I have been following this thread since it started but have not commented. I was interested to see if anyone stated that they were NOT ATGATT. I do not remember anyone making that statement. I am not an ATGATT rider.
There are several reasons but first let me give you my background in riding. I have been riding since 2001 (well I did ride a few years in 1970's). Since I restarted riding I have about 350,000 miles on two wheels. Have visited all 48 states (not Alaska or Hawaii) and four Canadian provinces).
I started out in 2001 with a full face helmet and then transitioned to a half helmet then a 3/4 and now a Shark Evoline. Shark is one of two (I think) convertible helmets that are certified to use in the open face mode.
I wear a leather jacket, when the weather permits, and then a mesh jacket, and then no jacket. (Will tell you why below). I wear standard jeans. I have worn draggin jeans in past and well, just started wearing jeans from Duluth Trading. I have worn a Kevlar mesh under shirt in the past, but no longer. A matter of comfort. I wear Sidi motorcycle boots. They are above the ankle boots. They are comfortable and improve ankle safety and I have no problem wearing them all day, walking or riding (which is very, very important).
In my 350,000 miles on two wheels I have had to "incidents". One, parking my bike in 2002. I was trying to make a tight turn in the parking lot and it fell over (I was obviously inexperienced in doing that turn). As a result I had a broken ankle. In 2014, on a trip to Nova Scotia, somewhere on an interstate in VA, or WV, a deer ran out in front of me on my ST. I was in the left hand lane and I eased off the throttle, held the handlebars very tight and the deer hit the front wheel and swirled around the back of the bike. My riding buddy behind me managed to dodge the deer as we pulled off the road. I rode the bake to the right shoulder to look for damage. Bike had some cosmetic damage but was mechanically sound, and we continued the trip to Nova Scotia and back.
Thats it. That is my experience in my 350,000 miles on two wheels. Close calls, not really. Small deer on the side of the road, a few. Dogs, only one. Bears, deer, just the one noted above.
Now to my reasons for not being ATGATT. First, I see many riders using modular helmets that are in the "open" position and riding with them that way when we all know they are not "tested" or "approved" for that configuration. Which is why I now wear a Shark Evoline. One of two helmets (I believe) that are approved/safe for riding in 3/4 mode.
Second, and this is just an illustration of why, when I was taking my motorcycle safety course I was taught (if memory serves) that safety in motorcycle riding is 90% concentration. That is, you must be alert, not distracted, and be paying constant attention to the roadways and what is happening in front and behind you on the road.
I have seen too many examples of ATGATT riders who, when riding that way, are not really comfortable and therefore distracted. The main example I can give is when we were riding on US 33 in West Virginia and we stopped at Seneca Rocks in WV. It was summer and two riders were stopped at the store/gas station there. They were ATGATT riders and their faces were red and they were sweating profusely. Not good. Riding is 90% concentration as I noted above. When you are that hot, you can easily loose concentration.
Another example I will use is my last trip out west in June 2015. I was wearing my mesh jacket and wore it all the way until we started to return home. The temperature was in the low 90's and very humid (somewhere in Colorado I think). It was uncomfortable to continue that way. There was no room on the bike to store the jacket so we stopped and shipped it home UPS. Much cooler riding without it and much safer, remember concentration to the ride is 90% of being safe.
I wear gloves all of the time but they type varies based on the temperature and conditions. Leather gloves in moderate weather and some diving gloves when its raining. And if you are wondering why the diving gloves, its becuase I have never ever found a comfortable pair of waterproof gloves so I decided that I would accede to need to allow my gloves to be wet. Therefor I wear diving gloves when it rains. They are designed to be wet and use wet.
In very cold weather and with heated grips, I use some specific gloves designed for outdoor hikers to keep my hands warm. Again, comfort and not being distracted is very very important to safe riding. Therefore I also wear a heated jacket liner in very cold weather under my leather jacket. I have tried heated gloves and found they do not work well in that fingertips were always cold. The outdoor gloves do not have that problem (heated grips keep the hands warm). Again, comfort is very, very important to safe riding.
In summary, no I am not an ATGATT rider.
Edited to add the following:
I want to include a link to what kind of riding the wife and I do. So, here is a link to one of our most recent riding adventures on Rumble.
https://rumble.com/v12yeyc-starting-the-climb-south-on-ar-123.html
