Best Starter Motorcycle Gear for a New Rider

The first piece of protective gear a new rider should buy is a helmet, and we do not sell helmets, so the first item on this ranked list is really the second thing you should own: the Bad Billy Goatskin Gloves at $99.99. Helmet, then gloves, then something with armor in it for your torso, then something for your legs. That is the order, and getting the order right matters more than getting any single item perfect.

The reason this question trips people up is that the answer costs more than a new rider expects, and the internet answers it with a shopping list rather than a sequence. Nobody buys everything in week one. So the useful version of this advice is what to buy first, what can wait until month three, and which purchases riders make early and regret. We will be blunt about which of our own products belong in that last category.

How This List Was Built

Everything below was ranked on how much risk it removes per dollar for someone in their first riding season, then on how likely a beginner is to actually wear it. Gear that gets left in the garage in July scores badly here no matter how protective it is on paper, which is why ventilation and comfort carry real weight in this particular list.

These ratings are editorial opinions formed by riding in this gear and examining how it is made. They are not laboratory results, we do not run impact or abrasion tests, and where a product carries a CE rating we say so because the maker had it tested, not because we tested it. Prices verified August 2026.

Buy the Helmet First, and Not From Us

Legendary USA does not sell helmets, so there is nothing for us to gain by saying this, which is exactly why you should take it seriously. A helmet is the single highest value purchase a new rider makes, and it is the one piece where the cheapest acceptable option is genuinely acceptable. Look for a DOT sticker at minimum, and an ECE 22.06 rating if you want a tougher standard behind the purchase. Buy it in person if you can, because fit is the whole thing. It should be snug enough to move your scalp when you shake your head, with no pressure point that annoys you after twenty minutes.

Two more rules that cost nothing. Never buy a used helmet, because you cannot see the damage that matters. And replace one that has taken a real impact, even if it looks fine afterward. Once that is handled, the rest of this list is about the parts of you that hit the ground next.

1. Bad Billy Goatskin Gloves, The First Thing to Buy After the Helmet

Hands go out first. It is involuntary, it happens before you have decided anything, and it is why a rider who owns exactly one piece of gear beyond a helmet should own gloves. The Bad Billy goatskin gloves are $99.99, which is the least expensive full finger leather glove we carry, and goatskin has a tight grain that holds up well to scuffing. They are unarmored and not CE certified, so what you are buying is a layer of hide between your palm and the pavement plus wind protection on cold mornings. That is a real benefit and a limited one. Size them snug, because leather stretches and a loose glove twists on the bar.

• Price: $99.99

• Score: 8.4 out of 10

• Best for: the first hundred dollars after the helmet

2. An Armored Textile Jacket From Alpinestars, Best First Jacket

We sell leather jackets and we are still going to tell you that a new rider's first jacket should probably be an armored textile one from a maker like Alpinestars, which we do not stock and are not linking to. The reason is simple: those jackets ship with CE rated armor at the shoulders and elbows, they usually have a back protector pocket, they vent for summer, and they cost less than good leather. A beginner needs impact protection more than heritage. Buy the leather jacket in year three when you know what riding you actually do. Expect to spend a few hundred dollars, and buy it in a size that fits over a sweatshirt but does not let the armor slide off your elbow.

• Price: typically $250 to $600, we do not sell it

• Score: 9.0 out of 10

• Best for: real impact protection in the first season

3. Bohn Airtex Mesh Armored Riding Shirt, Armor Under Your Own Clothes

Bohn is a separate brand that Legendary USA carries as a dealer, and it is the only genuinely armored gear in our catalog. The Bohn Airtex Mesh Armored Riding Shirt at $229.99 carries CE Level 2 armor at the shoulders, elbows and back inside a mesh base layer, which means you can wear it under a work shirt or a vest and still have protection where a jacket would normally provide it. For a new rider who will not wear a full jacket in August, this solves the real problem, which is not owning gear but wearing it. See the rest of the Bohn armored range if the shirt format appeals.

• Price: $229.99

• Score: 8.9 out of 10

• Best for: hot climates, riders who will not wear a jacket

4. Bohn Cool-Air Mesh Armored Riding Pants, The Half Everyone Skips

New riders buy for the top half and ride in jeans, and jeans come apart on asphalt in a very short distance. The Bohn Cool-Air Mesh Armored Riding Pants at $214.99 go on under your normal trousers and carry armor at the hips and knees, which are the two places a low speed drop lands. They are mesh, so they are survivable in summer heat, and nobody can tell you are wearing them. Ranked fourth only because a helmet, gloves and a torso layer come first on a limited budget. If you commute, move this to third.

• Price: $214.99

• Score: 8.6 out of 10

• Best for: hips and knees, commuters, riders who live in jeans

5. Legendary Leather Club Vest, What It Does and What It Does Not

This is the piece new riders buy first and should buy last, so here is the straight version. A leather club vest at $179.99 is unarmored and not CE rated. It gives your torso a layer of cowhide against wind and some abrasion coverage over a t-shirt, and it does nothing at all for impact. It is not armor and we will not describe it as safety gear. What it is genuinely good for is wind on cool evenings, a place to carry patches, and looking like you belong on the bike, which matters to people and there is no shame in it. Buy it when the protective list above is handled, not before.

• Price: $179.99

• Score: 8.0 out of 10 as a vest, not as protection

• Best for: wind, presence and patches, once the real gear is bought

The Order to Buy It In

If you are starting from nothing, spend in this sequence. It front loads the protection and spreads the cost across a season instead of a weekend.

• Helmet. DOT at minimum, fitted in person, bought new. Nothing else on this list matters more.

• Gloves. Under $100 gets you real leather. Check the glove size chart and buy snug, because leather stretches and never shrinks back.

• Eye protection if your helmet has no visor. Cheap, and a bug at 55 miles an hour ends a ride.

• Over the ankle boots. We do not sell them. Ankles break easily and heal slowly, and a sturdy work boot is a legitimate starting point.

• A torso layer with armor in it, either an armored jacket or an armored shirt worn under what you already own.

• Leg protection. Armored riding pants or a riding jean with knee armor. This is the step most riders skip for years.

• Style pieces last. A vest, a leather jacket you love, patches. All good things, none of them protection, and the vest buying guide is there when you get to that stage.

• Buy the piece you will actually wear in your climate. Protective gear left hanging in the garage protects nothing.

Common Questions

What is the first piece of protective gear a new motorcycle rider should buy?

A helmet, and it is not a close call. It is the only piece that protects the part of you that cannot be repaired, and we say that as a retailer who does not sell helmets and makes nothing from the advice. Buy it new, buy it fitted, and look for a DOT or ECE rating. Gloves are the sensible second purchase, because hands hit the ground first in almost every fall.

What safety gear does a new motorcycle rider need?

The working minimum is a helmet, gloves, eye protection, over the ankle boots, and something with armor covering your torso. Legs come next, and they are the part most riders put off longest. Be careful to separate real protective gear from leather that is only abrasion and wind coverage, because an unarmored leather vest or jacket is not armor and is not CE certified, whatever it looks like.

What is the best starter motorcycle gear for new riders on a budget?

Spend on the helmet, then buy the rest in sequence over a season. A DOT helmet, the Bad Billy gloves at $99.99, a pair of sturdy over the ankle boots you may already own, and an armored shirt or jacket will cover the essentials without buying everything at once. Skip the vest and the styled leather until the protective list is done.

The Short Version

Helmet first, from somebody who sells helmets. Then the Bad Billy gloves at $99.99, because your hands are going to reach for the ground whether you tell them to or not. The runner up in this list, and the better purchase if your budget stretches, is the Bohn Airtex armored shirt at $229.99, which is the only way in our catalog to get CE Level 2 armor onto your shoulders and back.

Everything else can wait a season. Ride in the gear you have, add pieces as the money appears, and treat the leather you buy for the look of it as exactly that. We would rather you came back in three years for a vest you actually wanted than sell you one this week instead of a helmet.