Despatch riders in the past and how they kept warm
You know technical kit for motorcycling – well once, there wasn’t any
Lucy England
Here at Wemoto we still have a few old despatch riders who were working on their old mongrel machines in the 1980s and even earlier, and wearing a ragbag of gear. They were out in all weathers, come rain or shine, snow or hail, riding over ice and through puddles. No mercy, they had to get that package delivered whatever the elements threw at them and waterproof motorcycle gear just didn’t exist in those days. So, the definition of suffering, a job to Milton Keynes on January the 18th in a snowstorm.
Due to the dearth of kit back in the day, they just had to improvise...quite entertaining to look back on it now, although it may not have been all that fun for them at the time perhaps.
Here, from the horses mouth, are some of the things they thought of, many are pretty ingenious!
Handlebar Muffs
Plastic bottles with a hand hole cut out of them instead of handlebar muffs – sound like a good idea to you? Save yourself a fortune!
Method - they would cut the plastic bottle in half long ways down the middle, then jubilee clip one half to each handlebar. Then you could slip your hand in on a long journey to keep the elements out. The great British skill of improvisation – is it still alive today we wonder?
Wet Weathers
The technical clothing which is around today was not a thing back in the day so Fisherman’s Helly Hansen gear and oilskins for sea fishing were the best thing around, specially designed to keep the water out. Those over trousers with braces made of stiff oilskin – very attractive - anyone remember those? Particularly good when walking into a smart office and up to the receptionist and depositing a pool of water on her nice office floor. Despatch riders were always popular with receptionists, er not really, a clash of two worlds, the smart indoors and the road warrior.
Nowadays you can get pretty much any technical gear you want – even heated clothing if you so desire, so you shouldn’t be a victim of the elements to nearly the same degree as those erstwhile despatchos of the past..
Boots
Forget purpose made waterproof motorcycle boots, nope Derri boots were de rigueur in the winter as they were waterproof and lined with a warm lining. The fact that you looked like a old lady going down the garden to feed the birds was no deterrent to a chilly despatch rider. Warm feet are more important than any sartorial elegance.
The old ‘plastic bags inside your motorcycle boots’ was another failsafe for despatch riders, when the leather boots inevitably started to leak after an hour or so in the rain. Simple, cheap and effective and definitely not goretex !
Makes you wonder how the early Everest climbers managed to get up the mountain just wearing wool and ten ton oilskins. Respect to the ones who achieved it!
Bin Bag Helmet Cover
Here’s a good one – black bin bag helmet pelmets. Cut the bottom off a bin bag and slip it over the crash helmet and stick it on with gaffer tape. That way – for a limited time only admittedly – it would stop the rain from trickling down your neck and chin into your clothes and channel it away over your rain jacket.
Now you can buy a specific crash helmet pelmet specially designed to do the job and, surprisingly enough, not made out of a bin bag.
Taped Levers
Foam tape from racing bicycles was commandeered to stick round the levers and stop the cold and vibrations from getting into the fingers.
Now, for not very much cash outlay at all, you can get specially designed lever sleeves which slide over your levers and keep your fingers toasty.
The Big Screen
Back in the day fly screens were often fashioned out of corrugated plastic ‘For Sale’ signs planted outside properties by estate agents and then cut to fit and used to screen the rider from the elements.
Obviously nowadays you can buy an actual motorcycle screen to fit to your bike.
Over To You...
Do you have any things which you wore on your bike or did to make the winter suffering more bearable, before the advent of technical gear to keep you cosy? Or perhaps you even still use it and don’t eschew the new fangled modern fancy gear. Where there is a need, the capitalist world will create it, so many of the missing things have been invented now to fill the gaps in the market.
What do you think of the new purpose made bad weather motorcycle gear which is out there now? Affordable? Fit for purpose? Helpful? Any opinions? Let us know on Facebook or email [email protected]
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