Shopping For Motorcycle Gear

One vital aspect of riding a motorcycle is properly outfitting yourself with the right gear. What you wear makes all the difference in your safety and comfort on your bike, and it’s important that you find garments that will work for you. But the shopping process may be somewhat convoluted and difficult if you don’t know where to start, particularly given the wide variety of gear options out there, with different brands and different sizes all presenting a challenge.

Cycles of Jacksonville, serving all of Florida, is happy to help you out with the shopping process so that you can obtain gear that’s suitable for your individual riding needs.

Think About the Context

First, you’ll want to examine the context in terms of how your gear will be used. If you ride all year round, then you may either want some more seasonal gear to deal with heat or rain or some type of gear that might be suitable regardless of what weather conditions are. 

Consider issues you may commonly encounter. Humidity and rainy weather can make your goggles or face mask fog up, occluding your vision, so you’ll want to check for gear with anti-fogging abilities. Wet roads may require boots with better traction and gloves with more grip.

Think also about what you may need; a glasses wearer will need a helmet that can fit over their lenses without damaging them. If you’re very short or very tall, then you’ll need to find gear that will fit you correctly or gear that can easily be tailored to your height.

Solicit Opinions

You’ve no doubt got some biker friends that you can talk to about appropriate riding gear choices, and also you’ve got the wealth of the internet at your fingertips. This allows you to do a great deal of research and get opinions from both friends and strangers, as well as looking into professional reviews. Look up reviews to see what others have said about particular pieces of gear, what the attributes are and whether there have been any issues. You don’t want to invest a lot of money in something that’s no good, after all.

Determine Your Sizing

Now you’ll want to figure out your sizing. You don’t want gear that’s too tight and uncomfortable to wear, but if it’s too loose, it may fall off or catch on something and cause you major problems. Gear that doesn’t fit also can’t offer you the protection you need to stay safe.

This is why it’s important to take your measurements. You may want to ask a friend to assist you with this. Measure your head circumference, neck, arm length, shoulders, chest, waist, hips and inseam. You can then compare your measurements to online size charts to see where you fall within a brand’s sizing, or if they even have your particular sizes at all.

Try Things On

Finally, when you’re shopping, it’s important to go out and try on as many pieces of gear as you can to figure out what feels like a good fit and what feels awful. Motorcycle trade shows are a great place to do this, since there will be plenty of options in one centralized location.

We hope this guide has helped you get started on your quest to gear up properly for your rides. Come see us at our location serving Jacksonville, Florida, to take a tour of our selection of new and used motorcycles for sale. You can also ask us questions about motorcycle gear and what you’ll need to be safe and comfortable as you ride. Cycles of Jacksonville welcomes all of our Florida customers coming from the greater Orlando area as well as those in St. Augustine.