I've ridden bikes since 1975-ish and ...
... I don't even like sitting on one without a crash hat. I know someone who over-balanced in their garage and suffered a skull fracture when they hit the deck. Shudder.

Boots, crash hat, gloves and leathers for me. Some laugh at me (and God knows there are enough reasons to), but if you feel a chuckle coming on, search google images for degloved hand or foot injuries.

Some time in the late 1980s, driving in heavy early morning commute traffic down the M1 somewhere near Hemel, I was right behind a biker who tapped his front brake while under a bridge. He must have hit a patch of black ice, so cue Simon and Garfunkel singing "slip sliding away". I stopped in good time, hazards on, helped him up (he was only dazed) and onto the shoulder, picked up his bike and waited with him until the ambulance arrived. Being a good samaritan, I just wanted to make sure he was ok (head injuries can be unpredictable.)

Never worked in my favour though. I remember hitting a patch of oil on my 400-4, somewhere in South Kensington, and sliding up the road on my arse, coming to rest at a well-queued bus stop. Bastards started clapping at my performance, as I lay there checking I could feel all my extremities and move my head. Nasty sods - I was doing 10mph under the speed limit too, the filthy rotten swine!
(IHaveComeAmongThee__Twice Tissues on the left. Self-esteem on the right., Tue 27 Apr 2010, 22:52, Reply)