Protection Parts & Accessories

Why Motorcycle Spare Parts and Accessories are Such a Great Idea

Whether you race, ride for leisure or commute, wearing motorcycle safety gear is a must. To ensure it performs at its optimum level and lasts over many riding seasons, XLMOTO's extensive range of motorcycle spare parts and accessories is the solution.

What are Spare Parts and Accessories?

A spare part or accessory is any part of motorcycle safety gear that it is possible to replace to extend its shelf life or customise its fit. So should you break part of the buckle mechanism on your motorcycle boots, the ability to buy a new buckle means you don't have to replace them with a new pair.

Why Motorcycle Spares and Accessories are a Good Idea

Motorcycle safety clothing aims to protect the rider from impact, abrasion and the elements. Advances in construction techniques mean we now find multiple hi-tech fibres and materials used in the same helmet, gloves, trousers or boots. Each fabric or component has a different shelf life. So if one element of the design breaks or wears before another, the days of throwing the item away are gone. Buckles on boots may snap and padding in helmets sag but thanks to far-sighted manufacturers, you can extend their working life by using motorcycle spare parts. For this reason, when you're in the market for a good quality motorcycle safety kit, it's always a good idea to check out the spares situation.

What Spare Parts can we find for the most Popular Motorcycle Safety Clothing Items?

Helmets: Full-face motorcycle helmets may offer the best protection. Yet riding in hot or humid conditions and sweat build-up can cause bacteria to form. Also, while new interior padding is firm, the foam loses its structure, sags and fit suffers over time. Some manufacturers offer replacement comfort liners and cheek pads to combat this problem. These make the helmet feel new again. Helmet spares and accessories can also include tinted visors, chin guards, breath guards and visor hinge covers.

Boots: Motorcycle boots take a kicking. Regardless of their toughness, slam them into the ground enough times and something will give. Buckles snap, soles wear out and worse still, even the best anti-bacterial inner soles succumb to stink-foot. Motocross, adventure and many road bike boots feature quick-release or ratchet and buckle closure systems. Open and close them enough times, though, or catch one on a footrest and the plastic parts of the fastener can break. The sole and heel are also high impact/wear areas. The good news is some manufacturers offer a one-piece replacement. Similarly, replacement contoured or cushioned inner soles are guaranteed to return the spring to your step.

Body Armour: Of all the motorcycle safety kit available, body armour has the highest number of spare parts and accessories.  The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, body armour, neck braces or back protectors rely on perfect placement to fulfil their purpose. This placement often means multiple adjustable straps, including belts, buckles and brackets. The protector's safety features are compromised if any part of the fastening system wears or brakes. Replacing a defective part is therefore a priority. When checking out XLMOTO's extensive collection of spares and accessories, you may also discover that specific spares offer a choice of right or left fitment. This feature is great for saving money. For example, a slow-speed accident may damage one side of a knee, elbow or shoulder protector. So the ability to replace one side only makes perfect sense. Finally, if you're unlucky enough for your body armour to have gone through a workout in an accident, spare friction-resistant external covers and shock absorbing inner pads are available. Replacing these is the best way to keep your motorcycle safety kit in safe working order. Buying the best motorcycle safety kit you can afford is always a sound idea. Checking out any motorcycle spare parts and accessories available to you makes sense. Now, you can maintain the item's protective qualities and extend its shelf life.

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.