When I began riding at 18 on my Yamaha Catalina parallel twin 250 in Huntington Beach in 68 almost no one wore helmets or protective gear. Geez, don't even know if they even made much back in those days. My first crash was on Balboa Island in Newport Beach going around a curve a little too hot chasing some girls in a pickup and highsided into a field. I was wearing a leather jacket, not the motorcycle version but a button up dress type jacket that saved my shoulder as the coat was shredded. After I finished sliding across the grass I looked up to see a large boulder only several feet from my head. No helmet then.
My second and last crash was coming through an intersection in Newport Beach and the left turning driver didn't yield and I could feel his bumper brush up against my jeans. I was so angry I chased this guy down to the next intersection and I was going to yank him out of his car and beat the crap out of him (I've since become a very calm individual). Got going a little too fast down the street to catch up with him and locked the brakes up on my 2nd and all time favorite; Honda 305 Scrambler. How this happened I'll never know but I fell onto the bike sliding towards this dude's rear bumper as I'm screaming, "go go", flailing my arms to get him to move before I run up under his car. He pulls away as I slide through the intersection and pick up the bike and ride off with nary a scratch and a broken headlight and bent brake lever. Man O Man, was I a lucky son of a gun and again no gear or helmet.
These days though, it's ATGATT.....well most of the time. I do wear a Nolan modular, gloves, boots and textile jacket always and riding pants on long rides. Still like to ride in jeans though. Maybe I"ll get it all together some day.
