What are your feeling regarding your equipment matching its self and or to the color scheme of your bike?? How many people wear mismatched gear, and how many people wear gear that doesn't match your bike, either by color manufacture?? The reason that I ask is because I have found some good deals on equipment that if i put it all together won't match each other or the color of my bike, or the manufacture i.e. a honda Joe Rocket jacket and I ride a Suzuki. My wife thinks I am a bit crazy about the matching aspect, which is in direct conflict with her title as a Fashionestia (man the woman has some shoes, coats , belts , and purses.) I am a very pragmatic person in nature and my personal perspective is more centered on safty v.s. fashion, but then again I don't want to end up on UTube or the internet with a caption like "man needs his moma to dress him before he rides."  So, what do people think?? Thanks in advance, JIM    

Quote from: jhutch2115 on July 26, 2008, 09:37:36 AM
What are your feeling regarding your equipment matching its self and or to the color scheme of your bike?? How many people wear mismatched gear, and how many people wear gear that doesn't match your bike, either by color manufacture?? The reason that I ask is because I have found some good deals on equipment that if i put it all together won't match each other or the color of my bike, or the manufacture i.e. a honda Joe Rocket jacket and I ride a Suzuki. My wife thinks I am a bit crazy about the matching aspect, which is in direct conflict with her title as a Fashionestia (man the woman has some shoes, coats , belts , and purses.) I am a very pragmatic person in nature and my personal perspective is more centered on safty v.s. fashion, but then again I don't want to end up on UTube or the internet with a caption like "man needs his moma to dress him before he rides."  So, what do people think?? Thanks in advance, JIM    

I think you'll find most people on this forum agree that safety is much more important than fashion. If you get a good deal on non-matching gear, go for it!

Ride for yourself - motorcyclists seem to get in the most trouble when they worry about what others think of them 

agreed. Remember, you always dress for the crash, not for the ride, and everyone else

my GS is red...and my leathers are blue/white/black, helmet black/gray/white...doesn't really matter to me.  If anyone asks, I can either poke fun at myself for forgetting what color my bike is, or show them the padding (which they've most likely never seen/touched) and show how protective it is.

gear matching?      my jacket is blue/white, my leather pants are pure black, with a yellow helmet,  AND MY BIKE IS FREAKIN RED!   I stand out like a topless chick in a room full of men.

My helmet matches my bike perfectly, but I bought it 4 years before the bike.  Jacket and gloves are black.  I wouldn't give a flip whether they matched, but given the option with all other things being equal (quality, safety, price, etc) I would try to match color.  But as for brand, I don't care.

I have a naked bike, so I just ride naked...easy!!!!

I like the naked idea, but it's a bit cold here at the moment.  My helmet is red and my bike is Black and Blue. I figure I'm not going to have this bike forever, and I'll get a new helmet in a few years too. There isn't always a huge choice in the helmets available that fit and are the right price. I thinks it's more important to have gear that fits well and is safe.

My GS is purple.  I'm not matching that!

The asphalt (macadam, concrete, gravel) doesn't care what color your gear is.

As for other people, Richard Feynman had that exactly right. 

 from what i done an seen as a rider a cool looking bike is all that matters. ur gear If you have some unlike most Squids i see on their 600's (shorts/Tshirt/Sandles) is there for that fateful day when you go down for some asphalt ballet.
I have 2 Gmax Modular Hemuts Matte finnish($89)x2  black a summer Jacket Black Feildsheer($80) a winter leather Joe rocket Jacket blue/black/white($75) i got a pair or Riders Jeans with the kevlar padding off a friend .. a loaner till i buy my own so dont care what color they are i wanna be as unhurt as possiable after the roads hits me.... i like the way i walk. call me selfish as for people lookin at me cuz i dont Match Hell i have a neon Green MoHawk on my helmut! i could care less.
so the end run to me is
1 Having Gear +5
2 Having Gear that matches +10
3 Not Having Gear = dead
4 Having Gear that matches on a $14,000 Bike = Poser!


15Grand or 15 miles doesnt make you a biker!

Quote from: DoD#i on July 26, 2008, 05:47:20 PM
The asphalt (macadam, concrete, gravel) doesn't care what color your gear is.

As for other people, Richard Feynman had that exactly right. 

Feynman ... Feynman ... dont tell me you know the guy ... cos then I'd have to kill you. Just my personal mission to find the "students" who wrote his "Feynman's lectures in Physics" and put a bullet in each of them. You one of them ... dont even answer that, you will always have to look over your shoulder now.
Cool.
Buddha.

Yeah, color really doesn't matter. Safety does! If I can get away with it a honda jacket on a suzuki well I'd see if they had it in suzuki too. If not it's life. It's all about the ride and not eating dirt.

Personally, my bike is blue and white my main jacket matches at blue, black, and white. My pants are suzuki and are black. I also have a black summer jacket. My Shoei Helmet is black and I placed blue dragon decals on it. The only reason they all matched is I got them while in the stealership and financed them in! Of course I will pay twenty times their price with the financing! But, I got protection.

Mary S.

Quote from: The Buddha on July 27, 2008, 08:06:05 AM

Feynman ... Feynman ... dont tell me you know the guy ... cos then I'd have to kill you. Just my personal mission to find the "students" who wrote his "Feynman's lectures in Physics" and put a bullet in each of them. You one of them ... dont even answer that, you will always have to look over your shoulder now.
Cool.
Buddha.

...'fraid not. Never seen him except on TV. But I'm right with him on "What do you care what other people think", and I have (at most) a nodding acquaintance with a couple of Old Dudes (perhaps now dead dudes) that were in the Manhattan project with him, not that that matters or makes me special (Gosh, I used to park my motorcycle in the general vicinity that Xx. Xxxxxx parked his car - big whoop de doo. And I fixed Xx. Xxx's computer before he won the nobel prize - lah de fricking dah. That and $7.50 will possibly buy me a cup of coffee - but I make all my coffee at home, so I can't be sure that it's not up to $10 a cup now.)

Thanks for all of your replies. Again I am very pragmatic, so I will go with buying the best gear over how well it will coordinate! -- JIM

DoD#i, +10 on the coffee at home! I roast my own green beans, ahh!
My grandfather also worked on the machining and designing of the trigger mechanism in the Manhattan Project, and I am a poor slob because his millions went to the government in the form of estate taxes, and I should have been a teacher or a journalist instead of an artist, too late now.. So I have trouble with buying a cuppa, it's cheaper to roast and brew my own and tastes better.

So gear, mine never matched my previous moto, it sort of matches the GS by chance: black, blue and white Joe Rocket jacket, black Rocket pants, black boots, blue and white gloves, black helmet for an '01 dark crappy blue bike. Like Toogoofy I'm going to either put some lighter colored decals on the helmet to help with visibility and /or just spray a few colors of enamel on it. I don't like so much dark gear on a dark bike, but the protection factor is the priority, and it was good stuff for the best prices. A $300. Shoei (cheaper in black) over a $700. Arai which would match my moto, for example.

Feynman, cool dude...   

You want to be really careful about paint and helmets. Sure, people do it all the time - but in many cases it's not a good idea, as the solvents can affect the helmet shell. Check with the manufacturer about if, and with what, you can safely paint it.

Rather than decals or paint, unless you can confirm paint that won't frig it up, consider reflective tape. That will change the color and add a bit of night visibility that a decal won't. I bought a roll of orange (3M, so it's actually good stuff) years ago and ye olde helmut has that and some white reflective MSF triangles on it. Haven't decided exactly how I'll enhance ye new (red) helmut, but it will probably get a dose of orange tape, too.

I have mismatched, ill-fitting gear but I'll just deal with it until the off-season (so says the household Minister of Finance).  My bike is yellow, so is my size Large jacket (although I need a Medium) and gloves, but my helmet...my helmet is red/black/silver/white--bleh!  AND it makes me look like an astronaut!  I'm planning to get a new jacket over the winter but I may have to keep the helmet--in which case I'm gonna paint it.

So in summarization...I'm vain but I'm dealing with it.