MOTORCYCLE CLOTHING ADVICE
Advice on Clothing.
If you are going to ride a motorcycle or moped you need to consider what you are dressed in.
Here we try to give a little advice mostly aimed at new riders; once you have progressed you will start to understand better what suits you as an individual.
Helmet.
A good dealer will also give you advice and make sure the helmet is fitted to you properly.
The most important thing about helmets is the fit. It should be a good snug fit; you may even think it's too tight especially around your cheeks. Heads and helmets come in lots of different shapes as well as different sizes. You may find that you need to try a few brands before you find a shape that suits you.
Do not buy a second hand helmet, you do not know what has happened to it, helmets have a life of about 2-3 years and if they have been dropped from a height of more than about 2 feet they are not safe.
Look after your visor and only clean it with a soft cotton cloth, never paper towels as they are quite abrasive. Soak rather than rub off the bugs.
Whilst the most popular helmet colour is black, you should consider buying a brightly coloured helmet it is a big help in trying to get others to see you. A number of riders like the helmet to match the bike i.e. they don't like blue helmets with a red bike, if you buy a multicoloured helmet it will go with any colour bike.
Clothing in general.
Whilst proper Motorcycle clothing is the best thing to wear it can be expensive, the majority of riders buy it bit at a time and make do with normal clothing in the meantime.
If you are going to do this the order for buying it should be,
1. Helmet
2. All season gloves.
3. Lightweight Waterproof Jacket and trousers, or one piece suit.
4. Jacket,
5. Boots
6. Trousers
Whist you are riding you will not get hot even on a summer day.The biggest danger is that you will get cold. Make sure that you are wearing something that will keep you warm, dry and comfortable. If you get cold and wet you are not able to concentrate on what you and others are doing. The other thing you are trying to do with the clothing is to protect yourself if you come off the bike. The main concern is avoiding taking your skin off, so the clothing needs to be tough and well fitting, so that there is no danger of exposing skin.
Gloves
You should never consider riding a bike without gloves. Ultimately you will find that you need a few pairs, Summer, Winter and all other times,(all season) you will only need the Summer ones for a few days in the height of summer. The very thick winter ones for a few weeks in the winter and the rest of the time you need a medium weight, preferably waterproof glove.
Ski type gloves may keep you warm and dry, but they will give you no protection if you come off.
If you do come off there is a good chance that your hands will be the first thing to hit the ground, taking all the skin off the palms of your hands is not funny.
Lightweight Waterproof Jacket and trousers, or one piece suit.
Lightweight nylon waterproofs are not expensive and can be folded up quite small. They can be used over jeans, denim jackets etc. apart from being waterproof they will stop the wind and will help considerably in keeping you warm.
Jacket.
Try to avoid big bulky jackets such as padded Ski type jackets, Thy will give you no protection if you come off the bike, they will obscure the mirrors, the wind tends to get in and blow them up even bigger and you get affected by the wind more.
Bike jackets can be leather or fabric, Leather gives the best protection if you come off, fabric jackets tend to be more practical in that they work well in all weather.
Good alternatives would be denim or heavy waxed cotton
Boots.
In the absence of proper bike boots, you need heavy shoes or boots, some heavy walking boots are fine, work boots are fine. Ideally you should have ankle protection. Flat soles are best.
Try to avoid steel toecaps. Trainers will give no protection and the soft soles will make it difficult to put the bike onto its stand.
Trousers.
Bike trousers can be leather or fabric, Leather gives the best protection if you come off, fabric tends to be more practical because it works well in all weather.
Tough denim jeans are a good substitute, but make sure they are well fitting especially at the bottom of the legs.
