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- How much does a motorcycle safty vest help in an accident?
Im trying to get a motorcycle, and when i do, i will always make sure to wear a helmet, and depending on if the vest really helps or is just another layer of clothing, will also always make sure to wear that as well.

A When you say 'vest', two pictures come to mind. One is a leather vest like Harley riders wear, the other is a reflective vest. Neither of these help in an accident. The leather vest is to keep you warm, the reflective vest is for better visibility at night, so it might -prevent- an accident. You want a motorcycle jacket. Leather used to be king, but now there are textiles that are as good. A real motorcycle jacket has some kind of closures on the sleeves to prevent them from riding up your arms if you fall off the bike and slide. Sliding is what you're afraid of, the jacket is about abrasion resistance so you don't get 'road rash' all over (very painful). Obviously a vest isn't going to do this. In the Summer, when it's hot, you can get a 'mesh' jacket these days that has the same abrasion resistance as leather but the wind goes right through it and you stay cool. I have one and I love it. You also want a pair of gloves. When you fall off a bike you instinctively put your hands out to stop yourself, so you want gloves with leather palms for sliding on. Like the jacket, real motorcycle gloves either have 'gauntlets' to go over the ends of your sleeves or else some kind of strap or drawstring that fastens the glove around your wrist so it won't come off in a slide. The reflective vest is good if you ride a lot at night. On the freeway, someone coming up behind you sees your reflective vest before he sees your taillight!

- Is it okay to wear a custom motorcycle vest?
I'm currently in a band and we would like to make either a leather or denim vest fashioned in the way of a mc vest. We will not be using any colors and/or logos associated with a mc. We would be putting our band logo and band name on the back. I respect bikers and would not want to offend anyone or get into trouble by wearing that. Would this be okay to do? Would we be bringing any trouble on ourselves by doing this? If someone who is actually a biker could answer it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

A Don't worry about it, cowboys wear vests as well, both denim and leather. I often wear cowboy boots, hat and vest and I've never once had anyone say anything about it.