The low-down on Safety! Safety First--ALWAYS!
So a lot of people ask me what is the right safety gear, how much should I spend, are such and such helmets good? Well, in my limited experience (13 years of riding), I've come to the following conclusions: you should always invest as much money as possible into your safety gear as it's the last thing between you and the pavement when you crash (and that's when you're lucky enough not to hit anything solid). The image below is my current Safety Gear Setup.
However, I know it's difficult to spend a bunch of money on safety gear after you already drained your walled buying the motorcycle and the insurance. Who said riding a motorcycle is cheaper than driving a car?!? Don't worry, if you ride carefully, responsibly, and safely, it can be!
Thus, I've shared my thoughts on some riding gear, and what I'd recommend being that I've managed to survive on the California highways and racetracks over the years. Here's the safety gear I'd recommend ranked in order of life-saving potential:
Here are some Safety Gear Options:
Budget Set: ~$500 - Helmet, Gloves, Jacket
Good Set: ~$900 - Helmet, Gloves, Leather Jacket, Boots
Safe Set: ~$1400 - Helmet, Gloves, 2-pc or 1-pc Leather suit, Boots, back protector
- Helmet (get a good one, you have to wear one by law in CA) ~$350. It's the most important piece of safety apparel. It is the complex egg shaped dome you place around your head so that when you crash (and you will), the rate at which your brain impacts the inside of your skull is reduced as much as possible. The whole point of a helmet is to absorb and dissipate energy for one crash and thus, if you've ever crashed or even dropped your helmet, why it's a good idea to buy another one. Decent helmets can range anywhere from $100-$250, but the good ones are typically $350 and up (and you can spend up to $1000 on a great helmet with a custom paint job).
To illustrate the importance of a helmet, one of my best friends crashed his R1 into a wall at 40mph. Luckily he hit it at an angle, but his $850 Arai helmet cracked into two separate halves, he bit through his tongue, and chipped his teeth. But he is alive and healthy thanks to his helmet and leather jacket.
- Gloves (get good ones, with knuckle guards, fully stitched leather, etc). ~$80-100. If I can crash my skateboard at 2mph and bloody up my hand, just think if your hand gets pinned between the bike and the concrete.
- Jacket or Suit (you might have a leather jacket, but if you're riding sportbikes, you'll want to get a leather jacket designed for speed) ~$350 Get one that's form fitting. If you're an awkward size like me, then you may consider a tailored suit (but that is $$$)
- or Suit If you're serious about safety (and you should be) and you have set aside a safety gear budget (go you!), you may consider a one-piece leather suit (~$700-1200). This will provide much better protection if you go down in a low-side as your jacket can't ride up your back, leaving your lower back or stomach exposed to the concrete.
- Boots - Your ankles are a delicate assemblage of bones, tendons, and muscles which can be ripped to shreds if your motorcycle falls onto them incorrectly in a crash. Boots will keep your ankles from bending in ways our creator never intended and will give you a better shot at walking after a crash. They'll also protect your toes if you're on the track and your suspension is bad (~$350)
- Leather Pants - If you are considering leather pants ($350), you should consider a 1-pc or 2-pc suit. Maybe you don't have enough for pants now, but if you buy a jacket that has zip ins, you can buy the pants later when you have more $$ and have a tailor or a leather specialist, join the two together. I found a great leather specialist on Bay Area Riders Forum (BARF) who repaired the leather zippers on my Joe Rocket jacket and AlpineStars pants who charged me like $60 to make the adjustment.
Buying Riding Gear:
So, I understand we're all on a budget (I'm currently a college student myself). Some places I've bought safety gear:
Online:
Retail Stores:
- Cycle Gear - cycle gear doesn't have the cheapest prices, but it is a good place to try on gear and then buy online. They do offer some Cycle Gear mailing lists which tells you about sales and such. A decent place, but probably not the cheapest.
- Motorcycle Shops - your local motorcycle dealer will often have apparel but the selection will be limited.
Helmet Manufacturers:
- Arai - worn by top pro riders (google image search Rossi, Hayden, Spies, Bostrom, etc and see what they're wearing). If it isn't Arai, it will be Shoei or
- Shoei - this is what I wear (RF-900). I've had it for more than 5 years. I should probably replace it but I haven't crashed in it and I've been careful not to drop it so it should still be good. However, there is probably a warning about material degradation with time. This helmet is great because Shoei offers many types of tinted shields for them and it came with a nice helmet bag.
- Icon - I don't use Icon but a couple of my buddies ride/race with them (and they're smart people).
- Bieffe - My Dad used to ride with Bieffe but I never looked at them too seriously.
Jackets, Gloves, Boots- Joe Rocket - I have a Joe Rocket Blaster Jacket
- Dainese - these guys make good products. Everyone I know who has them say their leathers are great. They're just a little out of my price range currently. Valentino Rossi wears them so that should say something.
- Alpinestars - I have a pair of Alpinestars leather pants. I've yet to go down in them but my friend went down in them and they showed great resistance to wear and good protection.
- Custom Suits - I've spoken with people from Bates leathers (Los Angeles), Helimot (San Jose) and they both seem like reasonable vendors for custom suits. You can usually get measured at events like MotoGP Laguna Seca or you can read online on how to measure yourself.
Driving Techniques - ways to stay alive on the road
Positioning yourself on the road - if you drive a sportbike, you have some added flexibility while you drive because you have more power to escape potentially dangerous situations. Also, you're probably more keen to how your bike can handle and that its controls are superior to people driving cruisers, mopeds, and the like. Therefore, when I drive, I like to position myself on the road in a place least likely to see unexpected activity.
For freeway driving, this is typically the number 1 lane with no cars directly to my right and keeping a safe following distance (at least 2-3 seconds between you and the car in front of you). You also should be constantly watching your rearview mirrors to make sure some idiot in a car isn't speeding up too quickly on you. These kind of drivers put motorcyclists 6ft under no matter who's fault it is. When you're dead, you're dead.
Thus, positioned in this way, you A) eliminate any variables on your left hand side (unless of course a car comes barrelling over the center divide, in which, you had bad luck to begin with), B) You have escape routes in the front and right side, C) you're avoiding all the congestion that occurs at on-ramps and off ramps D) You're moving with the faster cars on the freeway so the relative speed between you and the fastest driver out there is smaller and you can increase the time before impact, giving yourself an opportunity to escape.
Driving defensively
Everyone talks about this but rarely takes action. Try and predict other drivers' moves. Assume that each and every driver will do what you don't want them to do. The most common motorcycle fatalities occur when a car turns left in front of a motorcycle rider because they can't see you. Therefore, if you're coming up on that sort of situation, slow down, switch lanes, hug the car in front of you (remember cars see other cars much better), make eye contact with the driver turning left, make sure your head light is on during the day, wear visible safety gear, and use common sense.
Using other cars to your advantage - I mentioned that sometimes it might be a good idea to "hug the car in front of you." I say this because I believe it has kept me safer in many circumstances. Again, if you're going through an intersection and someone's turning left, odds are that the driver turning left will see the car in front of you, but likely NOT see you. Therefore if you follow closely behind (or hug) the car in front of you, even if the driver turning left is Speedy Gonzales, there's little chance they will be able to hit you as you'll have passed through the intersection. The word of caution here then becomes, DON'T rear end the driver in front of you. They may have to stop suddenly for a pedestrian or some other incident.
This strategy also works well when splitting lanes. If you're splitting lanes, try to pass cars when you have one on either side of you. No car going down a slow freeway will be paying any attention to motorcyclists splitting lanes and they're often eager to cut right in front of you to find the "fastest" lane to drive down. But if you pass between cars when there is one on both sides of you, the drivers of either car will be hesitant to slam into the car on their left or right, preserving a potential cut-off moment. This may be scary at first as you'd be sandwiched between two vehicles, should one insist on changing lanes. However, it has been my experience that this is less likely and what's more likely is that a car will suddenly switch lanes on you if there is a gap for the driver to squeeze their car into.
Nobody sees you
Ever. I drive with my high-beams on so that people are aware of my presence. If you pretend you're invisible, you're much more likely to avoid an accident because you're more likely take defensive action while driving.
