Nine motorbike accessories that every biker should have

Motorbike and rider, agreed. That’s enough, at a glance, to define the biker world. But if we take a closer look, if we go into the detail, we will realise that the motorbike family has its own trinkets, whims, particular gadgets. Today we will take a look at the accessories for the premium motorbike that any biker should have installed. Because they are useful. Or, simply, because you like them.

Crash pads

Small crashes can leave your bike messed up. To prevent a loss of balance or a gust of wind from leaving your chassis like a crumpled newspaper, crash pads can be a good solution. It is a simple addition that is tasked with receiving the impact and avoiding your machine from doing so. Ideal for a daily motorbike user, for city or small journeys. But careful with using them when on the track or on outings where higher speeds are reached. In that case it will be important to choose pads that are capable of absorbing the blow (if we place them in the engine area or the chassis) and do not transfer it to the rest of the bike, since in that case the remedy may be worse than the problem. Bear in mind that if you’re on the track, they could be banned due to the possible impacts and injuries that they can cause other riders. In any case, it is a useful and inexpensive toy that can save you from hefty bills.

Bobbins for centre stand

Your everyday bike doesn’t need a stand because it already has two standard ones: the centre and side stand. But if you move to track motorbikes you aren’t going to find these pieces, which is logical. It is impossible to imagine Marc Márquez parking his Honda Repsol to go for bread at the Plaza Mayor de Cervera. You will need a centre stand, but let’s go a little further and introduce you to the bobbins, some devices that will allow you to use another type of support, less bulky, more minimalistic. These are small tubular screws, generally made of aluminium and with indentations that allow the stand to be fitted to hold the motorbike upright. They also serve as a pad for falls.

Anti-slip folding lever

This is an authentic aesthetic marvel. The folding lever, which allows you to combine colours in its two pieces, is also a very useful accessory to avoid major disasters (especially financial ones) in case of light falls. In these accidents, in which you usually do not get a single scratch, the brakes, and more specifically, the levers, often break or fly off. In this case, unless you are unlucky enough to get them hooked to another external element, they will bend and will remain practically intact, perhaps with some damage. They are a good option for a city motorbike, but also undoubtedly to practice enduro.

Brake lever protector

Another way of shielding the brake levers and clutch, as well as our hands, are the protectors. They can be integral, those shell-shaped screens that also isolate us from the cold, or a simple bar, generally installed on the side of the front brakes, which prevents it from being triggered suddenly by an impact, which would cause a big fall. That is the MotoGP philosophy, where this element was imposed from the 2012 World Championship onwards to avoid contact between drivers ending up with one of them unintentionally activating the front wheel lock. They are usually also made of aluminium and they are easily installed.

Anti-slip grip

To achieve a more adjusted position to the motorbike, so that our legs adjust better to the motorbike tank, a good option could be the anti-slip grip. These adhesive pieces will help us to control the motorbike better on turns, getting our body and the machine to move more smoothly and coordinated. Being able to pull more on your legs will also allow you to relax your legs more, which without the grip, end up doing all the work to make the bike respond to our movements.

Gear shift protector

If you practice enduro or track riding, this accessory does not make any sense because you already wear the right boot. But if you move around the city with a motorbike with gears and you usually wear soft shoes, this protector can be very useful to avoid damaging them. There is the option of tying something to the shoe, but perhaps the most comfortable thing is to opt for a lever cover, which can be a simple piece of foam or rubber which is resistant to both rain and high temperatures.

Reflective rim tape

It will without doubt give a personal touch to your motorbike, but we are also speaking about a safety element that you must keep in mind in your list of accessories. Its low price, the aesthetics, and being more visible at night combine wonderfully to make you seriously consider the possibility of rounding off your rims with this reflective tape. Maybe orange…?

Steering damper

It may look like an ordinary part, designed to embellish the upper front part of the motorbike. But as well as that, the steering damper is a tool that could save your life. This element regulates the side-to-side movement of the bike’s steering and prevents unwanted vibration of the handlebars that may end up with the rider on the ground. This uncontrolled jerk is known as ‘shimmy’, and we hope you never experience it. Or if you do, that you are able to cancel-out its effects. The damper manages to mitigate the jerks that can happen when we lose control of the machine.

Gear indicator

If your motorbike is a more or less current model, with a digital dashboard, it will be easy for you to know which gear you’re in. But if you go with a machine that doesn’t provide that information, more than once you will have had a scare when you thought you were in one gear and in reality you were in another one. To always have a clear view of the development of your motorbike, we suggest you count on the services of a gear indicator, which is nothing more than a small digital display that will always keep you up to date.