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What gear to wear for adventure / touring?

7K views 33 replies 29 participants last post by  jnor 
#1 ·
I always wear jeans, tennis shoes and descent Courtech motorcycle jacket with pads.
But now I'm think of doing some longer rides, and I think jeans and tennis shoes are not the best.
I would like to get some comments from more experienced fellows on what type of gear to use, for summer time, to ride like in the highways.
I'm just afraid to burn money buying wrong stuff.
Your suggestion and experience is welcome.

Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
Summer, riding jacket and pants with mesh panels and internal body armour.

Winter, jacket and pants in a suitable warmth and waterproofing for your region (with internal body armour again).

Decent boots and gloves for both summer and winter riding.

So in reality you need two sets of riding gear, for the summer set throw in a light set of rain coat and pants that can go over your gear in case of the odd shower of rain.

Check prices to find the most expensive and the cheapest for both sets, then buy something priced in the mid range of the two extreme prices [that way you will get good value for money].

Mix your brands of pants/jacket/boots/gloves to get the best fit for what you need, that way you get value/quality for what you spend.

I've just bought a pair of Forma boots and they are a cross between motocross and touring boots, comfortable to spend all day in, easy to walk in and will stand a harder fall than normal riding boots.

Also Klim has a good range of pants and jackets to suit different seasons.

And seriously mate.....don't do the jeans and tennis shoes thing, not even to the local shop.

I recently performed first aid when a rider went down wearing a motorcycle jacket, light weight gloves, jeans and tennis shoes.

Grazed knees, grazed foot and ankle [tennis shoes don't often stay on in a crash], grazed hands and a fractured wrist.

Gravel rash is no fun.

Oh, and I've been riding for over 40 years, commuting, day/weekend rides and interstate touring.
I average over 20,000km per year.
 
#18 · (Edited)
The answer to that question would be...one of these.

However, what I actually wear is listed here: Motorcycling the Last Frontier: ATGATT!!! (shameless plug to my blog). I wore Shift Torque jeans for a while, since they were some @#$!! good looking jeans with Kevlar in the seat and knees for additional protection, but Shift seems to have discontinued that line :furious: so I'm back to Levis when I'm commuting around town. If I'm hitting the highway, however, it's full leathers.

One last comment: if I was to do it all over again, I probably would select an ADV-oriented textile suit over the Alpinestar Bat pants and Icon jacket. The leather suits the cafe racer I'm building, but the Wee-Strom...not so much. I'd really like something like this or this and this, but I'm too cheap to spend the money now :mrgreen:
 
#8 · (Edited)
Me too!

But you hardly ever see any discussion of this -- everyone talks about crash protection, "dress for the slide", blah blah blah.

There are significant everyday benefits to gearing up as well. You can ride a hell of a lot further with much less stress and far more comfort wearing good gear.

Here in Indiana (no helmet law), I've gotten sarcastic remarks from the pirates many, many times -- "damn, ain't you hot in all that?" and "that helmet's too heavy -- you'll break your neck!" (Yes, really.)

I usually just assume maximum happy chirpy geek mode and talk about how the helmet is just a lot more comfortable than exposing my visage to windblast, and I can keep on riding when it rains, and how the wind blows right through the mesh gear but I don't get windburned, or how I can open these little vents in my jacket and go from waterproof to vented...

If you talk about crash protection, they just shut off -- they all figure they're such careful and talented riders that they'll never crash, even with a joint and several Budweisers in their system. But talking about comfort, they listen, especially the pirate womenfolk. More than once, I've heard a pirate ol' lady turn to her ol' man and tell him she wants one of those mesh jackets... women do tend to have a lot more sense.
 
#6 ·
Honestly, without this turning into a ATGATT thread - which it's bound to anyway ;)

Heated gear has fundamentally changed my riding. I can ride into the wintertime, through rain, through all sorts of stuff that at last gave me pause. I would recommend the following:

heated and/or waterproof gloves
waterproof boots - get a rough sole, not the smooth sport bike soles. Bates with the vibram soles are great, they're insulated and waterproof.
heated jacket - not vest
waterproof overpants

I really like my tourmaster heated stuff. I find that if I can keep my core/torso warm I can tolerate the rest.

I also like frogg toggs for lightweight waterproofing. Anything down to about 40 degrees I can wear the heated jacket and frogg togg jacket to help with the wind and be just fine.

If you're going to wear armored jacket, just get it oversized so you can fit it over the heated jacket. I concur with the mesh idea, they sure are comfy in the heat. Maybe get a regular sized one for good temps.

I wear one, but I'm under no illusions that it's a magical thing that's going to keep me safe in a wreck. It's going to save me some roadrash if I have a low speed dump, that's about it.

Warm and/or dry wins the race ;)
 
#9 ·
My Olympia Mesh pants/jacket with windproof/waterproof/insulated removable liners works for me year 'round. When I'm in the mid-west or back east I find the humidity unbearable in anything but mesh. Also carry a heated liner and have heated grips.
 
#10 · (Edited)
If you go down at speed in jeans...well, you might as well be wearing Luluemon yoga pants....


Dress for the slide, not for the ride.

There are Kevlar jeans that offer protection and still look like jeans.

An instructor of a class I took described a scene near his house where a rider crashed on railroad tracks that crossed the road at an angle in a curve (on the way home from a tavern). The guy's boot had slipped off and half his foot was ground away. Abrasion resistant boots that cannot slide off are important along with all the other gear.
 
#12 ·
I would like to get some comments from more experienced fellows on what type of gear to use, for summer time, to ride like in the highways.
For summer riding an open mesh jacket with elbow, shoulder and back armor is your best bet, and mesh pants with knee and/or hip armor would finish the ensemble. That's what I wear, anyway. Lightweight rain gear like Frogg Toggs would be nice to carry along in case of summer showers. Rain gear over mesh jacket/pants also extends temperature range in case it turns cool.

Out here where it sometimes gets very hot but is always dry in the summer -- single digit relative humidity some days! -- I often wear an evaporative vest under my mesh jacket, but in midwest humidity it would not work as well and it doesn't get that hot anyway (I grew up near Walbridge so I know the area).

Jeans are the absolute worst for motorcycling -- too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and no crash protection at any time.
 
#14 ·
I have had good luck getting like new riding gear on Craigslist. Cortech jack with zip-in liner and armor, nearly new, $50. Tourmaster Venture pants, waterproof, zip-in liner, armor, still had the tags on $50.

For 30 degree temps (in Ohio we call that spring time), I wear the jacket with liner, scarf, full face helmet, pants (with no liner), all of that over my regular clothes and I am good for a 30-45 minute communte at highway speed.

No heated gear or grips, though grips are on my list as my fingers are the only thing that gets cold. Suzuki hand guards make a huge difference.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Spend the money and get decient gear, try it on for comfort
DS boots with high shin plate
ADV Pants and Jacket with pleanty of vents and armor, wear the liners when it's cold/take them out when it's hot
High end mesh jacket with pads when it's really hot

I wear my ADV gear all the time on the V, and sometimes on my other bikes. If you don't get protective gear now, you will after your first down, assuming you can still ride
 
#16 ·
I'll add my two cents here -- After going down at about 65 mph in a good quality mesh jacket and kevlar jeans, and coming out of the slide with some bruising but no abrasions, I can say that my gear worked very well. My only reservation is that, judging from the bruising on my hip, riding pants with a bit of padding there would be a good idea. Although "muffin hips" don't look very good.....
Riding here in California in summer can involve temperatures from the mid 50s on the coast to up to 110 or so (or higher) in the central valley and desert areas. At the coast, we can go from 90's or 100's to 50's in minutes, so my wife and I wear mesh jackets with a shell we can throw on when it gets cold. We have sweatshirts in our tailbag we can put on if necessary. When its hot, we'll spray our t-shirts with water and, with the mesh jackets, the evaporative cooling keeps the heat tolerable, the idea being to get through it to a cooler climate ASAP. Hope this helps!
 
#17 ·
tennis shoes?!?! spend some time reading about people that go down wearing tennis shoes. i did. i'll walk with a limp for the rest of my life. i'll never be able to run, jump, play the sports i used to enjoy.

go for it! or learn from the mistakes of others--like me :cry:
 
#19 ·
Odds are you will go through a few setups before you find what ultimately works for you.

After spending money on tow different setups for gear (one was a convertable jacket that became mesh) i got myself an Aerostich Radcrafter two piece. I have had this for the last three or four years and have put over 100,000 miles on it wearing it in temperatures from single digit f (-16c) to over 126f (52 c) in Death Valley.

I learned that what I wear underneath the riding suit makes all the difference in the world. Moisture wicking underclothes are extremely important. In very hot conditions I have taken off the pants and worn dragging jeans but at other times have just worn shorts under the Roadcrafter pants. While moving the Roadcrafter Jacket vents so well that if you have a moisture wicking T-shirt on it feels like air conditioning. I generally wear whatever street clothes I would wear when off the bike (appropriate for the temperature) and as it gets colder layer up with fleece (and lately heated jacket and gloves.)

My boots for all conditions are Alpinestar Web Goretex boots. In all conditions except all-day rides in freezing conditions I wear Tilley Travel Dress Socks (recommended to me by Greywolf and I think they are amazing!). In all day cold rides I would put on heavier socks.

..Tom
 
#20 ·
Odds are you will go through a few setups before you find what ultimately works for you.

After spending money on tow different setups for gear (one was a convertable jacket that became mesh) i got myself an Aerostich Radcrafter two piece. I have had this for the last three or four years and have put over 100,000 miles on it wearing it in temperatures from single digit f (-16c) to over 126f (52 c) in Death Valley.

I learned that what I wear underneath the riding suit makes all the difference in the world. Moisture wicking underclothes are extremely important. In very hot conditions I have taken off the pants and worn dragging jeans but at other times have just worn shorts under the Roadcrafter pants. While moving the Roadcrafter Jacket vents so well that if you have a moisture wicking T-shirt on it feels like air conditioning. I generally wear whatever street clothes I would wear when off the bike (appropriate for the temperature) and as it gets colder layer up with fleece (and lately heated jacket and gloves.)

My boots for all conditions are Alpinestar Web Goretex boots. In all conditions except all-day rides in freezing conditions I wear Tilley Travel Dress Socks (recommended to me by Greywolf and I think they are amazing!). In all day cold rides I would put on heavier socks.

..Tom
Ditto on the several set ups. Never heard of those socks. Going to have to try a pair. Guaranteed to boot (pun)
 
#21 ·
After looking at various options I went with First Kilimanjaro Jacket and Pants, TCX Infinity Gore tex Boots, Shoei Neotec Helmet and I recently added Gerbings Heated Jacket liner and T-5 Gloves. The Kilimanjaro Gear has Liners that can be removed, D3O T5 CE Armor, Hypertex™ Waterproof and Breathable outer shell made of 600 denier nylon, able to layer underneath if desired. I like the Klim Gear but for now the Kilimanjaro and Gerbings was about the same cost as the better but not the best Klim. So I after wearing this for a few rides I am satisfied with my decision. Klim has better zippers, pocket flaps, Gore Tex, velcro and Cordura but the cost is much more. They are coming out with a set called Overland that looks very nice for a modest price.
 
#22 ·
You could easily "overdo" the hi-tech gear stuff and still not be any safer than if you wear something else that will do the job. I saw a Klim riding jacket the other day that had a price tag of $1299.95 on it!!!!! :yikes::jawdrop: My $299 FG Kilimanjaro jacket does just as good a job at a fraction of the price of the Klim.

I liked the mesh stuff for hot weather, but that really isn't a factor in Alaska. But I still wear my FG mesh riding pants. I have the option of wearing them with just the mesh outers, or zipping in the water/windproof liner. And they're comfortable.

I agree with wearing boots, not tennis shoes. At the very least, wear a pair of waterproof hiking boots that come up over the ankles. Tennis shoes are a bad idea, IMO.
 
#23 ·
Boots... glove-like fit is very important so they don't come off should you end up off the bike unexpectedly. I'd recommend something from Alpinestar like the Alpha Touring model which is around $170.00, it has a decent sole for traction and wear, it's waterproof, etc.

For pants, you can do jeans if they're kevlar or kevlar lined. Don't go with Draggin' Jeans who created this niche market, since the owner passed away their quality and fit has gone downhill...I live 30 miles from there and have had to try on several pair of the same size to find the right one as they're all "off" a bit. Competition Accessories "Slider" kevlar lined jeans have even more kevlar area and they're $80.00. I'm pretty sure you can even add knee armor.

EDIT: Since you're in Toledo, have you been over to Honda East to see what they have in there that you can try on?
 
#24 ·
Jeans

There are two different Draggin jean companies:
The draggin' jeans (with The apostrophe after the n) are made in the US - not well made.
The other Draggin jeans company are made in Australia- These are very well made with great protection. Slide only- no pads

One of the very best is Hood jeans made in the UK -

I have done a lot of research on this after seeing two accidents this past summer with both riders wearing regular jeans. In .02 seconds denim disintegrates. Not something I care to see again-

Of course none of this matters if you hit a fixed object but I am now going to wear whatever I can to prevent my flesh from being ground to the bone.

I ran upon this link while I was searching reviews on Kevlar jeans and are they worth the money vs just wearing regular jeans. I dont know this guy just thought I would share.

Why wearing jeans on a motorcycle is a really bad idea | Hell for Leather Hell for Leather
 
#25 ·
Just a thought...denim with Bohn armor underneath?

As for trusting Hell for Leather, Motorcyclist had a blurb in one of their 2012 issues -- don't know which one, offhand -- where they found a wrecked Ural abandoned in the California backwoods and a heavily embellished account of the incident at H4L's (IIRC) blog. Journalistic integrity? Not! :)
 
#27 ·
I ran into a couple of guy's on sport Bikes and one had a little spill. They were on the side of the road in a curve and he had hit some loose BB size gravel and went down. He was not hurt and the bike had minimal damage, still rideable. He was wearing a full face helmet, leather jacket, leather gloves, jeans and sneakers. He had a bad gash in his knee, some cuts on his lower legs and his shoes were shredded and a couple of toes were cut pretty bad. Seeing this told me wearing decent riding gear with some abrasion protection is important to me! All we have is time, but we don't know how much of that we got. Ride Safe!
 
#29 ·
I used to wear helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, and jeans. Since mid last summer I switched to wearing overpants every ride, or leather pants. And full sized boots. I don't have one of everything, I have several. I only wear mesh on really hot days, I prefer to wear textile over mesh. Leather, even perforated gets hot, plus it's really heavy, it's still my choice for cool morning and ~85 degree afternoons. I have been extremely pleased with my kilimanjaro jacket. I can ride rain or shine mid 30's (with fleece) up to 75 degrees (hottest it's been since I got it). Just look up 'road rash' on google. It might change your mind on tennis shoes and jeans.

Locking hard luggage is a great thing, you can pack a sweatshirt, regular shoes, etc. in there for when you get off the bike and possibly stuff your riding pants, jacket, helmet and all in there too.
 
#30 ·
I've been wearing armored jackets (two mesh, one leather) for the last five years but have been wearing jeans up to last fall. I now have armored overpants and some body armor that can be worn under jeans for warmer weather. I haven't got much time on either yet to see which I end up using more. Oh, and good boots are a must now too. I am finding myself much more in tune with using the gear regularly these days - over four decades of riding and no on road spills but why press my luck.
 
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