On Your Mark, Get Set, Commute!

“The Edge…There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.” –Hunter S. Thompson, “Midnight on the Coast Highway”

“Remember when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous?” –Author Unknown

The first quote was written in 1965 after a blistering midnight run down California’s Highway 1 by Hunter S. Thompson. During that time, the most protection that was offered was a leather jacket and helmets that did little more than keep the weather off your onion. The second quote rings true in that there are so many more options out there for motorcycle safety equipment.

The technology for this safety equipment has trickled down from racing. Leather suits with high density foam armor in them, helmets that absorb the impact of a crash while keeping your brains inside your head.

The leather suits with body armor started as a racing suit, but now anyone with a credit card can order one for themselves, even if they never see a track. The same with helmets, as the same safety materials that go into a racer’s helmet can be found in one found in Cycle Gear stores.

Not only did they cover the things that protect you during a crash, but they covered things to prevent you from having the crash in the first place. Brembo makes brakes that won’t fade, even if the rotors hit 1200 degrees. They test their products to standards that they will never reach in the real world.

A more recent thing that has trickled down from racing technology is the slipper clutch. Most people think that the most dangerous thing that you can do is braking during a corner; however, downshifting is even more dangerous. It is much easier to lock up the rear tire if your motor and tire speed don’t match.

With the development of the slipper clutch, when a rider heads into a turn, they can just jam the bike into the gear that they want and let out the clutch. The clutch will slip until the tire and motor catch up to each other instead of the tire losing traction. These slipper clutches are now available in most sport bikes in one form or another.

The safety technology is moving at a blistering pace, but it has to in order to keep up with the racers that need it. Then as commuters, we all benefit from this technology trickling down.