Lack of riding gear among bikers in Kerala

Join Date: Jul 2023

Location: Ernakulam

Posts: 18

Thanked: 43 Times

This post is strictly my observations from all of my rides in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. I have only briefly done a Karnataka ride so I can't make any significant observations for the state.

Anybody who has driven in and around Kochi will see a lot of costly cars and bikes. Premium bikes I feel have become much more common in the city and if you step out for a breakfast ride, you will run into at least one. I personally was not very obsessed with riding gear up until I started reading up about them and one of my corider's faced a somewhat scary accident where his knee got scraped. We were able to continue the journey, but he kept telling me that he regretted not having worn knee guards.

I do not have a great salary, so I could only afford to buy one or two pieces of gear at a time. But I was deeply determined to buy everything from a good helmet, jacket, riding pants, gloves and boots for safety. People who have invested heavily in riding gear and wear them on a regular basis will know just how protected you feel while wearing them, especially when doing highway cruising at different speeds!

Within two months of getting my own bike I had everything from proper apparrell to luggage that was exclusively designed to be used on a 2-wheeler. This brings me to another point. Gear does not just mean what you put on your body, but also applies to the kind of luggage system that you utilize. I went a bit overboard with luggage systems and have 3 different setups with varying capacities depending on the length of the ride. Whereas, most riders here stick to carelessly using bungee cords to stick oversized Wildcraft bags onto the back of their bikes. There are two problems with this. The first is that, any jerks or sudden movements can potentially dislodge the luggage and take the rider's focus away from the road. Secondly, most of them are hardly waterproof and all of your clothes can get absolutely drenched.

Now coming to the point, people seem to be very eager and happy to spend large amounts of money for their bike, but completely flake out when it comes to any decent riding gear. What passes for jackets with most people is mostly aimed at 'looking good' on the bike and not protection. People who prefer proper gears spend lots of time looking at the safety standards on their equipment and try to get the best ones possible that they can afford. Looks are also given importance, but with safety in mind also.

I began to use these gears for even sub 30km rides all the way to 500 km rides. I started to see people on everything from R15's to KTM's to Interceptors wear very questionable riding gear (if one can even call them that). The usual excuse given for a lack of gear is financial or that it is too bulky. But I feel more riders should be actively encouraged to buy gear from head-to-toe and regularly use them. Now that we have companies like Rynox and Viaterra, people also have more affordable choices. What do you think is the reason for such a glaring lack of safety gear in a state that has such an obsession with vehicles in general?