Why Riders Don't Wear Gear (And What We Did About It)

I've been riding long enough to know that most riders fall into one of two camps.

Camp one: Fully geared up every single ride. Helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, pants. Every time, no exceptions. These riders know why and they don't need convincing. #ATGATT

Camp two: T-shirt, jeans, sneakers. Maybe a helmet. "We're just cruising." "It's too hot." "I'll be fine."

Gear you actually wear is the only gear that protects you.

I've never been able to look away from camp two. Not because I'm judging, I get it. I grew up riding and I know how it feels to just want to get on the bike and go. But I also know what asphalt does to skin at speed, and I know what happens when a ride that feels routine suddenly isn't.

On August 3, 2023, I went down on HWY 84 in Woodside. A road I could draw with my eyes closed. Two deer. No warning. 13 broken ribs. Internal bleeding. Life threatening. Two surgeries. 2 weeks in Stanford ICU.

I was wearing full gear. Boots, leather, Kevlar, spine protector.

It saved my life.

The objections I hear all the time

I run roadside photo ops on Skyline Blvd. Every shoot, I'm watching riders go by. And every shoot, I see the same thing, maybe 85% properly geared, 15% not even close. I've stopped counting how many times I've heard these:

"It's too hot."

I hear this one the most, especially in the Bay Area where summer riding is everything. And I'll be honest, traditional motorcycle gear can be hot. Full leathers on a warm day are uncomfortable. I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

But here's the thing: modern ventilated gear has solved most of this problem. Zippered vents, mesh panels, breathable linings. When we designed the Crown Moto Armored Hoodie and Armored Bomber Jacket we added 9-inch zippered armpit vents specifically because Kevlar itself doesn't breathe well. We engineered around the heat problem instead of ignoring it.

Would you rather sweat or bleed? I know which one I'd choose.

"We're just cruising."

I was just doing a sunset photo shoot on a road I've ridden hundreds of times. There is no "just cruising" when you're on two wheels. There is only riding, and riding means accepting that the unexpected can happen — a deer, a distracted driver, a patch of gravel — at any moment on any ride.

More than half of all fatal motorcycle crashes happen within 10 miles of home. More than a third happen within 5 miles. That's not a scare tactic, that's 20 years of NHTSA fatal crash data. The road you ride every day, the one you could navigate with your eyes closed, is statistically where the danger is. Familiarity doesn't mean safety.

That distracted Tesla driver doesn't care that you're having a chill Sunday. He's not watching for you. And when he turns left across your lane, your "chill ride" becomes a one-way ticket to skin graft town and a world of pain that could have possibly been avoided with proper gear.

"I'll be fine."

One thing I see constantly, and it worries me every time. Younger riders especially will pull on a regular hoodie and feel like they're covered. It looks like protection. It feels like something. But a standard cotton hoodie lasts about half a second on asphalt before the road wins. Asphalt always wins over regular textiles, every single time, without exception. The difference between a regular hoodie and the Crown Moto Armored Hoodie is full DuPont Kevlar lining and CE-rated armor. They look almost identical from the outside. What's inside is everything.

"Gear is expensive."

You know what's more expensive? Lingering medical bills. Skin grafts. Physical therapy. Lost time at work. The burden on your family. The financial cost of a serious motorcycle injury dwarfs the cost of any jacket on the market.

And good protective gear doesn't have to break the bank. The Crown Moto Armored Hoodie starts at $149. For full DuPont Kevlar lining and CE-rated armor. That's less than most people spend on sneakers.

"Gear looks like gear."

This one I actually understand. Most protective motorcycle gear is designed for the track or the touring rider, it signals "motorcycle" from fifty feet away. Not everyone wants to walk into a coffee shop or a car meet looking like they're about to do a lap at Laguna Seca.

What we made and why

We didn't set out to replace full leathers. Leathers are the gold standard for track riding and high-speed road riding and they should be. That's not what we're doing.

What we made lives in the space in between. More protection than a t-shirt. More wearable than a track suit. A gateway into protective gear for the rider who wouldn't otherwise wear any, and a comfortable everyday option for the rider who already gears up but wants something they can wear all day without thinking about it.

The Crown Moto Armored Bomber Jacket and Armored Hoodie are fully lined with genuine DuPont Kevlar, not just in the high-impact panels, the entire interior shell from collar to hem. CE Level 1 armor at the shoulders, elbows and back, included and removable. A silhouette that looks like what you were already going to wear.

Most gear companies put Kevlar only in the panels. Shoulders and elbows. The logic makes sense on paper. The problem is that crashes don't follow a script. A slide across asphalt can expose any part of your body to the road, not just the zones engineers planned for. We lined everything because we didn't want to guess which part of you hits the ground first.

I've been riding in my Bomber Jacket for months. It's comfortable with just a t-shirt in temperatures from 50 to 80 degrees. It doesn't flap in the wind at speed. It looks like a bomber jacket — because it is one. It just happens to have full Kevlar lining and CE-rated armor inside.

The one thing I want every rider to take away

Gear you actually wear is the only gear that protects you.

The most technically advanced motorcycle jacket in the world does nothing if it's hanging in your garage because it's too hot, too bulky, or too much of a statement you're not trying to make.

Wear something. Wear more than a long sleeved t-shirt. And if we've made something that makes that easier, that gets one more rider to put on a little more protection before they throw a leg over, then we've done what we set out to do.

Ride Safe. Ride Protected. 

— Andy Freeman, Crown Moto

Shop the Armored Bomber Jacket  — $189 presale
Shop the Armored Hoodie — $149 presale

Presale pricing ends July 31. Both products ship at the end of July. Free shipping included.

As with all protective gear, results in a crash depend on many factors including speed, road surface, and point of impact. Crown Moto armored products include CE Level 1 certified armor and genuine DuPont Kevlar lining. Always wear a helmet and appropriate protective gear when riding. #ATGATT