Words: Boris Mihailovic / Photos: Geoff Osborne
Last issue we gave you the
essentials for staying alive. This
issue we cover your gear and some
good principles for riding life.
GET YOUR GEAR RIGHT
T
here are a few things you need to know
about motorcycle gear. Crucially, it is
all passive safety gear. That means it
doesn’t actually do anything until you’re
sliding or tumbling down the road.
Also, crucially, nothing you wear, be it a full
leather race suit you paid $3000 for, or a bargain-
bin jacket with some questionable armour in the
shoulders and elbows, is going to do anything about
mitigating crush or impact injuries. All motorcycle
gear is designed to do is prevent you losing your
skin as you meet the bitumen. If you meet a car,
a tree, or a bus stop, all bets are off. This is why
racetracks have run-off areas. The racer can slide
for hundreds of metres and walk away without any
injury because he hasn’t impacted with anything.
Also understand leather is generally better than
textile in a slide. Textile is generally warmer and
more weatherproof than leather. But nothing
is really waterproof. Gloves, boots, jackets – no
matter what you pay for them – will eventually
let water in, even if the only place it can enter
is via the neck-opening. Some gear is better
at keeping you dry for longer, but if you spend
eight hours riding in the rain, you will get wet.
Most of the time, you get what you pay for with
motorcycle gear. A $1000 jacket will be better in
many ways than a $200 jacket. You will only find
this out if you crash in it, but that is exactly the
right time to discover that triple-stitched seams
are always better than single-stitched seams.
Oh, and just a word about those very popular
Kevlar-impregnated jeans. Yes, they are more robust
in a slide than normal jeans. But sliding causes
friction and Kevlar burns are quite unpleasant.