The Entire guide to… gear you need to ride your motorbike

New to biking and don’t know what to wear? Here’s our Entire Guide to what safety clothing to consider….

You might have seen the acronym ATGATT on motorcycling forums. It means ‘all the gear, all the time’ and it’s a philosophy we very much buy in to. It’s a term which can often be found alongside that other famous saying – ‘dress for the slide and not the ride’ – which is a way of reminding us that accidents can happen at any time, and just because we’re nipping out to the shops it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t ignore our safety equipment.

But what gear do you need?

Crash helmet

By law, a helmet is the only piece of protective equipment you must wear. Such is the importance of the crash helmet, we’ve produced an entire blog dedicated to what you should consider when buying yours. You can read it here.

Gloves

While no other pieces of protective clothing are mandatory, we’d argue that gloves are pretty darned important too, as the natural instinct for any falling rider is to put their hands out to break their fall. Hitting the deck with an ungloved hand can cause all kinds of gnarly injuries, and with gloves being relatively inexpensive and easy to wear, there really shouldn’t be any excuse.

The glove provides three main functions: protection, warmth and grip. It’s important to buy dedicated motorcycle gloves from a specialist brand. Regular gloves might keep your hands warm, but chances are the material and stitching won’t cope in the event of a crash and will rip apart. Most good bike gloves are built with materials designed to cope with abrasion, and use a different panels to provide grip on the palms and fingers, as well as good movement to allow the rider to comfortably operate the throttle, brake and clutch.

There are many types of glove. Some lightweight gloves are great around town but don’t offer the best protection, while heated winter gloves are brilliant for riding in all conditions, but might feel a little cumbersome and a bit too hot in summer.

Top tip: wearing thin inner gloves under your riding gloves, like latex or cotton butler’s gloves, can add a degree of warmth without sacrificing comfort or feel.

Jacket

Like gloves, motorcycle jackets come in all kinds of styles and materials. Traditionally made of leather, or wax coated cotton, there are also a range of textiles available these days.

A lot of technology goes into motorcycle riding jackets. Even classic materials tend to get special treatments and coatings to improve durability, comfort and heat management. It’s clever stuff you often can’t see from the outside.

Many jackets will feature built in body armour and, like helmets, there are rating schemes to show the product has been independently tested. Because motorcycle clothing is technically personal protective equipment (PPE), it should feature a CE mark and a rating – AAA being the highest and A being the lowest. AAA is the gold standard and recommended for sports riding, while A is usually applied to lightweight clothing designed for urban riding.

Top tip: Check cleaning instructions when buying a motorcycle riding jacket. Light coloured textile jackets, in particular, can look grubby if worn in wet conditions. Most can be machine washed, albeit following specific instructions.

Trousers

What we said for jackets also goes for trousers, with a few exceptions. Most textile riding jackets are matched with trousers (or pants as the manufacturers usually describe them) and if you want an ‘adventure’ style set-up this can be a good choice. These sets allow the tops and bottoms to be zipped together, offering more security as it reduces the risk of the garments riding up the wearer’s back.

Riding jeans are also available and can look like regular denim when worn off bike (albeit a little bulky) but are usually lined with a material like Kevlar, to reduce the chance of abrasion in the event of a fall, and protectors (usually removable) on vulnerable areas like knees and hips.

Top tip: when buying motorcycle riding trousers, ensure that the length is right for you when seated on the bike. Length might be perfect when standing up, but if they come up a bit short when your knees are bent while riding, you might find a bit of a draught going up your legs!

One-piece leathers

A quick word on one-piece leathers. These race suits aren’t always the most practical or comfortable to wear, but should offer the most protection in event of a fall (and will be mandatory on track days). If this is the route you want to take, the same CE markings apply.

Top tip: Two-piece, zip together, race style leathers are also an option. These offer almost all the protection of a one-piece suit but are easier to get in and out of, making them a more practical proposition.

Back protection

Often overlooked, you could argue that a back protector is second only to a helmet in its ability to prevent life changing injuries.

Good CE certified body armour can be found integrated into a lot of modern bike clothing, but a standalone back protector usually goes a stage further, providing a hard shell protection to cover the spine and vertebrae areas.

These can often be part of under jackets, which may also have elbow and shoulder protectors built in.

Top tip: For the ultimate in upper body protection, consider an airbag. These detect accidents in a split second and inflate to offer additional protection to vulnerable limbs. 

Boots

Again, there’s often a trade off to be made between comfort and outright protection to be made when it comes to choosing motorcycle boots.

It goes without saying that a pair of study boots will provide more protection than flip flops, and if you don’t have bike specific footwear we’d recommend at least wearing the toughest boots you can.

Bike specific boots are designed to offer more protection in vulnerable areas like the ankle, heel and shin, focusing on offering movement where it is required needed to operate the gear and brake levers, but with more rigidity elsewhere.

There are many types of boot, from lightweight perforated sports boots to thick adventure boots designed to provide protection against rocks as well as the elements.

Some manufacturers also offer low cut riding boots which offer more off-bike comfort and have inbuilt protection in vulnerable areas. While not as protective as a full length riding boot, they offer a degree more protection than wearing everyday footwear on the bike. Combined with riding jeans and a jacket, low cut boots can provide a fashionable look off the bike while giving a decent amount of protection for lower speed city riding.

Top tip: If wearing non-motorcycle specific footwear, try to avoid anything with laces as these can cause injury if they get caught up in moving parts like the chain or rear wheel.