Complete Guide to Buying Motorcycle Clothing Online

Here are some things you should know (that will save your wallet, your skin or your life!) before you make your purchase:

1) Your motorcycle shop should be your first place to start your shopping, If you're buying a bike, see if can get the clothing into the financing deal. This way, you can negotiate a better deal and do not have to pay up front for the gears.

2) Get a full set of motorcycle clothing which includes helmet, jacket, boots, pants, gloves and glasses. Why would you want to risk any parts of your body with injuries? Each piece of the clothing plays an important role in protecting a specific part of the body.

3) Aesthetics should always be secondary to protective quality. If you have to choose between looking good and having your fingers or toes intact after a ride, what would it be? The answer is obvious, but try to go for bright colored clothing as it is shown in a study that wearing eye catching gear reduces the risk of having an accident significantly (up to 37%!). However, finding motorcycle clothing which also looks good is very much a possibility with the amount of gear out there from so many manufacturers.

4) Buy clothing that offers superior protection to areas of the body where the bone is just below the surface of the skin e.g. knuckles shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. Try to look for clothing that has added thick body armor stitched on these areas.

5) Explore other options besides leather. Leather has over the years been proven to be the best material for motorcycle protective clothing, due to its resistance to tear, its natural warmth, and its acting as a first layer of defense, coming between the biker and the rough asphalt road. However, protective clothing from man-made textile is becoming popular and may be more suited for certain weather and conditions (e.g. Cordura, Kevlar).

6) Consider adding other impact protection gear: Extra impact protection can be bought separately like back protectors. For an important area like your back, it might just save your life! If you worry that you may forget to put the extra gear on, buy clothing that already has a degree of impact protection included.

7) Be sure to check out the internet to look for great deals. It's a vast marketplace to shop for motorcycle protective clothing. You can compare prices and qualities from different brands and manufacturers, as well as read reviews from other buyers.

1) Unlimited selection (almost). The range of products you can find online are limitless. You can also read reviews of the gear you want to buy from people who has already bought it.

2) Great bargains. If you have something in mind (a particular brand and model), then I suggest you search for it in eBay and Amazon first. Chances are you'll find it there cheap.

3) Save fuel and time. You don't even have to move from your seat now and you can order a product and have it delivered to your doorstep, most of the time, free of shipping (if you buy a certain amount).

1) Reliability - Is the website well designed? Is it a well known website recognized by
major credit card merchants? What about after sales support? Are customer service of the website easily contactable? Certifications by Hackersafe, Verisign, etc gives more confidence to buyers.

2) Ease of use - A well designed website make it easy for you to look for what you want. Also, good customer support means they are responsive and easily contactable. Preferably email inquiries answered within 24 hours. The best would be a customer service number to call for direct response.

3) Payment method - Only settle for reliable payment methods. Either major credit card merchants or online payment merchants (Paypal). Some sites offer delayed payment method, means they will only charge you after a certain amount of time after the purchase.

4) Return policy - Online merchants offers return policy 30-90 days after the purchase. Make sure you understand their return policy. This is one of the most important factor to look into since you can't try the clothing when purchasing online.

5) Shipping policies - most major sites now offers free shipping for purchases of a certain amount. Some as low as $75 - $100. Go for these or the lowest shipping cost possible.

6) Price of products - Perhaps the most important. The lower, the better. No arguments here, right?

I've spent a good amount of time browsing and looking for the best place to shop online, and I normally stick with a few good ones. Good = Reliable and Cheap.

Explore Ebay and Amazon.com first. Search for good deals already lying around. If you cannot find what you want from eBay and Amazon.com, here are two of the best motorcycle clothing stores online I visit to look for great bargains:


Motorcycle Superstore
I'd give this one 5 Stars. This is a huge site with a great selection of motorcycle clothing. Free shipping if you buy more than $75 and they accept paypal as well.



RideGear.com
This is another 5 stars site with a huge selection for me. They offer free shipping for purchases above $79 and a 21 days return policy. Very reliable customer service.

Of course you can wear anything you want when riding your bike, but a smart motorcyclist knows appropriate clothing not only make you look cool but also protect you from injuries in the event that you crash.

No matter if you're into Harleys, custom choppers, superbikes,or even dirtbikes, you're gonna need a set of clothing to match your mean machine.This normally includes:

1) Motorcycle Helmet

2) Motorcycle Jacket

3) Motorcycle Pants

4) Motorcycle Boots

5) Motorcycle Gloves

There are at least 4 standards for a street motorcycle helmet used to judge it's quality. Meeting these standards is the basis by which you can be sure that the helmet you're purchasing is of some quality. The basic standard that all street motorcycle helmet must meet is the DOT standard, called FMVSS 218. Every street helmet sold in the US is legally required to pass it. Then, there is the European standard, called ECE 22-05, accepted by more than 50 countries. There's the BSI 6658 Type A standard from Britain. And lastly the Snell M2000/M2005 standard, a voluntary, private standard used primarily in the U.S.

Well, you can base your motorcycle helmet's quality on these standards. Alternatively, you can also make basic judgment based on the helmet type. Generally, there are 3 types of helmet:

1) Full face motorcycle helmet

2) Three quarter shell motorcycle helmet

3) Half shell motorcycle helmet

And in terms of protective quality, Full face helmet are the best followed by three quarter helmet and lastly the half shell helmet.

Motorcycle helmet at Motorcycle Superstore or RideGear.com

Your motorcycle jacket and pants are important because they not only make you look extremely cool but also keep you warm and ventilated. Apart from that, it covers and protect the biggest portion of your body when you fall.

Consider these factors when buying your motorcycle jacket and pants:

Material
Motorcycle jacket and pants can be made from leather or fabric. Generally, Leather is heavier, warmer,and also more protective if you hit the ground. I have a leather jacket for winter and fabric one for summer. Fabric motorcycle jacket is lighter and not as durable as a leather jacket.

Ventilation
Generally, leather motorcycle jackets keeps you warmer. However, there are new fabric materials that does the job as well. If you feel leather jackets are too warm for the weather in your area, try to look for leather jackets which has vents in the front and back of the jacket. There are also jackets with removable insulated liner so you can use the same jacket for both warm or cold weather. Keep an eye out for those.

Motorcycle jacket and pants at Motorcycle Superstore or RideGear.com

Motorcycle boots will compliment your whole set of motorcycle outfit by giving protection to your feet. The motorcycle boots you buy should be both sturdy and stylist. Normally, I try to go for well established brands (AGV, Alpinestars, Icon, Double H). You can easily find a pair of decent branded boots under a hundred dollars if you search well online.

When shopping for motorcycle boots, give attention to these things:

1) Ankle protection. This is an important area of your feet. Almost all motorcycle boots will come with some sort of protection for the ankle.

2) Non slip sole. An oil resistant sole type will give you good traction and prevent you from slipping when you land your feet on sand or oil.

3) Boots with water proof vents. These keep your feet ventilated and dry at the same time! Sweet.

Alternatively, you can opt for motorcycle shoes instead. Motorcycle shoes are made for motorcycle riding and have a certain degree of protection but are not as sturdy as motorcycle boots, but they look more like your normal tennis shoes so you can wear it to the office without being noticed.

Motorcycle boots at Motorcycle Superstore or RideGear.com