit of 90kph, on a dry sunny day with perfect visibility, a dude in an SUV decided to blow through a stop-sign and send me on a helicopter ride to the nearest major trauma center. Your defensive riding will not prevent other people's unbridled idiocy, and if it hasn't happened to you (ever or yet), that's a matter of luck.