Gear Need-to-Knows

[Mistress Maygin]

Originally Posted by Ebbs15

yeah you wouldn't have gone far if that bike was in gear... It on the other hand... would have done somersaults down the street.

250's you don't need to worry about that... you still need to respect it... but it's not gonna throw you off the back. hence why we recommend them to new riders so strongly.

so when are you think'n you'll be on two wheels?

Within a few months, barring any uber emergencies that sap my income.

[Mr Lefty]

Originally Posted by Mistress Maygin

Within a few months, barring any uber emergencies that sap my income.

nice... I can't fuck'n wait to get back to my bike... I've been jones'n like crazy just to sit on her

[Mistress Maygin]

Originally Posted by Ebbs15

nice... I can't fuck'n wait to get back to my bike... I've been jones'n like crazy just to sit on her

That's what she said!

[Mr Lefty]

Originally Posted by Mistress Maygin

That's what she said!

now if you could just introduce me to her...

[azoomm]

Originally Posted by Mistress Maygin

If it weren't for the heat factor I likely wouldnt even consider anything but leather. But it's a fact of Florida living, so I gotta look at all the options.

OSP- was it you that said, "Sweat wipes off, road rash doesn't"?

I've discussed this with many-a-human in the past. I've lived all over the country in Hot HOT and more humid than Florida can deliver... I'll still only wear leather. Florida heat vs Texas heat isn't much different... other than we hang over 100 longer.

I've seen mesh that got destroyed, and it really doesn't have to do with the speed as much as the surface you hit. Mesh will *grab* the surface imperfections long before leather will, perforated or not. Just because it's available... doesn't make it a good idea.

Ballistic nylon is also another choice - but it's about the same expense as leather.

I bought my first set of leathers in 1992. Those leathers had itty bitty teeny tiney vents on the back of the leathers with about a dozen perfs in the elbows. THAT was hot. Now, there are so many vent options... maybe I just look at what WAS, and what I have now is SO much cooler.

You have a TON of options out in front of you... try them on, again and again. Time is on your side.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by azoomm

You have a TON of options out in front of you... try them on, again and again. Time is on your side.

I agree,try things for yourself. Some of these guys are so super opinionated,that if you listen to them you'll... 1. only use 1 brand of tires, 2. only buy one size and type of bike, 3. only use one or two brands of helmets, 4. only use one or two brands of gear,etc. In my experience here,and on the old site,they give opinions against gear they've never tried just based on perception. "Icon is squid gear","GSXRs are for squids",etc. I personally own a number of Icon jackets and gloves,I've crashed wearing Icon and it has held up quite well. In fact,my Icon Neo-Daytona held up better than my Dainese did in a similar type crash! My D jacket fell apart at the seams wear they joined different pieces of leather together and that was a $500 jacket. I'd rather see you buy a nylon mesh jacket and wear it all the time vs a heavy leather jacket that you'll be tempted to leave at home on hot days, 'cause you, "aren't going that far", or "you won't be riding that fast". I always wear something wether it's my leather,my textile/leather or my nylon jacket. I suggest you do the same.

[Cutty72]

Originally Posted by Ebbs15

nice... I can't fuck'n wait to get back to my bike... I've been jones'n like crazy just to sit on her

thought about taking it out in the snow for you the other day, but i got busy. sorry.

[fnfalman]

MistressMaygin,

Let me try to make it succinct for you:

1. Any protection is better than no protection.
2. More protection is better than less protection.
3. Good protection is better than mediocre protection.

We'll first go into the pricing, then types of materials & applications and then we'll talk about sizes and brands.

Pricing - how much are you willing to spend? Budget it out and then worry about what you should get. I personally would recommend around $1500. That sounds a lot but it's to deck you out from head to toes. Besides, how much is a trip to the dermatologist cost for skin repair? We're not even talking about broken bones yet.

I'd recommend around $300-500 for a high quality helmet. Helmets with fancy graphics cost $100-250 more than the same model with solid color. I'd even go further and recommend Arai brand. Why? They have multiple shapes of heads and many sizes. If you can't find any of the several Arai models to fit you, something is wrong. I'd recommend a full face helmet for total protection.

I'd recommend good leather gloves (perforated if need be but your hands don't really get that hot) that are gaunlet style - goes past your wrists and up the bottom part of your forearms. Gloves are very tricky to find fit for. You'll have to try and try and try and try. They should fit you fairly snug. A good pair of gloves should set you back around $80. We're not talking about hard core racing gloves here but good street gloves. I'd recommend Olympia, AlpineStar, Cortech/Tourmaster. If you feel like a millionaire, shell out for Held. Or BMW brand. Go to a BMW dealership and check out their gears. Their gloves are Euro-fit so they tend to be skinny with long fingers. You'll see me referring to BMW gears quite a bit after this.

Boots should be heavy leathers with above-ankle for protection. Preferrably modern-style riding boots with hard ankle protection instead of just cruiser-style boots. However for women, cruiser-style boots usually have high heels and thick soles. Might not be a bad idea as a starter pair while you're getting used to riding a bike. For cruiser boots, it's hard to beat Red Wing boots. They are famous for work boots for a reason - tough leathers. For riding boots, SIDI, AlpineStar, Oxtar (aka TCX) are known for making riding boots. You don't need the racer-style boots for street riding or sport riding. A decent set of boots should cost around $100-200. Once again, check out a BMW joint for their women's boots too.

Jackets and pants can be either leather or textile. I'll cover mesh separately. Leather is made out of leather: cowhide, kangaroo, deer, ostriche, ray, shark, snake, etc. Textiles are made out of some types of nylons (cheap nylon, cheap Cordura, fancy Cordura, Kevlar laminated, etc.) Leather is better...to a point. I'd take an Aerostitch brand textile suit over an Icon suit or Joe Rocket suit any day. I'd take a BMW textile suit over the same any day too. It's not even the thickness or the grade of leathers but also of the stitchings. If the seams bust when you slide on the ground then all those fancy leathers ain't gonna help you much. That's why you want to buy motorcycle leathers and not just any leathers. And when you hit the ground, you're gonna impact something, so get jackets with armor if possible (preferrably CE Level II rated armors at shoulders & elbows with back as option for the jacket and knee cups for the pants with the optional hip armors).

Generally speaking, leathers are heavier, less comfortable and hotter and miserable in the Miami area because of the high humidity. It's easy to say that it's better to sweat than bleed than actually doing it. If you go out on a weekend ride then that's a fine statement to make. But if you commute and get stuck in traffic and your body overheats because of the leathers, you're going to either pass out or lose concentration and crash. In this case, leathers didn't do you any favor.

Textiles offer less abrasion resistance, but lighter and cooler. You pay for convenience with less protection. Try to stay away from cheap nylon and at least go with heavy Cordura. Aerostitch is well known for their textile gears. BMW's textile gears are also top notch. BMW gears tend to be more "fashionable" too. They take the image thing very seriously and try to design gears that you can wear off the bike without looking too much like a street racer or a Baja rider. Cortech/Tourmaster textiles seem to be OK, as are Field Sheer and AlpineStar, but frankly I only trust myself to BMW textiles.

Mesh. There are several types of mesh gears. Cheap nylon mesh that are slightly better than T-shirt, textile outfits with patches of nylon mesh at the torso area and knees, etc., or fancy mesh gears. Cheap nylon mesh are abound from Joe Rocket, First Gear, Icon, Field Sheer, et al. Dainese makes a textile/mesh combo jacket and I think that AlpineStar would offer this sort of combo. The BMW AirFlow is another combo. I think that for Miami, a textile/mesh combo might be better than 100% textile or 100% mesh. It's not too hot there but you do want some decent airflow in order to mitigate the humidity. Then there are the fancy mesh. I only know of two outfits that have fancy mesh: BMW and Motoport. These meshes are made out of heavy textile or kevlar. They are not as good as leathers but they are easily as good as fancy textile.

But what about denim/khaki riding pants? that's your call to make. Regular denims and khakis don't last much more than a few feet of sliding on pavement. Riding denims are a little bit heavier but not that much more. BMW used to have riding pants that look like denim but it seems like they had phased it out. Too bad. Do I have denim riding pants? Yes, I do and I wear them if I were to ride a few miles around the neighborhood. If I were to hit the freeway or highway at all, riding pants (either textile or leathers) are what I wear.

Let's talk about you, Mistress Maygin, in particular. You have quite of a curvaceous figure (), so it will be tough to find a jacket that would fit you right. Try the Field Sheer women's jackets (I'd suggest the Alpina leather jacket or its textile version). They cut it to be a bit generous on top, with a flare at the hip and cinch at the waist.

I personally would suggest that as a beginner, you deck yourself out from top to bottom and worry about the "cool" or "chic" look later when you are a better rider and have to worry less about going down. Maybe then you would consider wearing denims.

I can tell you that a BMW textile jacket of some sort would run around $500 and the pants would run around $400.

Riding apparels are meant to fit snug but not tight. Gloves should be snug. Boots should fit like regular boots. Helmet should be tight but not to the point of giving you headache or pinch your cheeks so hard that you can't breath. There should be no gaps around your head.

Motorhelmets.com will sell you with good discount if you were to contact them and tell them that HT sends you. I spend thousands of dollars with them so they give a little extra discount to the people that I send their way. They're very close to me and I know the sales people personally.

But if you were to want to save all the hassles of hunting for bits and pieces of gears, just go to a BMW dealership and the knowledgeable sales people will hook you up. BMW has a line of female gears that's guarantee to fit most women who aren't fat. These sales people can measure you up and consult the charts if they don't have the sizes in stock. And if the gears don't fit, they can exchange for ones that do. Just remember that the blue/white propeller Roundel means that it ain't gonna be cheap. It will be good and it will be right, but it won't be cheap.

It's not ridiculous at all to have a set of basic gear that costs nearly $2000. It sounds a lot but how valuable is your skin? You're one sexy young woman. The last thing that you need is a bunch of nasty scars heaven forbids you get into a crash.

[Amber Lamps]

I'm glad this is the succinct version!!!

[Phenix_Rider]

Originally Posted by TIGGER

I agree,try things for yourself. Some of these guys are so super opinionated,that if you listen to them you'll... 1. only use 1 brand of tires, 2. only buy one size and type of bike, 3. only use one or two brands of helmets, 4. only use one or two brands of gear,etc. In my experience here,and on the old site,they give opinions against gear they've never tried just based on perception. "Icon is squid gear","GSXRs are for squids",etc. I personally own a number of Icon jackets and gloves,I've crashed wearing Icon and it has held up quite well. In fact,my Icon Neo-Daytona held up better than my Dainese did in a similar type crash! My D jacket fell apart at the seams wear they joined different pieces of leather together and that was a $500 jacket. I'd rather see you buy a nylon mesh jacket and wear it all the time vs a heavy leather jacket that you'll be tempted to leave at home on hot days, 'cause you, "aren't going that far", or "you won't be riding that fast". I always wear something wether it's my leather,my textile/leather or my nylon jacket. I suggest you do the same.

Originally Posted by TIGGER

I'm glad this is the succinct version!!!

For once we agree...

FN- very well written

MMaygin- Check out the Alpinestars (A*) Stella Corset jacket. It has a pretty generous cut for chest and hips, and the corset lacing lacing combined with the draw straps and hip zippers make it easy to fine tune.