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Why leather is best motorcycle protection [video]

adzm 1y ago
In my experience, working with plastic surgery offices will certainly impact your desire to get a motorcycle. Wear helmets and gear up, everyone. Also this is a truly well done video. Entertaining, week executed, witty dialogue.
- rjsw 1y ago
  Or work with any area of disabled sport, the two main routes into it for participants are the armed forces and motorbikes.
- lm28469 1y ago
  People working in hospitals would rather have their kids smoke crack than ride motorcycles from what I personally gathered.
  - diggan 1y ago
    Sounds like they would need to read up on "guaranteed effects" vs "probable events" if that's the case.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
- frereubu 1y ago
  I would love to get a motorbike - I enjoy cycling and love speed - but I've had three people in my wider circle of friends suffer life-changing injuries while riding motorbikes, including one just before his wedding that they had to cancel because he was in hospital. They were all careful riders too, the incidents being caused by distracted / aggressive drivers. The odds just don't stack up for me.
  - diggan 1y ago
    > They were all careful riders too, the incidents being caused by distracted / aggressive drivers. I'm not sure how true that is, even when the cause is distracted/aggressive drivers, unless the drivers actually hunted them and collided with them on purpose. Defensive driving is a thing for motorcycle drivers too, and if you take care you'll avoid even distracted/aggressive drivers too. With that said, it of course isn't risk free, I think in my country (Spain, lots of motorcycles in/around the cities/towns), just about 60% of those who drive motorcycles have never been in any accident ever[0], and that's including very dumb ("average") people so if you're more careful than the average driver, I'm sure you could get those odds to stack in your favor. - [0] https://www.dgt.es/export/sites/web-DGT/.galleries/downloads/conoce_la_dgt/que-hacemos/conocimiento-e-investigacion/INFORME-ESTUDIO-MOTOS_DGT_V8-Accesible.pdf https://www.dgt.es/export/sites/web-DGT/.galleries/downloads... Table 59. "ACCIDENTALIDAD"
    - lloeki 1y ago
      > I'm not sure how true that is, even when the cause is distracted/aggressive drivers Very. It's possible to make no mistake and still lose. My wife got hit-and-run when bicycling to work and she's exceeding careful and defensive in her riding. Her carefulness is probably what allowed her to catch a glimpse of the car in the corner of her eye and swerve at the last minute to not be caught head-on by the car and sent flying hundreds of meters away. She's "lucky" to even have made it, suffering debilitating neck pain every day and night, abated only by roughly a half through invasive surgery, a pain she will have to endure for the rest of her life which at the current rate of life expectancy is the next fifty years. Meanwhile the distracted and hurried driver who didn't bother to check around their A pillar blind spot drove away scot-free. That's one example. I have many such stories of cyclist and biker friends alike, many of which don't ever ride between lanes.
      - diggan 1y ago
        > It's possible to make no mistake and still lose. Sure, no doubt about that. But again, if people (60% of the riders in my case) manage to never be in an accident, and that's including a wide range of people, then surely the odds are greater of never being in an accident if you're careful. Still, sucks she had that experience. But it's important to realize that for every accident, there are thousands of people riding every day without a single accident in their life. But of course it's harder to think about that when you had someone in a accident and that person is close to you, I understand that.
- xlii 1y ago
  Isn't it true for every occupation that deals with the falloff of any activity? E.g. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/01/19/spanish-judge-rules-meta-content-moderator-s-trauma-a-work-related-injury_6447788_4.html https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/01/19/s...
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- monster_truck 1y ago
  Recently had to deal with some unusual wisdom tooth bullshit, they sent me to a fancy oral surgeon who deals with the unusual. Guy sitting next to me in the lobby had his whole face caved in when he crashed his motorcycle (no helmet), he looked completely normal! The 'before' xrays he showed me on his phone were gruesome, completely unrecognizable as a human skull. Wear a helmet.
slau 1y ago
F9 truly has no business being this good. Their previous video [1], about hub-center steering, has an absolutely fantastic oner where Ryan gets heckled by not one but two kids on scooters passing by, and still manages to finish the 3 minute take discussing path dependence and fitting a Robert Frost poem into a motorcycle review video. That segment starts around minute 7. [1]: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JtBgv-SJEQg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JtBgv-SJEQg
- Luc 1y ago
  Yeah, those heckles are added in post IMHO. Microphones don't work that way.
  - slau 1y ago
    It’s the same voice for both kids, so yes, but doesn’t mean he didn’t get heckled.
    - snozolli 1y ago
      It was a scripted joke and the voice was added in post.
- HPsquared 1y ago
  Also Italjet popping into the comments to say they're still around.
- n1b0m 1y ago
  What a pro :)
- bartvk 1y ago
  I agree but every now and then, he comes with truly exhausting things. Like protectors being not worth it. https://youtu.be/nINIJ1cAbYM https://youtu.be/nINIJ1cAbYM
  - kryogen1c 1y ago
draven 1y ago
I love FortNine, they always manage to be both funny and informative at the same time. And the way they do really long takes in their videos is really cool. Even the segment about the sponsors is well integrated into the video. The first video I saw from them was about the different motorcycle engine types: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOTz0Ol8fLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOTz0Ol8fLA One of their latest videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVMsqSW6pk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVMsqSW6pk) contained a teaser about a documentary they're going to release in December: around the world in 17 days. Can't wait to see it.
cs02rm0 1y ago
I was terrified for his head. Great review though, as someone who's been mulling over getting a bike licence and struggling to wrap their head around gear ratings, this was eye opening.
- cjrp 1y ago
  Not sure where you're based, but the Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme[0] in the UK is my go-to for.. well, helmet ratings. [0] https://sharp.dft.gov.uk/ https://sharp.dft.gov.uk/
  - cs02rm0 1y ago
    That's sort of what I mean. I looked up an Arai Tour X5, thanks for the link. It gives four stars and some colours for different zones at set impact speeds in m/s in a lab. It tells me it meets standard UN ECE REG 22.06 with a double D ring retention system and composite fibre materials. Super objective and necessary. But I've read a lot of similar information and, somehow, seeing the results of a person being dragged down the road, for some unknown amount of time, which is pretty super subjective, still feels (perhaps wrongly even) as though it gives me a better understanding than just reading numbers/letters/colours.
- thih9 1y ago
  The speed was relatively low. But yes, the lack of head protection was still scary.
gherkinnn 1y ago
A silent upvote does not do this video justice, it is simply amazing.
TheChaplain 1y ago
Getting a motorcycle license was a very good thing I've done for my life. Cruising on long roads, beautiful views, wild camping and meeting other people in a like-minded community. It really heals your mind and body. But obviously it comes with higher risk as you are more exposed and higher demands on your abilities. And good gear can help, but if it is not combined with training and of course a sound attitude, you may sooner or later find yourself in an undesirable situation. Go to refresher courses. I do it every year to update myself and get an idea of my current limits. It really helps. To see what I meant about attitude, just go on Instagram and check for motorcycle reels, you'll see soo many examples of how to not act in traffic or what to do on a motorcycle.
- xandrius 1y ago
  I love the idea but our roads almost worldwide are cursed with ever-present cars which do not cars about anything else. I've heard lots of and lots of near-misses, accidents and bullshit interactions between bikes/motorbikes and cars. I just finished reading a travelogue about the dude who cycled around the world in 1800s. Sure, one could do it today but the roads he was riding on were almost empty, now you would have to be cautious every time, since 1 asshole and you're out.
  - diggan 1y ago
    > our roads almost worldwide are cursed with ever-present cars which do not cars about anything else Kind of feel like you're over-generalizing here. Where I live, there is almost more motorbikes than cars a lot of the time, which considering the rush hour traffic, kind of makes sense as most people don't wanna get stuck in those queues. Of course, there are accidents and near-misses (almost by definition, since those on motorbikes tend to go between car lanes), but it's not like there is a 99% chance of you dying every time you use a motorbike. I think it depends a lot on how used to motorbikes the car drivers are. Since I live in a place where there is a bunch of them always (and cyclists!), I feel like most of us pay attention to where they could show up. Compare that to countries where motorbiking isn't as popular, I could understand how it's more risky to go with the motorbike as the car-ists aren't as used to them appearing wherever.
deleted 1y ago
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Havoc 1y ago
Wow that slide was much longer than expected. I had always assumed it's good for a second maybe two
14 1y ago
FortNine is a hidden gem of a YouTuber. Many of his videos are just showing his passion for riding and interesting facts like "different ways to mount a motorcycle" and are entertaining to watch him climb up the back tire and hop onto the bike. But then some of the videos are actually highly educational and he incorporates tested science and studies and explains why things are they way they are like the science of different leaning styles while riding and their science. The video that has always stuck with me is when he explained the science behind how motorcycles are hard to gauge their speed and distance and related it to how pigeons see. It showed me that a lot of why drivers have a tendency to pull out and cut off riders is more to do with not being aware that it can be very difficult to calculate the distance and speed of a motorcycle the same as we do with a car. With that knowledge as a rider I have actually changed my driving and really make sure I fully check both directions before pulling out. I also, as a rider, pay attention to side roads and driveways and always assume the car is going to pull out. I have never almost pulled in front of a rider but I can say I have many times avoided cars by riding defensively.
- postsantum 1y ago
  > 2M subscribers > hidden gem
  - vinodkd 1y ago
    not in number of subscribers - they know the channel already, but in quality of content and production values. I think that's what OP meant. F9 could get 2M subscribers by just doing product reviews because they're an ecommerce website in Canada like Revzilla is in the US, and that Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/RevZilla https://www.youtube.com/c/RevZilla) has 1.5m subscribers. F9 has a few product reviews, but they have a ton of just top quality content that shines for not just the motorcycle content, but how its presented, the attention to filming and editing, etc. Oh and if you're interested, they even have a video about cheese (it was an april fool's prank, but still informative about cheese).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1T7NzCtWHo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1T7NzCtWHo
    - 1y ago
Xenoamorphous 1y ago
I think that we haven’t reached the insulation to weight ratio of down feathers, so that’d be another example where artificial fabrics haven’t reach some qualities of natural materials.
- meindnoch 1y ago
  I'd doubt feathers would be better insulators than aerogel.
  - Xenoamorphous 1y ago
    I don’t think you can use that for clothing, too brittle.
- bartvk 1y ago
  Yeah but it goes the other way round, too. Gore-Tex laminated textile jackets are amazing. Suppose you ride through rain, and it clears up 15 minutes before your destination, you arrive with a dry jacket. Leather just soaks it up.
notpushkin 1y ago
[video]?
raffael_de 1y ago
The final segment starting at 6:00 makes me think that he can wear as much leather as he wants protecting his body while sliding over asphalt when he's anyway intent on braking with his face and chin. “There are many things you can point to as proof that the human is not smart. But my personal favorite would have to be that we needed to invent the helmet. What was happening, apparently, was that we were involved in a lot of activities that were cracking our heads. We chose not to avoid doing those activities but, instead, to come up with some sort of device to help us enjoy our head-cracking lifestyles. And even that didn’t work because not enough people were wearing them so we had to come up with the helmet law. Which is even stupider, the idea behind the helmet law being to preserve a brain whose judgment is so poor, it does not even try to avoid the cracking of the head it’s in.” – Gerry Sinefield
- theelous3 1y ago
  Internet comment safety policing, when you have no idea what went in to making the content, is one of the more tiresome things a person could ever do.
- Dilettante_ 1y ago
  They have a couple of quite good videos on helmets, I assume this time it was just to get a nice shot of him smiling empty-headedly for comedic effect.
potato3732842 1y ago
Humorously, I have less than nothing to do with motorcycles but find the sponsor's product relevant. I never knew such a product existed but it makes perfect sense that motorcycle people would create it for those reasons. Kinda expensive though.
dazzawazza 1y ago
I've come off two motorbikes in the UK. On the first occasion I wore a leather jacket, on the second I had a synthetic jacket on (because it was more comfortable in hot weather). Both were completely safe. On both occasions I slid along the tarmac for about 10-15 meters, I was travelling at around 30-40 mph. I still wear the same leather jacket 30 years later (not for riding) but the synthetic jacket was a right-off. On both occasions I really smacked my head: don't mess about with sub-standard crash helmets. So even though leather is better, we're not racing the TT, we're just going from A-B and if you want to wear synthetic you'll be fine at normal speeds. So if you can't wear leather, for whatever reason, don't let that stop you.
- loloquwowndueo 1y ago
  * write-off, not right-off.
  - dazzawazza 1y ago
    Forgive me. I've banged my head a few times.
- the_sleaze_ 1y ago
  Same thing here. Slid on black ice in the north-east USA winter. Big -big- hit to the side of the helmet, road-slide for 100 feet and got up with a bruised ego. I'd add 1 point for the pads, shoulder elbow and back for impact. Mine happen to be `D3o` and are comfortable
  - Workaccount2 1y ago
    That's a big factor for me, my leather jacket is tough as nails, and has eaten one slide before with only minor scuffs. But my synthetic jacket has armor as well, and while thankfully I have never tested it, it should provide pretty good protection even if the nylon burns through.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
Zambyte 1y ago
This summer I got into electric scooter riding, and along with that I have been interested in finding appropriate gear for my riding. My go-to so far has been to wear a fairly cheap half helmet that I used to wear longboarding, and a pair of well-padded cycling gloves. Wearing more protection sounds nice, but: at the speeds I'm going < 20 mph / 30 kph, and impact protection (from cars) is more important than sliding to me, and I'd also like things that are easy to get on and off and carry around at my destination. I've been thinking about getting a nice, full face helmet (helmets marketed for mountain biking seem like a good fit), but they seem like a pain to deal with at my destination. A lot of times I'll just loop my current helmet on my scooter completely unlocked, because it's cheap enough that I'm not really worried about it being stolen. The full face helmets I have been looking at are an order of magnitude more expensive though, and I wouldn't really feel comfortable just leaving it unlocked by my scooter. Does anyone have any recommendations on this? Or recommendations on other appropriate safety gear for my kind of riding?
- the_sleaze_ 1y ago
  Vespa scooters are awesome because they have a huge storage compartment under the seat where you would store things like helmets and gear. The full-face mountain bike helmets sound exactly the ticket, and would protect your face from abrasion if you have an unexpected rapid dismount. I used to use a small wire cord and padlock that you can store wrapped up tightly onboard. You're never going stop someone determined to get your old lid you just want to prevent opportunists and not be too cumbersome about it otherwise you won't actually do it. I will say I have heard enough stories about 5k+ electric bikes getting scooped that I'd only ever store one behind locked doors rather than buying a huge bike lock setup.
  - Zambyte 1y ago
    Locking the helmet to the scooter with a cable definitely sounds like an interesting option! I'll have to look more into that. Unfortunately I can't store gear under the seat on my scooter because it is a standing scooter :D I'm actually not too worried about the scooter itself being stolen - I have two kryptonite locks, one of which includes an insurance policy covering the vehicle from theft if it is taken by cutting the lock. Also for long term storage (like in the bike room at my apt) I remove the battery, which I believe is another layer of theft deterrence.
AdrianB1 1y ago
This is one of the few articles where F9 makes statements not supported by any science or experiments. Cow hides are strong, but they were not built for the purpose of protecting people from road rash. I had slides on asphalt at 60 km/h in textile suits (Klim) and I am still wearing that suit as a secondary one, it got stitched back and partly cleaned and it is just fine, it just has the scars to tell the stories. In 20 years on bikes the only leather items I bought are gloves and boots; this is because this is the only option (not talking about MX/enduro boots that are mostly plastic). Never had a problem with textile equipment and never felt the need for leather. Modern Cordura and kevlar layers are fine.
- 392 1y ago
  Is the video not one long science experiment? With you confirming your one textile experiment resulted in a tear?
throw7 1y ago
Is there a difference between leather performance? Like genuine vs top grain vs full grain? Would a very thin genuine leather still perform better than synthetics? I am not familiar with textiles in this area, but they don't make bullet proof vests out of leather last I checked... I presume there are good synthetics (better than leather?) out there?
gethly 1y ago
it does not matter that much. only thing of importance here is that the leather will be still usable whereas the synthetics are "one crash only" type of thing. leather does not breathe either. i am not arguing for one or the other, that is an endless debate, i am merely saying there is no "best". each has its positives and negatives. if i would be riding a sport bike on a track or doing high speed freeway riding, leather is a no-brainer. anything else, synthetics will be more user friendly. also, understand the difference between nylon and polyester. one is tough and rough(ie. cordura), the other is soft and weak. most cheap product use polyester that provides very little protection so they layer it whereas nylon(like cordura) will be much safer choice. PS: if you crash, for the love of anything holy, do not slide but roll(ie. be active during the event, not passive). it is better to get bruises rather than getting your skin peeled off.
- snozolli 1y ago
  the leather will be still usable whereas the synthetics are "one crash only" type of thing. Leather may still be usable. Also, one of the primary failure points is the stitching, which is synthetic. It can especially be a problem if the gear is older and dust has abraded the stitching for years, particularly if leather conditioner was used that is oily and attracts dust. Synthetic can be repaired, which is why it's often worth it to go with a more expensive brand. I've had my Aerostich Roadcrafter for 25 years and it's served me well, though it aged out of their servicing policy a decade ago.
gackletackle 1y ago
[dead]
skhameneh 1y ago
How far along are developments with natural leather alternatives based on fungi like mycelium or mushrooms? My understanding is they are not quite there yet, but coming along and looking promising.
- pas 1y ago
  or lab grown leather? (but it seems leather is not a very interesting target for substitution as there's no market for it? https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-18/america-is-obsessed-with-beef-but-it-has-no-use-for-hides-so-leather-prices-plunge https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-18/america-is... though this is from 2019)
elcdodedocle 1y ago
F9 produces such a consistently and ridiculously good, cool, fun, and educational *social media content*; that it is installed permanently as a cognitive dissonance in the back of my mind.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  Agree. I'm not into motorcycles and never plan to own one, but I still follow their videos because of the mix between intriguing and entertainment. Kind of why I used to watch top gear back when I was in school even though I didn't own a car.
skeptrune 1y ago
Not only is Ryan good, but he has brought on additional staff who are equally good. Incredibly impressive creator and team.
Simon_O_Rourke 1y ago
There's a massive fat guy in the local area here who goes blasting around the place on some over-powered, over-noisy bike - but doesn't (or can't find the right sized) leathers, so instead goes out wearing bluejeans and a denim jacket. Just waiting for him to take a slip one of these days to see the folly.
- jonex 1y ago
  Maybe he's actually wearing protective gear? Jeans with slide tolerant layers and padding are pretty common as warm weather gear and there are jeans style jackets as well. If you don't know what to look for it can be hard to tell the difference to regular clothing.
CaninoDev 1y ago
Aerostich Roadcrafter enters the chat.

adzm 1y ago

In my experience, working with plastic surgery offices will certainly impact your desire to get a motorcycle. Wear helmets and gear up, everyone. Also this is a truly well done video. Entertaining, week executed, witty dialogue.

rjsw 1y ago
Or work with any area of disabled sport, the two main routes into it for participants are the armed forces and motorbikes.
lm28469 1y ago
People working in hospitals would rather have their kids smoke crack than ride motorcycles from what I personally gathered.
- diggan 1y ago
  Sounds like they would need to read up on "guaranteed effects" vs "probable events" if that's the case.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
frereubu 1y ago
I would love to get a motorbike - I enjoy cycling and love speed - but I've had three people in my wider circle of friends suffer life-changing injuries while riding motorbikes, including one just before his wedding that they had to cancel because he was in hospital. They were all careful riders too, the incidents being caused by distracted / aggressive drivers. The odds just don't stack up for me.
- diggan 1y ago
  > They were all careful riders too, the incidents being caused by distracted / aggressive drivers. I'm not sure how true that is, even when the cause is distracted/aggressive drivers, unless the drivers actually hunted them and collided with them on purpose. Defensive driving is a thing for motorcycle drivers too, and if you take care you'll avoid even distracted/aggressive drivers too. With that said, it of course isn't risk free, I think in my country (Spain, lots of motorcycles in/around the cities/towns), just about 60% of those who drive motorcycles have never been in any accident ever[0], and that's including very dumb ("average") people so if you're more careful than the average driver, I'm sure you could get those odds to stack in your favor. - [0] https://www.dgt.es/export/sites/web-DGT/.galleries/downloads/conoce_la_dgt/que-hacemos/conocimiento-e-investigacion/INFORME-ESTUDIO-MOTOS_DGT_V8-Accesible.pdf https://www.dgt.es/export/sites/web-DGT/.galleries/downloads... Table 59. "ACCIDENTALIDAD"
  - lloeki 1y ago
    > I'm not sure how true that is, even when the cause is distracted/aggressive drivers Very. It's possible to make no mistake and still lose. My wife got hit-and-run when bicycling to work and she's exceeding careful and defensive in her riding. Her carefulness is probably what allowed her to catch a glimpse of the car in the corner of her eye and swerve at the last minute to not be caught head-on by the car and sent flying hundreds of meters away. She's "lucky" to even have made it, suffering debilitating neck pain every day and night, abated only by roughly a half through invasive surgery, a pain she will have to endure for the rest of her life which at the current rate of life expectancy is the next fifty years. Meanwhile the distracted and hurried driver who didn't bother to check around their A pillar blind spot drove away scot-free. That's one example. I have many such stories of cyclist and biker friends alike, many of which don't ever ride between lanes.
    - diggan 1y ago
      > It's possible to make no mistake and still lose. Sure, no doubt about that. But again, if people (60% of the riders in my case) manage to never be in an accident, and that's including a wide range of people, then surely the odds are greater of never being in an accident if you're careful. Still, sucks she had that experience. But it's important to realize that for every accident, there are thousands of people riding every day without a single accident in their life. But of course it's harder to think about that when you had someone in a accident and that person is close to you, I understand that.
xlii 1y ago
Isn't it true for every occupation that deals with the falloff of any activity? E.g. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/01/19/spanish-judge-rules-meta-content-moderator-s-trauma-a-work-related-injury_6447788_4.html https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/01/19/s...
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
monster_truck 1y ago
Recently had to deal with some unusual wisdom tooth bullshit, they sent me to a fancy oral surgeon who deals with the unusual. Guy sitting next to me in the lobby had his whole face caved in when he crashed his motorcycle (no helmet), he looked completely normal! The 'before' xrays he showed me on his phone were gruesome, completely unrecognizable as a human skull. Wear a helmet.

slau 1y ago

F9 truly has no business being this good. Their previous video [1], about hub-center steering, has an absolutely fantastic oner where Ryan gets heckled by not one but two kids on scooters passing by, and still manages to finish the 3 minute take discussing path dependence and fitting a Robert Frost poem into a motorcycle review video. That segment starts around minute 7. [1]: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JtBgv-SJEQg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JtBgv-SJEQg

Luc 1y ago
Yeah, those heckles are added in post IMHO. Microphones don't work that way.
- slau 1y ago
  It’s the same voice for both kids, so yes, but doesn’t mean he didn’t get heckled.
  - snozolli 1y ago
    It was a scripted joke and the voice was added in post.
HPsquared 1y ago
Also Italjet popping into the comments to say they're still around.
n1b0m 1y ago
What a pro :)
bartvk 1y ago
I agree but every now and then, he comes with truly exhausting things. Like protectors being not worth it. https://youtu.be/nINIJ1cAbYM https://youtu.be/nINIJ1cAbYM
- kryogen1c 1y ago

draven 1y ago

I love FortNine, they always manage to be both funny and informative at the same time. And the way they do really long takes in their videos is really cool. Even the segment about the sponsors is well integrated into the video. The first video I saw from them was about the different motorcycle engine types: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOTz0Ol8fLA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOTz0Ol8fLA One of their latest videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVMsqSW6pk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVMsqSW6pk) contained a teaser about a documentary they're going to release in December: around the world in 17 days. Can't wait to see it.

cs02rm0 1y ago

I was terrified for his head. Great review though, as someone who's been mulling over getting a bike licence and struggling to wrap their head around gear ratings, this was eye opening.

cjrp 1y ago
Not sure where you're based, but the Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme[0] in the UK is my go-to for.. well, helmet ratings. [0] https://sharp.dft.gov.uk/ https://sharp.dft.gov.uk/
- cs02rm0 1y ago
  That's sort of what I mean. I looked up an Arai Tour X5, thanks for the link. It gives four stars and some colours for different zones at set impact speeds in m/s in a lab. It tells me it meets standard UN ECE REG 22.06 with a double D ring retention system and composite fibre materials. Super objective and necessary. But I've read a lot of similar information and, somehow, seeing the results of a person being dragged down the road, for some unknown amount of time, which is pretty super subjective, still feels (perhaps wrongly even) as though it gives me a better understanding than just reading numbers/letters/colours.
thih9 1y ago
The speed was relatively low. But yes, the lack of head protection was still scary.

gherkinnn 1y ago

A silent upvote does not do this video justice, it is simply amazing.

TheChaplain 1y ago

Getting a motorcycle license was a very good thing I've done for my life. Cruising on long roads, beautiful views, wild camping and meeting other people in a like-minded community. It really heals your mind and body. But obviously it comes with higher risk as you are more exposed and higher demands on your abilities. And good gear can help, but if it is not combined with training and of course a sound attitude, you may sooner or later find yourself in an undesirable situation. Go to refresher courses. I do it every year to update myself and get an idea of my current limits. It really helps. To see what I meant about attitude, just go on Instagram and check for motorcycle reels, you'll see soo many examples of how to not act in traffic or what to do on a motorcycle.

xandrius 1y ago
I love the idea but our roads almost worldwide are cursed with ever-present cars which do not cars about anything else. I've heard lots of and lots of near-misses, accidents and bullshit interactions between bikes/motorbikes and cars. I just finished reading a travelogue about the dude who cycled around the world in 1800s. Sure, one could do it today but the roads he was riding on were almost empty, now you would have to be cautious every time, since 1 asshole and you're out.
- diggan 1y ago
  > our roads almost worldwide are cursed with ever-present cars which do not cars about anything else Kind of feel like you're over-generalizing here. Where I live, there is almost more motorbikes than cars a lot of the time, which considering the rush hour traffic, kind of makes sense as most people don't wanna get stuck in those queues. Of course, there are accidents and near-misses (almost by definition, since those on motorbikes tend to go between car lanes), but it's not like there is a 99% chance of you dying every time you use a motorbike. I think it depends a lot on how used to motorbikes the car drivers are. Since I live in a place where there is a bunch of them always (and cyclists!), I feel like most of us pay attention to where they could show up. Compare that to countries where motorbiking isn't as popular, I could understand how it's more risky to go with the motorbike as the car-ists aren't as used to them appearing wherever.

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Havoc 1y ago

Wow that slide was much longer than expected. I had always assumed it's good for a second maybe two

14 1y ago

FortNine is a hidden gem of a YouTuber. Many of his videos are just showing his passion for riding and interesting facts like "different ways to mount a motorcycle" and are entertaining to watch him climb up the back tire and hop onto the bike. But then some of the videos are actually highly educational and he incorporates tested science and studies and explains why things are they way they are like the science of different leaning styles while riding and their science. The video that has always stuck with me is when he explained the science behind how motorcycles are hard to gauge their speed and distance and related it to how pigeons see. It showed me that a lot of why drivers have a tendency to pull out and cut off riders is more to do with not being aware that it can be very difficult to calculate the distance and speed of a motorcycle the same as we do with a car. With that knowledge as a rider I have actually changed my driving and really make sure I fully check both directions before pulling out. I also, as a rider, pay attention to side roads and driveways and always assume the car is going to pull out. I have never almost pulled in front of a rider but I can say I have many times avoided cars by riding defensively.

postsantum 1y ago
> 2M subscribers > hidden gem
- vinodkd 1y ago
  not in number of subscribers - they know the channel already, but in quality of content and production values. I think that's what OP meant. F9 could get 2M subscribers by just doing product reviews because they're an ecommerce website in Canada like Revzilla is in the US, and that Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/RevZilla https://www.youtube.com/c/RevZilla) has 1.5m subscribers. F9 has a few product reviews, but they have a ton of just top quality content that shines for not just the motorcycle content, but how its presented, the attention to filming and editing, etc. Oh and if you're interested, they even have a video about cheese (it was an april fool's prank, but still informative about cheese).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1T7NzCtWHo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1T7NzCtWHo
  - 1y ago

Xenoamorphous 1y ago

I think that we haven’t reached the insulation to weight ratio of down feathers, so that’d be another example where artificial fabrics haven’t reach some qualities of natural materials.

meindnoch 1y ago
I'd doubt feathers would be better insulators than aerogel.
- Xenoamorphous 1y ago
  I don’t think you can use that for clothing, too brittle.
bartvk 1y ago
Yeah but it goes the other way round, too. Gore-Tex laminated textile jackets are amazing. Suppose you ride through rain, and it clears up 15 minutes before your destination, you arrive with a dry jacket. Leather just soaks it up.

notpushkin 1y ago

[video]?

raffael_de 1y ago

The final segment starting at 6:00 makes me think that he can wear as much leather as he wants protecting his body while sliding over asphalt when he's anyway intent on braking with his face and chin. “There are many things you can point to as proof that the human is not smart. But my personal favorite would have to be that we needed to invent the helmet. What was happening, apparently, was that we were involved in a lot of activities that were cracking our heads. We chose not to avoid doing those activities but, instead, to come up with some sort of device to help us enjoy our head-cracking lifestyles. And even that didn’t work because not enough people were wearing them so we had to come up with the helmet law. Which is even stupider, the idea behind the helmet law being to preserve a brain whose judgment is so poor, it does not even try to avoid the cracking of the head it’s in.” – Gerry Sinefield

theelous3 1y ago
Internet comment safety policing, when you have no idea what went in to making the content, is one of the more tiresome things a person could ever do.
Dilettante_ 1y ago
They have a couple of quite good videos on helmets, I assume this time it was just to get a nice shot of him smiling empty-headedly for comedic effect.

potato3732842 1y ago

Humorously, I have less than nothing to do with motorcycles but find the sponsor's product relevant. I never knew such a product existed but it makes perfect sense that motorcycle people would create it for those reasons. Kinda expensive though.

dazzawazza 1y ago

I've come off two motorbikes in the UK. On the first occasion I wore a leather jacket, on the second I had a synthetic jacket on (because it was more comfortable in hot weather). Both were completely safe. On both occasions I slid along the tarmac for about 10-15 meters, I was travelling at around 30-40 mph. I still wear the same leather jacket 30 years later (not for riding) but the synthetic jacket was a right-off. On both occasions I really smacked my head: don't mess about with sub-standard crash helmets. So even though leather is better, we're not racing the TT, we're just going from A-B and if you want to wear synthetic you'll be fine at normal speeds. So if you can't wear leather, for whatever reason, don't let that stop you.

loloquwowndueo 1y ago
* write-off, not right-off.
- dazzawazza 1y ago
  Forgive me. I've banged my head a few times.
the_sleaze_ 1y ago
Same thing here. Slid on black ice in the north-east USA winter. Big -big- hit to the side of the helmet, road-slide for 100 feet and got up with a bruised ego. I'd add 1 point for the pads, shoulder elbow and back for impact. Mine happen to be `D3o` and are comfortable
- Workaccount2 1y ago
  That's a big factor for me, my leather jacket is tough as nails, and has eaten one slide before with only minor scuffs. But my synthetic jacket has armor as well, and while thankfully I have never tested it, it should provide pretty good protection even if the nylon burns through.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

Zambyte 1y ago

This summer I got into electric scooter riding, and along with that I have been interested in finding appropriate gear for my riding. My go-to so far has been to wear a fairly cheap half helmet that I used to wear longboarding, and a pair of well-padded cycling gloves. Wearing more protection sounds nice, but: at the speeds I'm going < 20 mph / 30 kph, and impact protection (from cars) is more important than sliding to me, and I'd also like things that are easy to get on and off and carry around at my destination. I've been thinking about getting a nice, full face helmet (helmets marketed for mountain biking seem like a good fit), but they seem like a pain to deal with at my destination. A lot of times I'll just loop my current helmet on my scooter completely unlocked, because it's cheap enough that I'm not really worried about it being stolen. The full face helmets I have been looking at are an order of magnitude more expensive though, and I wouldn't really feel comfortable just leaving it unlocked by my scooter. Does anyone have any recommendations on this? Or recommendations on other appropriate safety gear for my kind of riding?

the_sleaze_ 1y ago
Vespa scooters are awesome because they have a huge storage compartment under the seat where you would store things like helmets and gear. The full-face mountain bike helmets sound exactly the ticket, and would protect your face from abrasion if you have an unexpected rapid dismount. I used to use a small wire cord and padlock that you can store wrapped up tightly onboard. You're never going stop someone determined to get your old lid you just want to prevent opportunists and not be too cumbersome about it otherwise you won't actually do it. I will say I have heard enough stories about 5k+ electric bikes getting scooped that I'd only ever store one behind locked doors rather than buying a huge bike lock setup.
- Zambyte 1y ago
  Locking the helmet to the scooter with a cable definitely sounds like an interesting option! I'll have to look more into that. Unfortunately I can't store gear under the seat on my scooter because it is a standing scooter :D I'm actually not too worried about the scooter itself being stolen - I have two kryptonite locks, one of which includes an insurance policy covering the vehicle from theft if it is taken by cutting the lock. Also for long term storage (like in the bike room at my apt) I remove the battery, which I believe is another layer of theft deterrence.

AdrianB1 1y ago

This is one of the few articles where F9 makes statements not supported by any science or experiments. Cow hides are strong, but they were not built for the purpose of protecting people from road rash. I had slides on asphalt at 60 km/h in textile suits (Klim) and I am still wearing that suit as a secondary one, it got stitched back and partly cleaned and it is just fine, it just has the scars to tell the stories. In 20 years on bikes the only leather items I bought are gloves and boots; this is because this is the only option (not talking about MX/enduro boots that are mostly plastic). Never had a problem with textile equipment and never felt the need for leather. Modern Cordura and kevlar layers are fine.

392 1y ago
Is the video not one long science experiment? With you confirming your one textile experiment resulted in a tear?

throw7 1y ago

Is there a difference between leather performance? Like genuine vs top grain vs full grain? Would a very thin genuine leather still perform better than synthetics? I am not familiar with textiles in this area, but they don't make bullet proof vests out of leather last I checked... I presume there are good synthetics (better than leather?) out there?

gethly 1y ago

it does not matter that much. only thing of importance here is that the leather will be still usable whereas the synthetics are "one crash only" type of thing. leather does not breathe either. i am not arguing for one or the other, that is an endless debate, i am merely saying there is no "best". each has its positives and negatives. if i would be riding a sport bike on a track or doing high speed freeway riding, leather is a no-brainer. anything else, synthetics will be more user friendly. also, understand the difference between nylon and polyester. one is tough and rough(ie. cordura), the other is soft and weak. most cheap product use polyester that provides very little protection so they layer it whereas nylon(like cordura) will be much safer choice. PS: if you crash, for the love of anything holy, do not slide but roll(ie. be active during the event, not passive). it is better to get bruises rather than getting your skin peeled off.

snozolli 1y ago
the leather will be still usable whereas the synthetics are "one crash only" type of thing. Leather may still be usable. Also, one of the primary failure points is the stitching, which is synthetic. It can especially be a problem if the gear is older and dust has abraded the stitching for years, particularly if leather conditioner was used that is oily and attracts dust. Synthetic can be repaired, which is why it's often worth it to go with a more expensive brand. I've had my Aerostich Roadcrafter for 25 years and it's served me well, though it aged out of their servicing policy a decade ago.

gackletackle 1y ago

[dead]

skhameneh 1y ago

How far along are developments with natural leather alternatives based on fungi like mycelium or mushrooms? My understanding is they are not quite there yet, but coming along and looking promising.

pas 1y ago
or lab grown leather? (but it seems leather is not a very interesting target for substitution as there's no market for it? https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-18/america-is-obsessed-with-beef-but-it-has-no-use-for-hides-so-leather-prices-plunge https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-18/america-is... though this is from 2019)

elcdodedocle 1y ago

F9 produces such a consistently and ridiculously good, cool, fun, and educational *social media content*; that it is installed permanently as a cognitive dissonance in the back of my mind.

FirmwareBurner 1y ago
Agree. I'm not into motorcycles and never plan to own one, but I still follow their videos because of the mix between intriguing and entertainment. Kind of why I used to watch top gear back when I was in school even though I didn't own a car.

skeptrune 1y ago

Not only is Ryan good, but he has brought on additional staff who are equally good. Incredibly impressive creator and team.

Simon_O_Rourke 1y ago

There's a massive fat guy in the local area here who goes blasting around the place on some over-powered, over-noisy bike - but doesn't (or can't find the right sized) leathers, so instead goes out wearing bluejeans and a denim jacket. Just waiting for him to take a slip one of these days to see the folly.

jonex 1y ago
Maybe he's actually wearing protective gear? Jeans with slide tolerant layers and padding are pretty common as warm weather gear and there are jeans style jackets as well. If you don't know what to look for it can be hard to tell the difference to regular clothing.

CaninoDev 1y ago

Aerostich Roadcrafter enters the chat.