Adventure Motorcycle Magazine Subscribe Now

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 36
  1. #1 Motorcycle clothing ? 
    C-Moto Regular Sprocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Devon,UK
    Posts
    95
    Ok, I am soon to hit the road, well, first complete my compulsory basic training, and then hit the road complete with learner plates on my fully sorted project, and I would like some guidance on protective clothing. To make things clear, I am in my forties and have the usual age related problems, aches and pains from past injuries, and the fact that being no spring chicken, what ache one gets, stays for a while these days, so the prospect of falling off my bike is not that tasteful. I try to be realistic with whatever I do, I go on the premise that things are going to go wrong, so I gear up for that eventuality, a leaner in amongst rush hour traffic in the morning, yeah, it is highly likely some half asleep or hung over dim wit on four wheels is going to ruin my day, so I want to be prepared for the low speed fall offs.

    The bike will be used largely for commuting, but my question is, what protective clothing do I need aside from the skid lid ? I have a heavy leather jacket, and leather jeans, but neither contain any padding or armour, so am considering their practicality for motorcycling, and the fact that it rains a lot around here, leather ain't that waterproof. I am intrigued with the supermoto/ motorcross body armour, but is this a bit much for commuting, what would people suggest, I need protection, but what ?
    '07 Pioneer Pulse Adrenaline 125, ( XF 125 GY ) Suzuki clone ; K157 FMI engine
    Reply With Quote  
     

  2. #2 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Zibo, Shandong - Sometimes SW England
    Posts
    2,239
    I'd go with armour protected fabric type jacket and trousers you can wear over your work clothes. Full face helmet too! Read some bike magazines on the shelves of your local newsagents for a detailed view of the UK bike clothing market!
    Without consciousness, space and time are nothing; in reality you can take any time -- whether past or future -− as your new frame of reference. Death is a reboot that leads to all potentialities.
    Reply With Quote  
     

  3. #3 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    C-Moto Senior davidqc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Snowdonia NP, North Wales, UK
    Posts
    110
    Hi Sprocket . Sound advice from ZMC888 (as usual!). Ride Magazine does some great product testing, especially protective gear. You can have a look thro’ it’s archive, here: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/Micros...aspx?id=105097

    Protective gear is a topic I’ve looked at in some depth, since going from a scoot to a 125 bike. I’m talking UK and speed limits here, not 100+ mph racers. Amazing how much safer I feel on me scoot. Other road users are distinctly more courteous and don’t try and kill me, as I get on my bike. I can’t overstress the importance of protective gear (clothing & bike add-ons). Especially with age – bones get more brittle and cartilage degrades in the neck and spine. You’ll lose skin from road abrasion just as easily at any age mind. What a rider does about it (legislation apart) depends on his/her perception of risk (hence motivation), peer pressure, cost and fashion (all in varying degrees).

    The key thing to remember is that if you come off a £599 Chinese125 (like mine) or a £20,000 Harley, it makes no little difference to the injuries (both can do 70mph) – unless the heavier machine falls on top of you. Splat. So don’t relate the value of the bike to what the protective gear is going to cost you.

    Most vulnerable body bits at risk are: Head - Joints (elbows, knees, wrists, knuckles, ankles, shoulders, hips, spine and neck) - Skin loss (skin grafts are ugly and painful) – non-Kevlar textiles last about 1/20th of a second and then it’s skin off time. So protective clothing is: Helmet – Gloves – Jacket – Trousers - Boots.

    Here’s what I use. As I don’t do wet (no fun in that for me ), please read textile for leather and denim. Unless you go for a lightweight wet weatherproof oversuit (saves buying wet and dry weather gear and leather looks sooooo cool! )

    Helmet: Full-face gives best protection – protects jaw and nose. I have one, but hate wearing it and usually wear an open face – cos better visibility and no chance off false perception of being more secure a full-face can give.

    Gloves – Supple leather with exterior joint armour, Kevlar lined.

    Jacket – 2mm to 3mm thick Cow hide leather with internal shoulder, back and elbow armour.

    Trousers – Denim jeans with internal hip and knee armour, Kevlar lined.

    Boots – 2-3mm Cow hide, calf length.

    For warm Summer riding I use Motocross armour (elbows, shoulders, back, chest) set in an elasticised open mesh and a Kevlar lined long sleeve tee-shirt on top instead of the jacket. Coooool, right! [as far as I know only ‘Draggin Jeans’ do this type of t-shirt]. No, I don’t look (or feel) like Michelin Man when I’m wearing this stuff either.!!

    Having said all of the above. If you are over 55-60 the only choice of jacket is the one with air-bags, similar to this: http://www.eggparka.com/english/main.html My eye is on the new light grey suede version @ £450. Ouch. Now that is COOOOOOL. And you can’t get anything safer!

    Add-ons for bike:

    • Front and rear crash bars [give more road presence and limit damage to the bike – may help save a leg from a side-on]
    • Xenon headlamp bulb [on during the day to for road presence – seen at greater distance than any day glow jacket]
    • Quality tyres with good wet/dry grip
    • Louder horn
    • RPG, grenade launcher and heavy machine gun for cagers.


    Phew. Lecture over!


    Last edited by davidqc; 01-29-2010 at 05:53 AM. Reason: spelling
    '09 Huoniao (Firebird) HN125-8 motorcycle [eBay bike-in-a-box]
    Aprilia SR50 LC Racing scoot
    Reply With Quote  
     

  4. #4 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    Administrator-tron CrazyCarl's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    NoVA
    Posts
    2,540
    Sprocket,

    Can only add to the excellent advice already given. I'm assuming you also don't want to look like a comic book super hero so if you're looking to be safe and commute all weather, get a textile suit. Any quality riding gear will be expensive so it really depends on how much you want to spend and what type of riding you plan on doing.

    Full face helmet, to me, is the only way to go for impact, rain,rock, hail and bug protection (plus you can be swearing up a shit storm inside and nobody will know). For convenience and comfort, get a lift face, full face helmet and enjoy the best of many worlds. Lift face helmets are also very nice if you wear glasses, need to eat smoke or drink anything and would like to talk with people while not looking like Darth Vader.

    Safety gear will buid up over time as you collecxt whats best for certain weather conditions. Again, it comes down to the type or riding and how much you can spend. Any guesses?

    CC
    ---------------------------------------------------
    Subscribe to the hippest, most happeneing Adventure Motorcycle Magazine around!
    Adventure Motorcycle Dual Sport News Magazine

    Help support MCM!! Buy "The Return - Riding Western China" DVD! -

    http://www.motocyclops.com/buydvd/

    Personal China travel info, photo and video site:

    http://www.carlparker.com

    Reply With Quote  
     

  5. #5 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    grumpy old sod jape's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    central victoria, australia
    Posts
    1,291
    For me, it is leather, leather and more leather - just about all the time. I understand from my own reading of mags that nothing beats it yet for abrasion resistance and it is very waterproof if it is well looked after. You need bike gear, not fashion gear, so it is designed with seams that won't come undone or chafe, flap-over windproof fronts, heavy zips and more. It is worth saving up for and is certainly worth spending a fair proportion of the vehicle cost to keep you alive and not ripped to shreds or to end up as a cabbage. Having said that, you can find good gear at reasonable prices on Ebay as long as it is up to whatever British or Euro Standards apply now (or in my case now, Aussie Standards). Helmet, always new.

    If money is a real problem you should also look around the charity shops and ask your mates about a decent jacket to start with, you never know who has what in the cupboard from their past. My own jacket is 30 years old and still in excellent order because I polish it and dubbin it and the seams are waxed. You can always wear a light nylon over-suit as well. And in most climates most of the year at 100 kph you need good gear;, windchill, hail, all affect you badly and even hurt. One tip, chamois leather sown to the glove to wipe the visor.

    In Aus where it is bloody hot, often over 35 to 40 degrees it is always so tempting not to wear such heavy gear on the warmest days when even the speed doesn't cool you enough (its just a quick trip up the road luv... famous last words) but even then when I don't wear the quilted jacket I wear Fox lightweight full armour over mesh and also knee protection. One day I shall get some hip pads and something like perforated leather jeans. Meanwhile the heavy leather jeans are Ok even on hot days as long as somewhere on your body you can catch the breeze and cool. I never go without armoured gloves and above ankle boots, lace-up or strap-on, never elastic. Best to get proper bike boots and that is my own next purchase. I just keep thinking and remembering what a fall off of rollerskates or a push-bike is like (done both) at comparatively low speeds and energy. Both have concussed me and left me with permanent scars.

    I have come off a motorbike a couple of times too over the years and been very lucky to slide in leather through traffic long enough to slow down before impact with objects and come out of it unscathed, just a bit shaken. It is real folks, we ride bikes fast over the hard ground surrounded by fast moving vehicles driven by idiots and trees and buildings and fences that do not bend or squish. We are the bit that squishes, why have any illusions about it? Every-day people think they are safe wrapped up in cars with airbags and seat restraints and everyday at the same speeds we use, they die or are maimed. We are much more at risk. Get good gear, bit by bit as quick as you can and stuff the fashion, you are a bike-rider not a model.
    Reply With Quote  
     

  6. #6 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    C-Moto Senior davidqc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Snowdonia NP, North Wales, UK
    Posts
    110
    Quote Originally Posted by jape View Post
    For me, it is leather, leather and more leather - just about all the time. I understand from my own reading of mags that nothing beats it yet for abrasion resistance and it is very waterproof if it is well looked after...

    Where I live attracts a lot of bikers in the summer. Generally, over 45-50+'s wear leather - for the over 60s' nothing else will do! - and the under 45's textile. I prefer leather myself cos it looks cooool (fashion init, eh ). The fabrics used for textile bike clothing is state-of-the-art stuff and will protect from skin abrasion as well as Cow hide (some say more so ).

    Some great bike clothing bargains to be had at the moment in the UK. I got RST Cowhide armoured jacket for £70 down from £149, RST armoured Kevlar lined denim jeans for £55 down from £70, and leather above ankle boots £56 down from £110.

    I did note that the prices for motocross type armour were unchanged (£60-£70). Ditton the air-bag jackets.
    '09 Huoniao (Firebird) HN125-8 motorcycle [eBay bike-in-a-box]
    Aprilia SR50 LC Racing scoot
    Reply With Quote  
     

  7. #7 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    Shanghai'ed Shanghaifingers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Shanghai
    Posts
    290
    AEROSTICH.COM..... the Darian Light jacket and over pants.... or the new ALL Leather Transit suit..... Their jackets and pants are well worth the money and if you are going to ride year round and you have a cold fall and winter upgrade to the heats inner jacket.... And of cousre a full face helmet and above the ankle boot for support. Dont for get armored gloves...

    remener ATGATT.... all the gear all the time. Its a pain at times but someday it just might save you bacon especially for commuters....
    Reply With Quote  
     

  8. #8 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    grumpy old sod jape's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    central victoria, australia
    Posts
    1,291
    I just found these kevlar under wear in grey - and I am saving up for them: expensive but ideal for under other clothes. Much nicer than the original yellow stuff. My thinking is that I go through my normal jeans in about six months of work and play and prefer to buy cheap ones and cargos, i.e. <$30 a pair so with these under them I can chop and change the leg gear. Don't know about the shirt as I wear my leather jacket all year but I shall see how the legs feel and maybe get one for next summer.
    http://www.dragginjeans.net/product/k-legs
    http://www.dragginjeans.net/product/k-shirt
    I have also found a range of kevlar lined hoodies, long Ts, gloves etc. at http://www.bladerunner.tv/mens-hoode...ea2km3bmuvq9n0
    however although Kevlar lined and properly rated as stab proof it may not be suitable for abrasion. Cool gear though ...
    Reply With Quote  
     

  9. #9 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    C-Moto Senior davidqc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Snowdonia NP, North Wales, UK
    Posts
    110
    Quote Originally Posted by jape View Post
    I just found these kevlar under wear in grey - and I am saving up for them: expensive but ideal for under other clothes...
    Great spot there Jape ...but the prices are eye watering. However, must have must get.
    '09 Huoniao (Firebird) HN125-8 motorcycle [eBay bike-in-a-box]
    Aprilia SR50 LC Racing scoot
    Reply With Quote  
     

  10. #10 Re: Motorcycle clothing ? 
    grumpy old sod jape's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    central victoria, australia
    Posts
    1,291
    Quote Originally Posted by davidqc View Post
    Great spot there Jape ...but the prices are eye watering. However, must have must get.
    I know, but it seems everything is bloody expensive these days! I wish the Chinese would start a foray into this market segment (ANYONE READING THIS PLEASE NOTE?)

    I just gave up smoking in order to be an even grumpier bastard than usual and dammit, the stress makes me want to take it up again! However it does free (theoretically) a few bucks for hobbies as soon as the savings kick in which somehow isn't happening yet. Oh well, thank goodness for credit cards sometimes eh?

    On a serious note, I have read somewhere that this type of kevlar is stronger than most and as a lightweight under garment it allows a much more flexible array of pants/trousers.
    Reply With Quote  
     

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Bookmarks
Bookmarks
Posting Permissions
  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •