KIWI RIDER NOVEMBER 2017 VOL.1 | Page 61

And do bear in mind that jeans, Kevlar or not, can and do ride up your legs in a slide. It’s the nature of jeans, and it explains why you see so many pictures of riders from the 70s, 80s and 90s with their pants tucked into their boots. But that’s not a cool look in 2017. And fair enough. Seriously, it’s best not to fall off and keep your riding gear passive, but don’t skimp on it when you’re buying it. Ideally, you’ll have a good leather jacket for most of the year, a warm winter textile unit for when it’s freezing, a pair of summer gloves and a pair of winter gloves, two pairs of boots (you will have to dry a pair eventually), and two pairs of pants. Go the leather in preference to textile, go the textile in preference to Kevlar jeans, and go the Kevlar jeans in preference to normal jeans. Now, buy a helmet that fits. That’s the most important thing. All helmets sold in this country are deemed to have passed a host of government-mandated tests. So on paper, they are all as “safe” as each other. As a rule of thumb, buy the lightest helmet you can get. Yes, it will cost more, but the lighter it is, the more comfortable it will be and the less inertia it will impart on your neck in an accident. People’s heads are all differently shaped, and some heads will fit better into Arai helmets and some will fit better into Shark, Shoei or AGV. So, shop around and, once again, leave your poverty at the shop door. Remember in the first instalment how we spoke about this motorcycle riding not being an economical thing? Oh, and one last thing. Your helmet is not suddenly useless if you drop it on the ground. GENERAL PRINCIPLES Ride all the time. No matter what the weather, ride. No matter what the road conditions, ride. Long distances, short distances, medium distances – ride them all. It’s the only way you’ll get better at riding, which is very much a learn-by-doing thing. It then follows the more you do of it, the better you’ll get at it. But be aware of well-meaning comrades. Most people don’t ride very well at all, and since you’re new to this, you could very well pick up bad habits which you’ll then carry until they bite you, or someone with a clue actually corrects you. The only people you should be listening to are Ride all the time. No matter what the weather, ride. No matter what the road conditions, ride     KIWI RIDER 61