Motorcycle Protective Clothing That Works!
By Michael Holmes
There is some great looking motorcycle clothing on the market
these days, but believe me not all of the motorcycle clothing
offers as much protection as you think. In Europe, for motorcycle
clothing to be lawfully sold as “safety" clothing, it has to pass
a series of European standards, which are pretty lengthy but are
available on my website. The standards cover the clothing’s
performance in abrasion, tearing and impact tests, and when they
have passed; they are sold with the CE mark. However, no such
regulation is available in the USA, so what should you look for?
Protection in the right places…
Not many people realize that most motorcycle injuries occur below
the belt. Your legs and feet are extremely vulnerable, so make
sure that you wear a decent pair of high boots and some
protective pants. The pants should be reinforced at the knees and
hips; ideally they should attach to your jacket by a zipper.
Boots should be thick leather, with a sole that can flex with the
foot but has a resistance to crushing across the foot.
Traditional material for motorcycle clothing is leather, but
thick nylon and other synthetic materials work well too. Kevlar
reinforced jeans are better than normal jeans .Normal jeans last
0.6 seconds in the European standard abrasion test, while
protective motorcycle pants will last 5 seconds or more. You
don’t really want to be ripping your skin open within less than
half a second of falling of your bike do you? Thought not.
Same principles apply to jackets. Make sure they are hardwearing,
if they are leather make sure it is thick leather not fashion
leather like some jackets. Stitching should be uniform with no
dropped stitches, and all your “sharp bits”, your elbows and
shoulders should be reinforced, ideally with some impact
protection included.
A decent pair of gloves is a must; your palms will be at risk in
an accident; you instinctively put out your hands palm side down
to stop yourself in a slide, so the palms of your gloves should
be reinforced with patches. Knitted Kevlar is especially good for
this kind of abrasion resistance, but reinforced leather works
well too.
Impact protection can be bought separately like back protectors
and so on, but remember where your most vulnerable areas are. And
make sure if you buy impact protection you actually wear it! If
you have any doubts it may be better to go for motorcycle
clothing with a degree of impact protection included so that you
know when you put on your jacket and pants, the protection is
always going to be there.
Last but not least, pick out a helmet you can wear and wear it
always. You may have a greater chance of getting injured below
the waist in a motorcycle accident, but the consequences of being
involved in an accident without a helmet just don’t bear thinking
about….
So, next time you are shopping for motorcycle clothing, give a
bit of thought to the level of protection it offers before you
buy it. You never know it could save you a lot of unnecessary
pain!
Michael Holmes is a enthusiast for all thing motorcycle. His
website,
http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com , is a
great resource of articles aimed at motorcyclists of all levels,
including a page specifically for motorcycle clothing.
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