As for gear...
I was riding on the Izu peninsula behind a friend on a KTM SuperDuke. We were going down hill and entering a decreasing radius left. He was pushing the bike like a Sumo rider (bike leaned, body neutral) while I was hanging off. He started to drag his left peg about halfway to the apex. Once he saw the apex, he pushed lower (like a fool) and of weighted is rear tire just enough to break traction. He slid across the oncoming lane (no cars) and into the gravel turn-out on the outside of the curve. His left leg was stuck between the bike and the pavement as he was bleeding off speed. I started to fall off line, and drop gears to get to him as quick as possible. As he is sliding on his side, across the gravel, he looks up at me and gives me a thumbs up. When get gets to a stop, I hop off and lift his bike off his leg. Fully expecting to see the worse, I was shocked to see his pants damaged, but no blood. The two outer layers of leather on his knee/shin area were torn open, and the padding was shot, but the third layer of leather held. He flips at the pants and says, "XXXX I bought these pants yesterday!"
Ever since then I have worn full gear, even if I need to run to the store. A number of co-workers (admittedly squids) who went down in Japan as well, and those who wore gear were fine, those who didn't... well. Even in the Japanese August (mid 90's w/80+ humidity) I happily wore my leather gear when I rode.
Take it for what you will, it is a personal choice. Personally, I'd rather sweat than bleed!
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