That is something I wrestle with on occasion....most of the time when the thermometer heads over 85 degrees.

I never ride without a helmet, boots and jeans, and I can count on one hand the number of times I ride without an armored jacket in any single year...and that is generally just a lap around my country block to dry the bike after a washing.  (I almost never wear shorts even if I am not on a bike).

I can understand the scenario you describe, and you are not very likely to ever have a problem on that ride.  I cringe every time I see the young man weaving through traffic at 80 mph on a sportbike while he is wearing slip on tennis shoes, shorts and a T shirt.    

I built my bike for the sole purpose of riding to and from work as often as I can.  I've put 1600 miles on it so far this year and less than 16 of those miles were used for anything other than commuting.  Before buying my LS650 I considered smaller thumpers, DS bikes and even scooters.

I don't wear anything special when I ride to work.  If it's a shorts and golf shirt day, I simply add my 3/4 helmet and sunglasses and I'm on my way.  On cold mornings I might throw on a pair of gloves, goggles and maybe a pair of softshell hiking pants to keep me from freezing on my commute.  

I'm doing the minimum, because that's all I want to do. I never intended to go with a full set of gear.  Doing so would turn the simple process of going to work into something more than I want to deal with.  

I'm banking on my skills and attention to my surroundings to keep me reasonably safe.  I am hoping nobody takes down out there.  I hoping if I do go down, my helmet will do it's job and understand the rest of my body might feel pretty bad.  I fully understand that I might pay the price for my decisions and I'm willing to take that chance IF I ever go down on the road.  My plan is to never crash on a road bike and not be brain dead if I do.  So I'm dressing "appropriately" for that plan.

When I raced motocross, I wore a full set of gear.  When I raced, the question wasn't IF was going to crash, it was when and how hard.  Hitting the ground was part of the sport and I dressed accordingly for that plan.

If this makes me a 49 yr old hipster, then I'm cool with that.  I'm never going to smoke, get tattoos, or wear designer clothing,  but I would consider removing the visor from my helmet.  

Just don't wear a tie with your t-shirt and it'll be okay...

On occasion you might catch me in shorts & tee with tennis shoes & my favorite cool of fingertip gloves. But last time I did that , something happened , just got a chill up my spine looking down at my bare legs remembering the road rash from almost 40 years ago. Turned around and went home to suit up. It was the strangest feeling like something bad was going to happen , a bad omen you could say ! Just suit up guys , don't be stupid , bad things happen and happen fast ! Hipsters , Squids all the same don't be one !!!!

I wear high vis jacket, full face helmet, stuffed gloves and stuffed m/c boots. If I'm doing over fifty miles, I'll probably wear proper m/c over trousers. As some may have gathered I could care less about hip, or cool.

verslagen1 wrote on 07/10/17 at 13:19:40:

I believe this is a catch 22, you are questioning your "Hipsterism" therefore you are not a hipster... unless you went for covfefe.

This gives me great comfort.

Regarding the ride to the cafe - the only curve is in my driveway so I'm not at all concerned about a loss of control, and the entire tip takes place in a 25 mph zone.

Dave wrote on 07/11/17 at 05:47:09:

Would a pair of these tattoo sleeves make the hipster image better...or worse?

It depends. Do they provide protection against road rash?