A. Too much clothing
Select language
A. Too much clothing
B. Lack of water causes dehydration
C. Sun exposure and glare causes eye strain
D. Not enough clothing means the rider gets cold
If you want to see how bad your scars can be if you have an accident without wearing protective clothing, check this video out. The lady in question had a helmet on, but no other protective gear. She crashed and slid up the road for 522 feet - about 160m. She has extensive scarring, which is shown in the video.
This outlines how important it is for a motorcyclist to be properly protected on the road. Tarmac will shred your skin like a cheese grater.
Protective clothing can do more than protect your skin, though. A back protector will cushion your spine against impacts, helping prevent debilitating spinal injuries. Sturdy boots will protect your ankles from being broken if they are twisted under the bike, and if they come with shin protection that is even better because if you go over the handlebars you are likely to hit your shins on them, which can shatter the bones.
Leather gloves will protect your hands and long trousers will protect your legs. A reflective vest will make you more visible to other road users.
The video above shows how important it is to have a full face helmet. You can see where the helmet took the impact - along the side. A half helmet or open face helmets do not have adequate protection. You can read our guide to motorbike helmets here. This article shows where most helmet impacts occur.
A passenger is also required to wear a helmet by law. They are not required to wear any other protective clothing. You must have a full class 6 licence before you can carry a passenger on a motorbike.
As well as adjusting your mirror and headlights and firming up your shock absorbers (if your bike comes with this ability), you should put more air in your tyres. You should always ride in your normal position; don't move forwards.
You must have foot pegs for the passenger, and enough room on the seat for you to sit normally and the passenger to sit safely without hanging over the end of the seat.
Hypothermia is when your core body temperature drops dangerously, reducing your reflexes. Even on a fine day, the wind chill can cause hypothermia. Riding a bike at 100kph means that winds of 100kph plus any headwind speed will be hitting your body. This can decrease the effective temperature by a lot. For example, if the air temperature is 20 degrees Celsius and you are riding at 100kph, the effective temperature is 12.4 degrees Celsius. You can find a wind chill calculator here.