New Rider's Guide to Safety Gear

Venturing into the world of motorcycle ownership can be overwhelming when you’re first getting started. With all that ground to cover in safety and best practices, we’ve created a guide to the essentials of new rider gear to get you started.

Helmet Check

More than any other piece of safety gear, a good helmet is essential. Even if you live in a state that lacks helmet laws, that doesn’t mean you should disregard the safety that helmets can provide. There is the obvious head protection needed in the event of a minor mishap or a proper accident on the road. Depending on the style you get, helmets can also protect your face from the wind, and from bugs, that can both otherwise obscure your vision or distract you from what you’re doing. Helmets can sometimes provide the added bonus of Bluetooth speakers, linking up to your phone’s call and music systems, depending on the model.

Make sure you prioritize fit and safety above all else when choosing the right helmet. If it looks cool, but it doesn’t guard your head properly, then it’s not really worth it in the end.

Glove Gear

Odd as it may sound, the second most important piece of riding gear are your gloves. While you may not think so, here’s why—in the event of a fall, people have a natural tendency to extend their hands to protect themselves. This means that if you get into a motorcycle accident, this would likely be your body’s reaction as well. Having secure and effective gloves can help protect your hands and prevent more stringent damage. On a more basic level, they can help protect the skin on your hands from getting chapped in the wind. It doesn’t hurt that they make you look cool, too.

The Jacket

This staple fashion statement for rebels, the motorcycle jacket, is probably the most popular safety gear out there—for the obvious “cool factor.” Choosing the right jacket has a great deal to do with the season, the climate where you live, and how much emphasis you want to place on safety. If you live in a warmer climate and opt for a cooler mesh material in your jacket, the reality is that you’ll have less padding and protection in the event of an accident. It’s really a gamble of priorities, choosing a jacket. You can always have more than one, and switch things up depending on the weather, the season, or how crazy you know traffic is going to be on a particular day. As much as looks are important, don’t forget that safety is the real purpose behind the right motorcycle jacket.

Boots to Scoot

Proper motorcycle boots are also an important piece of protective gear, no matter your personal style. There’s a common trend in motorcycle accidents—when people are wearing tennis shoes, it’s pretty common for them to fly off from the impact. That doesn’t keep the riders very protected! That’s why over-the-ankle proper motorcycle boots are a worthy investment in your biking safety.