Consider the type of clothing to wear on your motorcycle? First and foremost, you need protection from injury. There nothing like laying your bike down on asphalt and leaving lots of your skin on the street to get you to think about wearing protective clothing on your motorcycle. If you are like most people, you think about falling (impact) or abrasions. Both of these types of injuries can be very painful especially if you survive them. Motorcycle clothing can play an important part in both primary and secondary safety.

 

Are you aware that 30% (50% at night) of drivers involved in accidents with motorcycles claim they didn't see the bike? How many times have you not seen a motorcyclist and you are even more aware of them than the average driver? Driving in your neighborhood on your bike could be highly dangerous. Approximately 90% of urban motorcycle accidents are caused the other driver not by the motorcyclist. Riding with your headlights on is very important to being seen. Bright colors or reflective stripes can help a lot.

 

Since the human body is really not very impact resistant; you are going to need to wear some protective clothes. Sometimes you just got to fall off your bike to avoid even more serious problem, you will need to minimize the injury from impact. That old saying it didn't hurt till I stop could very well apply to you. There are some very cool impact resistant clothing, jackets, Classic motorcycle pants , etc that come in the form of armor or padding. They are especially adapt at absorbing the impact and spread the load across the body. This reduces injuries. You probably have seen them already. The motorcyle jacket looks like the cyclist is all bulked up. It has armor protection or pads where the body meets the road. Now Armor makes these but there are others. They can be expensive but if you can't afford armor then go for high density foam. Some protection is better than none at all.

 

Have you considered wearing a one piece suit ? They provide better protection that wearing a motorcycle leather jacket and pants. If you are skidding across the asphalt, one or both pieces could provide an opening for the asphalt to take a bite out of you. Getting in and out of those one piece suits can be difficult but fun for everyone else to watch. Seriously make sure either your jackets, pants or suit is re-enforced in areas that are pronged to high impact or friction. The good jackets and motorcycle suits will have armor or pads in those areas. Make sure your jacket, pants or suit fit snugly but comfortably. Out here in the desert, it can get pretty hot so look for ventilation holes in the jackets, pants or suits.

 

All motorcycle helmet equipment must comply with U.S. Department of Transportation Sec. 571.218 Standard No. 218 FMVSS 218 - 49 CFR 571.218. I don't believe there are any U.S. standards for abrasion or impact clothing. The European Standard EN1621-1/1997 would be good to look for in your clothing in the U.S. To gain the CE mark products have to be tested and approved by an independent, Government approved test house. While the CE mark can't guarantee to prevent all injuries in an accident, it may significantly reduce the severity of your injuries.