Textile gear

Motorcycling (and scooting) is, as you know, a risky business and there isn't a lot of difference in risk when commuting around town on a bike and commuting around on a scooter - although I'd probably prefer to be doing 30mph on a motorbike than a scooter when it comes to being visible, handling and braking in a hurry. The standards in car crash technology (when I was studying it at least) was to prevent death or serious injury when crashing into an immovable object at 30mph: the forces involved when the body hits a solid object at the speeds you'll be travelling at are enormous. With that in mind.

Have you budgeted for training (my assumption being that you're new to this)? The more the better. Without it, you chance of injury is much increased vs. someone stepping in (or through ) from scratch. Get them to take you on your daily commute route as part of the exercise to identify the specific hazards you'll face. It would be worth spending time learning how to brake hard - especially in the wet. I was amazed (when pushed by the instructor) just how quickly you can make a bike stop in the wet: back wheel coming up in the air without front wheel skidding. If practiced in this, you'll avoid the kind of panic braking that see's the front wheel slide out from underneath you and you sliding under the wheels of the morning rush hour.

When it comes to clothing check that it's well fitting: there's little point in in-built elbow and knee protection which you can twist around your limbs by hand, exposing your joints - the forces of a crash will push them out of the way even more easily. It's also worthwhile spending enough to ensure that it keeps you dry - the cheap stuff will open up and there's nothing more miserable that the cold, clammy feel of water seeping into your goolies.

Don't be tempted to use a steel-toed industrial boot. The cap will cut your toes off bent back sufficiently in a crash. Better broken than gone.

There's a temptation in summer months to dispense with safety gear, gloves and the like - I saw a chap zip by at 90mph wearing Nike runners and no socks the other day! It's not much fun sweating under the weight of bike gear on a hot summers day but the alternatives are worse.

A significant problem for the motorcyclist is visibility so a high viz vest is a good idea. It occurred to me that a flashing cyclists white lamp mounted on the front would be a good addition - it catches the attention of a driver in amongst the clutter of headlights his brain is trying to process. One on the rear wouldn't be a bad idea either. If you were clued in you could try and obtain a 12v version of one of these and wire it in with your headlight - which should be left on at all times.

Best of luck..