Riding Safety Gear

There has been some queries with regards to safety gears for riding activities from fellow readers of my blog; so I would put up a little bit of something based on my limited knowledge. Fellow learned readers are welcome to add in more through the comments insertion.

Some of the e-mail queries :

1) What kind of riding gear should one wear for riding the superbike like yours?

For non-track activities, it would be good to don on one's full-face helmet (please get Sirim/Dot-approved versions for safety reasons), high-cut gloves, jacket and pants, and medium/high-cut boots. These riding gears would work to maximise your safety in case of any untoward incidences.

2) I seen those bikers wearing riding jackets and pants, and they sure looked cool!

They may looked cool, but trust me when I say that those gears are anything but cool (as in temperature). The jackets and pants have paddings inserted at appropriate areas to protect one's body, and they are normally quite thick and hot. In fact, it's akin to being in a sauna if you wear the riding gears and walk around for a bit. Due to the better weather conditions, Malaysian riders are fortunate that we could wear cordura and mesh materials so that the gears are more airy.

RST gear looks professional and cool!

3) What is your preferred brand for the riding gears? Am confused as there are so many brands out there.

I would advise one to get gears that one is comfortable with, in regards to the quality and pricing. There are many imitation gears out there and some shops have advised me that these don't hold as well during necessary times. For original good gears minus the daylight robbery prices, one can opt for products from RSTX, B-Power, IZ2, etc. These are imported from Pakistan, workmanship is quite good and the prices are reasonable. There are lots of bike accessories shops in KL and Klang Valley, and Mecinda @ Pertama Complex and Eidaman @ Dataran Glomac are some of the good hunting grounds for your biking gear.

4) How much would a set of riding gear cost?

This really depends on one's budget- a good, branded helmet could cost as much as a small bike these days. But for normal riding, you would probably be able to get a decent set of riding gear from RM2,000 onwards.

- What you may want to wear...

- What you may not want to wear while riding (it should be illegal to ride this hot, no pun intended :)