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UV & natural deterioration of cothing being exposed to mother nature

How long until you take riding appearal out of service?

  • 1 years

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 2 years

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 3 years

    Votes: 1 12.5%

  • When it appears time

    Votes: 7 87.5%

  • Never

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    8
Clayton600

Clayton600

Guest
Guest
Okay this stems from being involved in the construction industry "OSHA" fall protection equipment & PPE
Anything used for safety be it cloth to stainless steel material has a service life. And in order to maintain compliance must be replaced after a certain period of time has elapsed from time of purchase.
Has this ever crossed your mind? what your wearing might be leather but what is holding it together at the seams? Will it hold together when in a crash or completely fall apart? Whats the point in wearing it if it total disintegrates on impact.
My brother recently wrecked my SV650. put his hand down to break his fall (zero MPH) now understand he is a big boy like 300lbs big. the glove i gave him to use was a textile/leather palm [commonly reffered to by other people on this site as a "Hybrid"]  when we examined the gear he was wearing for damage, the left glove had ripped at the seam connecting the thumb to the center of palm and it only broke the threads IT DID NOT RIP THE LEATHER. Now i certainly understand leather is stronger than a tiny little thread, but i thought at the very least there would be some sort of sign the leather had been compromised. None. Which is what got me thinking about expiration dates on my riding gear.

What are your thoughts?
 
See this thread.

At the risk of sounding like an ass, why did you make two separate polls about the same basic topic?

I personally think that each rider needs to look at his gear before he sits his ass on a big motor with a barely attached seat and say
"This machine and every driver out there is trying to kill me. Will these (gloves, pants, flip-flops, half-helmet, $1 sunglasses) save my bacon?"
I personally feel that a lot of riders don't take the chance of injury seriously enough to give a shit about their gear. That is their prerogative though. Until they waste my tax dollars by requiring police and EMT services. Being in the military and having clear cut rules about safety gear is nice because I can turn to another military rider and say "Hey dumb-shit your gear is not effective or authorized, fix it or don't ride."

/high horse
 
I am sure the manufacturer of any given piece of gear would be more then happy to tell you when to buy a new one.  Long before most of us think.  All gear has a life span and it is up to you to know it and get something safe.
 
My thoughts are. Buy cheap. Get cheap.  Now this is going to start a maelstrom of negative comments as to, "well I gots me the best suit for $.10 at a garage sale and I......." I don't give a crap about your frugal arse ways.

The point is. Buy the best you can afford, take care of your gear be it leather or textile. Both require care. In the case of leather, good leather cleaning followed up by whatever leather conditioner you favor, but done regularly. And regularly is based on your riding time EG: you ride a lot then care for your gear a lot. Textile requires washing with proper detergent using the proper (manufacturers recommendations) washing procedures followed by a wash in water proofing chemical wash or a spray coating. Again whatever the manufacturer asks that you do.

This is no different than reading your motorcycle owners manual and following the recommended maintenance schedules.

BTW My current "stich" is 4 years old and has been washed at least once........ :nananana: :nananana: :nananana: (more like twice a year)  Wearing dirty textiles or leathers to make yourself look like a "seasoned" rider is macho bullcrap. No different than a lawyer getting a tattoo to "blend in" with the "mean looking tough guy wannabe crowd" . 
 
I've been using the same HJC half-helmet for the past 12 years.  I've been wearing my Firstgear Kilimanjaro Air jacket for six.  Aerostitch boots have been around for five years.  Gloves don't last as long; it's a rare pair of gloves that I both wear regularly and last more than a season.
 
Used lightly, and stored reasonably well, fabric gear can last many years, but under hard use conditions, or improper storage, won't last long. So assigning a certain number of years life doesn't work, at least not for everybody. When OSHA, or the military makes rules, it has to be a 'one size fits all' sorta rule, and there isn't really any other way than to specify a certain number of years. Some people should replace at even shorter intervals, as they just use/ abuse the crap out their gear, other people hardly get any use at all before the time is up.
 
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