protective gear

ok ok i know there would have been coutless threads on this stuff, but iv searched for over an hour and found bits and pieces all over the place.
so please bear with me

ok, i will b buying my gear in the near future (selling the damn car asap) im gonna start with a jacket and helmet (obviously), but money is quite scarce atm.
So i would be looking for somehting reliable and not tooooo expensive, what would be recomemded? especially from u aussie guys, products may vary accros the sea :)

i want a good helmet, so should i be looking at about $700+ or so?
iv seen jackets for anywhere from $200-800 what would be good prices and brands and so forth?

any info would b awsome, thanks ppl, its a big help, talking to ppl other than salespersons.

PS. sorry if this has been covered already, if it has could someone point me in the right direction of the answer.

thanks again P

you said you want to save mony. but yet you want a 700+ helmet? i have a joe rocket jacket and a hjc helmet that i have "tested" at 70mph and i turned out fine and for both items brand new is about 350.

really?

well when i say save money, i mean im not looking to buy a $2000 helmet and a $1000 jacket.
just something that will protect me well for a good price, but thanks for the reply

Clay is NOT an aussie, and thus does not understand the exchange rate is pretty... not good for AD vs. USD

I've heard really awful things about joe rocket mesh jackets, but I don't know much about their leathers. I will say that the HJC AC-11 helmet is a great helmet for not a ton of money, though. It was redesigned last year, and is SNELL M2000 rated. I don't know much about leathers b/c I have an "offbrand" ladies jacket, which won't do you much good in Oz.

hey pete. i did help lyndon out with this somewhere.

spend what you think your worth. the hjc that Tangie mentioned is a great helmet for the money. around 500 bucks. i'd go for shoei but since this is your first go with something you wont mind dropping

as for jackets, you get what you pay for, go alpinestar if you can afford it.
i wasted alot of money buying "cheap" stuff only to realise my mistakes and upgade soon

yeh thanks guys (and girls)

Tange that helmet keeps popping up in conversations all over the place so im guessing it is worth a look into. thanks
Only would they be available in australia? or would i have to order them through the states or over the net?

as for the jacket ill just have to look around i guess, i got the opinion somewhere that the helmet should cost more than the jacket, is this just me?

the guy im buying the bike off, knows someone who works for Honda, and rekens he can get me good gear for like cost price, ill have to check it out.

thanks P

Pete> im thinking of getting the HJC AC-11 myself at the moment, its cheap and seems to have a decent reputation amongst the riders on here..
The way i figure it ill keep it for my 250cc until i upgrade, the more speed ill be doing the better the helmet ill want...

I wouldnt take much notice of that opinion you were given unless your planning to race superbikes or something, lol ... good jackets are around double the price of the AC-11..

The helmet and jacket ive been looking at:
HJC AC-11 = 398.99 (for plain color)
Alpinestars HERO Jacket = 799.00 (cheapish model)

And i figure i wont go cheap and nasty on a jacket so i can keep it for the length of my riding career (unless i rip it to shreds from numerous crashes), that goes for boots too i suppose. Alpinestars are great for both of these and ive also heard SPIDI boots are good too, [ANYONE WITH OPINIONS ON THESE?]

Also, for pants ive discovered (Many thanks to Blayne) an aussie company [REDMAX] that make denim riding pants, which are supposedly just as tough as the leather options with padding in all the right places too..

check out: http://www.gobike.com.au
And if you ask blayne nicely, he'll have the website for the jeans :)

hope ive been some help dude :D

sweet man thanks for the site, loads of cool stuff

i think ill b gettin the same as u bro, HJC-AC11
but due to funds i was thinking about getting a stagg jacket, the 'stagg sport jacket'

what do u gusy think about it?
i reken the plain black looks heeps cooler than any of the others aswell.

http://www.gobike.com.au/prod3849.htm

i still have my original Dainese jacket that i bought when i started out. i replaced my "cheap" leather pants with dainese and also my first boots.

i wanted alpine star boots but they weren't comfy so i ended up with a runout model of dainese.
lyndon now has my original gloves.
it pays off long term with quality

just got my Redmax jeans and had my first day out with then yesterday.
absolutely awesome. they look like expensive "deconstructed" style trendy jeans but have a full Tarwon lining from belt to just below the knee. they feel thick but still comfy enough to wear day to day. cost was 208 delivered to sydney within 5 days.

as for bux weekend. it wasn't that good for me. drinking from 6am fri to 6pm mon. best man was a wanker and told us one night we weren't allowed into "his house" (a friggen hotel room) while we stunk like cheap hookers. he made the others wash their clothes at 4am. i snapped and told him off and the others cheered. still hungover

I just bought some Alpinestars boots (granted, ladies, but alpinestars nonetheless). Here's the link (not that it will do a dude any good) http://www.newenough.com/product_pictures/a/alpinestars_smx3_boots/black_front.jpg

The toe pucks came in handy riding the pocket bike, but I haven't "popped the cherry" on a REAL road ride yet. School sucks like that.

Clay is NOT an aussie, and thus does not understand the exchange rate is pretty... not good for AD vs. USD

I've heard really awful things about joe rocket mesh jackets, but I don't know much about their leathers. I will say that the HJC AC-11 helmet is a great helmet for not a ton of money, though. It was redesigned last year, and is SNELL M2000 rated. I don't know much about leathers b/c I have an "offbrand" ladies jacket, which won't do you much good in Oz.

I WAS WEARING THE JOE ROCKET MESH JACKET AND IT WORK GREAT FOR ME AT 70MPH. SORRY ABOUT THE US DOLLAR TO THE AD.

no need to shout Clay. i'm sitting right here.he he.

sweet boots tangie. i wish i could fit into some Alpine stars cause my dainese have seen better days.

just took delivery of some redmax jeans and they are SOOOOOO good. totally rate them to any newbie wanting protection at a lesser (not cheap) cost

just to help out the newbie aussies, the bike shop i use will offer you 10% off rrp and deliver to your door free. so the ac11 in graphics is $449, black $360 and metallic silver $387.

also lyndon the hero jacket is old stock and the only place you may get it is in elizabeth street in melbourne at peter someone's store

good site for you to check are
www.mcleodaccessories.com.au
www.monzaimports.com.au
amd my dude www.maw.com.au

thanks man

why would they give us a discount?
and would this include me here in perth :)

cool sites by the way
cheers

not shouting just for got about caps lock

hey pete,

matt at maw.com gives most guys who spend a bit or look like they will a discount but also it makes good business sense. he offers 10% and you go back so he makes more money. better to make 10% profit on heaps of sales than 20% of very few.

he'll do the deal to anywhere in oz.

realistically you should be able to get a good discount anywhere. RRP is just the starting price. shop around and see if you can get a "membership" to a shop

yeh thanks hey

ill have to have a chat with my mate, he seems to think he can get me some really good prices on gear, ill have to just check it all out i supose.

lol lucky its my bday and xmas coming up soon :)
ill mention it to my parents tomorrow,

hey mum...........

hahaha you just gave me an idea too man!!! mines in early november! hehehehe

What's your glove size guys? I'm a bit embarassed myself when I found out the size XL isn't small for my hands. My hands are able to sneak in Large and Medium. I'll be damned if Tangie also wears Medium or Large, hehe :D. I'm about 5' 11" and I think it's odd, my buddies who are shorter prefer the XL. Just wonderin...

Im upgrading my gloves from mesh to leather, what would you generally consider a good deal? I bought Joe Rocket mesh for USD $45.00, but the leather ones start out from $70.00 at the local stores I visited.

Z: I would recommend Technic for a rather inexpensive, nice leather glove. Granted, it might not have carbon fiber knuckles or titanium plates, but I have a padded, leather Technic set of gloves that I think are great.

PS: I'm 5'10" and my gloves are men's medium I think. Maybe large. They are too big, but I needed room for my fingernails. ;) They get too long to fit in snug gloves.

what do you think about these?

http://www.newenough.com/teknic_street_fighter_gloves_page.htm

well um z u no what they say about hand size.... cough, cough

nah, well i have a friend who is like about 5'6" and his hands are freekin huge, so i wouldnt worry to much

Z: The link won't work right for me, but if those are the ones I think they are, they should be fine. :) Oh, and my bad for spelling Teknic wrong. I'm dumb sometimes.

Tangie, if you're able to access the site, then click on Close Out Sales - gloves, it should work. Anyway, thanks.

Pistol Pete - lol, actually it's the width of my hands that perhaps leave a little room in XL or XXL, not the length of the fingers. So I'm assuming you're going by the BS they aired on MTV, in that case, the distance between my thumb and index finger is greater than many people of my height are able to stretch. *wink wink* let a girl determine that.

Ive owned all the helmets damn near. Arai and Suomy are the only way to go. Teknic gloves are awesome for the price. Just as good as Astars and about half the price. And jacket brand isnt as important as what kind of armor they offer. Stay away from dual density foam and stick to GP armor. Youll be thanking yourself in the end.

lol, nah i dont have mtv :( but i think its a pretty commen 'idea' that guys have come up with to freak out certain individuals with small hands.

as for gear i went down and got kitted up, tried on stuff and bargained with the store guy, i ended up with a list.

for about $1,100 or so

KBC VR1 Helmet
AGV Talon jacket
Draggin jeans
Joe rocket gloves
and riding shoes

Did you really pay that much for that? Sorry dude but that is not a good deal.

Did you really pay that much for that? Sorry dude but that is not a good deal.

his talking AUSSIE dollars dude :D

i think us aussies better rememeber to write AUD next to the price of whatever we are talking about...

pete> im not too sure on that being a good deal or not, but wait for blayne to come along, he should know about whats a good deal or not :)

hey Z, just to make you feel better, i just got some Teknic wet weather gloves on a runout sale (289 down to 119AUD) and i had trouble with XXL. they fit in the shop but once i'm on the bike the distance between my index tip and the base of my thumb/index makes them tight.

hey pete, price sound ok but the only thing i like is the jeans. the rest may have to be upgraded sooner than you think. give me a price breakdown for a better idea. jeans should be 180-200rrp. the helmet is a very cheap one and i found it very uncomfortable when i was looking at gear to help out Lyndon. are the shoes, boots or shoes? and the jacket must be unarmoured and of light weight mesh/gortex style.
unfortunately the only way to tell the real value of the product is if/when you go down. if you never go down then your in front but if by chance you do, thats when the good stuff pays off. still very happy that you covered all areas (excuse the pun) of safety

ok first i havent bought it yet, its just a rough list he whipped up 4 me to suit my $1000 budget.
i went in thinking i was gonna spend less than 1000 on only the helmet and the jacket, but ended up with the lot, (ok yes i thik he was a good salesman)

the breakdown is as follows

helmet $300
talon jacket $450
Draggin jeans $200
Joe rocket gloves $175
(cant remember brand name) shoes $145

every item on the list except the jeans he reduced for me. ie the helmet was reduced by $50

They where shoes not boots as well
The jacket seemed good quality, it was leather, with what felt like thick armour for elbows shoulders and the like, also had a 'speed hump' thingo to stop ur helmet moving to much at high speeds. seemed really good, had strips up the inside of the arms and under the armpits to let air in. lets just say i fealt safe wearing it.

i first started looking at hjc helmets tried them on and stuff, and the guy said that the KBC vr1 was basically the excat same thing as the latest hjc, except with denser padding and a cooler colour, it also cost $50 less.

well its just one of many stores about, and im deffinatly not comitted to anything ATM. So ill be trying on more stuff soon aswell.

i dunno what do u guys think?

i have no advice to assist you, i just wanna say that these guys dont care about how your brains look when splattered over the road, they care about making $$$, or getting rid of shitty old stock.. choose wisely and if it means an extra month of saving (i know how much that sucks right about now) then bare with it and save to buy the best (ish), not best by their standards, but by riders who know their stuff :)

hey Z, just to make you feel better, i just got some Teknic wet weather gloves on a runout sale (289 down to 119AUD) and i had trouble with XXL. they fit in the shop but once i'm on the bike the distance between my index tip and the base of my thumb/index makes them tight.

lot of guys wear large gloves, nothing wrong with it. :D

his talking AUSSIE dollars dude :D

Oh okay that makes sense. :biggrin:

just be careful with the helmet material. ie fibreglass, plastic and wotnot.

the jacket seems ok. to give a ball park idea, i picked up a Dainese shower jacket which has full lining, removable sleeves and is a good "every day but not leather jacket" for 385 and then got the armour pack to go in it. granted its not leather but i feel confident it won't fall apart when stressed (i.e i go down). an old friend went down with an R Jays jacket and the stitching ripped open.

get boots, not shoes. ankles are one of the first things to get damaged. even if you go non lace work boots without the elastic side or steel cap for now

gloves may be a bit expensive. check out Lyndons photo gallery for the glove i sent him and they were Dainese at around 140 but no hard armour

ok cheers

the gloves where joe rocket, they where water resistant leather, and where armoured, along the fingures and knuckles, so when i get cut off but some yuppie in a fat beemer, i can happily punch through his windscreen and not feel a thing :)

Also blayne what did u mean about helmet material, what should it be??

im going now to check out some more stuff so ill post the results up soon

not 100% sure of the details but roughly , all helmets that are sold will pass our tests and be legally worn. some pass and others really pass. the plastic ones tend to be cheaper but are heavier and less streamline. that means at 100khr you feel what your wearing. the composite material ones are generally lighter due to having a stronger material and therefore the material can be not as thick. they are also more streamline so as not to be uncomfortable at speed.

different heads for different helmets so you may well be perfectly happy in a HJC as opposed to a Shoei or Arai.
as i said before, you won't know the real value until you drop it. i like my ugly noggin to be in one piece so i spent 800 bucks straight up for my first helmet and didn't get pants or shoes. still haven't "tested" my helmets so i couldn't tell you that its money well spent.

ok got ya i think

atm just doing the rounds with all the dealers and shops in perth.
Once iv tried everything on ill decide what to buy:)

thers just so much!

hahah like a kid in a candy store.. just dont get the rotten candy that will shatter your teeth

(really really really gay metaphor there)

sorry launguage warning




fuk fuk fuk fuckin fuking RAC big fuking shtiy insurance fuking dodgey bastards....

today i have been informed that my loan application has been rejected,so if ill have to find another group that can loan me the money,

grrrrrrr not happy jan!

fuking bastards, reken that my job is not 'steady' enough i need to have been employed for 'at least 6 months'
I have 2 fuking jobs neway! ill b able to pay the 3.5 grand completly off in about 6 weeks!
fuk fuk fuk!

bastards

my apologies im just not too happy right now

man, during my diesel mechanic apprenticeship, i was eligible for a loan after my 3 month apprenticeship trial period... shop around, look at interest rates and pick the best one :) you might even end up saving yourself a few dollars

AWSOME! news ppl i got a loan eventually!
signing the doco's on monday, and getting my hands on the bike sometime (hopefully) this next week, as well as all my gear!

sik mate sik, subwoofer!

hell yeh

about jackets, i was wondering, the saleman at another honda shop suggested that i get like a jacket i can wear out aswell as ride with, like a plain black one.
the drawbacks r that the plain jacket is not padded aswell as the sports ones and has no ventilation in the arms and the like

what would u guys suggest as its comming up to summer, would u go for a sports jacket with the padding and the ventilation and stuff or the painer one that i could wear out as it looks cooler cept less padding and no ventilation

im deffinatly thinking the sports jacket

also is the ventilatin in the jackets usefull, i mean does it make much of a difference?

thanks guys

CONGRATS DUDE! :D

as for the gear questions, i cant help ya.. although i'd rather have sweaty arms and torso than have blood pissing out of them....


as you can probably tell, im big on safety :D

i hate the fake biker jacket that tools wear out to clubs so chicks think they're cool and ride.

go a plain black jacket or minor color that is leather but has removable padding. cue brand snob mucic. this is where alpine star and other 'top' brands are good. my wifes jacket is plain black with the logo on her left tit and a reflective tube horizontally from zipper to zipper just below the armpits and across the back. she wears it out too. i wear my Dainese jackets out whenever. my rain jacket is loke a ski jacket and my leather is multi coloured so it doesn't really go unless the bike comes too.

i sweat like buggery so i leave the jacket on!

ok this is going to look like an ad alpinestars but i was lazy and only downloaded their stuff as an example.

for jackets with some style:
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/171274alloyjkt.jpg
in plain black with pants to go with them
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/171274bat.jpg

or trendier styles
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/171274dyno.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/171274herojkt.jpg

and gloves
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/171274spw.jpg

or wet wheather
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/171274tstunt.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/171274tdyno.jpg

and wet gloves
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/171274spw.jpg

and sports boots
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/171274gps3gtx.jpg

this stuff will last awhile and will be expensive but as an experienced rider i would try to persuade you to buy good stuff first so you don't have to replace soon. it may fit you more comfortably while riding than cheaper stuff and if you think you look cool,then you'll use it more. if you feel like a tool wearing your gear then chances are you'll leave it at home.

helmet, jacket and glove are minimum. helmet $ 400 (hjc ac11) jacket $700 and gloves $200 would be a perfect start. not top dollar but excellent protection for money and long lasting

yeh good call blayne

i like alpinstar cept they are all so bloody expensive!

ok knowing me i will be using the bike a whole lot, so i really would like something that i could wear around the place and not look like a worls biggest tool. something stylish, that more importantly saves my ass when i go down.

most a-stars stuff looks pretty cool actually.... im going for an a-stars jacket.. but i cant figure which one!! ... seeing as its the most $$$ i might ask it to be my bday present :)