Motorbike Gear

[saxo_man]

I had a run round the house on the bike last night in a helmet I bought from Lidl for £20 about 15 years ago, so definitely need to purchase some new gear before I go out on the road.
I've a budget of £900 to buy everything I need to ride, any recommendations before I head into a few shops next weekend.

 

[WSK]

Infinity - Boucher
Module - Antrim
Crossans - Newry

Module / Crossans having the largest stock out of those 3. £900 will definitely get you the basic gear.

I recently got some Richa stuff and very happy.

 

[Wheelchair]

Infinity in Belfast, or Sportsbikeshop online. A lot of dealerships will usually keep a small range of motorcycle gear too if there are any local to you.

 

[Captain Starlet]

Crossans, sportsbikeshop and megamotorcyclestore would be my recommendation. Infinity isn't bad, but I have had situations where the store is more expensive than their website and I hate complaining. Module want upfront payment before you enter the shop and have a poor attitude, so I just avoid them now,

Ebay can be good too if you know what your after, I got brand new alpinestar leathers half price because the seller bought them then got fat over winter so had to go up a size.

 

[andy9eleven]

Sportsbikeshop have a good returns policy too in my experience. Maybe order two helmets say and return the one that doesn't fit.

 

[Captain Starlet]

Sportsbikeshop have a good returns policy too in my experience. Maybe order two helmets say and return the one that doesn't fit.

Exactly what I do, only downside is the initial outlay.

 

[Gareth]

I've replaced all my gear this year and bought everything locally and most stuff was from Infinity Motorcycles. Bought my helmet and an RST jacket from Hurst, a pair of leather gloves from Millsport when I was up picking up my bike then I bought a Rukka textile suit and Rukka gloves along with some Dainese boots in Infinity.

Infinity will price match any online UK based retailer and they also let you build up credits as you purchase and they convert to cash to spend in store again.

To give you an idea my Rukka suit should have been £1330 and I got it down to around £1200 as it was cheaper elsewhere because of the price match then I got like £40 credit to spend the next purchase. Keeps me going back though which is the problem

 

[saxo_man]

Cos I've no idea on what helmet brand will fit me I'll need to try a few out!

Gloves - leather ok?
Trousers - are the kevlar type jeans ok?

 

[Slimsbikers]

Glove - Leather are grand
Trousers - Jeans are ok in dry weather but textiles are better all year round
Jacket - Again textile better for our weather but you can get away with leather(with rainproof overcoat)

 

[Gareth]

Personally, I'm at the stage of my biking life that textiles are the only way for me. I do still have leathers that I'll fire on the odd time, but decent textiles will cover all bases.

Jacket

I wear this with just regular jeans (I should invest in bike jeans) in regular weather and if it rains than I'll get wet legs, but the jacket is more than enough for a scoot to the shops or a mates house or even olif commuting to work.

https://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/product/rst-frontline-ce-kevlar-mens-textile-jacket/grey-neon

Trousers

Again, I'd look for textile goretex ones with removable liners. Gives the option of hot and cold weather riding.

Gloves

Personally, I go with textile goretex ones again if there's a chance of rain, but warm weather riding I go leather.

Boots

Have to be waterproof ones. There are plenty of styles and colours available, not just plain black.

Helmets

Totally subjective. I've always and only wear Arai. Budget will determine what you buy, but if your budget is £900-1000, any helmet in the £400+ range will give you a lot of options. Only thing to do it try them all on. Arai, Shoei, AGV etc are all top quality.

Textiles come in 2 ways, laminated or drop liner. This is to do with how clothing is waterproof. In a laminated item the waterproof part is as it says, laminated to the outer jacket, a drop liner is a 2 layer waterproof system. You'll get outer jacket that is not waterproof and then the 2nd layer (the dropliner) is where the waterproofing happens. 1 isn't 'better' than the other.

Before I went with the Rukka Comfo-R (drop liner) suit, I was close to buying the RST Commander suit (laminated). I just went for the Rukka suit because it has a 7 year warranty.

 

[Wheelchair]

You could also look at gear like Knox. I have an AA rated Urbane Pro armoured under jacket. I wear that either by itself if it’s really hot, or I can throw either a light or a heavy coat on top depending on the weather conditions. I’ve also a pair of Pando Moro armoured leggings that I can throw a pair of regular trousers on top of, though I would mainly wear my armoured riding jeans as I don’t know if the leggings offer any kind of abrasion resistance.

 

[saxo_man]

Thanks fellas, much appreciated. At least I now have a good starting point.

 

[andy9eleven]

I've found the RST clothing to be well made, robust, and good value for money. Helmet wise, I am very happy with a Scorpion Exo carbon lid that wasn't overly expensive, but very light.

To add, I got some kevlar jeans on sale, but didn't like the overly trendy stone washed effect, so dyed them dark navy with Dylon, and they've been perfect!

 

[Captain Starlet]

I got a pair of these jeans from 24mx recently, I paid £30 on sale and they are brilliant for short, casual rides.

24mx

www.24mx.co.uk

 

[Lee]

I may aswell throw my 2p in too. For a £900 budget, I would be allocating it like this (roughly). £3-400 for a helmet. £100-150 for a good pair of goretex gloves. £200 for a decent textile tacket. £100 for some aramid/Kevlar jeans. Personally for me, a pair of CAT boots or similar are fine.

That's all assuming you're a fair weather rider like me, I'll not usually head out if I think it's going to rain.

But in my experience, definitely buy a decent pair of waterproof breathable gloves rather than summery leather ones.

I have had these for a few years and they're great:

Richa Cold Protect Gore-Tex Gloves - Black

Richa Cold Protect Gore-Tex Gloves - Black from the UK's leading online bike store. Free UK delivery over £25 and easy returns on our range of over 80,000 products.

www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk

Also, I much prefer Shoei to Arai, visor swaps are a lot easier!

 

[saxo_man]

@Lee thanks for that reply. It’s good to know gloves are important and I’ll spend more on them as you suggest.

 

[salster]

the most important piece of safety equipment is a helmet, buy the best one you can afford.

 

[saxo_man]

the most important piece of safety equipment is a helmet, buy the best one you can afford.

The helmets at £300-400 range (many seem to be on ‘sale’ down to that range) - they are going to be at a decent level of safety/meeting the appropriate standards?

 

[Wheelchair]

As long as they meet ECE and/or SHARP safety ratings they will be fine, there will usually be a sticker on the back of the helmet to show which safety standard it meets. There are also DOT and Snell ratings, but to my knowledge they aren’t tested to the same standards as ECE, and a helmet has to pass ECE before it can be given a rating by SHARP.

Biggest thing to consider is how it fits, I’ve an Arai and a Shoei both in the same size, but the Shoei fits the shape of my head better. For a helmet it might be best to call into a shop, wear it for around 10 mins and see if it begins to hurt anywhere. It’ll be cheaper than ordering multiple sizes for different brands and having to return the ones that don’t fit.

 

[chopaholic]

I managed to pick up lightly used RST Tracktech Evo 2 piece leathers for £200 and got a nice new AGV K1 Helmet for around £100.

Personally id shop around for some second hand bargains for leathers, boots, gloves etc and then buy a brand new helmet.

 

[chopaholic]

To give an idea what they are like:

 

[Nicky]

The helmets at £300-400 range (many seem to be on ‘sale’ down to that range) - they are going to be at a decent level of safety/meeting the appropriate standards?

To be honest, a decent HJC at £200 or so would be adequate to get you on the road to see if you’re even going to like the biking. My first mid was a HJC flip front which made things easy when taking the few lessons before the test, and during the test as I didn’t feel the need to take the lid off all the time to converse with the instructor/examiner. I continued to wear it for about a year until I was sure I was going to make the time for the bike and get the use out of everything before opting for a £500 Arai which is coming up for replacement soon.

I’ve a few mates that went all out and spent £1500+ on gear and the helmets will be expired soon (4+ years old) and I’d be surprised if they’ve done 1000 miles between them on the bikes yet. Between not getting the time, not having the confidence to be out on the road due to feeling vulnerable or whatever or maybe realising that the idea of biking was much more impressive than the practice, they’ve wasted the time, effort and money of doing their tests, not to mention the expense of the gear, bikes, insurance etc to just lie there.

The likes of Furygan/Oxford gloves at £40/50 are ample, with a good level of protection. I wear these myself and have got over 20k miles/3 years from a pair. They’re light summer gloves, but I don’t do heat so with the hand guards and heated grips, they’re more than enough even when I’ve been out on the bike at 1 or 2°.

As far as boots go, I personally love the RST Paragon II which is a half height waterproof leather boot for under £100. Can’t beat them at all, and perfectly comfortable even when off the bike and walking long distances.

My current jacket is Richa (with my first jacket being Merlin from Infinity Motorcycles) which was around £150 in a sale at Module Road and Race, and came with arm, shoulder and back protection. It’s not very waterproof, more shower resistant, but it’s light, breathable comfortable. It came with a thermal liner, but that got binned in the shop before I left.

Jeans/textile trousers are going to be down to your own preference. Personally, I just ride in normal denim jeans. I have a pair of textile trousers, but they’re too bulky, too warm and not practical for wearing off the bike.

A run into Module in Antrim or Infinity on Boucher would see you set up, though be prepare to be talked into expensive gear if you don’t go in with a budget in mind.

 

[saxo_man]

To be honest, a decent HJC at £200 or so would be adequate to get you on the road to see if you’re even going to like the biking. My first mid was a HJC flip front which made things easy when taking the few lessons before the test, and during the test as I didn’t feel the need to take the lid off all the time to converse with the instructor/examiner. I continued to wear it for about a year until I was sure I was going to make the time for the bike and get the use out of everything before opting for a £500 Arai which is coming up for replacement soon.

I’ve a few mates that went all out and spent £1500+ on gear and the helmets will be expired soon (4+ years old) and I’d be surprised if they’ve done 1000 miles between them on the bikes yet. Between not getting the time, not having the confidence to be out on the road due to feeling vulnerable or whatever or maybe realising that the idea of biking was much more impressive than the practice, they’ve wasted the time, effort and money of doing their tests, not to mention the expense of the gear, bikes, insurance etc to just lie there.

The likes of Furygan/Oxford gloves at £40/50 are ample, with a good level of protection. I wear these myself and have got over 20k miles/3 years from a pair. They’re light summer gloves, but I don’t do heat so with the hand guards and heated grips, they’re more than enough even when I’ve been out on the bike at 1 or 2°.

As far as boots go, I personally love the RST Paragon II which is a half height waterproof leather boot for under £100. Can’t beat them at all, and perfectly comfortable even when off the bike and walking long distances.

My current jacket is Richa (with my first jacket being Merlin from Infinity Motorcycles) which was around £150 in a sale at Module Road and Race, and came with arm, shoulder and back protection. It’s not very waterproof, more shower resistant, but it’s light, breathable comfortable. It came with a thermal liner, but that got binned in the shop before I left.

Jeans/textile trousers are going to be down to your own preference. Personally, I just ride in normal denim jeans. I have a pair of textile trousers, but they’re too bulky, too warm and not practical for wearing off the bike.

A run into Module in Antrim or Infinity on Boucher would see you set up, though be prepare to be talked into expensive gear if you don’t go in with a budget in mind.

Thanks Nicky for the detailed reply. You’re absolutely right, I see it in my telescope hobby all the time. New guys come in and spend £2-3k on the latest equipment. They haven’t got the experience or taken time to learn with cheaper stuff to see if they like it. In a lot of cases a couple of years later it’s up for sale barely used.
I had a first short run in it this evening, up and down through the gears, etc. Mental concentration required as a complete beginner - watching in front of you, behind you in mirrors, limited vision, working the clutch, using gears, braking!

 

[Nicky]

Thanks Nicky for the detailed reply. You’re absolutely right, I see it in my telescope hobby all the time. New guys come in and spend £2-3k on the latest equipment. They haven’t got the experience or taken time to learn with cheaper stuff to see if they like it. In a lot of cases a couple of years later it’s up for sale barely used.
I had a first short run in it this evening, up and down through the gears, etc. Mental concentration required as a complete beginner - watching in front of you, behind you in mirrors, limited vision, working the clutch, using gears, braking!

It’s literally no harder than driving a car, though you need to be aware of that fact that you’re now little more than an obstacle/not there at all as far as most motorists go.

Keep your wits about you, make eye contact with the driver of every car you encounter at junctions and only do what you feel comfortable doing.

 

[andy9eleven]

I got a pair of these jeans from 24mx recently, I paid £30 on sale and they are brilliant for short, casual rides.

24mx

www.24mx.co.uk

Good to know. I've been eyeing up a pair of their cargo trousers for a while. Figured the extra pockets would be handy.

I've actually found the kevlar lined biking jeans handy whilst doing other outdoor activities in the winter when I've needed something to keep warm!