EU Restrictions on Home Mechanics

[benlawlor85]

Yearly MOT in UK, which although a hassle can be handy to have someone give the bike a once over and say oh did you realise that XYZ isnt right.

As for clothing i personally think Gloves and boots should be a legal requirement. There are so many usually scooter riders who wear trainers and no gloves. which is fine but come off at 30mph and its going to hurt.... and the NHS pics up the bill. I have only had two accidents one one a low side from locking the rear wheel (on a 125cc bike) which my boots saved me from what would have surely have been a broken ankle. and the Second was 60mph into the side of a tax that pulled out into the road. I had jeans on that day and luclky i hit a nice grassy verge.... I always wear proper trousers now and a jacket with a spine protector as if i landed on the road that day... broken back maybe? Before this incident i though that i was a good enough rider to not crash...

Ride as safe as you can, take calculated risks... but you can never calculate risk of other road users. Which is why for my 4 mile commute i wear full gear and always will.

Anyway... sorry for rabbiting on.

[Barry]

Understand what you are saying about good clothing being essential but I'm not sure about legislation. Where do you stop ?  How about pedal cyclist that can easily do 30MPH down hill with maybe rubbish brakes and they are just as prone as us to the "didn't see you" accident.

I give any Taxi a wide berth when riding. There will be good drivers amongst them but too many arrogant ones to give them the benefit of the doubt. Had a similar accident to you when I was 17. A taxi U turned on a major road right in front of me. I managed to hit the front wing instead of the door and sailed majestically over the bonnet. I was wearing a helmet and maybe some gloves but got way with it. Don't remember it hurting that much well you wouldn't at 17. The taxi driver couldn't understand what he did wrong because especially back then they thought the road belonged to so called "professional drivers" and everyone else should make way for them.  He even contested the insurance claim but I was smart enough to beat the ****** on that score.

[benlawlor85]

Yeah i agree legislation shouldn't be needed... and it should be common sense to wear good gear.  
and dont get me started on Taxis! the only so called professional drivers that have no more qualifications that Joe blogs.
That is one reason why i used to like my R1100GS with full pans etc. if a taxi tried to intimidate me i could do it back, bad i know but they soon would back off. The Remus helped too.