Top 10 Essential Gear:

Here is a list of 10 items every PB'er should have.

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1. Helmet
D.O.T. approved, preferably full face. Half helms are not reccomended, as you can still bust up your face, which has happened to me in a 4-wheeler accident. More than half the people who die in motorcycle crashes were not wearing helmets. Helmets save lives.
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2. Riding Jacket/Race Suit
It may not seem like a big deal, But road rash is extremely painfull, I once crashed a bike doing 80, and after picking rocks out of my right arm, hip, and knee, I invested in some Leathers. Mesh type mateiral is okay, but dont hold up more than a few crashes, and have been known to roll up in the hip/sleeve area, causing road rash. If you cannot afford a bike jacket, at least wear some type of long sleve item, to at least cover your skin. Leather is the best option when it comes to jackets, Its tough as nails, and can hold up thorough numerous crashes. Everytime i have crashed with leather on, Ive been able to get up, dust my self on, and i'm good to go. An Ideal Jacket Is snug, but not tight enough to restrict movement. Almost like a second layer of skin.
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3. Gloves
Gloves. What does everyone do when they fall down? They extend their arms in an attempt to catch themselves. Although Gloves wont prevent broken hands (I cracked mine when i highsided during a turn) They will keep the skin on your hand. Mechanic gloves, leather work gloves, motorcycle gloves are all fine. The best gloves are the Race gloves, which have armour on the knuckles/back of the hand, and also extend to cover the wrist, which is usually armoured. Other than safty in a crash, Gloves help against rocks and bugs hitting your hands while riding, and are great for when you are working on bikes. If you ride on a track, or race with friends, or are an agressive rider, once again, leather is a must.
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4. Knee/Elbow pads
No matter what sport, Knees and elbows tend to take a beating, and they can help protect you. Knee/Elbow pads are one of the cheaper items on the list, and can be found at most stores. I prefer the ones that Slide over your arms/legs compared to the ones with the velcro straps.
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5. Back/spine/chest protector
This is essential for all racers. Back protectors keep the skin on your back, as well as cusion a fall. They prevent Spinal/nerve damage which could leave you crippled for life. When you crash, you want to get on your back as fast as possible, and the protectors will help you slide and usually protect from your neck down to the tail bone. Some have hard armour, while others have a hard foam-type matierial. Back Protectors should be worn under the jacket to keep it in place, and most of them have sholder straps, and a strap that goes around the waist.
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6. Riding Boots
Shoes are important, I know skateboarding shoes/sneakers are very popular with teens, but the bad thing is, they will come off easy. A pair of boots with a thick rubber sole and that extends above the ankles is great for keeping your feet safe, and from twisting/breaking an ankle. All shoes should be tied tight and doubble knotted
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7. Riding pants
Unless you are throwing a knee down, Blue Jeans will work fine in most cases. Although they will get torn up if you go down sliding across the road, they will keep dirt/gravel from tearing you up. If you are a more agressive rider, leather pants are prefered. No Shorts.
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8. Hard Armour for jacket/pants
Most Jackets have pockets where you can insert armour, and foam armour helps cusion impacts. Most Jackets have pockets for the Elbow, Sholder, Back, and occasionally the forarm. There is also hard armour which is some-what uncomfortable, but holds up great. Unless your on a track, the regular foam armour will do just fine. As stated above, a good fitting jacket will not allow the armour to move. If a jacket is too big, the armour will move, and not do its job.
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9. Knee Sliders/pucks
A race only item, Knee sliders are used to guage how far you are leaning in a turn, and slide across the track keeping your knees from contacting the track. Most racers Have them to the lower outside of the knee.
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10. UnderArmour Shirt/pants
UnderArmour type material is great to wear under jackets/pants in hot days, its light, and breathes very well. (pardon me ladies) And for guys, the UA shorts/pants help keep your boys close to home.
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The Items listed above can be exspensive, but if you look in the right places, you can find cheap used gear (But I do not reccomend buying a used helmet)

My set up only cost me apox $250. I found the leathers and boots very cheap on craigslist. And all hardware stores carry mechanic/work gloves.

Here are some of my items.

Even if you have the best protection in the world. If you do not use your brain, and make bad desisions, your in troubble. The saying goes, "The only difference gear makes, is an open or a closed casket" Please Think safe, and ride safe.

Good thread, very informative.

I would say absolute "to-have's" are: helmet, gloves, jacket, elbow and knee pads/sliders. The knee pads/sliders are VERY important, because if you are leaning the bike over, remember: your knee is travelling at 30mph+ about an inch off the ground. Might get painful if you lean over too far .....

The rest of the list, whereas it may or may not be used, is still good to know about, and to get if/when you can.

i would agree, I race my custom mid, although i have never ridden a smaller cag style bike, proper gear is needed. The bigger and faster you go, the more portection you want. I would hope that one day a thread similar to this would be made a sticky. But when it comes to gear, thats where i get in to arguments with people. Ive seen too many people get hurt/killed because of their ignorance.

As long as you use your head you will be fine. But honestly, every good rider will tell you you can learn more from one crash than in a years worth of riding. You gotta keep check of where your limits are. The misconseption about sport bikes are that anyone can hop on one and ride it. Thats equivlent to saying a 16 year-old that just got his license and putting him in a ferarri. You gotta know your limits.

Right now my gear is a heavy denim jacket and leather gloves - not the greatest, but at least I've got something between me and the road. Helmet and kneepads are coming next when I have the dinero, but until then, no knee-draggin' for me ....

For those of you guys who think you'll be okay in a T-shirt and jeans, DON'T. Been there, done that, tore up a good T-shirt and ripped up my arm and shoulder with road rash for about a month .... and I was going slow around a corner when the rear wheel hit a patch of dirt and dumped me on my @$$. Sure wish I had that jacket then .....

I went to the bike shop today and picked up some JoeRocket leather gloves, $40, and are super nice. They are more for racers/peoplewhogofast, but you need something to cover your hands.

I agree with everything but the mechanic gloves. I've seen what happens to someone that was waring dirtbike gloves at the track racing. Which are alot like the machanic gloves and it wasn't pretty at all. Well pretty bloody!!! Can you say hamburger!!! If I didn't have the armor on my gloves in 1 of my crashes I'd be missing a few knuckles...

I agree, for track riding, Leather is a must. But for general parking lot playin around, mechanic/dirtbike will do fine.
If my budget wasent so tight, i would have spend the extra $15 on a pair that had carbon fiber plates on the knuckles and back of the hand. The ones i bought will do me fine i think.

and the rule for crashing is: Get on your back as fast as possible, Your back is tough, and keeps arms/legs from flinging around. Thats why i put a back protector pretty high on the list, If your sliding on your back, you can usually keep your hands some-what protected. but thats usually in a lowside senerio, when i highsided, i did a flip over the handle bars, landed on my back, bounced, flipped again, and did a major no-no and stuck my hand out to catch myself, whe i should have landed on my sholder and rolled over on my back. And keeping your hands clenched in a fist (and yes i know its hard to think when your flying through the air) keeps fingers from being bent backwards/ripped off (ive seen it happen)

for they guys that dont care to spend the cash on leathers the next best thing is a pair of carhart duck denium jeans and jacket this material it very think and heavy and usually doubled in the knee and rump area and will take many many crashes and keep some of the rash off of you . I myself wear leathers but its my skin and I choose to keep it

A crash on the track and a crash in a parking lot doesn't matter they both share the same type of surface. It will eat it's way through a machanic's glove and through your knuckles the same be safe and ware the proper gloves and be safe...... Machanic gloves are NOT the proper gloves..... Their only good for working on your bike to keep your hands clean and that's it.....

Hmmmm so i keep my hands clean with Nitrile gloves while working on my bikes are those safe for track use too

Correct! Look at the glove in the picture - I see some foam padding, but no real abrasion protection. Asphalt (or concrete) at any kind of speed tears stuff up pretty quickly. I wouldn't expect that glove to last more than one get off at racing (track or lot) speeds.

if you are talking about my JoeRocket street gloves, they are all leather excpet for around the wrist, and are all doubble layers, and have hard armour on the knuckles and on the back of the hand, and a skid thingy on the lower palm. But like i stated earlier, when your crashing get on your back asap

u sure have crashed alot

Yes, FiveStarSky is our resident expert on crashing .......