The best budget motorbike kit | Is expensive always better, or should you bag a bargain?

There’s an old saying that states; ‘You get what you pay for’. And, to an extent, this is true of motorcycling kit. You can pay upwards of £1000 for a motorbike jacket or a helmet and they will excel when it comes to performance and comfort, for example.

However, you can also buy jackets or helmets for a fraction of that price and it will be plenty good enough for the average rider… you just need to get your bargain hunter head on. So the question is how do you know a ‘goodun’ from a ‘wrongun’?

We’ve tested some of the cheaper items on offer to see what’s worth the savings, and what’s just cheap and poor quality, to save you wasting your money.

Looking for something specific?

• What to look for when buying less expensive gear
• Safety Ratings
• Helmets
• Jackets
• Jeans and trousers
• Boots
• Gloves
• How we test kit

What to look for when buying less expensive gear

When it comes to buying inexpensive riding gear, a good place to start is with brands that are well known. Most of these brands will have a full range of gear from lower level through to the top notch race replica type stuff. The lower end of the range should be plenty good enough for the average road rider.

The price difference over the more expensive items will be the details, things like weight, breathability, comfort perhaps. So, you might be looking at a helmet that may be a bit heavier than one costing far more or it may not as quiet but the difference in price might be worth it.

Safety Ratings

The most important thing is how well the kit protects you in an accident, after all this is the main, if not only reason we buy motorcycle gear. So it’s important to understand what the safety ratings and labels actually mean. It’s generally considered a good idea to buy the safest gear that you can reasonably afford to, but it isn’t always that clear what is safe and what isn’t.

Motorcycle gear in the UK should be certified to a safety standard, for jackets trousers, gloves and boots, this is the CE rating. There are two types of ratings, one is for the abrasion resistance of the garment, rated from B to AAA and the other is for the armour. This will be rated at either level 1 or level 2, depending on the impact protection it provides.

The latest helmet safety standard is ECE 22.06, which has replaced the previous standard (ECE 22.05). The ECE rating is a minimum safety standard that all helmets should meet, however this standard does not give any indication of relative performance. It is worth checking the safety of a helmet on the SHARP website. SHARP is a scale rating of safety, displayed in a star system from one to five and will give you a better idea how how the helmet would perform in the event of an incident.

Helmets

A helmet is the only piece of gear that is required by law in the UK, so you will need to invest in one. This does not mean though that you have to spend a fortune to get a good quality safe helmet. For our full list of helmets check The best budget motorcycle helmets.

Jackets

Your choice of motorcycle jacket is likely going to be affected by the type of motorcycle that you ride, for example if you ride a sportsbike, you may go for a leather racing style jacket, however if you ride a cruiser you may prefer an armoured flannel shirt.

Jeans and trousers

When it comes to trousers, you have a few options; leather, textile or jeans. Motorcycle jeans will offer a more casual lightweight option, leather tends to offer the highest level of protection but is generally cold in winter and hot in summer and textile will offer more versatility, often with waterproof membranes and larger pockets.

Boots

Boots are going to be designed around the type of riding that you do, from casual urban style boots to adventure boots to race boots. Ideally they want to be comfortable and offer protection to your ankles and shins.

Gloves

There aren’t too many variations in the various types of motorcycle gloves. The main choices are gauntlet or short cuff and summer or winter, beyond that it generally comes down to style preference and level of protection against the elements.

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Frequently asked questions

Does motorcycle gear need to be expensive or is cheap gear good enough?

Similar to with other clothing, motorcycle gear can be more expensive because of the brand label that makes it. As a general rule, yes you get what you pay for but a lower end brand will likely be plenty good enough for the average road rider. The key thing is to look for the safety certifications, (see above for more information) if these are in place then it is up to standard for use on a motorcycle.

How much do I need to spend on my motorcycle kit?

Generally a helmet will set you back at around £100 for a basic level helmet but can cost up to £1,000 for a top end performance helmet. Just check for the ECE 22.06 rating. In terms of jackets, you can pick up a budget jacket for less than £100, Some boots start at as little as £60 pounds and gloves can be less than £40. If you are on a really tight budget you could pull a full outfit together for as little as £350 if you thrifty.

Can I buy motorcycle clothing second hand?

Provided that once again you are careful to check that the safety rating labels are present , then there is the option to keep an eye out for good quality used kit second hand, some riders will buy all of the gear to do their CBT and then decide that riding isn’t for them so sell the kit on. Facebook markeplace can be a good source.

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How MCN tests budget motorcycle kit

At MCN, our team of expert journalists have decades of experience gained over hundreds of thousands of miles in order to provide you with opinions and evaluations you can trust, alongside news of the most significant developments in motorcycling safety gear. We want you to stay safe, enjoy your riding and hopefully look great while doing so! 

We don’t test our kit to destruction; we use it exactly how you do, in the real world and in all conditions.

That means we can deliver impartial buying advice you can rely on. To make it onto this list, these items of bargain kit must have been worn for thousands of miles by our team of experienced testers, show no major flaws, and meet modern safety standards as well as offering decent value for money. 

Each of our expert reviewers tests their products for a variety of things, both subjective and objective, and these are no exception. Factors assessed include the helmet’s conformity to the latest ECE 22.06 safety regulations, the level of armour in jackets, what knuckle protection gloves have, how heavy the kit is, and if they include details such as a drop-down sun visor, removable liner or any additional aerodynamic or practicality enhancing properties.

However, we also assess how they fit, their perceived build quality, how quickly we’re able to swap the visor out, what the venting feels like and how comfortable/adjustable the product is during daily use.

We cover thousands of miles in these lids and regularly compare them with one another in the office, so collectively we’ve built the sort of knowledge base you can trust.

If you can’t see a review against a product on this page, it’s because we haven’t tested it yet. These will only be included if we think they’re important and relevant in the market, and rest assured, we will be working on bringing you a review as soon as we’ve done the miles.

When we review a budget product, we award it a score out of five. In the ratings tab of a given product, you may also find more specific scores for the different aspects of a product’s performance to help you make an informed decision. We test against criteria like how comfortable it is, how protective is it, does it look good and if it is good value for it’s price tag. Here’s a guide to what each number score means:

• 1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A product with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
• 2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A product with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level and there is room for improvement.
• 3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A product with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
• 4 stars – A product has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A product with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
• 5 stars – A product has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A product with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.

To find out more, head to our dedicated page explaining how we test motorcycle products.

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