Motorcycle leathers

The term motorcycle leathers describes leather clothing worn by motorcyclists for two reasons, to protect themselves against the consequences of falling off their bike, and also to provide additional warmth that normal clothing would not provide when travelling at speed. A well-protected motorcyclist will wear boots with heels that fit on motorcycle pegs and good ankle support, leather pants or chaps to protect the legs, a leather jacket to protect the trunk and arms, and gloves, in addition to a helmet with eye protection.

There are two major styles of motorcycle leathers, the tight colorful suits worn by cafe racers and others following the European style and the somewhat looser black leather trousers and jackets decorated with studs worn by American bikers. The latter style, the jackets in particular, are also worn by people who like the style but do not ride motorcycles. In addition, the biker style has an appeal to some leather fetishistss.

A lot of modern leathers have amour on the inside at critical impact points, like elbows, knees and the spine. The amour ranges from high density foam to foam backed hard amour. It is designed to spread the impact point to minimise injury.