The Bare Minimum

Well, in Singapore its common sight that you see people riding with slippers, barehands and helmets that crunch upon crashing. We have hot weather all year round, broken only by torrential rains during the monsoon seasons, or given the current el nino and screwed up weather patterns, anytime the sky feels like it. I don’t blame people for wanting to keep cool.

We love to criticise squids now don’t we? Well, for the squids out there, how much does your motorcycle cost? And how much is your life worth? I could spend all day ranting but let me narrow it down to this, a friend once used a brank spanking new Fox V3 helmet a few years ago when Fox racing just launched it. If I recall, the price was very much north of $400 and we were about to hit the trails and bash through vegetation. No way that helmet was coming out unscathed. I voiced my reservations and he asked me this, “how much is your head worth?”. Makes sense doesn’t it? You definitely can’t argue your way out of that now!

Years ago, I was with the police force for National Service, and in an accident my partner and I chanced across, the dead riders helmet had been badly smashed up, with the internal foam all coming out. But here’s the best part, that helmet had come off. Yes, it had come off and perhaps he would have ended up badly torn up but still alive, because his head had a huge hole in it and his brains were all over the road. It was a 2 lane road and you could not cross over anywhere without stepping on some of his grey matter. it was horrid. Yes. A good helmet, please guys, $50 helmets are cheap but how do they pass the local standards, I have simply no idea. It pains me to see guys riding litre bikes or serious bikes with helmets that cheap that we know wont stand up to much. I’d prefer to use something that meet Snell standards, but Euro standards work just fine too. Will do a post in future on helmets and helmet safety standards.

Anyway, in the featured picture above, are my Icon Justice Touchscreen gloves. They lasted me since 2011 until now and those stitches are starting to show fatigue and wear. 5 years and it only cost me $120 to $140? From the good guys at Profile Asia, in Jalan Besar. Yep, lasted me 5 years. Had a crash with a pair of shift leather gloves before that and my hands came out totally fine although the softer leather portions were worn through. The only thing is that if you don’t wash them, they smell of death and decay.

Footwear? I strongly believe and encourage above ankle protection. You could use army boots which do hold up, or law enforcement boots like Magnums which I crashed with, had my leg caught under the bike and dragged a good distance. You can buy them from Golden Mile’s Army Market after renovations are completed. Hopefully they will still be sub $180 if you can get a good deal.The boots held up and though I don’t have pictures, the only damage was scuffed leather and frayed laces. They do look something like this:

Magnum boots double up as good motorcycling boots

Which are issued by the Police Force as well.

My current set of go to boots for riding though are these:

Icon Patrol Motorcycling Boots from Profile Asia

Icon Patrol Boots, also from Profile Asia, who you can find on Facebook right here.

Both are water proof, although the Magnums are only somewhat, they are after all law enforcement boots so the water proofing only comes halfway up the lacing and you will need to make sure they are covered properly to ensure the rain doesn’t get in.

The icons will do a better job of keeping the rain out, as you can see if you look closely, the inner layer lip will do its work to ensure that. all you need to do is cover the top, which will fall under your raincoat’s department.

 

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