BILLINGS - With warm temperatures right around the corner lots of people are gearing up to pull the motorcycle out of the garage and take a spin. But knowing the correct things to wear before hitting the road can mean the difference between life and death.

Riding a motorcycle is more than climbing on and opening up the throttle. Emergency room Doctor Michael Bush says he sees plenty of victims every year with head injuries because they weren't wearing helmets. "I totally believe every time you get on a motorcycle you should have a helmet on. We see a lot of people that aren't wearing helmets we certainly see a lot more severe injuries in patients not wearing helmets," said Dr. Bush.

Bush says the impact in some accidents can be so great a helmet can actually crack in half, but it could still save your life. "When you hit the ground that force is going to be transmitted directly to your skull and your brain sits inside there. It's going to get rattled around. It's going to get bruised. That helmet when you put it on over the side will absorb a lot of the impact," said Dr. Bush.

At Beartooth Harley-Davidson's Amanda Vitt says she warns people every time on motorcycle safety before they purchase a bike. "Basically what we tell them is to make sure they have all the gear that they're supposed to have such as helmets leather stuff like that," said Vitt.

Doctor Bush says there's one more thing people forget when talking about motorcycle safety, proper footwear. "Make sure you have good boots. I see folks with sandals you just want to cover up the places that you can get in trouble and drag along the pavement if you get thrown," said Dr. Bush.

Officials say one more thing to look out for while riding gravel on the sides of the road. It's going to take a big rain storm to clear the streets of that pesky stuff.