I'm an old dawg...almost 48 years old and been riding dirt sice I was 12.....asphault since I was 15...and here's the lowdown on...."my gear experience"
At first?...I was a hood...ran with the local high school street gangs...and we didn't follow racing (other than motocross) and even back then?..we wore our own unwritten version of "Riding Gear"...and the list went sumpt'in like this...
1. A Cool Looking 3/4 Helmet (cause fullfaced hadn't been thought of yet) "BELL" seems to ring a bell for some reason. LOL! wiiiiittth.... A Dark Smoke (for day) or Yellow Tint (for night) "Full Face Wrap Around Visor"....or carrera goggles were acceptable if you were out for a wild one with the boys. LOL!
2. A Jean Jacket (a vest if you were real tough....a general symbol of "extreme confidence" )
3. Black Leather Combat or Work Boots (combat prefered)
4. Welding Gloves (not the heavy thick kind...only the newbs would buy them...they were to stiff...the thin supple high quality kind)
5. And "Brush Pants" if ya had'em....(w/ nice heavy double thinkness knees..the thicker the better)
Was it "look the part"?...back then?..yep..but still only in small part as we all knew all to well of the dangers that lurked in our silly azz and foolish teenage minds...as we boarded our two wheeled death machines....out on a ride...with all the exhileration of never knowing what the rides end outcome might bring.....or where it might end...till ya got there...much like life! LOL!
and that was "1974"
Now...Flash forward 30 years..to present date....and tell me...
what has changed?
Helmet...
Jacket...
Boots...
Gloves..
and...uhem...brush pants (if ya got'em).....
now...did I blow hundreds of my hard earned to look the part?...absolutely not...other than...it's just so cool to NOT be the fool. LOL!
Because if it hadn't been for my gear conscious savy self?...I'd of never made it too "47 Year Old d Squid" status. LOL!
Now here's the inbetween years run down...
For Street Riding?...Early leathers suxed....and 30 years later?...they still sux...as in waaay to stiff causing a huge loss of rider mobility (unless ya spring for the light weight, ultra high-end, $2K Kushitani Kangeroo outfits)....I had one of First Gears Leather/Tex Jackets w/ thermal liner about 6-7 years ago and loved the jacket but even that was excessively hot in the summer so as soon as they hit the market?...I bought The First Mesh Jacket Out There...a Joe Rocket "Pheonix" Jacket...and since I rode to work in a greasy machine shop?..and to keep my first gear and pheonix jacket looking nice?..about 6 years ago I also bought a Tourmaster "Cortech Sport Jacket"....one of the first "textile" jackets..waterproof cordura with vents and liner and a huge cargo pocket across the lower back area where I stored my $30 tourmaster rain pants (snuggly rolled up)...it was my "Work Rig"...and I still to this day wear that rig to work on my Busa....but about 3-4 years ago when I started gett'in perty dang good at this sportbike riding thing and running with some seriously experienced and fast friends? ( brought together via internet ) I decided it was finally time to get some full leathers...so I went with 2pc Kob'e Dragon Breeze Full Perfed Leathers..some serious gear...and what is now imho?..too serious...for the street anyways...and...even w/ full perfed and keprotec stretch panels?....I found them far to confining, heavy and still...WAAAY TOO FREAKING HOT!!!....air just doesn't flow through even the best perfed leathers anywhere's near the way it does on even the most poorly designed mesh materials...but....you still can't beat it for abrasion resistance...but for the street?..YOU SIMPLY DON'T NEED LEATHER EVERYWHERE!...and that's the beauty of today current crop of Leather/MeshTex Riding Gear w/ Dual Stage Liners (Stage 1: Waterproof Windbreaker/Stage 2: Thermal Liner) Such as my latest "Cortech HRX" outfit above.
With these?..You get all the manuverability and high windflow of a mesh jacket with most (if not all) of the abrasion protection of full leathers with an integral rain suit and thermal liner...wiiiithhhhh...removable for washing CE Approved multi density foam Hard Armor!!!
And for the road going sport or sport tour rider?...a lot has changed in 30 years...and...waaaaaaaay for the better.
Now...on a further thought?..be careful and stay far far away from any jackets with a "Neck Roll" (large foam padded rear collar) as it seems the Jacket and Helmet industries haven't exactly been holding hands with each other and staying on top of the aggressive ergonomic postions of todays sportbikes..and a large neck roll WILL interfer with the rear underside of most of the helmets on todays market..placing just a slight neck strain on the rider to keep his head up properly and looking forward but in just over a few miles of riding?..that "slight pressure" begins taking it's toll...as most riders at this point seem to want to not believe or admit that they just spent a bundle on a suxy rig as they force themselves to "Fight The Feeling" as they remain in financially based denial...after blowing hundreds on their new lid and jacket that simply don't work well together....so....I repeat..stay far away from jackets with large neck rolls.
Hope that helps and L8R, Bill.
<!--EDIT|JINKSTER
Reason for Edit: None given...|1144468771 -->
At first?...I was a hood...ran with the local high school street gangs...and we didn't follow racing (other than motocross) and even back then?..we wore our own unwritten version of "Riding Gear"...and the list went sumpt'in like this...
1. A Cool Looking 3/4 Helmet (cause fullfaced hadn't been thought of yet) "BELL" seems to ring a bell for some reason. LOL! wiiiiittth.... A Dark Smoke (for day) or Yellow Tint (for night) "Full Face Wrap Around Visor"....or carrera goggles were acceptable if you were out for a wild one with the boys. LOL!
2. A Jean Jacket (a vest if you were real tough....a general symbol of "extreme confidence" )
3. Black Leather Combat or Work Boots (combat prefered)
4. Welding Gloves (not the heavy thick kind...only the newbs would buy them...they were to stiff...the thin supple high quality kind)
5. And "Brush Pants" if ya had'em....(w/ nice heavy double thinkness knees..the thicker the better)
Was it "look the part"?...back then?..yep..but still only in small part as we all knew all to well of the dangers that lurked in our silly azz and foolish teenage minds...as we boarded our two wheeled death machines....out on a ride...with all the exhileration of never knowing what the rides end outcome might bring.....or where it might end...till ya got there...much like life! LOL!
and that was "1974"
Now...Flash forward 30 years..to present date....and tell me...
what has changed?
Helmet...
Jacket...
Boots...
Gloves..
and...uhem...brush pants (if ya got'em).....
now...did I blow hundreds of my hard earned to look the part?...absolutely not...other than...it's just so cool to NOT be the fool. LOL!
Because if it hadn't been for my gear conscious savy self?...I'd of never made it too "47 Year Old d Squid" status. LOL!
Now here's the inbetween years run down...
For Street Riding?...Early leathers suxed....and 30 years later?...they still sux...as in waaay to stiff causing a huge loss of rider mobility (unless ya spring for the light weight, ultra high-end, $2K Kushitani Kangeroo outfits)....I had one of First Gears Leather/Tex Jackets w/ thermal liner about 6-7 years ago and loved the jacket but even that was excessively hot in the summer so as soon as they hit the market?...I bought The First Mesh Jacket Out There...a Joe Rocket "Pheonix" Jacket...and since I rode to work in a greasy machine shop?..and to keep my first gear and pheonix jacket looking nice?..about 6 years ago I also bought a Tourmaster "Cortech Sport Jacket"....one of the first "textile" jackets..waterproof cordura with vents and liner and a huge cargo pocket across the lower back area where I stored my $30 tourmaster rain pants (snuggly rolled up)...it was my "Work Rig"...and I still to this day wear that rig to work on my Busa....but about 3-4 years ago when I started gett'in perty dang good at this sportbike riding thing and running with some seriously experienced and fast friends? ( brought together via internet ) I decided it was finally time to get some full leathers...so I went with 2pc Kob'e Dragon Breeze Full Perfed Leathers..some serious gear...and what is now imho?..too serious...for the street anyways...and...even w/ full perfed and keprotec stretch panels?....I found them far to confining, heavy and still...WAAAY TOO FREAKING HOT!!!....air just doesn't flow through even the best perfed leathers anywhere's near the way it does on even the most poorly designed mesh materials...but....you still can't beat it for abrasion resistance...but for the street?..YOU SIMPLY DON'T NEED LEATHER EVERYWHERE!...and that's the beauty of today current crop of Leather/MeshTex Riding Gear w/ Dual Stage Liners (Stage 1: Waterproof Windbreaker/Stage 2: Thermal Liner) Such as my latest "Cortech HRX" outfit above.
With these?..You get all the manuverability and high windflow of a mesh jacket with most (if not all) of the abrasion protection of full leathers with an integral rain suit and thermal liner...wiiiithhhhh...removable for washing CE Approved multi density foam Hard Armor!!!
And for the road going sport or sport tour rider?...a lot has changed in 30 years...and...waaaaaaaay for the better.
Now...on a further thought?..be careful and stay far far away from any jackets with a "Neck Roll" (large foam padded rear collar) as it seems the Jacket and Helmet industries haven't exactly been holding hands with each other and staying on top of the aggressive ergonomic postions of todays sportbikes..and a large neck roll WILL interfer with the rear underside of most of the helmets on todays market..placing just a slight neck strain on the rider to keep his head up properly and looking forward but in just over a few miles of riding?..that "slight pressure" begins taking it's toll...as most riders at this point seem to want to not believe or admit that they just spent a bundle on a suxy rig as they force themselves to "Fight The Feeling" as they remain in financially based denial...after blowing hundreds on their new lid and jacket that simply don't work well together....so....I repeat..stay far away from jackets with large neck rolls.
Hope that helps and L8R, Bill.
<!--EDIT|JINKSTER
Reason for Edit: None given...|1144468771 -->
