New Rider: What Motorcycle Gear Do You Need?

Welcome to motorcycling! Maybe you just bought your first bike or are about to do it. Either way, you’ve probably realized that you’ll need to buy more than just a motorcycle. Motorcycle gear can get really expensive really quickly, but you don’t need to spend a fortune (which you probably don’t have since you just bought your first bike) to keep yourself comfortable while riding or protect yourself in a mishap. While all motorcycle safety gear is important, there is a hierarchy of necessity. Since the assumption of this article is that you’re short on cash, we’ll work our way down the list.

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10 Great Motorcycle Gloves For Under $100

Yeah, we know that we constantly say that you should buy the best gear you can afford. We think it’s time to show you some  glove bargains. So, we’re gonna pull back a little and show you how nice gloves that cost less than a C-note can be. In fact, some of these motorcycle gloves are almost inexpensive enough to buy two pair without breaking our self-imposed ceiling. Our reason for undertaking this exercise is to illustrate the breadth of gear available to riders who maybe just spent all their scratch on a new motorcycle and don’t have much left for gear.

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Ducati to Introduce Motorcycle Radar System by 2020

Ducati announced plans to introduce a front and rear radar system for motorcycles and to make cornering ABS available across its entire model range. The two initiatives are part of Ducati’s overall “Safety Road Map 2025” plan, the company’s strategy for motorcycle safety technologies.

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8 Essential Motorcycle Riding Skills

Riding a motorcycle is a challenging activity. For many of us, that is part of the attraction. However, the steepness of the learning curve can be daunting to new riders – or even returning riders who want to freshen-up their skills. While we’re always going to suggest that beginning and returning riders take a motorcycle safety course, there are many skills that riders can practice on their own to make their ride safer and more enjoyable.

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What To Do If Your Motorcycle Breaks Down On The Highway

Hopefully, you’ll never experience the sinking feeling of having your motorcycle suddenly sputter and die while you’re in the left hand lane of a crowded highway traveling at 70 mph. Or maybe it’s that mushy wobble of a rear tire that is quickly going flat. Mechanical problems are never fun, but on the interstate, they can be dangerous if you don’t take the proper steps. So, what’s a rider to do?

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Halloween Video: Always Protect Your Melon When You Ride

What we have here is a fun Halloween video involving a pumpkin, a motorcycle tie-down, a hand saw, and an electric jigsaw – all in the name of creating the ultimate Halloween costume for a motorcyclist. While we can’t vouch for the DOT or Snell certification of this homemade helmet. It’s good for a laugh.

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New Rider: What Is The Friction Zone?

Riders entering the ranks of motorcyclists often face a bewildering cascade of unique terms – and that’s before we consider the alphabet soup of motorcycle names. Perhaps no motorcycling descriptor confuses neophytes more than “friction zone.” However, new riders will never be able to smoothly pull away from a stop without a proper understanding of what the friction zone represents and how to use it correctly.

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What's the Best Way To Ride Safe On Busy Freeways?

Dear MOby,

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States With The Fewest Motorcycle Fatalities

Plucked from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), here are the states with the fewest annual motorcycle fatalities in 2015. These figures are fatalities only. There is no consideration given to geographic size, topography, population, population density, annual miles traveled by motorcycle, or any other pertinent information that would better determine the actual safety record of a given state. But maybe, just maybe, the knowledge that you’re riding in a state with very few motorcycle fatalities will provide a positive psychological edge.

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Don't Forget: April Is Check Your Helmet Month

As the first week of April has now come and (almost) gone, we want to remind readers that this month is National Check Your Helmet Month. As such, don’t forget that the average life span for a helmet is three to five years. Numerous times we’ve seen riders wearing helmets far, far, older than five years simply because a visual inspection with their untrained eye deemed the helmet to be in acceptable working order.

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Skidmarks: Superbike Lollipops

I never smoke to excess – that is, I smoke in moderation, only one cigar at a time.

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Head Shake - Basement Epiphany

“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

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Honda Patents Automatic Emergency Braking Technology

New patent applications published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reveal Honda is working on an automatic braking system for motorcycles. The patents describe a system that would apply the brakes when it detects a possible frontal collision, like, say, a car suddenly turning through an intersection.

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American Flat Track Safety: Interviews With Michael Lock And Chris Carr

A month ago, we published an interview with AMA Pro Racing CEO Michael Lock about the future of the American Flat Track Series. While the topics covered were wide-ranging, we felt that, given the two fatalities at the season-closing event at Santa Rosa, the section on the series’ safety should be broken out into its own section.

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Cornering Tips For Road Riders, From Mick Doohan

Being able to ride a motorcycle is one thing, but being able to ride it proficiently is another thing entirely. This is especially true when it comes to navigating corners during a street ride. Not only does the rider have to deal with the dynamics of the specific corner, but other things like road conditions and oncoming traffic are both important obstacles to consider.

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