The Complete Handbook of Motorcycle Elbow & Wrist Guards
Selection, Fit, Maintenance, and Business for Professionals, Shops, and Serious Riders
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
A practical, technical handbook on selecting, fitting, maintaining, and selling motorcycle elbow and wrist guards — no hype, just usable knowledge.
About this book
Motorcycle elbow and wrist guards are simple-looking pieces of gear, but their effectiveness depends on nuanced factors: material density, shell geometry, strap placement, certification levels, and how they interact with a specific jacket or glove. This book strips away the marketing and provides a structured, technical understanding of these protectors for anyone who needs to pick them, sell them, or use them seriously.
The handbook covers the full lifecycle — from understanding impact physics and standards like EN 1621-1, to creating a sizing and selection protocol for a shop or riding group, to the correct way to fit, wear, and break in guards. It also includes a dedicated chapter on maintenance and troubleshooting, covering everything from washing delamination to replacing worn elastic. For the commercial reader, there is an honest assessment of the market, including supplier tiers, private label challenges, and service-based niches like armor retrofitting and rental fleet management.
Whether you are a professional buyer, a riding instructor who needs to outfit students, or a rider who wants to understand exactly what you are strapping on, this book is designed as a permanent desk reference — not a one-time read.
Reader Reviews
Joseph Clark
★★★★★I've been buying safety gear for my shop for a decade and this is the first handbook that actually talks about impact physics and EN 1621-1 levels with numbers and real reasoning, not just 'we recommend'. The chapter on distinguishing Level 1 vs Level 2 CE ratings alone saved me from a bad bulk order. It's a desk reference I'll keep within arm's reach.
Rebecca Flores
★★★★★The book is thorough, I'll give it that. But I was a little disappointed that it spent so much time on business models and private labeling, which I don't care about as a weekend rider. The chapter on choosing the right guard for street riding was helpful, but I felt like there were only a few paragraphs about actually breaking in a new guard, which is the problem I was trying to solve.
George Adams
★★★★★As a track day instructor, I recommend gear to students constantly. This book gave me a proper framework for explaining why a hard shell elbow guard isn't always better than a high-density foam one, especially for certain slide speeds. The section on strap placement and how it interacts with your jacket cuffs is something I've never seen explained clearly anywhere else. Just very solid, practical information.
Emily Thompson
★★★★★Good, dense reference. I appreciated the honest comparison of brands and their tiers without the typical pay-for-play advertising you see on blogs. My only gripe is that the maintenance chapter could have a few more diagrams or step-by-step photos for cleaning, but the text descriptions are clear enough. The troubleshooting table for 'why does my strap keep slipping' was worth the price alone.
Stephanie Thomas
★★★★★It's well organized and I like that it's clearly not trying to sell me on a specific brand. But as a medical professional, I was hoping for more on the biomechanics of wrist injuries specifically. The book covers impact protection well, but I think it could have gone deeper into hyperextension and the real difference between a flexible guard and a rigid brace. Still, it's a lot better quality than what you'll find on most forums.