Lets talk gear

Do you wear it? All the time? What all do you wear? (Helmet, gloves, pants?, boots?)

What do you guys do when you're going somewhere? For instance my work is mainly some side roads and about 15 minutes away. I'm currently wearing a shoei helmet, and field sheer armored jacket. (like a perforated material supposedly %90 the strength of leather) I'm working on getting some nice gloves as well.

My works dress code is jeans and a collared shirt.. I don't think I could get away with wearing full racing boots all day. (dress code and comfort)

Bring a backpack?

I wear all the gear I have all of the time. Regardless of temp or weather. I've rode in as hot as the high 90's and this morning.. High 30's.

 

Here in Michigan I always wear my leather coat, boots, denim and helmet, even in summer. I did however spend the last 25 years in Arizona where I rode in temperatures as high as 122 degrees F. On those days I wore as little as possible despite the danger. Usually shorts, T-shirt, running shoes and no helmet. Otherwise I risked hyperthermia and heat stroke. I don't recommend riding when it's that hot but since I rarely own vehicles with 4 wheels I had no choice.

 

I always wear a full face helmet, armored jacket, boots and gloves. I usually also wear armored pants, but occasionally skip them for an around the block test ride.

I have a leather armor jacket for cold days and a mesh jacket for hot.

The gear saved my bacon a few years ago during a 40mph collision with a car that ran a stop sign.

 

I was in an accident, 50 mph slide, and my boots and pants took the brunt of it. I'd recommend covering every inch of skin you have in gear designed for the abrasion (and tip over impact).

I leave shoes at work. This really works out for me as I can motorcycle, bike, or walk to the metro, and don't want to do any of those in business casual shoes.

I would also suggest rain gear. It's great for when the weather changes, or you failed to look ahead. Or you decided to "chance it" because the weather man kept your bike in the garage the last 10 times that a drop didn't even fall from the sky. Rain gear is cheap, goes OVER your motorcycle gear, and packs away in a surprisingly small pouch.

I currently strap a back pack to the back of my seat, that ALWAYS contains my rain gear, but I'll probably be looking out for a deal on saddlebags soon.

 

Leaving shoes at a work is a GREAT idea. Keep the answers coming!

 

I always wear a full-faced helmet, armored jacket, long pants. I usually wear gloves and boots. I'm in the market for bags of some sort, maybe sissy bar, maybe saddle for extras. Hopefully I can swap out my backpack for something easier to deal with. Oh, and I'm totally open to good rain gear deals.
At work, I keep a full set of clothing, just in case.

 

@ redsix, I bought a backpack/rolling luggage/soft trunk from Kmart for $15.00. Brand name is dickies or starter in some stores. Same thing can be found in motorcycle shops for $100+ dollars. Worth looking into. Fits right over my backrest.

 

full face helmet, going tonight to pick up my new one with the flip down sun visor, leather jacket and boots all the time. Chaps when it gets cold.

 

3/4 helmet & earplugs, leather jacket, gloves, jeans, sometimes hi-top sneekers, but only from mid-November to mid-March.

The rest of the year it's the helmet and maybe gloves -
I hear "tucking and rolling" is better than sliding . . .

 

I wear a full faced helmet, armored jacket, motorcycle gloves, long pants and hiking boots. I expect to get a mesh jacket for the summer if necessary. I am shopping around for motorcycle pants and boots before I go on my first real trip.

When I first started commuting on the XJ, I used a backpack. Its convienent and you can bring it in to work. I got tired of riding with that on though and bought a tail bag and a small tank bag. The tank bag is magnetic, so its real easy to grab and bring in to work. I keep my cell phone, ipod and lunch in it. Also great for sun glasses, so I can put them on when stopped in traffic if need be. The tail bag works for shoes and the laptop when I need those things.

 

That may be true when you have no gear on. Tucking and rolling transforms that sliding motion into one that is circular, meaning that smaller impacts, instead of abrasion, dissapate your kinetic energy. If you are impacting on muscle or fat tissues, that will result in some bruising. If an elbow or knee swings out, you could be shattering joints. This will take some time to heal, and you can lose mobility.

Compared with the option of serious road rash, it might not be a bad option. Your skin is a barrier for your body, missing large parts of it open you up to all kinds of infections...and you end up in the most likely place to pick up infections, A HOSPITAL!

Of course, option 3, having gear that can stand up to abrasion, means you can merrily slide along the road, and as long as you don't hit anyhing stationary, you'll just have to worry about getting new gear. From my experience, an accident can happen so fast, there's not time to THINK "tuck and roll"

 

Same here.

 

Tuck and roll is for vertical falls like parachuting and jumping from high places. It transfers vertical motion to horizontal motion. In a bike crash your motion is already horizontal.

 

Full face helmet Leather jacket boots and long pants(jeans) on real hot days leather jacket will be strapped on the back. I have a small soft trunk that straps to the backrest and holds rain gear water bottle extra oil polishing rag its big enough to lean against on the highway and can be hung off the back if you have to take a passenger

 

Me too. There isn't. Once you're sliding, there's maybe time to fold your arms in but that's about it. Otherwise it's all momentum and instinct, there's no time to think.

ATGATT. All The Gear, All The Time. Armored and/or leather jacket, proper boots, REAL helmet, good gloves and even armored jeans (although my Levis held up well in both of my crashes.)

Anything less is simply foolish. No such thing as a "fender bender" when you're on a bike.

 

ATGATT for me.

I've had the luxury of quite a few crashes (it happens when you race, ride the ragged edge enough and you go over it sometimes), and crashes where I rolled were always worse than when I slid (this might be different on pavement, I dunno, I never crashed on pavement). Getting run over is probably my least favorite option (knobbies hurt), just after hitting trees.

25 years after I stopped racing, I can safely say that clicking wrists, ankles, and knees, along with arthritic shoulders and hips, are a pretty big price to pay for the fun.

 

Sign me up with the ATGATT crowd

Scorpion EXO400 FF helmet
Cortech Fusion Textile Jacket
JR Mesh pants ( sized up and used as overpants)
JR Boots
Full Gauntlet leather gloves

 

Duluth Trading Co. (duluthtrading.com) has pants made out of firehose fabric/material. Hubby has a pair or two. Favored by motorcyclists for the protection against road rash. Pretty comfy I hear. (don't have any myself). A bit pricey but I think they last a bit longer than most jeans do

 

How well do jeans hold up in a crash? From any of you guys that have gone down?

 

knees, about six inches and flat on your back, about 4 feet.
not well