All gear all the time for me...I didn't used to think this way and rode for years in helmet...gloves...sometimes fingerless...jeans...T-shirt and tennis shoes.
I got hit by a car in 2001 and the weather was perfect...I wasn't speeding or under the influence of anything illegal...BUT a car didn't see me and BAM I went sailing through the air and bouncing down the street.
I did have a leather jacket on that day BUT the tennis shoes allowed my foot and ankle to get pretty much destroyed...they wanted to amputate at the knee but luckily one orthopedic surgeon on duty "thought" he could save my foot that was hanging and blowing in the wind...not kidding either.
Well after 4 surgeries and two skin graphs (that was fun
) I still have MY foot...even though I have a slight limp.
My femur bone also snapped and was poking through my jeans...oh that was
...NOT.
Just for the record I wasn't on a sportbike...I was on a BigDog Bulldog similar to this but different paint...