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Riding gear enablers!

VansonRider

A-List Customer
Messages
349
For all you bikers and motorcyclists out there, what’s your gear count like?
How many jackets?
How many pairs of pants?
Boots?
Gloves?
how ‘bout a track suit!

…justifications?
“you need perf leather for summer, solid for winter, textile for wet weather, a warm set up for freezing weather, then the adventure gear for mixed surface riding, a formal suit for the opera, casual for bar hopping, and a zip together for weekend canyon carving but a one piece for track (well a perfed suit and a solid suit, gotta stay comfy!)

I’m thinking about a nice pair of textile riding pants that I really don’t need… but I do keep thinking about.

Talk me into it?
 

AerGuitar

A-List Customer
Messages
453
Location
Missouri
You need help to find a reason to buy more gear? Hmmm.. haha. I’m probably rocking more than I need, but it does get used.

Main riding jacket for warmer days is Alpinestars GP Plus R perforated
Schott 613 for the cooler days
Belstaff textile and a Scott snowmobile jacket for really cold days/ADV cosplay
Dainese mesh for hot days
Icon field armor shirt for REALLY hot days
Barbour for wet days

Couple pairs of Trilobite vented jeans for warm days
Rev’it Lombards and Tobacco Motorwear selvedge for most days
Snowboarding over pants for cold days
Fly motocross pants(with separate knee pads) for really hot days

Winter lined gloves
More warm weather gloves than I care to count

Alpinestars smx boots for any serious distance/or cold weather
A couple pairs of TCX shoes

Arai XD-4 for the ADV bike
Bell RaceStar Flex carbon fiber for the not ADV bike

Still, my wife won’t let me within 5 miles of a Cyclegear…
 

Faux59

Familiar Face
Messages
76
Location
Toronto
2 jackets. I used to wear several cheap leathers now use a Schott P571 and nice Harley jacket I got them to throw in for $50 when I bought a bike.

Pants are just regular jeans.

Tecovas boots. I started with 6" boots but my left pant would ride up and my leg got cold. That doesn't happen with tall boots.

Grifter Bison Gauchos gloves.
 

Bfd70

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,282
Location
Traverse city
Jeans
redwings
leather or denim jacket

textile pants are fine on the bike and can vent well on hot days.

unless i’m on a road trip or out for an 8 hour day i just don’t have the motivation for a full kit change. I just ride in what i’m wearing at the time
 

oneterrifichog

Practically Family
Messages
875
Location
Alexandria, Va
Just a thought. After years of riding one ends up with gobs of stuff you absolutely needed at the time (especially Harley Riders) and mostly can not sell. I have lost count on how many pairs of gloves I own for this type of ride or that. I have textile gear, chaps, Vest with patches, sweaters for riding, and T-shirts...... Then there was all the stuff for the wife.....

A few years ago I realized that half the stuff was totally unnecessary and just went to jacket jeans gloves and helmet and screw the rest.

Now I no longer ride and hopefully will sell on the bay or garage sale.

Note not bitchin about the ride it was wonderful but not real sure if I can ever get rid of the stuff so be aware.

OTH
 

VansonRider

A-List Customer
Messages
349
Oh, I know I'll be taking a bath if and when I decide to devest myself of my gear. I'm in my mid forties, a dad and husband, and I'm looking at a used pair of Vanson falcon pants for cheap.

I think half of why I got into riding was the gear! I'll never be a boots, jeans, one jacket, and some gloves rider. But it WOULD simplify my closet a lot!

My personal minimum is milsurp boots, riding specific pants and jacket, wells lamont leather gloves, and a full face. I used to skateboard when I was a kid and skinned my knee, ankle, palms, and elbows enough times not to want to repeat the experience.

Always have been a gear head. I do some winter camping, I've caved a couple of times, I've been a trail worker and a third shift snow maker too.

Something about selecting the right things and putting on stuff that will keep you warm and safe for an extended time in a harsh environment makes the kid in me feel like an astronaut prepping for a space walk.

Keep those lists coming! I’ll post mine when I can do a count, (my kids a toddler it could be a few years…)

And I’ll keep you posted if I get the pants.

I’m sure everyone’s on the edge of their seats!
 

AerGuitar

A-List Customer
Messages
453
Location
Missouri
Jeans
redwings
leather or denim jacket

textile pants are fine on the bike and can vent well on hot days.

unless i’m on a road trip or out for an 8 hour day i just don’t have the motivation for a full kit change. I just ride in what i’m wearing at the time
There are definitely times when I’ll also ride in the jeans I’m wearing and a pair of Iron Rangers for a short jaunt. Most of my spring/summer rides are longer distance and solo, so for that it’s always full kit! Back in my 20’s/early 30’s I remember riding to Texas/Colorado/New Mexico(I live in Missouri) in a white t shirt, hemp pants, vibram toe shoes, and a little half helmet. Thinking back, I must have been a little crazy, I feel a bit more fragile now well into my 40s.
 

barnabus

One Too Many
Messages
1,483
Location
Britain's oldest recorded town
I've done my stint of commuter riding in all weathers, and now in in my mid fifties I only want to ride for fun in the sunshine. So no waterproof textiles for me.

I do wear full kit though whenever I ride, as a compromise with Mrs Barnabus, she was not impressed when I got knocked off and smashed to bits a few years back.

I have three helmets; but my favourite is my DMD Seventy Five.

I have tons of gloves, but my go-to pair is some tan RST Hillberrys.

Jacket wise, I have an Oxblood Merlin Lichfield, but I mostly wear either an armoured Kevlar-lined denim shirt from RST, or Knox Urbane Pro armoured base layer - and then just layer up with whatever jacket I fancy; Barbour, denim type 3, whatever.

I have two pairs of riding-specific armoured Kevlar jeans, which both look like regular jeans. One pair from Bull-it, one from Resurgence Gear.

I have two pairs of boots I ride in, both from Triumph. A pair of Dadlington boots, and a pair of Stoke boots.

I've also had and passed on a ton of other gear of all descriptions.

I'm left with enough to keep me safe and give me a choice what to ride in. I'm still always tempted by new gear, but now instead of buying more I spend the money on the bike instead.
 
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Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,074
Location
London, UK
Oh, I know I'll be taking a bath if and when I decide to devest myself of my gear. I'm in my mid forties, a dad and husband, and I'm looking at a used pair of Vanson falcon pants for cheap.

I think half of why I got into riding was the gear! I'll never be a boots, jeans, one jacket, and some gloves rider. But it WOULD simplify my closet a lot!

My personal minimum is milsurp boots, riding specific pants and jacket, wells lamont leather gloves, and a full face. I used to skateboard when I was a kid and skinned my knee, ankle, palms, and elbows enough times not to want to repeat the experience.

Always have been a gear head. I do some winter camping, I've caved a couple of times, I've been a trail worker and a third shift snow maker too.

Something about selecting the right things and putting on stuff that will keep you warm and safe for an extended time in a harsh environment makes the kid in me feel like an astronaut prepping for a space walk.

Keep those lists coming! I’ll post mine when I can do a count, (my kids a toddler it could be a few years…)

And I’ll keep you posted if I get the pants.

I’m sure everyone’s on the edge of their seats!

Yeah. Wouldn't go near a bike without a fullface myself. My dad rode for years. He knew a Pastor up round the coast, NW200 territory who could have told you about enough funerals he'd done that would have put you off not wearing the right gear. There was one he did for a young lady rider who got thrown off in an accident caused by a bad car driver. Open face helmet, jacket handing open. Apparently the front of her was such a mess all the undertakers could do was screw the lid down.



The killer app imo is BOWtex baselayers. https://bowtex.store/en/

Full set of those, and you're covered for anything. You could ride safely in an old tweed suit. It'll get trashed if you do take a spill and slide, but you won't leave your skin on the road with the wool...
 

Yango

One of the Regulars
Messages
201
BMG Montana leather jacket, a Dainese fully perforated leather jacket, and a Knox mesh jacket—which gets almost no wear—I should sell it.

Klim K51 pants.

Helmets are both Bell, a Bullitt and a Custom 500.

Triumph, Belstaff and Klim gloves—depending on how hot or cold it is, and whether I need liners for the cold. I keep an old pair of leather thermal lined ski gloves that I bought back in the 80’s for when it’s seriously cold.
 
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Madhouse27

One of the Regulars
Messages
207
Shoei RF 1400 helmet
Schott 613sh (and others)
Schott Perfecto vest
jeans
TCX leather hightop riding sneakers
Churchill gloves

looking for a good pair of black leather pants
 

KBlake

One Too Many
Messages
1,866
I have the armored Butterscotch x Vanson Thruxton jacket and the waxed and armored Belstaff Trialmaster jackets. I also have a mesh jacket from Icon for hot weather. I wear jeans and Alpinestars SMX boots.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,074
Location
London, UK
I forgot in my earlier post; I also wear a Pando Moto base layer under regular trousers. The PM is essentially the same idea as the Bowtex stuff, and combined with my Knox base layer top I can ride inconspicuously (but safely) in anything I choose.

They're a great concept. Perfect for a vain old bird like me that just looks in askance at so much modern stuff.... :D
 
Messages
10,614
Ok, I’ll leave my jackets and vests outta this. They’ve been posted many times already. Typically Vanson (perforated, CW or Octagon) but sometimes LW. Less often Aero and Cal.

Helmet: Bell Race Star

Boots: I’ve got a bunch of MC high top sneakers, most picked up discounted at HD. White, black, brown.

Gloves: Vanson perforated; Geir deerskin gloves and gauntlets; some other gloves laying sround

Pants: Levi’s but now more mil utility pants.

And a hatchet for the dumb TX deer.
 

bn1966

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,108
Location
UK
One helmet: Simpson full face, TCX boots, Bowtex leggings, Draggin K sweatshirt, summer and winter gloves, KNOX armoured shirt and knee tubes, Brooks 60’s Cafe Racer jacket, Corazzo vented / mesh summer jacket, Spada MA1 jacket and urban camo winter jacket and so on and so forth worn on my Vespa 300 Scooter
 
Messages
10,614
There are definitely times when I’ll also ride in the jeans I’m wearing and a pair of Iron Rangers for a short jaunt. Most of my spring/summer rides are longer distance and solo, so for that it’s always full kit! Back in my 20’s/early 30’s I remember riding to Texas/Colorado/New Mexico(I live in Missouri) in a white t shirt, hemp pants, vibram toe shoes, and a little half helmet. Thinking back, I must have been a little crazy, I feel a bit more fragile now well into my 40s.

That’s the truth. I always rode helmetless until I returned to south Florida. Full face all the time now. Them people will run you over and roll on to the beach.
 

bn1966

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,108
Location
UK
Just to add that I wear Pike jeans over the Bowtex, have a couple of pairs of Sanders Brogue boots & am known to ride wearing Eastman’s A-2 jackets and my leather 5* Trucker Type 3 in urban environments. Currently looking at Roadskin products for the coming riding season…
 

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