Take a motorcycle helmet and look at it from front. Now imagine it is divided into three sections; top (the cranium area) middle (the area most likely covered by visor) and bottom (on a full face helmet, this would be chin guard area).

If you were involved in a motorcycle accident, and you hit your head you would have a 35% chance of impact occurring to your chin area, 10% to your visor area, and 22% chance of impact occurring to your front cranium area.

Now turn helmet around. Looking at it from back, divide it in two down middle. In an accident, if you hit you head, you have a 16% chance of impact occurring on back of you head to left side, and a 17% chance of impact occurring on back right side. Conclusion? Well, this is only my personal conclusion but I would say following…

The safest helmets are full face helmets… Second would be three quarter helmets with visors… Third would be half helmets…

Last would be novelty helmets.

There are lots of reasons people wear helmets. However, if safety is you main consideration, then take a good look at full face helmets on market, take some time and find one which you can wear comfortably on every ride.

Copyright Michael Holmes 2005. Permission is granted to reprint this article provided a live link to authors website, http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com, is included.

A decent pair of gloves is a must; your palms will be at risk in an accident; you instinctively put out your hands palm side down to stop yourself in a slide, so palms of your gloves should be reinforced with patches. Knitted Kevlar is especially good for this kind of abrasion resistance, but reinforced leather works well too.

Impact protection can be bought separately like back protectors and so on, but remember where your most vulnerable areas are. And make sure if you buy impact protection you actually wear it! If you have any doubts it may be better to go for motorcycle clothing with a degree of impact protection included so that you know when you put on your jacket and pants, protection is always going to be there.

Last but not least, pick out a helmet you can wear and wear it always. You may have a greater chance of getting injured below waist in a motorcycle accident, but consequences of being involved in an accident without a helmet just don’t bear thinking about….

So, next time you are shopping for motorcycle clothing, give a bit of thought to level of protection it offers before you buy it. You never know it could save you a lot of unnecessary pain!

Copyright Michael Holmes 2005 Permission is granted to reproduce this article provided a live link is provided to http://www.motorcycleparts-accessories-andmore.com