Here’s the Gear Every Real Motorcycle Rider Will Eventually Need

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Motorcycles can be a lot of fun, but riding them can also be made a lot safer with the proper gear. Here are some suggestions to keep you in one piece all through the summer riding season.

Misano 3 Perforated D-Air 1-Piece Leather Suit

A collarbone is a terrible thing to waste. So is skin—skin is nice, especially when it's still right where it's supposed to be. And they're both easily worth the 2,800 bucks this one-piece racing suit will cost you.

One-piece suits, especially those with airbag technology in them like this one, are for serious riders who go very fast—and sometimes fall. If you do a lot of track days, or any track days, or if you do a lot of fast canyon carving, you really should make the investment in serious rider protection.

There are a lot of one-piece suits out there, ranging from Cycle Gear's inhouse Sedici Chicane for $350 to Alpinestars' Racing Absolute v2 Race Suit for $3969.95. But one of the best you can buy is the Dainese Misano 3 Perf. D-Air 1-piece leather suit.

It has a D-air Racing Shield 3X system airbag collar that protects your neck, collarbones, and shoulders. As it inflates, microfilament technology keeps airbag thickness uniform for better protection. The system can be recharged by independently replacing the state-of-the-art gas generator.

Aluminum plates on the knees, shoulders and elbows mean you can slide instead of flipping over and over. The suit itself is made from D-Skin 2.0 full-grain cowhide with elasticity throughout to make ergonomics feel just right.

I've ridden up and down Angeles Crest Highway in this suit and it felt great—while in the riding position. Once you stand up and walk around it feels too short. That's how it's supposed to feel. Make sure to follow Dainese's Size Guide to the T. And remember, it's made to fit perfectly while you're humped over the gas tank, so when you stand up it'll feel awkward.

Thankfully, I haven't deployed the airbag but it's good to know it's there.

Safe riding!

Racing Absolute v2 Race Suit

The ultimate manifestation of track day safety has to be the Alpinestars Racing Absolute v2 Race Suit. And the ultimate version of that is the one with the Tech-Air 10x airbag system in it. This is the closest you'll ever get to Michelin Man security in a crash.

Alpinestars says its Racing Absolute v2 Race Suit is "a top level professional grade racing suit incorporating all the lightest-weight and most-advanced materials and technologies that the world's fastest MotoGP and WorldSBK riders wear on the track." That includes full kangaroo leather construction, with dual kangaroo leather layers in the elbows, forearms, seat, hips, and back.

So its durability will be appreciated as you slide along. And you'll be comfortable, thanks to Kevlar reinforced stretch inserts in highly flexed areas. The bonded Kevlar Grid provides increased cut, tear, and abrasion resistance, as well as offers highly reduced heat transfer to the rider's body generated from any friction during a slide on the asphalt.

And the A-CS Tech material breathes easier and allows freedom of movement with a lower weight and a lower profile than old-style accordion leather. GP-R PRO CE Level 2 shoulder, elbow, forearm, and knee armor with CE Level 1 Bioflex racing version hip padding provide an additional layer of protection.

On top of that—or rather, inside of that—is the Tech Air 10 Airbag System, which you have to buy separately. Should its algorithm detect a crash, it will deploy a protective airbag that covers more of your body than any competitor I can think of: including the rider's full back, shoulders, kidney area, and chest. The air bag system zips and Velcros securely into the suit.

Tech-Air 7X Airbag System

Another airbag that covers a lot of carcass—maybe more than anything short of the Tech-Air 10X above—is the Tech-Air 7X that fits under or over many of the Alpinestars existing jackets, with coverage that includes tailbone, entire back, shoulders, collarbones, and upper arms. When the 7X goes off, your chances of reducing injuries go way up.

"Specifically developed for road racing, track day use, and performance road riding, the FIM-homologated, Tech-Air 7X System is derived from Alpinestars' proven MotoGP Airbag technology," Alpinestars says. "The fully autonomous, self-contained motorcycling Airbag System offers riders streamlined, low profile, and highly ventilated Tech-Air protection."

With the app on your smartphone, you can set it to two different riding modes: Race Mode for riding on closed-circuit racetracks and Street Mode for street and light off-road riding.

It's also versatile. It can be worn by itself or with a compatible Alpinestars suit or jacket.

I tried it on at CES and it fit me comfortably. I haven't tried it out on a ride, yet but I have worn various other Alpinestars Tech-Air systems and found them all unobtrusive and easy to zip on. I even had one deployed on me at Alpinestars headquarters in Torrance, and it was surprisingly painless, like being hit softly with a bagel.

Now I don't ride without an airbag system. It's one added layer of protection that could mean the difference between walking away and being carried away. Ask anyone who's ever broken a rib or collarbone—it's worth the extra grand.

License to Thrill Motorcycle Riding Pants

Most of the time you're not scraping knee pucks around the infield at Daytona, so you can get away with more comfortable gear that still offers protection. These soft, comfortable pants are made from 11-oz. denim but feel like soft cotton.

They feature removable CE knee armor and hip protectors. The seat gets Aramid fabric for scrape-resistance. The material itself is 97% Cotton and 3% Spandex in the denim pants and 65% Cotton/24% Polyester/1% Spandex in the Non-Denim Colors.

These popped up in an ad online and I thought, "What the heck, they're affordable!" So I tried them out. I liked the first pair so much that I bought two more. Unless it's raining, this is all the gear you need. For the pants, anyway.

The fabric stretches so much you'll be comfortable in any position on your sickle. The knee pads remove easily in case you park your bike at the airport. (LAX has free parking for motorcycles!) Just slide out the CE knee armor and you have what look like regular cotton jeans.

Mulholland Jacket

Aether (pronounced ether) was founded in 2009 by two Hollywood movie producers, Palmer West (Requiem For A Dream) and Jonah Smith (Pi). The pair "were city dwellers with a passion for the outdoors, businessmen who wanted outerwear that supported their lifestyle without making them look like they were in a lift line.” They started out making ski clothing and expanded to motorcycle gear in 2014. I tried on a bunch of Aether gear at their store on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles a few years ago, and just now wore their newest jacket, the Mulholland, for a few weeks of riding.

If it rains, Aether says the Mulholland is seam-taped and waterproof. It comes complete with D3O® Ghost™ padding and multiple ventilation points, Aether says, remaining breathable without compromising protection. I found it very comfortable during my weeks of wearing before I returned it to Aether after the loan period. The D30 armor inserts that slid into the elbows, shoulder, and back of the jacket were right where you want them to be for protection.

When I ordered mine, I followed Aether's sizing recommendations but wound up with much longer sleeves than I needed. But, as with the full suits above, the longer sleeves felt less gangly in the riding position, particularly on sport bikes with clip-on bars.

One surprise I noticed was how many people liked the jacket—not something I seek out, but some do. The $650 price tag probably goes at least somewhat toward that extra fashion appeal. So consider all that and check out their catalog.

Contour-X Helmet

Among serious motorcyclists, it's hard to beat the reputation of Arai helmets. They are safe, they fit better than almost anything you can stuff your head into, and they don't cramp your brain after a day's ride. There's a lot going on here.

First, Arai offers several different interior fit shapes to accommodate whatever bizzarro dimensions your head maintains. "No one pays more attention to the subtle variations and infinite possibilities of the human head shape than Arai," the company says.

My Contour-X has Arai's Intermediate Oval interior fit shape. Rather than just have you measure the circumference of your glorious noggin, Arai uses that as a starting point. From there you try different padding thicknesses from Arai’s various interior fit packages.

The Visor mechanism is smooth and robust, but the lift point for it is off the left. I prefer to lift visors from the center to avoid torquing them out of shape over time. The shell is made of Peripherally Belted Complex Laminate Construction (PB-CLC), which is lightweight and strong, Arai says, while easily accommodating intercom systems without altering the comfort and effectiveness of the inner liner.

The most impressive feature may be the airflow, both through the helmet to keep your head cool on hot days and warm on cold days, and at the back, where a wing tapers airflow into a stable stream. The helmet was tested by Arai at 186 mph at Suzuka race track in Japan. The resulting stability greatly lessens buffeting and reduces rider fatigue.

There are air scoops at the chin, two at the top of the face shield, and two at the outside top edges of the head, with an adjustable exit under that big wing and two more at the lower right and left sides. If you can't find an airflow you're happy with, it's not the helmet's fault.

This helmet costs more than your bargain basement brands, but your head—and all those profound thoughts inside it—will be preserved with this better than with almost any other brand.

Body Armor Jacket

I met these guys at the Bike Shed in downtown LA. They were showing off their jackets to those who had ridden in for an electric motorcycle day. I tried on a bunch of their gear, and they apparently shot a photo of me squinting into the sun while wearing their Body Armor Jacket. I wore it on a couple of laps around downtown on various electric motos.

The jackets are very comfortable and have a more stylish look to them than some more industrial-strength competitors. This particular jacket is made of cow hide, but they also offer lambskin. The jacket you see here incorporates mesh for greater breathability, which was much appreciated on the day I tried them out.

There is genuine CE-level armor incorporated in the jackets to protect riders' elbows, shoulders, and spine. YKK zippers close it up. Reflectors run from the neck to the wrists both front and back for greater visibility on night rides.

If you like this, Mayim also makes leather backpacks and laptop cases.

Adam CE

I met the French lady who founded this motorcycle gear company at the start of the Distinguished Gentlemens' Ride in Santa Monica. She started out in France in 2011 making riding gear and is expanding, with showrooms in Paris, Belgium, and Aventura, Florida. But you can order anything you want on the websites. She offers two lines of gear: Gunswear for men and Eudoxie for women.

The men's jacket shown here is made from cordura and polyester with a removable thermal lining and integrated CE-approved shoulder and elbow protection. It's fitted so you can add back protection, too. It's been tested in a French laboratory "for abrasion and tearing in compliance with the strict demands of European standards." The zippers are impact-resistant, she adds. That removable thermal lining will extend your riding season, or your saison in French.

It doesn't look like all the other gear out there, so that's kind of a plus. And the ones I tried on (but didn't ride in) felt comfortable. Ultimately, though, you can't put a price on joie de vivre, mon frere.

Motorcycle Handlebar Phone Mount

There are only about 42 million different motorcycle phone mounts available in the world, so what distinguishes the Rokform mount from all the others? It works: It hangs onto the handlebar, and the phone twist-clicks and magnetically sticks to the mount without flying off, so that's good. Each mount comes with a magnetic case for your phone that fits your phone's distinct size and shape, so you're not trying to adjust it all the time in hopes of keeping your expensive smartphone with you as you ride.

Price is a bit steeper than something you might buy from a mall cart, but what the heck—quality counts.

Veewipe Squeegee

Nothing worse than being on a long ride and it starts to rain. Sure, you've packed the rain gear and so you're pretty much dry, but what about your face shield? You can turn your head to blow some rainwater off the visor screen as you ride, but it just comes pouring back on again. Hence, the Aerostich Veewipe Squeegee. It attaches onto your thumb and you just swipe it across the face shield to clear a line of sight.

All the other riders will be jealous. And blind.

Aerostich makes some great gear, from one-piece "astronaut suits" to jackets, pants, and a whole catalog full of gear for riders. But a full R3 Aerostich suit costs four figures. This is only 17 bucks. Get several to give as presents to your rider buddies. And keep a couple in your moto-jacket pocket along with all those used foam ear plugs.