Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Me pongo el casco antes de subir a la moto. - I put on the helmet before getting on the motorcycle.

Me pongo el casco = I put the helmet on (my head).
Pongo el casco = I put the helmet (somewhere) — on the table, in the closet, etc. It does not mean you’re putting it on your own head.

So whenever you’re talking about putting clothes or accessories on your own body, you normally use ponerse + [item] with a reflexive pronoun:

Me pongo la chaqueta. – I put my jacket on.
Se pone los lentes. – He/She puts (his/her) glasses on.

What is the function of “me” in “me pongo”?

Me is a reflexive pronoun. It tells us that the subject is doing the action to themself.

The full pattern of ponerse in the present tense is:

yo me pongo – I put … on myself
tú te pones – you put … on yourself
él / ella / usted se pone – he/she/you (formal) put … on themself
nosotros nos ponemos – we put … on ourselves
ustedes se ponen – you all put … on yourselves
ellos se ponen – they put … on themselves

Without me, pongo just means “I put (something somewhere)” and loses the idea of putting it on your own body.

Why is it “el casco” and not “mi casco” in “me pongo el casco”?

In Spanish, when talking about clothing, accessories, and body parts, it’s very common to use the definite article (el, la, los, las) instead of a possessive (mi, tu, su) when it’s clear whose item it is from context.

So:

Me pongo el casco. – Literally: I put the helmet on. (understood: my helmet)
Me lavo las manos. – I wash my hands.
Se cepilla los dientes. – He/She brushes his/her teeth.

You only use mi casco if you need to emphasize whose helmet it is, for example:

Me pongo mi casco, no el tuyo. – I’m putting on my helmet, not yours.

Why is it “antes de subir” and not something like “antes subo” or “antes que subo”?

After antes de (before), when the subject is the same as in the main clause, Spanish uses an infinitive:

Me pongo el casco antes de subir a la moto.
→ Same subject (yo): I put on the helmet before getting on the motorcycle.

If the subject changes, you use antes de que + subjunctive:

Me pongo el casco antes de que mi amigo suba a la moto.
→ I put the helmet on before my friend gets on the motorcycle.

Forms like “antes subo” or “antes que subo” are incorrect in this context.

Why is it “subir a la moto” and not “subir la moto” or “subir en la moto”?

With subir meaning to get on / to climb onto (a vehicle, a horse, etc.), Spanish normally uses the pattern:

subir a + vehicle/animal

So:

subir a la moto – to get on the motorcycle
subir al autobús – to get on the bus
subir al caballo – to get on the horse

If you say subir la moto, that usually means “to lift the motorcycle up” (e.g., up some stairs, into a truck).

Subir en la moto can appear in some contexts, but it tends to mean travel/ride on the motorcycle, not the specific act of getting on. For the action of getting on, subir a la moto is the natural choice.

Can I say “subirme a la moto” instead of “subir a la moto”?

Yes. Both are possible:

antes de subir a la moto
antes de subirme a la moto

In practice:

subir a la moto and subirse a la moto often mean the same: to get on the motorcycle.
The reflexive form (subirse a) often feels a bit more colloquial and emphasizes the idea of getting onto or “climbing onto” something.

In Latin America, subirse a a vehicle is extremely common:

Sube al carro / Súbete al carro. – Get in the car.
Sube al bus / Súbete al bus. – Get on the bus.

Your original sentence is perfectly natural either way.

Why is it “la moto” even though “moto” ends in -o, which is usually masculine?

Moto is short for motocicleta, which is a feminine noun:

la motocicleta → la moto

When words are shortened, they usually keep the gender of the original word, even if the new form ends in an unexpected letter:

la foto (from la fotografía) – photo
la moto (from la motocicleta) – motorcycle
la radio (from la radioemisora / la radiodifusión, historically) – radio

So you must say la moto, una moto, mi moto, etc.

Is “moto” exactly the same as “motocicleta”?

In everyday speech in Latin America, moto is the normal, common word. Motocicleta sounds more formal or technical.

In context, moto can refer to:

a standard motorcycle
a motorbike / small motorcycle
sometimes a scooter, depending on the region and the specific type

So you can treat moto as the default casual word for “motorcycle.”

Can I change the word order and say “Antes de subir a la moto, me pongo el casco”?

Yes. Both are correct:

Me pongo el casco antes de subir a la moto.
Antes de subir a la moto, me pongo el casco.

Spanish allows the time clause (antes de…) to go at the beginning or end for emphasis or style.

What you cannot do is break up the verb and its direct object like this:

✗ Me pongo antes de subir el casco a la moto. – incorrect / unnatural

The normal order is poner(se) + [thing you put on], and subir a la moto stays as its own phrase.

Does “casco” always mean “helmet”, and what kinds of helmets can it refer to?

Yes, casco is the general word for helmet. It can refer to:

a motorcycle helmet – casco de moto
a bicycle helmet – casco de bicicleta
a construction hard hat – casco de construcción
any protective helmet in sports – casco de fútbol americano, etc.

In your sentence, with moto, el casco naturally means a motorcycle helmet. The type of helmet is usually clear from context.