When we review motorcycle clothing for this blog, we usually only evaluate how well it’s made, how comfortable it is, how well it functions daily and stands up to the weather. However, we don our motorcycle gear for one primary reason – to protect ourselves if we crash. To gauge how well something will protect you in a crash we just rely on various certifications and tests manufacturers place their garments through. This requires lots of specialist equipment and avoids risking the health of a motorcycle blogger.
However, I recently had the occasion to put my gear to a real-world test. Not exactly planned and caused by some misjudgment on my part, but I found myself locking the front wheel at around 60 mph and sliding down a tarmac road for some distance. I began the slide on my front but later rolled over, thankfully, I didn’t come into contact with anything else and just slid to a halt. I couldn’t tell you exactly how long or far I was sliding, I forgot to count/measure in the heat of the moment…
Firstly, everything performed well, I was able to get straight back up and only had a slight ache in my knee and thumb for a couple of days later. No breaks, no grazes, no skin broken, not even any visible bruises in the days following.
Had I only been wearing shorts, t-shirt and bare hands, things would have been quite messy.
So, in that sense, everything here gets top marks. After a breather, I was able to jump back onto the bike and continue riding. But let us take a closer look and see how well all my gear held up.
