As you can see in the infographic above, helmets, glasses, jackets, gloves, boots, and pants are monumental at keeping you safe in a motorcycle accident. Include these in your budget when you look to purchase your first bike. I’ve always been told to Dress for the Slide, not the Ride. For those of you that need more reasons to dress appropriately, I added a few below.
Helmets
This is a no-brainer. Some states do not require helmets, but they are needed, at least in certain situations, regardless of what state you live in. Don’t get me wrong, I love the carefree feeling of just jumping up and riding off, but I definitely love my helmet when it’s cold and/or rainy outside. I dislike the stinging needle-like pain of rain hitting my face or the icy cold wind blowing at me. Bryan and I have helmets that match the seasons: one for cold weather riding and one for hot. We both have a GMAX helmet with a face shield for cold weather. Mine looks like the black and pink one below. It keeps my ears and head warm and the shield blocks the wind and rain. It fastens with a D-ring and also has a visor that can drop down in place of sunglasses. Our communication headsets attach to this style very well. The one drawback that I have is that it is heavy. I feel very top-heavy when I wear it and it sometimes causes my neck to tense up after a long ride.
We both have lighter helmets for warmer weather. He has a Badass (it’s a brand!) helmet like the one pictured. He bought it strictly because we were planning on riding during the summer through states that required helmets. He was worried that he would feel strangled once the wind caught the helmet, but as long as you are properly fitted and it sits on your head correctly, there are no issues. He cannot attach our headsets to this style. The “summer” helmet I have is chrome-colored, has a drop-down visor, and looks quite a bit like a bicycle helmet :). However, I can attach my headset to it and listen to music as I ride.
Glasses
Glasses are a must on a bike. Not only are they required (unless you have a windshield of sufficient height), they come with benefits. They protect against glare. Road glare is a common hazard among motorcyclists. You want a pair of glasses that reduce glare so that you have less distractions on the road. They also protect you against road debris or insects. These are very problematic if either gets in your eyes or makes contact with your head. Additionally, they can reduce eye strain by providing a protective layer between you and the sun. Some popular manufacturers are Oakley, Bobster, Wiley X, and Spy.
There is an endless variety when it comes to motorcycle glasses and lenses.
- Clear and colored lenses are one. Each color, or lack of, serves a particular purpose. Clear lenses (no color) are perfect for dark areas. Yellow lenses filter out blue light and work great when riding on cloudy days. Orange lenses reduce glare by reflecting blue light, too. Grey lenses minimize distortions and brown ones allow you to see more details.
- Photochromic lenses are your “transition” lenses. These are the kind Bryan and I wear. They are clear indoors and darken when exposed to UV rays.
- Mirror lenses are covered in a reflective coating that mimics mirrors. They are commonly worn in snowy areas or higher altitudes. However, they do scratch easily.
- Polarized lenses are the norm in watersports, but are a great asset to motorcyclists because they reduce glare from flat surfaces.
- Polycarbonate lenses provide 100% protection from the sun’s rays and are more impact resistant and are lightweight.
I will say that the best ones we have tried so far are the ones with foam around the eye frames. The foam acts as a cushion as the wind will tend to push the glasses against your face. They also help with the wind getting in your eyes and causing them irritation.
Jackets and Gloves
Jackets and gloves are a blessing in the cold. A leather jacket will not only keep you warm when the temperature drops, but it will also do wonders to help stop the wind and rain from penetrating through to your clothes and skin. I get cold easily so Bryan bought me a heated hoodie to wear under my jacket. It has a rechargeable battery and 3 temperature settings. The push button on the upper left side makes it easy to switch between settings. The jackets and hoodie in the pictures are from Milwaukee and are identical to the ones we own.
Don’t forget about your hands! They get cold as well, especially if your bike does not have a fairing. The kind Bryan wears flares out towards the arm and this is the kind I recommend. It enables you to slide the gloves over the sleeve of your jacket preventing any wind from making it up your sleeve. Neither of mine do this and it does make a difference.
Motorcycle Boots
Motorcycle boots provide the same type of insulation for your feet as a jacket does for your core. Before I started riding, I never gave what shoes were made of much thought. I have ridden in tennis shoes (even sandals??!!) before and leather boots make such a huge difference in cold weather. The wind just cannot cut through them. Make sure you buy them at least a half size bigger in order to be able to wear thicker socks or, in my case, foot warmers! The boots in the pictures below are the type that we wear. The brown distressed ones are made by Milwaukee and the black ones are Harley Davidson with Vibram soles.
Motorcycle Pants
While we don’t have actual motorcycle “pants”, we do have chaps. Let me start off by saying they are heavy…just like our jackets…but they have pockets! The ones we have, shown below, are made by Milwaukee and come with a removable liner for extra warmth (same as our leather jackets.) The pockets are zippered to keep items in place and there are zippers and snaps along the side. They block the wind and keep you from getting wet in the rain. They are not totally waterproof as they will allow water to soak through after some time, but it will take a while. Another use for them is to open them up and put them on your parked bike, or truck if you are trailering the bike, in the happenchance a hail storm pops up!
What About the Rest of the Infographic?
Crash Protection
No one likes to think about crashing on a bike. Since I am no mechanic, I’ve found a video that discusses types of crash protectors used on bikes and how useful they are.
Multi-Tool Kits
Multi-tool kits come in handy when something happens on your trip away from home. It’s cheaper to fix your bike rather than to pay someone else to do it for you. We’ve had to stop and buy tools because we were ill prepared. No more. Note that not all tool kits look the same. Some have a bit of everything in them. To be on the safe side, make sure to include a flathead screwdriver, pliers, an adjustable wrench, and an Allen wrench, either SAE or metric depending on your bike type.
Communication System
There are so many out there and I am not going to pretend I know something about every one. We have a Sena, like the one pictured below. In fact, we have 3 of them. It is a stereo headset with a long-range Bluetooth Intercom. We can listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks, hear voice instructions from GPS, talk back and forth to each other, and call hands-free on our phone. Set-up was simple, but I’ve included a Youtube video for instructions in case it is needed.
Motorcycle Luggage
When you’re planning an overnight, weekend, or an even longer ride, you’re going to need luggage. We use these A LOT. Styles vary so you can match them to your bike and their functionality. We have all kinds and have used them all. On our trip to California, we had the bike piled high with every bag we had plus a cargo net and a tent! What a sight we made going down the road! Mailing dirty clothes home became the norm for us on this particular trip.
