THE HARDEST MOTORCYCLE GIFT TO BUY?

What’s worse than buying someone gift pants? Buying them MOTORCYCLE PANTS as a gift!

Pants are hard enough to buy as a gift. Of course you need the right sizes for the waist and inseam, but you still need to have a sense of what style is appropriate for the recipient. And to keep things interesting, the exact sizes designated are not identical from manufacturer to manufacturer. And then there’s the shrink factor after any cotton apparel goes through its first wash and dry….

The good news for anyone buying motorcycle pants as a gift is that you don’t need to worry about shrinking, since, for the most part, motorcycle pants are not made of cotton. (There are exceptions: jeans with protective reinforcements).

MOTORCYCLE PANTS come in different sizes, and different styles and a variety of different materials: Leather and textile comprise the majority of selections.

MAIN FUNCTION OF MOTORCYCLE PANTS

And as different as the majority of motorcycle pants may be from each other, they serve one primary mission: protecting a rider’s legs.

So, in addition to the basics of selection, such as size and style, the most important aspect of motorcycle pants is their protective features. Good leather and very durable textiles protect the rider from abrasion (such as sliding along pavement or the ground), but armor (protective padding) is what mitigates unfriendly impacts.

A few simple points of comparison for better rider protection:

• More armor means better impact protection
• Better leather means better abrasion protection
• Better textile means better abrasion protection

Check out these definitions of motorcycle apparel terms for additional insights.

STYLES OF MOTORCYCLE PANTS

Motocross pants are often bright with vibrant designs. Cruiser pants (or chaps) are typically black leather. Sport-bike protective pants can be black “or” colorful, as well they can be leather or textile. Toss in the aforementioned specialty protective jeans (which offer the least safety rider benefit) and mix that up with the fact that there are certain designs and colors targeted specifically to women, and you are confronting a daunting selection of motorcycle gift pants that may over-stress any gift-giver aiming to please a loved one. (Which means you should go for a ride).

Makes you wonder if the rider would be better off riding without pants….

Rather than entertain that direction, just make sure there is a good return policy for any motorcycle pants you buy and you’ll be all set!

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MOTORCYCLE APPAREL CRASH PROTECTION

So what the heck is this “CE” armor that you see advertised as part of some motorcycle jackets and pants?

In simple terms, it’s a European system of grading motorcycle protective armor (pads) used as additional protection in motorcycle gear.  The rating takes into account two primary areas of crash protection:

1) Energy absorption capability
2) Pad shape and size

The armor, or pads, are designed to offer added protection to a rider going down on a motorcycle, particularly in the event of sliding or lesser impacts. CE armor is made of hard foam pieces encapsulated in softer foam which compresses on impact. In other words, it’s like a helmet: if you fall and land on it, the pads have done their work, and it’s time replace them, since their energy absorption qualities have been expended.

NOTE: There are no U.S. standards for protective motorcycle armor (unlike motorcycle helmets), and there are disagreements about the merits of the “CE” standard, with some manufacturers choosing to provide what they consider to be a higher level of armor protection for motorbike apparel, even though it may not be CE certified.

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