And do bear in mind that jeans, Kevlar or not,
can and do ride up your legs in a slide. It’s the
nature of jeans, and it explains why you see so
many pictures of riders from the 70s, 80s and
90s with their pants tucked into their boots. But
that’s not a cool look in 2017. And fair enough.
Seriously, it’s best not to fall off and keep your
riding gear passive, but don’t skimp on it when
you’re buying it.
Ideally, you’ll have a good leather jacket for most
of the year, a warm winter textile unit for when
it’s freezing, a pair of summer gloves and a pair
of winter gloves, two pairs of boots (you will have
to dry a pair eventually), and two pairs of pants.
Go the leather in preference to textile, go the
textile in preference to Kevlar jeans, and go the
Kevlar jeans in preference to normal jeans.
Now, buy a helmet that fits. That’s the most
important thing. All helmets sold in this country
are deemed to have passed a host of
government-mandated tests. So on paper, they
are all as “safe” as each other.
As a rule of thumb, buy the lightest helmet you
can get. Yes, it will cost more, but the lighter it
is, the more comfortable it will be and the less
inertia it will impart on your neck in an accident.
People’s heads are all differently shaped, and
some heads will fit better into Arai helmets and
some will fit better into Shark, Shoei or AGV.
So, shop around and, once again, leave your
poverty at the shop door. Remember in the first
instalment how we spoke about this motorcycle
riding not being an economical thing?
Oh, and one last thing. Your helmet is not
suddenly useless if you drop it on the ground.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Ride all the time. No matter what the weather,
ride. No matter what the road conditions,
ride. Long distances, short distances, medium
distances – ride them all. It’s the only way
you’ll get better at riding, which is very much
a learn-by-doing thing. It then follows the
more you do of it, the better you’ll get at it.
But be aware of well-meaning comrades.
Most people don’t ride very well at all, and since
you’re new to this, you could very well pick up
bad habits which you’ll then carry until they bite
you, or someone with a clue actually corrects you.
The only people you should be listening to are
Ride all the time.
No matter what
the weather,
ride. No matter
what the road
conditions, ride
KIWI RIDER 87