Christmas Gifts For the Motorcyclist In Your Life

   I'm endeavoring, this year, to create some more...specific gift guides, I suppose you could say, alongside my usual ones. Gift guides aimed at specific interests. Following my uncle's interest and passion for motorbikes, and having seen him quite recently, I decided to start right there.

   Motorbikes are cool. I do believe this, and though my boyfriend would love to ride one, I really don't want to let him. They're dangerous. That's not me saying that the bikes themselves are dangerous, or that the person riding them is incompetant - you can have the best motorcyclist in terms of skill and safety on the road and they can still die. The problem is not the bike, so much as other motorists' attitudes towards them, and the fact that, unlike cars, motorbikes have little in the way of safety - not nothing, they have some for sure, but not anywhere near as much as cars.

   However, my uncle is an avid motorcyclist, and has a Suzuki GSX1250FA, 2011, which is one of my favourites. I don't know all that much about motorbikes, in truth, but I do know what looks perdy.

   I like the biker look, I do, I admit it, but I can recognise that, while some things are styled on such an image, the products themselves are of greatly higher quality than the fashionable pieces that Topshop might offer us. They have to be.

   GetGeared.co.uk is actually a pretty great website, and they've got loads to offer, from motorbiking clothing and rather awesome helmets, to the more nitty gritty parts that you might need to fix up or even customise your bike.

   But I'll focus on the clothing for now, since I don't know enough to get into the technical business without potentially looking like a fool.

    Helmets are, obviously, key when it comes to things like bikes, be they motor- or foot-powered, and I have a special appreciation for them, partially because, as far as games go, it's the armour helmets and shoulders that make or break a set, whether it's motorbikes or fantasy.

   And so, my girliness shows through when I add this helmet in particular to the list, as the first spot. Look at it. There is another version available of this Shark motorbike helmet, with a bit of colour, but I actually prefer the sepia version. If I was ever to get on a motorbike, I need this helmet or I'm not getting on. So it's clear that there are products out there for the more feminine of motorcyclists. In admission, I will say I caught the end of Homes Down Under on the TV the other day and there was a couple on there - they looked so prim and proper, really quite professional and quiet. Until they got on their Harley-Davidsons. You really can't judge a book by its cover. Well, you shouldn't anyway. Or by it's blurb. I swear, if I read the blurb on the back of a book before reading the book itself, I would never read anything.

   There are, of course, other options, like this SPADA helmet, and, to be honest, when I see it and read the name, I just replace it was Spartan 117. I even read "SPARTAN" instead of the actual name when I first saw it, too.

    Admittedly, still sticking with a slightly game-related theme (I promise I can't help it) these motorcycle boots  - Crossfire 2 by Sidi - remind me excrutiatingly of Mass Effect. If that's not a Normandy N7 design then I don't know what is, seriously, even the font of SIDI mirror's the ship's font. Either way, I would snatch these bad boys up immediately, get myself a custom black bike with a red and white stripe and slap a big old "N7" on the side and I'd  be away, hyperdriving through space the country.

   Seriously, though, these boots have to be good. Motorcycle boots have to have protection - hell, you have to wear body armour while on a bike, or there abouts. Motorcycle boots have to be reinforced to stand the shock of the road, they have toe boxes to protect your little piggies, and ankle pads to prevent rubbing and breakage and all kinds. So the thought I had, once upon a time, that you could wear just anything on a motorbike is simply false. Get Geared have a great selection of just about everything, along with a good written guide on what you should look for when buying boots.

    It's like something out of Splintercell. Like boots, there are a lot of things to keep in mind about motorcycle gloves, too. You need to have proper grip on the handles, and knitted gloves won't provide that, you need warmth from winds regardless of the time of year, and, let's face it, if you fall off you don't want to rip all the skin off of your hands either. Ouch. They're padded and often have finger reinforcements, and also provide the ability to move your fingers properly at the same time, though they don't look it. These Alpinestars Monster Energy leather gloves look pretty nifty (you can see how silly you'd look, of course, if you wore all three things I've picked out so far together), and the lime green/black combination will surely make you go faster. Just like putting flames on your car will. It's proven. But it doesn't work for tortoises. Trust me on that one.

   Right, I said it before and I'll say it again, giving people things they need as presents is boring. I don't mean to be so material or close-minded, but only giving or only receiving things you need sucks. It's okay if there are a few unexpected goodies in there, too, but otherwise, especially if it's generic stuff like socks, it just seems that no one put much effort in. Though, admittedly, if you were to gift stuff like this, some thought would have gone into it.

   Either way, I now give you the fun stuff, the stuff no one in the world needs but is always nice to have.

   Get Geared have a great selection of gifts, including all of the above and more. I'm partial to the biker aprons, and yes, there is an awesome female one too. The cake tin and the cookie cutters are a nice touch, and the lighters are quite nice, I'm especially partial to the one pictured above and a gasoline one for their 50's style artwork. I can't help thinking these things - particularly the cake tin, cookie cutters and ice cube tray - are hand-picked specifically, rather than just sort of thrown in. It feels like they've gone the extra mile to collect this stuff together.

   And that concludes the first random gift guide! I have no idea what's going to come up next, we'll just see what I stumble on to.