Ya, I mean, I guess I feel that. It's just that I saw my brothers face swollen to the size of a large pumpkin and still see the scars on his face, arm, and leg from the road rash/smacking the curb-- He was going about 20mph.

Also it's just a slippery slope of "well I'm just going this far, I don't need to wear it." And suddenly you're jumping on the highway with no gear because the trip is relatively short. This reason is obviously more personal as I feel that I have poor self control in slippery slope situations.

Lastly, I just feel horribly vulnerable when I don't have gear on. And my only experience without gear is taking my bike from the front of the house around in the alley to the garage... I can envision the aftermath of blipping the throttle while my rear wheel is over that wet patch of leaves or that loose gravel... I want to ride for a long long time, I don't want my enjoyment of motorcycling to be cutshort because I was too lazy to strap on a helmet or too much of a bitch to deal with the little more heat brought by long pants and a jacket (my summer jacket has too much ventilation if its anywhere below 75°..)... Don't mean to be preachy, but it's just something I feel pretty strongly about.