The best way to experience a road trip is from the back of a motorcycle. When a car limits your experience of the outside, a bike gives you the freedom to explore the paths that are less taken by the travellers. But having a motorcycle is not enough for that, you should also invest in good quality motorcycle accessories to make the most out of your trip.
If you are a rider, you ought to have a set of motorcycle accessories. Having them and always using them is as important as regularly maintaining your bike. Some people have a false idea that using motorcycle gears is for those who are weak. But this cannot be further from the truth. Quite the contrary, the more professional one is, the more cautious they will be about their motorcycle gear. Apart from that, there is gear that is not about safety itself but will add to the comfort of your riding experience. This article will tell you about the most useful motor accessories that you should have.
When you go shopping for motorcycle gear and automotive accessories in general, you will come across quite a lot of them. Trying to pick from them can be overwhelming. But to make it easy, you can divide them into essentials and optional. All the primary safety gears that you should have come under the essential category. And the rest of them, you can list as optional. Here is a list of the most helpful accessories that you can add to your accessory kit. This will help you get a good idea about all the basic accessories that you will need. In this article, you will also find some amazing tips that you can follow while shopping for these accessories.
Hands are probably the most used body part when you ride a bike. And it is necessary to protect them with a good pair of gloves. If you are a regular rider, it is not uncommon to fall off the motorcycle once in a while. But regardless, you should have a pair of good quality gloves to protect your hands from injuries. It is even better if your gloves have palm sliders for additional safety. Some gloves also feature knuckle, hand and finger guards which are also good to have if you are willing to pay a bit more. Gloves also provide a better grip over the throttle.
In the event of a crash, there are no airbags on a motorcycle to protect you from the impact. But at least you can avoid direct contact with the asphalt with an armoured jacket. These jackets have pads to protect the most vulnerable areas of a motorcycle rider like the chest, elbows and shoulders. Although leather jackets are enough to protect your skin during crashes, armoured jackets take it one step further to protect you from impacts as well. And in reality, most of the injuries are due to impacts. So, if you are a regular rider or are planning to go on a road trip on your motorcycle, you need to add an armoured jacket as well to your list of motorcycle accessories.
The importance of wearing a helmet when you ride is clear like night and day. It protects the most important organ in your body. But instead of keeping your helmet simple, you can add some bells and whistles to it to improve your experience on the bike. With an aerodynamic helmet, you can reduce drag and attain more speed than with a regular helmet. And won’t it be nice to have Bluetooth connectivity in your helmet so that you won’t have to remove your helmet whenever you want to talk to somebody? A smart helmet will let you do just that.
If you have a good enough toolkit, you can avoid getting stranded on an empty road with only a broken-down motorcycle by your side. You don’t need to carry around all the tools that a motorcycle mechanic would have in his garage. But if you have all the basic tools, you should be able to fix even a malfunctioning engine. That’s if you also have the know-how. All it will take is a little more time than usual. Having a toolkit is an essential part of motorcycle accessories, especially on extended road trips. You should also have a few fare bulbs, wires, etc. in this kit as well.
A major challenge that you will run into during motorcycle journeys is the lack of storage space. Even though some cruiser bikes have managed to add a little storage box on their side, that’s far from being enough. A motorcycle bag can add a lot of storage space to your ride. Depending on the type of motorcycle you have and whether or not somebody is sitting on the rear seat, you can choose to have a sissy bag or a saddlebag. These bags also come with handy features like a waterproof outer cover and easy to install straps.
You should ensure that the gears you buy are really useful to you. Nobody wants to waste their money on useless junk. So before making the purchase, select the gear that is right for you and your driving preferences. Here are some tips that you can follow when you look for motorcycle gear.
Apart from all the gears that you use, there is one thing that can make your ride safer — proper riding skills. If you are a motorcycle enthusiast, invest some time to learn skills like defensive riding, counter steering, etc. And follow the traffic rules and always use your safety gear. On Shops.ae you can explore more than 500 shops and brands offering motorcycle gear and car supplies including brands like Honda, Yamaha, Harley Davidson, Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli, and Suzuki.
When you are buying jackets, gloves and pants, make sure that they have a minimum level of thickness. If it is a leather jacket, it should be at least 1 millimetre thick. The recommended thickness for leather gloves is .6 millimetres. All the portions that are more vulnerable to abrasions should have double stitches to avoid fraying. They should also have protective pads on the knees and elbows. In the case of riding boots, ankle protection is necessary. And in the case of helmets, they should have quality certification from the government. These certifications vary between countries. In the UAE, it is called the Emirates Quality Mark.
This is the philosophy that all motorcycle riders should follow when it comes to safety gear. ATGATT is an acronym for “All the gears, all the time”. What that really translates to is that a writer should always wear his safety gear no matter how or where he is riding. This is important because all the protection that a rider gets is from the gears that are on him. Not only should the rider wear gear, but the gears should be of good quality and should protect all the major body parts. This helps to minimise the risk and potential injuries associated with riding a motorcycle.
No, the type of gear you should use depends on where and how you ride the motorcycle. Because when a dirt bike racer falls, he walks on the mud which is much softer than the asphalt. So even if you buy authentic dirt bike motocross gloves, they won’t hold up against the regular road you will be riding on — the same with knee pads. Unless you are a competitive rider, you don’t need those massive knee protections that a race driver uses to drag his knees on the track. Therefore, the conclusion is, that protective gears are not universal; there are a few different types of motorcycle accessories for different situations.
Yes, you can wear non-armoured jackets while you are riding. But you should make sure that you wear a strap on armour under or over that jacket. Usually, these jackets that don’t come with armour are not meant for protection from impacts. But they can still protect you from feeling cold when you ride. The downside is that it will take you some time to wear the strap on armour. And after a while, it might become a hassle, and there is a chance that you might ditch the armour for convenience. In that case, it is better for you to get an armoured jacket.