Today’s motorcycle gear and apparel options are nearly limitless. Not only when it comes to safety gear, but many of today’s premier safety equipment manufacturers also have catalogs full of casual wear.
Safety gear use to be a battle between comfort and safety. Today much of that has changed with options that can keep you warm, keep you cool, keep you just right—all while keeping you safe. The key to safety gear is wearing it. This is mostly due to the fact that we know nobody who every planned to use it, but all sorts of people who are happy they had it on. Play it safe. The fact is that your gear usually makes a big difference in whether you walk away laughing with a scratched ego or a more painful injury. That doesn’t mean you need to outfit yourself from head to toe in armor every time you get on your bike, but there are a couple of items experienced motorcyclists never roll without.
Helmet
Your skull is the helmet nature gave you, but nature also limited your top speed to 20 mph or so. A helmet that fits your noggin is designed to improve upon that, with a polystyrene foam liner inside its colorful shell that’s engineered to absorb much more impact than your skull can, thus cushioning your brain from the dreaded sudden stop. Any helmet is better than no helmet, but some are much better than others. Every helmet sold in the U.S. is supposed to have a DOT (Department of Transportation) sticker, but that doesn’t always mean much. Look at the thing and then look at the road and ask yourself, is this what I’d like to be wearing should the two make contact at speed?
For around-town urban use, many riders like open-face helmets and a pair of cool sunglasses, which allow greater freedom to talk to people and a more open feeling in general. For longer distances and higher speeds, most riders now go with a full-face helmet, which protects the face as well and provides your whole head with a nice, snug cocoon of protection. Add cheap foam earplugs from the drugstore, 50 plugs for six bucks or so, and you’ve got your own little quiet, calm world in there.
Check out www.helmetcheck.com for some additional helpful tips and safety information!
Gloves
After the helmet, gloves are the second most important piece of motorcycle gear. What do you do when you fall? You stick your hands out, that’s what. And if you’re moving at any speed at all, you slide a little. Human hands are some of the most fantastic tools ever designed: magnificently tactile, capable of extreme feats of dexterity and delicacy. Wear gloves. We cringe when we see anyone riding their new scooters without them.
Everything Else!
After your head and hands are covered, it’s a balancing act between risk, reward and comfort. Purists will be horrified, and insist you never leave home without a leather jacket and pants, big clunky boots and a serious demeanor. We agree with them if you’re traveling cross-country in a hurry, or roadracing. But if you’re running down to the grocery store for a quart of milk and a Moon Pie on an August afternoon on your scooter, all that’s a bit much and sort of defeats the whole purpose of your bike: convenience and fun.
If you are planning some extended rides however, rest assured there are plenty of motorcycle clothiers standing by, with warehouses full of purpose-built motorcycle gear for every rider from fashion ambivalent to full-on fashionista, in a wide range of prices.
Experienced motorcyclists also have a word for the people you see wearing flip-flops on their motorcycle on the way to the beach: idiots.
