Gear advice

[myfirstluv]

Hi guys,

I need some gear advice.  

Currently I have intermediate level gloves, pretty good jackets with armor, plus CE EN1621-2:2003 level 1 back protectors in my jackets.  Along with a pretty good helmet.

Since I commute, the only real piece of gear I'm missing are overpants/knee/leg-protection.  I can't find a good balance of price, versatility (all-season riding), and protection and fit.  Some pants have versatility but not good knee protection and are still expensive or some pants will be too warm to wear in the summer.  (Is it pointless to buy pants without good knee protection? ) I go to college and I have to walk around with these pants all day since I have a long schedule.

My question is:    IS it worth buying knee protection, as apposed to overpants, and where them under my jeans or is there no point in knee protection without the overpants.  

-- First Gear carbon evo with Joe rocket slip in back protector (Tpro force equivelent; low kN rating) (winter) http://www.motorcyclenews.com/Ride/Product-Tests/

--Shift Air avenger with Dainese wave g2 back protector (~11kN transmitting force) (summer)

-- Joe Rocket Rush (winter) and supermoto (summer) gloves

-- Shoei RF-1000 helmet with pinlock sheild/inserts, foggy respro breathguard

-- And I use my normal timb's and steel toe timb's as my boots (Don't waste money or racing boots unless your going to the track; my personal opinion please don't take offense)

P.S. I don't want to seem like I'm bragging.  I was hoping more people will post their gear experiances.  If anyone has questions about mine PM me or post

Sorry about the long post

[Bluesmudge]

Well, it seems like you have two problems to solve.

A solution for riding to class and a solution for most other times.

I'm also a college student and I have been thinking about getting these brand new fieldsheer knee protectors:
http://www.newenough.com/protective_apparel/vests_underwear_and_misc_/fieldsheer/armadillo_motorcycle_knee_armor.html

They seem like an almost exact copy of these more expensive icon knee protectors:
http://www.newenough.com/armor/elbow_shoulder_knee_worn_on_the_body/icon/field_armor_leg.html

The nice thing about both of these is that you can just strap them on over your jeans and take them off when you get to where you are going so you are not stuck with them all day.
Even if you get overpants you really should wear jeans underneath them and take the overpants off when you get to class.
I don't know how long your commute is but I know I'm just going to wear jeans since I have a short commute with mostly slow speed roads. Sometimes I have to take ATGATT with a grain of salt when convenience is a factor, you know what I'm talking about, yeah YOU. I saw you riding in jeans the other day.

[myfirstluv]

I think; Bluesmudge you hit the nail right on the head.

Nice to see a fellow student commuter!!!

Those are  exactly my concerns and ATGATT is not easy to live when your a student. 
Especially for $200 pants

Those fieldsheer knee protectors seem perfect for me; and I would do exactly what you said and take them off when  got to school.

My only concern with any of the knee protectors was that they weren't CE certified.  But then again neither are my hockey shin guards, but they can still stop a 50-70 mph puck with limited pain.

I commute to rutgers in new brunswick from piscataway which is a 8-9 mi trip(16 mi round trip) (10-20 min).  Just long enough not to freeze during the winter with the gear I have.

Thanks again Blue smudge you answered my question to a T

[myfirstluv]

I have another question:

Has anyone found inexpensive gortex shells to wear in the winter (windproof/waterproof)?

Just one extra thin layer I can wear over jeans for added wind protection and once I reach my destination I would put it in my backpack.

Stuff I have found is way too expensive.

In the winter I wear:

Lower Body:  coldgear underarmor, "windproof" trackpants, and jeans, with thick (thermal socks), and my boots

Upper Body: coldgear underarmor, undershirt, shirt, sweater or windbreaker (sweater works better), then my firstgear waterproof jacket mentioned before, & last year I started wearing my columbia winter jacket over my firstgear jacket for extra wind protection

[kml.krk]

Guys, I totally feel your pain! I am a student too, but I do not commute on my bike.
One of the reasons is exactly what you mentioned: convenience.
I just can't figure where I would keep my pants, leather jacket, helmet, gloves, and boots while I am in class. Plus changing all the clothes in public toilet is not fun either, plus having 2 sets of clothing (1 for class one for riding seems ridiculous)

So for now I just take bus or train, but I wish I could find a way to conveniently commute on my GS.

[NF11624]

As yet another student who commutes (~15 miles city both ways) - here is what my solution was (provided I cared enough to use it).  Rent a locker at your schools gymnasium/fitness center (provided you have one) or a locker in some other area of the school.  I have not seen a college that didn't have lockers for rent.  Keep a pair of sneakers in your locker (thats all you need right?) and put your pants, jacket, gloves and boots inside and carry your helmet around to class.  Or just wear your gear to class - I doubt anyone will give you grief over it.

Usually this takes an extra 10-15 minutes (depending on how far away everything is), so I just wear my gear to class.

[DoD#i]

When I was a student I simply wore my leathers to class (set helmet under seat or in next seat, gloves tucked in helmet, carrying it on arm from bike to class), or parked the jacket and helmet in my office when I had an office to park them in (locker would work as well) and wore boots and pants (too much bother to change, perfectly comfortable, not concerned with looking like other sheeple).

If you can't afford gear, you can't afford not to have gear and be riding. It doesn't take much for a small investment in gear to save a lot of money (and pain and suffering and lost time) in things you could have walked away from. Get creative - shop craigslist, look in thrift stores, try yard sales, newenough, end of season sales at local dealers, etc...

[drincruz]

i've got the icon knee/shin protectors and pretty much wear them under my jeans all the time. when i'm out you can hardly notice that they're on under my jeans (unless i'm wearing an older/tighter pair of jeans). i actually, leave them on if i'm just hanging out with people. here's one caveat though, if you have boots that already go over your shins, it will get in the way a bit. other than that these are awesome. also figure with these you can wear any jeans you want really and give your riding pants a break.

if i'm in an area where i'm either not gonna take too long or it's safe, i'll lock my helmet on the helmet lock. so that only leaves you with your jacket and gloves, which i'm sure you can be okay with carrying around. and besides, chicks dig leather right? 

cheers,
~drin

[Bluesmudge]

I have a locking topcase on my bike that I bought specifically for college. Soft luggage wasn't going to cut it anymore. I keep a more fasionable jacket in the topcase and switch it with my motorcycle jacket when I get to wear I'm going (assuming its cold enough to wear a jacket all day). Then I lock my helmet with the helmet lock and put my gloves in the topcase too and off I go. My "boots" are just a pair of really heavy duty leather Diesel high top sneakers (I've already crashed in them once so I know they hold up). But something like a pair of timberlands, or these: http://www.newenough.com/browse/view_product_images/3288 if you are more concerned for safety would be fine and nobody would ever question why you were wearing them.
Adding knee armor to this set-up would be pretty painless, although I'm not sure the topcase could hold them too so I might have to carry them in my backpack.

This system only takes me like 2 minutes at my parking spot. At school at least, I don't like to over-advertise that I'm a biker. There is this one guy who just always wears his Icon armored vest over a T-shirt, all day every day. I don't understand those things, if you ever crash most of your body is going to be toast so who cares if you are protecting your spine. Yet people wear just the  vest as if its enough gear lol.

[myfirstluv]

DoD#i:

Would you say it's not worth getting knee protectors and wearing them under jeans???

Because some of the pants I've seen either come with foam knee inserts or the small CE knee protectors.  Otherwise they seem more for abrasion resistance.

I don't mind spending the money on pants.  I just don't want to WASTE my money.  Please give me specific suggestions on what you recommend I should do, because I'm really at a crossroad and can't make up my mind.  I want advice from experianced people like you who have done it already; and have been there done that.

Seems like I'm leaning to what Bluesmudge and drincruz are doing, with the shin/knee guards.

NF11624:   

I thought about a locker but the distance from the parking garage and locker is too far.  And I would just wear the overpants around but I work in a research lab and taking them off at work would be weird and I wouldn't have any place to put them.  I can't wear them while I'm working cause they could get dirty/contaminated.

Bluesmudge:
Make sure you get a slip-in back protector; it's important.  And the luggage trunk is too expensive for me, since I'm buying gear right now.

[Bluesmudge]

Bluesmudge:
Make sure you get a slip-in back protector; it's important.  And the luggage trunk is too expensive for me, since I'm buying gear right now.

All my jackets have back protectors.

Yeah thats what I thought about hard luggage too! Until I found this:
http://www.newenoughhp.com/luggage/tail_bags/emgo/portable_motorcycle_travel_trunk_tail_bag.html

Right now I just have it bolted to my grab handle. That has worked fine for about 500 miles. Whenever I sell my helmet that is too small for me I'm going to use the money to buy a proper rear rack to mount the thing too, but so far it hasn't been necessary.

[DoD#i]

Would you say it's not worth getting knee protectors and wearing them under jeans???

Because some of the pants I've seen either come with foam knee inserts or the small CE knee protectors.  Otherwise they seem more for abrasion resistance.

Given further comments on pants, I'd say get over the "weirdness" of taking off your overpants (you can do it outside, too) - just make sure you are wearing real pants so there is no legitimate weirdness, and as for putting them, where would you hang up your winter coat at lab? Put them there. You refer to a parking garage, so your campus parking situation (or your personal parking preferences) are very different - one of the great things about riding a motorcycle at the school I went to was that they had motorcycle lots scattered in all the places they couldn't put car spaces in, and students could actually get/afford motorcycle permits (in fact, if I get the XJ working, the permit is still valid, as far as I know - $30 and never expires, where central campus car permits were $400 yearly and not available to students.)

The benefit, if any, of knee protection (without abrasion protection to go with it) will depend on which side you land on. Knee protectors under jeans do nothing for the butt that often gets slid upon. I have no idea if the "magic underwear" that is purported to help with that works, other than in draining your wallet. Knee and hip padding is good for impact damage, but without abrasion protection, it won't be there long if you do end up sliding on those parts. Denim will rip, foam will shred, pavement will meet flesh.

My personal gear choices are somewhat vintage, since they have held up. There may well be better (more scientific and all) and/or cheaper options that work. I have a heavy/thick Schott Racer leather jacket, non-poser-ish (lacks various extra buckles and snaps found on "movie motorcycle" jackets. When I'm out of blubber mode an add-on back protector fits under that. No padding in shoulders or elbows. I wore heavy leather red wing pull-on boots (no laces, laces are bad on bikes, but they were not really proper MC boots, either) and army surplus leather gloves when I was a cheap student. I bought Hein Gerike V-pilot pants (sort of padded, with extra layers at hips and knees, but no separate pads as current items use) while recovering from my "ass, this is road - road, meet ass" incident (all of 35 mph, so not high speed). I've been doing enough manual labor this summer that I just checked and I can get back in them (they are less forgiving in fit than the jacket, and I bought them ~20 years ago. Middle age either sucks, or hangs over your belt.)

My first bike was a used 650 at $1/cc - the gear I started with (no pants) cost more than the bike did. There were no fairly decent cheap helmets at that point, among other things.

When I got a bit more ahead on money, and while still a student, I spent $240 (1990's dollars) on a pair of High-Point GP Pro MX boots, though I don't ride off-road; I got them for protection and a bit of car-intimidation factor (they have exposed stainless-steel shinplates). They have stiffened a bit with age and also are unforgiving of blubber, so I'm considering dialing back to a more modern pair of street boots without all the buckles. Mine have more plastic protectors (which make the leather around them unhappy with age) than the pictured version (and mine are red):

After a delightful 4 hours riding in the rain to see my girlfriend, during which every seam in my rainsuit failed, my leathers soaked up about 50 lbs of water, and I was so cold that my leg failed to move when I told it to as I pulled into a Dunkin Donuts to warm up with some coffee, so I tipped over in the parking lot, I bought an Aerostich roadcrafter (which was, at the time, to the best of my recall, the only option there was - now they make two piece versions and several other lines, but none of it is cheap because it's all made in Duluth, by American workers.) That also cost more than my bike, all by itself. They do sometimes have demos and closeouts for less money, though - $140-145 for darien pants currently if you have a skinny 30 waist. It has padding, though it's (IIRC) not CE rated becasue it came before CE ratings even existed, and in some cases is evidently too large (padding) for CE's rating.  Regardless, they in general and mine in specific have demonstrated a good ability to hold up to the road (as in crashing) and also to rain. They have too many zippers to get the "guaranteed to keep you dry" thing from goretex, but they are gore-tex and cordura, plus ballistic nylon, and are designed to be worn over clothes so you can "work to ride, ride to work". There are now cheap chinese knockoffs out there - how good they are, I cannot say. The back protector for the other jacket is an Aerostich option that velcros into this, or straps on under any other jacket (or velcros, if you add the velcro to the other jacket - it's provided.) Mine is black with red patches, but I'd suggest this fetching color - it's what I'll buy if I buy another one. It's about as attractive as a snowmobile suit,  and feels almost like one when not moving, but the vents work quite well - it's what I've been wearing for the whole time I've had the GS500, as it is more forgiving (but not by much) of blubber than the leathers. Great for serious touring - pockets placed with considerable thought. Don't waste money on the velcro map pockets - the only crappy design detail I'm aware of - put your map in a tank bag map pocket if you need a map out. Nearly 20 years old and still works, could use a few velcro replacements and zipper tabs.

I have a variety of gloves, none remotely current. Basically cold/wet weather ones and nice weather ones. Cool - an old cob-web page with an image of (nearly) the nice-weather ones I have currently: I always get gauntlets now - stuff does not go up your sleeve, and in the event of a crash, your wrist won't be exposed as your jacket (despite wrist-zips) gets pulled up your arm as far as it can go, if you are sliding hands-forward.

[inexplicable718]

hey, i am also a student. The only problem that i have for now is the helmet(since i dont have the gear). Do you guys think you can fit your helmet in a locker? i dont think so but just wondering. I dont think i can leave my helmet on my bike and lock it because i live in nyc and well there are a lot of thiefs...

Also, i am not sure about the expensive gear as another person said. Why use so much money on this stuff when i can easily buy timbz to cover my ankles and look ko0l @ the same time. The winter gloves that i saw above look like average winter gloves from a 99cent store so why shouldnt i get that instead?  What about the shin guards etc... they are similar to soccer. I just feel like if you attach motorcycle name with these gear then their price hit above 100 dollars per item.

[Bluesmudge]

Timberlands are fine, but Ha, yeah wait till you crash in 99cent winter gloves (where can you get a decent pair ski of gloves for 99c?) and some soccer shinguards and you will be wishing you could have spent $500 on some decent gear. I don't think you realize what a cheese-grater asphalt can be. Those "winter gloves" pictured above are 100% leather exterior. Normal ski gloves will shred on contact with the pavement. Why do you think motorcyclists get permanently injured crashing at 40mph w/o gear yet Moto GP racers can crash at 150mph and walk away? ITS THE GEAR!

Yeah if you just put-put around at less than 15mph you might be fine with normal clothes and just get off with some scrapes if you ever fall, HOWEVER much above that and you will be nursing the road rash for weeks. Road rash hurts soooo bad you have no idea and makes scars that never go away. Seriously, motorcycling is one of the most dangerous things you can do on a daily basis, get some good gear and WEAR IT. Don't be a squid.

[myfirstluv]

Thanks for the different gear.  It seems like wherever I read leather is the end all be all.

Bluesmudge:

Where the F%^& did you find that trunk and how did you bolt it onto your grab handle??  Did you just use what they gave you???

I'm gonna wait a little bit before I get it, but I will get it.  I just spent $200 on two back protectors for my jackets. And I have to spend a little money to repair the scrapes on my fairing from the low-side that occurred last week.  Ironically enough I was on my way to order my back protector the day I lowsided.

And I also just today spent $170 on a pair of MC pants.

I bought a pair of Joe Rocket Alter Ego's (09 model)  Originally they where $200 at the store but the lady gave me 15% off, which made it worth the purchase.  (No tax or shipping like on a website)  They are really nice pants; they have a waterproof/cold-resistant liner with hip and knee foam armor and other abrasion patches.  They have a zip-out panel along the thighs and ass to reveal mesh for when it gets hotter (more like warmer; I just rode tonight in mid-70F weather comfortably with liner out and mesh panel exposed and shorts underneath; I don't think they would be that good for mid summer). 

But I'm willing to bet that I would get a good 3.5 seasons out of them. 

The armor isn't terribly substantial, but one reason why I got them is that the "CE approved knee armor inserts" aren't any better than the foam insert I have cause they will move around in a spill.  BUT, the difference is that the armor is light enough that I can where strapped knee armor underneath and strong enough that it will give some impact and more abrasion resistance in a spill.  Hence the importance of the $30 I saved at the store.

FYI for fit:  I bought an XL size Alter Ego pants.  I'm not sure of the length, cause it doesn't say on the tags.(I'm pretty sure they are regular because short and tall are considered "special fits" and would be mentioned on the tag) I am 5ft 9in tall, 205-210 lbs.  I wear 36-38in jeans with a 30in inseam (which is perfect length while walking) 36 waist fits but the rest of the jean is tight 38 waist jeans fit looser but waist is slightly big.

As for knee armor: MY ADVICE
I am not skinny, but not obese or fat either. So my calves are slightly big.

The alpinestar reflex knee guards are way too small for me.  But they seem small in general. (only two straps, knee part doesn't move; its a staionary piece)

Icon Field armor leg:  in my opinion are a substantial piece of equipment but dont fit me.  Top strap of the shin piece is too small for me.  There is leather surrounding the plastic piece and the knee piece moves/articulates with knee.
The Fieldsheer Amadillo knee guards seem just as good but I'm afraid they wont fit.

Saw some nice Thor knee guards, but don't know how off-gear would translate to the street

[Bluesmudge]

I found the top case while browsing new enough one tight. It always looked good but I was never sure how I would mount it. One day I just told myself to buy it and figure it out when it arrives.  I just used the included hardware to bolt it to the grab handle. Two metal strips run under the grab handle and bolt to the top case holder on either side. Its hard to describe but relatively simple. I might eventually be able to get a picture of it for you. I still want to order a separate rack to mount it on for better security, but like I said I've ridden over 500 miles with it on the grab bar including long amounts of 80mph+ and lots of cobblestone roads and it looks just like the day I mounted it.