Raj Mano Subbiah

Love to ride motorcycles and creating memories for a lifetime. Been riding for more than 15 years and would love to ride for the years to come. Others interests are sports & fitness, hiking, and a flair for any form of adventure experience.

This is a short writeup on my experience in 2010 regarding an incident that changed the way I looked at motorcycle riding gear. I had started my motorcycle days with a humble 125cc Bajaj Discover in 2007 and the highest protection that I went for, was a supposedly premium helmet by Studds. A year later, I upgraded to a 200cc Bajaj pulsar which was a beast at that time. Only that the engine CC grew, but my regard for safety gear was still the same and I just upgraded to a fancy LS2 helmet at that point. Then came the day that changed my perspective of safety – During one of the weekends, sometime in 2010, I did the grave mistake of visiting a friend at a nearby bus-stop from my home near Porur. I did not know that I would meet with a fatal accident on the way back that day and guess what – I rode out without a helmet and had a pillion with me.

The accident involved my bike colliding on a drunk rider on another bike, who had happily initiated a U-turn despite my charging P200. My only memory of the accident was me being thrown into air, few meters away and my head hitting the divider. I got admitted into SRMU hospital and doctors told my family of a massive blood clot around my brain and an ACL grade 3 fracture. Going no further into the rest of the 20 days in hospital, I can only say that I was lucky to have survived this fatal crash with a broken ACL and a blood clot that could have taken my life.

Moral of the story: Stay safe than sorry, no matter the distance or the purpose. Your loved ones are waiting for you back home.

So my first set motorcycle gear as a result of this incident in 2010:

1) Mesh Riding Jacket- Planet DSG
2) Mesh Rising Gloves- Planet DSG
3) Touring Helmet – SOL Metalman series

Fast forward to 2022, we have multiple Indian brands, advanced grades of protection, numerous series specific to riding needs. MY current set of riding gear are:

1) Riding Jacket – Rynox Tornado Pro 4 Riding Jacket(INR 7950, May 2022) – This is a mid level jacket with decent mesh area that allows air flow in our round-the-year hot weather days. Rain/Snow liner and jacket to be purchased separately. Anyone with a higher budget can go for the Rynox Storm Evo jacket (INR 10750) for better protection. Other commendable options come from BBG, Axor but I feel Rynox is a step above in terms of functionality and appeal. Another good option is MACNA jackets sold by Powersports in Chennai on their website. On the other extreme, Alpinestars Air series jackets are a brilliant choice, and Dainese has introduced its lineup in Chennai.

2) Riding Pants – Rynox Raid Riding Pants (INR 6450, 2016) – Standing the test of time, these mid level riding pants have endured for 6 years now and still going strong. The new Advento series from Rynox is a great choice currently; BBG, Mototech and Solace have good options too in the mid-budget category. The higher end options are with Alpinestars, Dainese again.

3)Riding Boots – Orazo Picus Riding Boots (INR 3999) – Most economical option in this price segment and built well. Alternate to this boot is the Raida Tourer boots at INR 4250 and Ergon Tampa Biking/Hiking Boots at INR 6499 currently. Multiple options available with XDA, TCX, Mototech, SIDI, Alpinestars if budget is no constraint.

4)Touring Helmet – MT Blade 2 SV FINISHLINE(INR 9550) – MT is a decent sub premium option in the market and these helmets are sold through Powersports in Chennai now. SMK, Axor, Lazer & LS2 are other sub-premium options; If budget is not a constraint, kindly consider HJC, Bell, AGV, Shoei.

5) Riding Gloves – Rynox Urban X (INR 3450) for touring & Rynox Air GT for urban rides – Rynox has a good collection for mid-tier riding gloves and other comparable options are from Solace, ViaTerra & DSG. Also, gauntlet models are preferable for touring.

6) Luggage (Soft only) – Rynox Nomad Saddlebags for upswept exhaust (INR 5350) – suitable for the CB350/RS and no exhaust burn troubles(tested), Viaterra Element Tailbag (INR 2699), GODS Taur messenger bag(Comes with tank magnets), Bigwing mini tailbag (INR 1200).

This has been my riding gear journey till date and I am sure each one of you do not and will not need to learn it the way I did. Hence, kindly gear up every time you hit the roads out of the city, because its always important to be safe than to be sorry. Also please remember to wear your awesome helmet anywhere within the city too and encourage others to do the same. Cheers, Stay safe all.

Thank you for bearing with me on this long post. Signing out- Raj.