I'm a motorcycle safety instructor for Nevada, and just a couple of comments. First, it's great to see you riding with your machine. I like the way you've lashed it down as close as possible to the center of gravity, so it affects your handling less. Much better than strapping it way back on the carrier rack.
As an MSF (motorcycle safety foundation) certified instructor, and one who always rides with full gear, I'd make the following statements about your lack of safety gear.
First, it doesn't make any difference how far you are traveling on a motorbike, or how fast you are going, you can get seriously injured or killed in a minor get-off. Gear can turn a minor getoff into an inconvenience rather than a life-threatening situation.
I've had several crashes and in every case, I had no head injuries even though I've destroyed three helmets now in crashes. In the first crash, when I was 16 yrs old, I was run off a city highway and into a curb during what I believe to be a racially motivated incident. This was in 1964 during the big race riots and I was in the wrong place. In that crash, I was wearing jeans, tennis shoes, a rain coat, and a shorty helmet. My knees and elbows were shredded, and the helmet was scraped up bad, but no head injuries. I was going about 20 mph when I hit the ground.
In my second crash, in 2000, I went down on a rain-slicked curve covered with slippery substance, again at 15-20 mph. I slid approx 100 feet and tumbled. The 800 pound touring bike I was on slid ahead of me, hit a guard rail and bounce off, wrecking both sides and totaling the bike. I was wearing full gear and came out of it with a wrecked riding suit and a wrecked helmet and no physical injuries other than a small strawberry on my shin where it rubbed the underside of the armco barrier (guardrail) as I slid partially under it.
In my third crash, three years ago, I was riding my big dual-sport bike on a desert dirt road a few miles from home and came over a small rise followed by a dip, into a dried mud pit that was all rutted up. I got the two wheels in two different ruts, was going a little too fast (about 20 mph) and ended up going over the handlebars. Again I came down on my head and unfortunately stuck my right arm out to stop myself (bad idea). I was going about 10 mph when I hit the ground. Here are a couple of pictures of my helmet damage, damage that would have been to my head had I not been wearing it.
[img]
http://www.stocrallies.com/pictures/helmet2.gif[/img]
[img]
http://www.stocrallies.com/pictures/helmet5.gif[/img]
I was also wearing a full riding suit and boots and gloves, so I didn't have any abrasion damage to my body. However, because I stuck my arm out rather than land on my padded shoulders, I dislocated my right shoulder and tore the rotater cuff, and this still hurts to this day.
So the long and the short is, that with my hundreds of thousands of riding miles over the years, and with all my experience and training, I'm a big believer in safety gear.
However, I believe that every adult has to make their own decisions about safety gear when riding.
What I tell my student riders is:
Make sure you are making a considered decision about what you wear when you ride, and make sure you analyze the risks and have made a conscious, active decision about what level of risk you are prepared to take, both on your own account and on account of your family and other people who's lives you are affecting with that decision.
As long as you make a conscious, active decision and don't base that decision on what you or someone else tells you or what you or someone else considers to be a fashion statement, and are prepared to accept the risks associated with that decision, then within the applicable laws of where you are riding, you should wear what you want to wear while you're riding.
(Please note that any statements made above are my own opinions, and are not made on behalf of or with the permission of the MSF, the State of Nevada Rider training program or any other entity.)