Knee Protection

XLMOTO Knee Protectors, Guards and Pads: For Joints Worth Saving

Knees are often the first to take a hit in an accident. A high-quality knee protector from XLMOTO makes perfect sense. Read on to find a knee guard to keep your joints bending in all the right places. The knee supports our entire body weight and acts as a shock absorber every time we take a step. Imagine the added pressure on the knee joints for a motorcyclist standing on the footrests and bouncing over rough terrain. Still, this is only a part of the story. Push the weight of your motorcycle around a car park or put a foot on the floor and you may hyperextend the knee joint or twist the ligaments. Last but not least, we come to the most critical aspect of the knee joint: its vulnerability. Protecting your knees against impact and abrasion makes total sense when you consider that it's often the first body part to hit the road in a slow-speed accident.

What is a Knee Protector?

Motorcycle knee pads are a piece of personal protection kit to protect the knee joint from injury. The body of the knee protector is often a lightweight nylon-based construction with adjustable webbing or straps. An impact and abrasion-resistant section sits over the knee. It is either single-sized (one size fits all) or grouped in sizes such as S/M L/XL. Also, it is common for knee protectors to feature some form of mesh fabric at the back to prevent heat build-up.

Why Wear Knee Protection?

Whether you are dirt racing or enjoying a track day, motorsport organisations insist on knee protectors as part of the rider's body armour kit. Don't get sucked into the idea that knee guards are for competition use only. More and more riders conclude that the street is a battlefield and adequate armour is the way to survive the war in one piece.

Different Types of Knee Protectors

Motorcycle Knee Pads:
These are the first line of defence. Knee pads go a fair way to protecting the front of the knee from a direct hit or abrasion. This pad type covers the knee only and is easy to attach using adjustable, elasticated straps.

Knee Guards:
These protectors cover above the knee and extend downwards to a point halfway along the shin. For coverage, the knee guard provides the most comprehensive protection and the extra length requires multiple adjustable straps to keep it in place. This style of knee protector will often feature higher specification materials. These include moisture-wicking fabrics and combine thermoplastic outer shells with high absorption internal padding.

Knee Guards with Brace:
Protecting the knee from impact or a slide along the road is only part of the story. In addition, a brace fabricated into the knee guard will offer next-level protection. This type of knee protector has an anatomical design to fit the contours of the knee joint with improved articulation to increase movement.

There are several styles of brace that either mount each side of the knee protector or form a cage or external frame.  Once again, high-tech, stretchable, washable fabrics feature in the body construction. The brace element materials include aluminium or carbon fibre.

Be a Smart Rider

Today's motorcycle riders are more safety conscious than ever before. What's more, the need for personal protection kit is high on everyone's list. So whether you opt for a knee pad or a knee guard with a brace, wear them over your motorcycle trousers or under, protecting this highly vulnerable joint makes sense.

XLMOTO – Knee Sliders

Knee sliders have multiple different reasons for usage but are mostly use by sportive drivers or drivers that are riding on the circuit a lot. Although most people think that they are used for protection, they are not used for protection of the knees. Let’s check here how to use knee sliders, what type of knee sliders are available, how to apply knee sliders on your leather suit, and when they need to be replaced.

Usage of knee sliders

Unlike most riders assume, a knee slider is used to protect your motorcycle pants when doing a so-called knee down. In that case, your knee touches the ground when going through a sharp or fast turn. However, doing this without a knee slider will damage the leather pants you’re wearing, while there is also a chance that your motorcycle gets damaged. To prevent this from happening, the knee sliders are invented. By using a knee slider, your pants and motorcycle are protected against damage that is done when doing a knee slider.

Although professional riders in Moto GP are touching the ground in almost every turn, they do not lean on the knee sliders. Motorcycle sliders are used to get an indication of the angle you’re in when going through a turn. For sporty drivers, this is essential, especially when driving on the circuit. As knee sliders are less costly than a completely new leather suit, this is one of the most important buys when you want your leather suit to last longer.

Types of knee sliders

There are different kind of knee sliders available, all made from different fabrics. Let’s start with magnesium knee sliders, which are known for their longer lifespan and their wear-resistance compared to plastic sliders. Looking at the titanium sliders, they give the so-called ‘sparkling’ effect when touching the asphalt, which is nice for the public but doesn’t provide any additional benefits. Keep in mind that those titanium knee sliders are generally heavier than other knee sliders and are in some cases not allowed on the track.

A third option is to use the plastic knee sliders. They are lighter than the titanium knee sliders, but also wear of more easily. A last option is to go for the old-school leather knee sliders, which have a long lifespan. Besides that, they don’t make noise when touching the asphalt. As those knee sliders are generally thinner than the other knee sliders, the rider has a better feeling of the angle of the bike.

As a knee slider is a personal preference, you want to keep the thickness, hardness, and wear of the material in mind. The plastic knee sliders are most of the time thicker but provide lees ‘feeling’ with the track. The leather knee sliders are thinner and provide more feeling, but also tend to grip into the asphalt.

How to apply knee sliders

Knee sliders are attached to the pants by using Velcro. Most of the leather suits have a special part of Velcro just below the knee and above the shin. That is also where the knee sliders are applied. Keep in mind that the knee slider needs to be attached in a specific way. Depending on the manufacturer of the knee slider, the knee slider has a special form and can, therefore, only be applied in one way.

Depending on the brand, the knee sliders can have different sizes. However, some brands choose to make universal knee sliders with a ‘one size fits all’ principle. These sliders can typically be applied to almost every motor suit.

When to replace knee sliders

Occasionally, the knee sliders need to be replaced by new ones. But when do you need to do this? And how do you know when they need to be replaced? That all depends on the usage of the knee sliders. However, most manufacturers have used a special indicator for this. When the motorcycle knee sliders wear of too much, the indicator becomes visible. The advice is to replace the knee sliders at that moment to prevent your leather motorcycle suit to get damaged.