Just bought a bike, now I need a jacket and helmet

Hi all,


Last friday I bought an '82 XJ550 off my dad's buddy with about 10k miles on it--shiny but dusty. It's been sitting, covered in a garage for 10 years so I plan to do the carbs and some other stuff to get it running (safely), which is how I found this forum!

My question is, this is my first street bike, so I'll need to buy a leather jacket and a full face helmet or two. Does anyone have any suggestions for decent, low-budget bikerwear? I'm in Palatine, IL, so not too far from Chicago. Also, I'm new to the area.

For the jacket I'm thinking between $100 and 150, but I'd go as high as $200 if it really struck my fancy. Same price on the helmet; if I can get a jacket, helmet, and gloves for $300, that would be sweet. Buying used is definitely an option if I can find stuff that fits and is priced right; I just don't know where to find such things.

It looks like I'll have to put at least $400 and some time into the tires, carbs, carb boots, and front brake, and probably $100 into registration and insurance. I got the bike for $500...deal or no?

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also, the carb rebuild FAQ's will DEFINITELY come in handy!

-Rick

 

If you are just looking for some of this stuff cheap then you may want to start out looking at a pawn shop for a jacket. My girlfriend picked up one here for $50 that she has seen online for almost $100 more. It dose not have the armor built in but it dose have triple patches on the shoulders, elbows and along the back. As for the helmet and gloves..... The Wal-Mart here has Bell helmets for like $70 - $80 for the full face ones as well as gloves. I would however poke around a bit though. I picked up a Fulmer helmet for $110 and a set of Castle armored sumer riding gloves for $35 from the local Yamaha shop.

 

What I would suggest is look up and find all "very small" used bike parts and apparel shops, they will also usually sell new leather and helmets and stuff also. But they will give you a much better price then large dealerships and shops. They are more in need of your business and will give you a better deal. Ask at a big dealership for a discount, you might as well offer to shoot yourself in the foot for their entertainment.

After awhile you'll have gathered a collective of small shops that you will continue to do business with like I have. I've also been to some that were shit heads and they don't get my business.

I picked up my Shoei which was a brand new, but a discontinued model
"oh yea these little shops will have a lot of that stuff too" for $175. and it was like a $350. + helmet retail. Same story at the same place for my leather jacket, gloves etc etc.

 

http://www.jafrum.com

I bought 2 Helmets and a pair of Leather Gloves here. Cheapest prices anywhere and extremely quick turnaround on orders. I just ordered something this morning, and I got the tracking number less than an hour later.

They sell Jackets. I'm not sure if I would get one online though as I would want to try it on first, but thats my preference.

They have a 1 year money back guarantee, a 2 year warranty on all their stuff, a 115% Low price guarantee, and Free size exchanges. It's pretty tough to go wrong with these guys.

 

You also want to check out these guys:

NewEnough.com

They carry all the big names, usually last year's line, at big discounted prices. I've known a few people who've bought from them, and everyone says service has been fantastic, and the products are great.

Note: their site is down for some emergency maintenance, but save the link 'cuz you'll like it!

 

Wow...I just checked out Jafrum and they look very very affordable! Thanks for the link Gremlin!

Altus, thank you for the link to New Enough; actually a guy I work with told me about that at lunch. He also suggested that I go to a large local shop to try stuff on to figure out what fits, then buy online...not sure I'm willing to do that.

I know there was a lot in my original post; you think I got a decent deal or no?

-Rick

 

It happens more often than you would think. Thats how I found my correct helmet size. There's nothing immoral about IMHO.

I'd say yeah. It sounds to be in much better shape than the one I bought for $350, and I've put about $500 in parts into it to get it to a drivable state.

It's value is all in what it means to you.

You wont be able to find any new carbs, and the chance that you find used ones in good shape are slim. I'd start with re-building the carbs before you look for alternatives. There are hundreds of threads in this very forums on how to do so.

The carb boots can be found on e-bay, or new ones I believe can be had for around $100. I've also heard of people using RTV sealant and innertube rubber to repair old ones to practically new again.

Brake pads aren't hard to find. If you need the whole caliper,etc. check the "for sale" section, or ebay.

Welcome to the site, and congrats on the great purchase.

P.S. It's required that you post pics of your new bike...

P.P.S. Wait a minute, I haven't posted pics yet...

 

Ha! Yeah, I figure at the bare minimum it needs a thorough carb cleaning and rebuild. I've never done it before but feel pretty confident with the FAQ's and my dad's level of experience. There are two sets of carbs on ebay that both need cleaning, and there are two sets of boots on ebay for about the same money as buying from an online shop. Mine really shouldn't be too bad aside from 10 years of stagnant gas.

Bearing in mind that I haven't seen the bike in good light yet, and I've never been inside a carb before:

1) I'll try rebuilding the carbs without a kit. Float bowl gaskets are easy to make. Does anyone here think a carb kit is worth $17/apiece plus shipping? I'd like to know what you all think.

2) As for the boots, I'd like to check them for leaks by covering the carb end with a steel plate and applying vacuum to the synch port with a mity vac and looking for leakdown. My only concern there is that the intake valves might leak a bit without having been started for 10 years. Annnnd I just now realized to do so I'll have to make a YICS disable tool. If leaks are found I'll try to repair before replacing.

3) The tires have minor checking from dry rot...nothing I'm too concerned about for short rides but definitely something I want to take care of before going very fast or for a long time. Can anyone recommend a good front and rear tire for my bike? Tubes or tubeless? I'd like to try changing the tires myself and have a shop balance them.

4) For the front brake, at this point I'm assuming that it just needs a flush and bleed. If that doesn't work I'll take a look at master/caliper rebuild kits. I didn't take a good look at the rubber line when I went to buy the bike, and I still haven't gone back to pick it up yet. My dad may do that this week if the weather cooperates (bike is in Detroit, parents are in Ann Arbor, I'm near Chicago).

Next time I see it I'll take some pics The back story is a long one...but here goes: Back in the mid-80's, when I was in early grade school, our next door neighbor had this bike. He was the second owner and then sold it to my dad's buddy at work (For his wife. To ride, not in exchange for). She rode it a handful of times and it was last registered in '97. They decided to sell it and he took my offer of $500. I should have offered $400

-Rick

 

Heh, when the P.O. of my bike put the listing up on Craigs List, he was asking $450. I was pretty quick to respond, and I went over to see it with $450 in hand. He said "Hell if you really want it, I'll give it to ya for $350." I was pretty quick to throw the money at him at that point.

I paid $22/piece for the carb rebuild kits. Sad part is, that didn't include any replacement jets. I'd check online before you spend $17 a piece. Thats the one thing I really wish I did my homework on before I bought.

 

I got mine from old bike barn for $12 plus shipping. No new jets. Just the float needle, seat and gasket. It's really the float needle you're paying for. Not hard work. I made it through for the first time.

 

denniskirk.com has an outlet store as part of their online shop. I got my M2R 600 helmet there for about $30. This is a discontinued model but a good quality one. Check them out and see what they have. You can go to motorcyclegeareview.com to get reviews on jackets gloves and helmets. For gloves and Jackets I would try jafrum.com

 

Wow, this is all great information! Thanks for the help, guys. The weekend of the 22nd I'll go home and be able to pull the carbs. Once they're off and apart I can see what I'm really up against here. Who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky and it will fire right up with just fresh gas....riiiiggghhht!

-Rick

 

yeah I got a discontinued Icon helmet from http://www.ironpony.com for $50.

Great helmet and fully DOT approved and all that stuff.

 

There is no shame in trying on equipment at one shop, then buying online or at another shop. I do it all the time. Got a shop right down the street from me. They happen to be the only one in the county, and it is reflected in their prices. I shop there, and buy either online or at a place about 40 miles away that is worth the drive for their customer service and pricing.

 

You might also consider textile jackets. My Frank Miller is in the $150-$200 range (I think...it was a christmas present) and it has full CE protection at the shoulders and elbows, a pad down my spine, vents and a removeable liner. It works awesome for me and I feel safe in it although I haven't had to use it yet (knock on wood).

Oh yeah, and I'm partial to KBC helmets. I got a TK-8 which has full DOT and Snell approval, super easy to swap lenses and only cost about $100. Probably even cheaper on ebay or now that theyve been out for a couple years. I have heard TK-9's are a helmet to avoid though, that was 2 years ago though so I can't remember why just thought I'd mention it.

 

Rick, if you don't mind a bit of a drive, you might check out the Wilson's Leather outlets in Huntley, IL or Kenosha, WI... They're having a 50% off sale right now (that's 50% off the outlet prices), not sure how long it'll go...

Most of the jackets they sell are fashion-weight (thin leather); I wouldn't want to trust my skin to 'em. They do have some heavy-weight jackets, though; I just picked up a riding-weight jacket there today for $70... (The price when it was in the regular store was $378.) And that was for a "Big & Tall", too...

 

This Saturday I went with a couple buddies to Chicago Cycle and tried on enough helmets to make my temples feel sunburned. The one that felt the best was the Arai Quantum 2, to the tune of $475. Quite a nice helmet, but way out of my price range.

The other one that felt decent was the HJC CL-SP for $180. I've found it online for $120, and I think I can get that without shipping costs. There's another one by HJC I'd like to try on, the AC-12. That one I've found online for $160.

One of my buddies recommended I try on some Scorpion helmets. He's been happy with his, but as he said it comes down to what fits 1st, and price 2nd.

Looking for jackets was hopeless. The clearance rack stuff either didn't fit, or wasn't *that* cheap, or had ugly nasty logos all over them. The full price stuff didn't fit all that great, and was super expensive to boot. I'll have to try on some nylon jackets since I only tried leather this weekend.

Thanks again for all the input, guys!

-Rick

 

I would be leery of exclusively nylon, make sure it has a decent liner (cotton is my preferrence). God forbid you go for a slide and the nylon melts to your skin, know what I mean? Make sure you layer up if you go with nylon.

 

Try Cycyle Gear. stores everywhere and online as well. They have a lot of store specials all the time. Bought a $250 dollar jacket yesterday off the clearance rack for $79. I've seen helmets for as little as $30.

 

I uploaded some photos of my bike to My album. I'm still bummed about the tank but the rest of the bike is near perfect, and an eBay replacement tank coming!