[Jason C.]

Its been a while since there has been a post in this thread so...wow safety gear is expensive. Thanks to a lot of post on this forum I just dropped a little under a grand on a Gforce helmet, Armored fabric Jacket (speed and strength), Bohn Adventure armored pants, gloves, boots, and for the bike, front and rear axle sliders, case cover, and frame sliders (kit from T-rex).

Question for you guys is what am I missing? The dealer sold me a 95 dollar helmet which in retrospect seems like something I should have spent more money on. Is kevlar necessary over the armored pants?

I will probably switch out the tires and add SS brake lines as my riding improves.

Cheers

 

[Kojiiro]

Depends on what you are doing. When I commute to work, I wear my normal helmet, gloves, leather jacket (textile is permanently in the closet now) and kevlar reinforced padded jeans. When going to the canyons or the racetrack, its full leather.

Does it need to be kevalr? I have been down on one pair of Kevlar jeans and most of the impact was on the knee. The padding definitely helps. The kevlar seems like it helped keep the hole to a minimum (hole was about the size of a quarter).

I would invest in a cheap reflective riding vest for prolonged night rides if I were you. Everyone seems to want an exhaust to "be noticed" more, but wont spend $30 on a reflective vest, let alone get caught wearing it. Some jackets have reflective piping/stitching/material, and I guess that counts too. A vest really makes you bright as **** at night though.

 

[torrid_pace]

same as kojiiro (textile armored dainese pants instead) with the addition to a back protector whenever I don the full leathers

 

[Jen]

I ride in race leather pants, an A* jacket race leather jacket, and race boots, and a Shoei ff helmet along with good gloves. That seems to be the best you can do.

If you are going to ride in jeans, the Bohn stuff is a start. I have those too, and also one of those shirts with the built in armor if I wear my motorcycle jacket.

 

[vercify]

Good gear doesn't have to break the bank if you keep your eyes out for good deals. I got almost all my gear at a killer price with the exception of gloves, which I didn't want to skimp on and couldn't find on sale for the versions I wanted. I wear standard ankle covering leather boots the I already had and jeans, so I didn't spend any money on specific gear for that. Even then, you can get decent riding boots and pants for ~$100 each.

AXO Byway Leather Jacket w/ Armor Inserts (new): $130
Bell RS-1 Helmet w/ Smoked Visor (like new): $100
A* Celer Gloves (new): $100

eBay and Craigslist are your friend when you are hunting for steals on gear!

 

[Jay Joe]

Get kevlar pants to go over the armor if you can stand wearing both. Ideally you would want textile or leather pants that has hip and knee armor already in them because wearing kevlar pants over bohn armor might feel a bit constricting.

The bohn armor will do its job for impact damage, but abrasion damage is a huge ***** and you can deglove or cause a gaping hole your leg skin if you slide too much and it shreds through. The bohn armor is great for the initial moment you hit the ground, but in most cases after that, its all abrasion.

 

[HarisonH]

For helmets, you are looking at the balance between crash protection, comfort and price. Do plenty of research and actually try on helmets before buying one. I have two myself at the moment, a THH TS-39 (AU$110~) and a Shark Vision-R S2 (AU$430~). My THH although a third the price of the Shark helmet does not afford a third the protection, it actually rates quite well for its price and the reason I chose it was because the rigid inner shell actually fit whereas other similarly priced helmets pinched at certain points. I chose my Shark Vision-R because it had better crash protection, much better wind and weather protection and most importantly a very wide and tall visor with integrated flip-down sun visor on the inside. Although this website is for Australian-Standard helmets the results are valid nontheless. http://www.crash.org.au/

The rest of your gear is going to focus on a mix of impact and abrasion protection. A full-leather suit (One, or two-piece) will afford the best abrasion resistance, and with appropriate impact pads excellent impact protection. But; it can get quite hot in one and they are fairly cost-prohibitive. A leather jacket is in my opinion a must, because you can find jackets that are vented and lighter than race-spec suits so they arent as hot or expensive but will still give you plenty of protection, and you can always wear a thorax/back protector underneath one if you want that extra protection too.

Kevlar jeans are amazing, theyre a nice balance between comfort and protection and dont actually look half bad. Only downside is that they require impact protection inserts or you can do what I do and wear kneeguards underneath.

Gloves are mostly the same, although there are a lot of variants with things like gauntleted cuffs, knuckle pads, mesh panels, padding etc etc. Youll find that apart from the impact protection all youll need is abrasion resistance on the palms of your gloves since thats where youll be using instinct to break a fall or slide.

Boots are mostly the same, although having a waterproof set of boots is a nice bonus if you do a lot of commuting and dont want to spend money on two pairs for wet and dry riding. Honestly, the boots I have dont have any vents at all and are completely weatherproof and I dont have any issues at all with them.

Here is what I use;
http://www.rjays.com.au/home/products/leathers-sprint-jacket.html#
http://www.dragginjeans.net/clothing/mens/jeans/mens-next-gen-detail.html
http://www.rjays.com.au/home/products/boots-urbanboots.html
http://www.rjays.com.au/home/products/gloves-jetstream-III.html
http://www.dainese.com/we_en/knee-v-e1-41019.html

And for wet weather riding
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DriRider...hash=item1ea7899e5c:m:mC2-QjtyXj0Sn6ipXJ1OhgA
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DRIRIDER...hash=item23570ea243:m:mGYRkcRbWMXFvIYrcS2uF9w
http://www.rjays.com.au/home/products/gloves-all-seasons-III.html

 

[SofaCruiser]

All I need is sun protection (sun blocker factor 30) and sunglasses... - well, and a helmet of course due to legal requirements but 30€ does it... - in summer, on normal back-country roads with little to no traffic...

 

[airhead83]

All I need is sun protection (sun blocker factor 30) and sunglasses... - well, and a helmet of course due to legal requirements but 30€ does it... - in summer, on normal back-country roads with little to no traffic...

Geez, that would be Heaven. I don't live in a terribly congested area, but after most rides, I could swear I had a large neon target emblazed across the back of my jacket. Fools and cellphones in almost every automobile.

 

[Milc]

If you haven't already, upgrading your back and adding chest armor is nice upgrade.

 

[airhead83]

Nice and informative thread. Thanks for starting it.

Someone else may have mentioned this, but if not, EARPLUGS. Even cheap disposable ones are better than none at all. Ear protection, whether the bike is in stock exhaust or not, should help cut out a large degree of wind noise without bothering your ability to hear what's needed to ride safe. IMO, even the best and quietest helmets don't do a good enough job without additional ear protection. Just a thought. :nerd:

 

[Kain]

Good Info