Motorcycle Explorer November 2016 Issue 14 | Page 44

Feature: norman magowan Biking apparel in these climes is the very antithesis of the ATGAT crowd at home (All-The-Gear-All-The- Time) where road safety concerns are extended not only to expensive and extensively tested-for-safety crash helmets but all manner of body armour and protective clothing. Most of the countries are hot and humid so flip-flops with T-shirt and shorts are ‘de-rigeur’ for most riders. There is a weird fashion too in Thailand and Malaysia to wear a long-sleeved shirt or light jacket back-to-front and leave it unfastened at the back. When it rains and you need to go out on the bike? Well just hoist an umbrella in your left mitt, especially useful on little automatic scooters with no clutch to worry about. Umbrellas can also be used as sun-shields or simply raise the back of your left hand to shield the suns glare as a substitute for wearing sunglasses. Few of these lands seem to enforce any kind of helmet law. Helmets, where they exist tend to be cheap, ‘plasticky’ things and are rarely strapped on if worn at all. We witnessed the aftermath of a couple of minor spills in India involving ‘wee bikes’ in low speed tumbles and both occasions resulted in head injuries with a lot of blood spilled as the victims weren’t wearing helmets.