Carry on a motorcycle.

I always carry IWB at 4:00 on my motorcycle. Never had an issue.

I have a shoulder holster I use for bike riding, though sometimes it's IWB or in a coat inside pocket.

I usually have a jacket or vest on when riding with a shoulder holster under, usually with a compact 45 or a SP 101. Too much me to hide one on the waste. Most people don't pay attention to a bearded old man on a bike.
buflow

I pocket carry a P32. I ride sport bikes, and any bigger gun is too uncomfortable to carry. I had my P32 in my pocket when I went down a few years ago and it didn't cause any extra problems.

AIWB, Double stack 1911

I went down, rolled several times, and my cell phone, in my pocket, beat me up. Hurt like hell, left a huge black and blue mark, and gave me a leg I could barely lift enough to make it over a curb for several days. This was with a flip phone some years back, about the size and thickness of a small pistoI. I won't carry while riding.

I notice nobody mentioned the issue of gloves. Hope you're all wearing them, but how do those of you carrying expect to find, pull, and shoot while wearing them, especially with winter weight gloves or while wearing winter weight riding jackets?

From curiosity, what does it mean when you refer to carrying at 3 or 4 o'clock?

TheSquire said:

From curiosity, what does it mean when you refer to carrying at 3 or 4 o'clock?

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Think of your waist as a clock. 1:00 is front, slightly right. 3:00 is directly on your right side. 4:00 is behind the back slightly on right about kidney or so. And so on around the clock.

I carried in a seeps holster at 3:30 or so. I almost always wear a jacket of some sort when riding and gloves of one sort or another. I have practiced the draw stroke with gloves, and seated on the bike. It ain't as easy as you would think. Remember a bike has very good acceleration and can be maneuvered in tight spaces. That will buy you more space than trying a fancy draw stroke.

Speedo66 said:

I went down, rolled several times, and my cell phone, in my pocket, beat me up. Hurt like hell, left a huge black and blue mark, and gave me a leg I could barely lift enough to make it over a curb for several days. This was with a flip phone some years back, about the size and thickness of a small pistoI. I won't carry while riding.

I notice nobody mentioned the issue of gloves. Hope you're all wearing them, but how do those of you carrying expect to find, pull, and shoot while wearing them, especially with winter weight gloves or while wearing winter weight riding jackets?

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The difference I think is between the adrenaline junky and motorcycle for transportation. I ride from point A to Point B. When I was younger in my sport bike days and was out on the twisties in full leather, I did not carry. But going to work or the store or wherever, I simply don't change my carry mode. I do wear gloves and leather jacket now.

Speedo66 said:

I went down, rolled several times, and my cell phone, in my pocket, beat me up. Hurt like hell, left a huge black and blue mark, and gave me a leg I could barely lift enough to make it over a curb for several days. This was with a flip phone some years back, about the size and thickness of a small pistoI. I won't carry while riding.

I notice nobody mentioned the issue of gloves. Hope you're all wearing them, but how do those of you carrying expect to find, pull, and shoot while wearing them, especially with winter weight gloves or while wearing winter weight riding jackets?

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This is what I was getting at....

I am geared up....gloves, boots, over pants with armor, jacket with armor....I also look like a traffic cone driving down the road. If for some reason I felt I had to have one on me I would do a shoulder holster but I think I am more likley to hit an animal or be hit by a soccer mom then needing the pistol.

I got onto a street in DC last summer that really made me wish I had a gun on me, especially at the stop lights when I'd have been easy prey for some of those groups on the street corners.
There are also times when stopping for fuel or food that the comfort of a gun is the same as if we were walking or in a car.
Daily commute, weekend warrior or cross country touring, we ride some nice bikes and carry valuable items so that makes us marks.

X-Rap said:

I got onto a street in DC last summer that really made me wish I had a gun on me, especially at the stop lights when I'd have been easy prey for some of those groups on the street corners.

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Cars in front of you. Cars behind you, Cars beside you. When I pull up to a light is when I feel the most vulnerable. I want to be able to draw setting in the saddle.

"..out on the twisties in full leather..." Ahhh. That brings back some great memories. Thank you......

I'm one of those 1911 guys you always hear about. When I ride however, I keep a glock 19 tucked into my pants at 3 or 4 o'clock. Or I toss it into my locking saddlebag. Depends on my mood and where I'm riding. I chose the G19 so that when I wreck, my Colt won't get wrecked and if some low life breaks my saddle bag open, well I'd rather lose the G19 than the 1911.

guyfromohio said:

The difference I think is between the adrenaline junky and motorcycle for transportation. I ride from point A to Point B. When I was younger in my sport bike days and was out on the twisties in full leather, I did not carry. But going to work or the store or wherever, I simply don't change my carry mode. I do wear gloves and leather jacket now.

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The two times I've gone down in the last 25 years or so were not due to excess speed, but rather to tar and chip roads, which seem to be the bane of my existence. The rolling I previously mentioned was at 55 mph, not particularly fast. Both spills shredded my armored pants and jacket, gloves, and helmet and face mask, but I suffered no torn skin, just lots of bruises. I hit hard enough to shatter my phones. So no carry for me, and I won't leave a gun on the bike lest I forget to take it and it gets stolen.

Highway engineers who start tar and chip roads with curves and no signage should be dragged face down one for 50 yards at a minimum.

guyfromohio said:

The difference I think is between the adrenaline junky and motorcycle for transportation.

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....and FME, the adrenaline junky probably has it safer than the basic transportation guy. Only time I have gone down is when someone in a cage pulled out or turned in front of me and I had to lay it down or hit them. Both times I was doing the speed limit and had the right of way. Both times my leathers saved my hide.

Drail said:

"...no need to have it on your person..." That would be exactly wrong. One fine day I was attacked by three scumbags who came from behind me while i was stopped at a light. The only thing that kept from from being knocked unconscious with the first blow was my helmet. I instantly had two choices - pull a gun or run a red light at a very busy intersection. I ran the light and somehow missed being hit by a car. If my bike had stalled or died they would have undoubtedly beat me pretty good. My gun will always be on my person - not stashed away on the bike somewhere requiring both hands and time to get it in your hand. May as well leave it at home if it's not on your belt and IMMEDIATELY available in an emergency.

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Why did three guys attack you out of the blue, just for no reason? How well do you think you'd have done against three guys trying to pull your gun while sitting on the bike? I'll wager not very well, all they'd have had to do is push you over and continue with the beating. I can get my pistol out of my tank bag with either hand, probably just about as fast as you can reach under a jacket and pull yours from a holster. That's why I carry it there.

I taught MSF courses for over 15 years, I've met several riders who were seriously injured in accidents and attributed at least some of the severity of their injuries to handguns or other hard objects they were carrying on their persons. One in particular stuck with me, he was carrying a full size 1911 in a shoulder holster and he had 6 rib breaks on 4 ribs in that spot, and a pneumothorax (a partially collapsed lung). He said it took him a full year to fully recover from it ( I've had a somewhat similar injury, he's telling the truth about that, it was bad). Now there's really no absolute way to say for sure that he wouldn't have been injured without a gun there but he believed the gun did it. I have not been down on pavement since 1981, but I have sure come close way more times to going down than I have to needing my gun while riding, and riding a motorcycle is a constant exercise in risk assessment...to me the gun is more likely to do harm than good while riding, so I'll keep mine right where it is TYVM.

You're so very welcome.........

As I posted earlier I pocket carry, and I don't carry for use while on the bike. Drawing and firing while riding a motorcycle is a Hollywood fiction. Hitting a moving target is challenging enough when the shooter is motionless and stable, the likelihood of hitting a target while on a moving motorcycle is probably close to zero. There is nowhere on your body that you can carry where the presence of a hard object would not be a good thing, but the alternative of carrying the gun in a tank bag or saddle bag, or worse, not carrying at all, is not a viable option in my opinion.

I really don't think that anyone was talking about "drawing and firing while riding a motorcycle". I was jumped while stopped at a traffic light. I could have put the bike on the kickstand, dropped the bike, or as one poster stated been drug off the bike and put on the ground and still have been able to draw my gun in any of those scenarios, with some degree of difficulty, of course. If you're riding the bike your best option is simply to downshift and open the throttle and get out of Dodge....... But you must keep your head moving and scanning for threats 360 all of the time.

While there's a lot to be said for always carrying and drawing in the same manner, one thing that I think should be considered on a motosickle is how easily short ribs break and where that 3:00 or 4:00 IWB is going to end up if you go down. The ribs that break and don't connect in the front also have a nasty propensity for puncturing lungs.
IMO, the inside jacket pocket (most motorcycle jackets have 'em), or shoulder holster are a (marginally) better idea. Sportsman's Guide and others sell vests made for concealed carry as well. The thigh pocket of an Aerostitch works great, for relatively small gats.

A heavily padded vest that allowed fast easy access would be a very good setup. As long as you didn't have to keep it unzipped too far down. Once you hit 80 you turn into a parachute if you're not zipped up. I never rode the "monkey on a football" bikes - just cruisers. Sitting straight up - no windshield - just you and the bugs. Some of them bugs are kinda tasty. Gotta carry a toothpick though.

I was laughed at by my buddies for this,,,
But within a month several of them had one.

It's the M-7 Tanker Holster from Pacific Canvas and Leather.

It's commonly called the Tanker holster,,,
It's a shoulder holster that rides more towards the front of your body.

That allowed me to ride my cruiser and forget it was there.

In the summer when I dress lighter,,,
I made a vest with an integral holster inside it,,,
In fact I copied one of these from Cabela's as closely as I could.

It works perfectly for my LCP and LC9.

Aarond

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