Which Riding Gear To Buy For Touring? Here’s A Quick Guide

Essential riding gear for touring and road trips.

BTech Babua EP 19

Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint

Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Mauraya

HELMET

What you need in a good helmet is that it should have at least the ISI mark or DOT which is the American standard or ECE which is the European standard. The safety rating should be minimum 3, 4 or 5 star (SHARP rating). The fit should be tight and in good helmets you won't hear the sound of the wind. It will be completely insulated.

Price: Rs 2,000 - Rs 70,000.

JACKET

Riding jacket has a mesh so that air can go through it. Also, a thermal liner can be attached inside it which will keep the jacket insulated. The jacket has D30 padding inside it, which protects your shoulder, elbow and all the other joints.

Price: Rs 4,500 - 21,000

GLOVES

Babua, you need to wear good insulated gloves. It has protection for your knuckles and has vents through which air enters the gloves. To keep your hands warm, you can wear medical gloves or cotton gloves inside the protective gloves.

Price: Rs 3,000 - 10,000

PANT
Riding pants have protective padding (D30 Padding) on the knee and on the bum.

Price: Rs 7,000 - Rs 20,000

SHOES
Riding shoes have steel capping on the toes. It has got protection on the shin and is waterproof too.

Price: Rs 7,000 - 20,000.

MOTORCYCLE

For your ride, you need the following things:

1. A puncture repair kit. If you have a tube type tyre then you can put a slime inside it. It'll will fix small punctures.

2. For a Royal Enfield motorcycle, carry a spare clutch cable.

3. You need jerry cans too as it is better to carry about 10 litres of your own fuel (esp. on a trip to Ladakh).

4. Saddle bags to carry your own luggage.

And Diamox tablets to avoid Acute Mountain Sickness. It is a diuretic which helps to vent out the water from the body even faster and at the same time reduces the CO2 level in the body.

Also, take frequent breaks, drink a lot of water and download offline maps on your phone as network connectivity may get disrupted on hilly terrains.

Happy touring!