How Gear Protects You

We don’t really get a chance to deep-dive into gear during the BRC. I’m somewhat of a gear geek in all my hobbies, so I wanted to at least have a resource I could point students to that hopefully helps breakdown what you need to know about riding gear. This will cover the various aspects of protection, and I have a separate post that will cover each piece in detail.

We really are in a golden age of motorcycle gear. You can get casual looking armored, abrasion resistant gear that look just like your favorite flannel and jeans. If you don’t mind looking the part, you go more technical and get mesh gear that flows a ton of air while still keeping you protected or go to the opposite end of the spectrum and get bullet-proof Gore-Tex touring gear that will keep you comfortable in (almost) any situation at the cost of, well, way more money.

As covered in our eClass, motorcycle gear protects you in three main ways: colors and reflectivity help others see you, impact armor & abrasion resistant fabric keep you safer in a crash, and weather-appropriate gear protects you from the elements. As a general rule, gear can be protective, comfortable, or affordable; but you only get to pick two. As a new rider, protective and affordable is probably the best bet to get started. Comfort becomes more of an issue when you start to go on longer rides or ride in more demanding environments, but I wouldn’t recommend investing in top spec gear until you have a better idea of the type of riding you want to do.

The only gear that matters is the gear that you actually put on when you ride. You can spend thousands on a leather race suit or bulletproof adventure-touring suit, but if it’s not physically comfortable (or makes you feel like you’re cos-playing a power ranger or pirate) you’ll never wear it. If that’s the case, look for gear that’s designed to look feel and look casual and fits your taste. On the other hand, some people like the ritual of putting on their riding gear and feel that it helps them focus and get into the right headspace for riding. Figure out what works for you.

Crashing doesn’t happen to everyone and the chances of having one go down drastically when you employ defensive riding strategies. That being said, if a crash does happen, the difference between having a bad day and sustaining life-altering injuries can come down to wearing your gear.

A motorcycle crash is almost never one simple impact. A crash starts at whatever speed you were traveling, say 45mph, and something happens. Someone pulls out in front of you. A deer hops out of the treeline. You were carrying too much speed, target fixate, and don’t intentionally counter steer enough to make the corner. No matter what it is, you’re about to lose control of the bike and the situation.

Hopefully you’re using the SEE strategy and have the chance to respond and brake before the impact, scrubbing as much speed as possible before you come off the bike when you either hit something or lose traction. After you lose control, you’ll do some combination of sliding, rolling, or tumbling across the pavement until you eventually shed all of your remaining speed and come to a stop (or hit a solid object) — sometimes hundreds of feet from where control was lost. It’s an incredibly violent process and once you lose control of the bike you are completely at the mercy of physics and whatever gear you happen to be wearing.

This article from Revzilla (from whom I’ve shamelessly stolen photos for this and other posts) gives a good breakdown of the available safety ratings for motorcycle gear and what to look for when shopping.

Your riding gear should fit your body well enough that your armor is actually covering the joint it’s support to protect and stays in place during a crash. Impact armor won’t do you any good if it’s shifted around because your gear is too baggy, and abrasion resistance doesn’t matter if your jacket rides halfway up your back during a slide.

Abrasion resistant gear protects you from the sliding part of a crash. The best pair of jeans in the word will shred in a couple of feet of sliding, so look for motorcycle-specific gear constructed of leather or abrasion resistant textiles like Cordura. These materials will be able to withstand the heat and friction of sliding on the pavement and keep you from having road debris embedded in your skin.

The motorcycle-specific part is important not just for the materials, but also for the construction. The leather in your favorite vintage bomber jacket might be abrasion resistant, but its seams won’t be constructed to withstand the forces involved in a high-speed slide across pavement. Motorcycle gear is sewn in fewer, large pieces of material and important seams are reinforced to keep the garment from coming apart.

During rolling and tumbling, your body hits the ground repeatedly from a bunch of different angles. The parts of your body that are mostly likely to be injured in a roll or tumble are your joints (shoulders, knees, elbows, knuckles), your spine, and your head. Helmets cover your head and most quality motorcycle gear includes impact armor in the joints and spine to help absorb at least some of those forces. Injuries to these parts of your body can severely limit your mobility and can affect your livelihood and/or ability to participate in your favorite activities & sports.

Important Note: many motorcycle jackets will come with a pocket for spine armor that’s either empty or, even worse, a cheap foam pad so you can “feel how armor would fit.” Make sure to read the description and verify that your gear includes the armor that you think it does and factor the cost of spine armor into the purchase if it doesn’t.

Quality motorcycle gear will help keep you cooler when it’s hot out, dry when it’s wet, and warm when it’s cold. In addition to finding gear with the features that you want, fit is just as important for weather protection as it is for crash protection. Gear that’s too tight won’t allow for proper airflow from vents or allow you to add layers when it’s cold.

In the summer, it’s a common misconception that you’ll be cooler riding in a t-shirt than a riding jacket. A good jacket will keep the sun off your skin while still allowing enough airflow to let your sweat evaporate in a way that actually cools you down. For most environments (anything other than extreme humidity), a wind-proof jacket with air vents is actually more effective at keeping you comfortable because it keeps the sweat on your skin long enough to evaporate and cool you down — assuming you’re moving. In a t-shirt, tank top, or shorts the sweat is blown off your skin before it has a chance to cool you by evaporating.

In extreme humidity or if you’re expecting a lot of low-speed riding (like commuting in dense urban traffic), abrasion-resistant mesh jackets can provide adequate protection while moving huge amounts of air across your body.

See this article from the Iron Butt Association for a detailed discussion of staying comfortable in hot weather.

Rain protection can come from the gear itself being waterproof (like Gore-Tex), from removable waterproof linings worn inside your jacket & pants, or from rain jackets/pants worn over your gear. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so it’s mostly down personal preference.

While traction is reduced in wet weather, it’s also important to remember a few other factors. Rain and fog reduce visibility; highly visible colors and reflectivity are good ideas for riding gear in general, but they’re even more crucial when it’s raining and visibility is reduced. The same evaporative cooling effect that our bodies take advantage of when sweating also apply to rain, and, even in relatively warm ambient temperatures, the cooling effects of high speed winds from riding combined with rain soaked gear can be enough to cause hypothermia.

When the weather gets colder, adding thermal base- and mid-layers like wool, fleece, or down can help keep you warm under your windproof riding gear. This works to a point, but even with the best layers you’ll eventually start to lose body heat and feel the cold creeping in. Pay attention to your body’s signals like shivering and pain/numbness (especially in your fingers) and take breaks to warm up as needed. Extra wind protection on your bike is also super helpful to take some of the bite out of the weather, consider aftermarket wind screens, fairings, or hand guards if your bike doesn’t come with them.

If you’re planning a long trip or consistently riding in the cold, your best bet is to combine wind & waterproof out layers with heated gear. You can either go with chemical heat (like HotHands hand warmers), electrically heated mid-layers (either battery powered or that plug into your bike), or heated accessories on your bike (like heated grips or heated seats). Touring bikes will often come with these features, but check that your electrical system can handle the load before installing them on a bike that wasn’t originally equipped with heated gear.

If you’re riding in the shoulder seasons (early spring or late fall), make sure to always pack some kind of warmer layers in case the weather turns on you. Even a 70-degree fall afternoon can turn dip into the 40s once the sun goes down.

Gear that helps you be seen by others can help you mitigate the risk of inattentional blindness (when someone fails to perceive what is plainly visible). Bright colors don’t necessarily have to mean neon yellow or hunter orange, but those colors have been shown to be the most visible from a distance. White helmets also tend to pop out well against the generally-drab colors of traffic. The other side benefit is that brighter colors also absorb less heat from the sun — while black might make you look more cool, light greys, tans, and whites will actually help keep you cool.

Keep in mind that florescent (hi-vis) colors only really work in the daylight because their brightness comes from an interaction with the UV light from the sun. At night, conspicuity needs to come from reflective panels and stripes on your gear and your bike’s lighting system.

Bright colors are one way to be seen more easily, but bright, solid colors aren’t the only (or best) option. Another thing that helps a great deal is wearing gear with contrasting colors that highlight/outline the human form — this helps others’ subconscious minds go “oh, that’s a person and I shouldn’t run them over” and not “that’s a solid blob of color that I don’t recognize, so I’m not going to worry about it.” The same logic applies to reflective accents — they’re most effective on the shoulders, down the arms, and on your feet/ankles to outline your human form.

Visual conspicuity helps, but it’s important not to over-rely on it to be seen. Remember that even emergency vehicles with their lights flashing have people pull out in front of them — high visibility gear won’t make you invincible.