Motorcycle clothing/equipment for RTW trip
 

Hi guys,

I'm currently planning a RTW trip, which will hopefully culminate in a departure date in late July. My girlfriend and I are currently looking into the best equipement to buy.

The first thing we need is clothing. My head is swimming after reading so many different articles about the various merits of each brand, so really wanted the advice of people who have been there and road tested the kit.

In my local motorbike shop, they stock Wolf and Furygan. I quite like the look of the Wolf suite, and the prices aren't bad at around 250-300 quid for a jacket. I also like the look of the BMW/Rukka kit, but not so much the price tags. Aerostitch is a no go as I'm based in the UK and would want to try the gear first. I've also been looking at Rev It, Held and Alpinestars online which seem to have some reasonably priced stuff.

Helmet wise I've been considering an HJC Flip Up helmet, as I've had one before and quite liked it. I'm open to consider other brands though.

I haven't even looked into gloves and boots yet!

The list of kit we need goes on and on - communicators, camping gear etc, which I will research in more detail over the coming weeks.

Apologies for making this thread so expansive, but any recommendations on your favourite pieces of kit would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Joel

Held looks like a good compromise in quality/price compared to rukka. Got a couple of pairs of gloves from them, my newest goretex pair I especially like.

If your after a flip helmet have a look at the shark evoline 3. Got some good reviews and can be worn with then chin bar open unlike most flip fronts.

Thanks retryrider,

Funnily enough, my girlfriend and I were just out trying on the Shark Evoline helmet and we both really liked it!

I love the fact that you can keep the visor down - seems like a very effective dual helmet.

Thanks for the info!

Joel

My wife just bought the revit Ventura jacket, and it is really nice. Not goretex, but a seperate winter liner and waterproof liner. Not badly priced either, Euro 260.

I ride with Klim Traverse pants, with knee and hip pads. Absolutely love them and 100% waterproof. I also us Sidi adventure boots, also worth the extra money

My wife rides with alpinestar tech 3. Not waterproof, but she wants the protection. She uses plastic bags to keep her feet dry if it rains.

We both use richa magma gloves. Again very happy with these. Not waterproof either, but we van live with it. Comfortable glove and good for hot weather. Also not too bad in cold, we just came through northern Europe, riding in about 10 deg and it was ok.

Helmets, I use arai viper gt. Very comfortable for my shape of head. A little bit noisy, but nothing to worry me. My wife uses shoei xr1000 and really likes it. Also very comfortable.

Sent from my HTC J Z321e using Tapatalk 2

You may want to decide where most of your riding will be before deciding on gear.
Apart from that, what off-bike activities will you be doing, what's your riding style / speed / hours per day and so on, and what's your comfort level with the protection / comfort / utility trade off?

For example, I wouldn't dream of using an Aerosmith Roadcrafter in the tropics.

Some thoughts / IMHOs: in general I detest waterproof jacket liners as that means the outer shell eventually gets saturated, which isn't good for cold protection and takes days to dry.

For the tropics, mesh gear works well, I prefer the simpler stuff with no liners, and use backpacking shells for rain. Along with a performance fleece jacket / midlayer, the shell and mesh jacket can provide quite good cold weather protection.
I prefer layering with the best available gear to the all in one riding suits. The individual layers can be used off the bike as well.

Some ride in motocross boots, I find them terribly uncomfortable to walk in. For Se Asia and it's low speeds, I find hiking boots to work fine.

Apart from mesh gear, I also use a motocross style compression jacket and leg / knee protectors.

Sent from my Android chinaphone, please excuse the spelling

[QUOTE=tigershel;425405]Y
For example, I wouldn't dream of using an Aerosmith Roadcrafter in the tropics.

Does the "Aerosmith" roadcrafter come with tassles, sequins and cut off arms? LOL

Hi,

Dont forget that the way you look will have a big influence on the way people treat you not only at boarders. If you look like you have come directly from mars, people will treat you like money on legs.
Also in third world countrys the roads are very bad so you dont expect to ride very fast. Then you also dont need all the protection stuff.
I went around africa yust wearing normal jeans and a old army jacked so i did not look more fancy then the local people who then were amazingly friendly to me:

http://afrikamotorrad.de/?report=en_transafrika

While riding around Southamerica i had a nice waterproof motorbike jacked combined with a very light plastic trowses over my jeans. The jacked was nice to have high up at 5000 meters in the rain/snow but too hot to ride wih in Peru, Argentina and Brasil so most of the time it was straped on the bag. To not geting sunburned i was wearing a long sleve shirt like the locals.

Travel save, Tobi

I agree with some of the earlier postings..... keep your gear low profile in looks and fancy logos and don't go with goretex liners.....far better to slip on a waterproof overjacket and trousers. Walking ones pack up smaller than most biker ones. Ditto jacket liners, better to go for a fleece or even better something like Berhaus's Ignite jacket which packs very small, works well as a warm liner and can be worn as an off bike jacket.
Whatever helmet you choose, make sure it has good ventilation as you will be needing it!

[QUOTE=realmc26;425411]Blame my phone. Auto spelling/completion works great...

Sometimes... :-)

Actually, those mods would probably make the Stich a lot more functional. The sequins would make it more visible, especially at night, and the cut off arms would be great in the heat.

Sent from my Android chinaphone, please excuse the spelling

Thanks for the kit suggestions. Unfortunately there seems to be nowhere in my area that stocks Rev It gear ☹

The Klim stuff looks great, but again not sure if it’s available in my area, or even the UK. Would really want to try before buying.

Thanks for the glove and helmet suggestions. Will check them out.


Thanks for the input guys. I’ve combined my response as I think your suggestions have a common theme.

Just to give you a bit of more info. We’ll be riding two up on a GS adventure and will probably be sticking to mostly better roads in Europe. I’m doing an offroad riding course in Wales before we leave so I hope to get more practice/be more comfortable in the dirt by the time we hit more developing countries. We’ll hopefully not be putting in really long days as we have a good amount of time for the trip.

With regard to kit, I’m of the mind that it’s near impossible to have one suit for all weather conditions we encounter. Plus I’m very aware of image. As Tobi points out, I don’t want to be turning up in poorer countries looking like an alien in a spacesuit! Tigershel and JayEss, you make good points, which is why I’m considering now going for the Forcefield protective pro 2 shirt and trousers, and then a basic mesh jacket/jeans combo above. This could then be supplemented with an extra fleece layer in the cold and a waterproof on the top when it rains.

Does anyone have any experience with the forcefield kit?

Thanks,

Joel

The HJC flip lid was very noisy from memory. Might not be useful

I used the shark Evoline II on my last 12 months trip( just got back). It was very heavy nearly 2kg. Keep that in mind as after a long day if buffeting it does make for a sore neck. I still live all the plusses but that one negative is considerable

Gear. I used air mesh gear with over jacket and pants, useless in the rain as I was always cold and wet

I bought some IXC ( i think. Until i get home i cannot confirm)brand from Switzerland. This was expensive and had thermal and goretex liners. I was very dry and eventually crash tested it. It passed with flying colours

As it had many zip up vents and pockets and flaps, when I got to Asia I was comfortable. I was not comfortable in hot and humid SEA but unless I was wearing budgie smugglers only, it would not matter what gear I wore :)

Cheers from Oz
TravellingStrom

You are probably referring to IXS gear. I've had jacket, pants and their Ultra boots in the past and it was excellent in quite a wide range of temperatures. Not good for SE Asia though.

I've got a cheaper but highly rated flip up, a Shoei X11 and a Shoei off road helmet out here.
The flip-up only gets used around town, too heavy, noisy and not enough airflow otherwise.
The Shoei off road helmet flows by far the most air, is very comfortable and very light, but having to wear goggles over glasses is uncomfortable. It's also the noisiest and is literally a pain in heavy rain as the drops strike skin directly.

So X11 ends up winning this for me. Flows quite a bit of air, is light and comfortable.

Sent from my Android chinaphone, please excuse the spelling

I just checked and yes it is IXC. After sliding down the road at 80kmh I had no damage to me and a small hole on my bum pants. They also protected me from a few other spills during my journey, highly recommend them

Planning a trip
 

Hi
I am new to this site, I've done a few small europe trips on a bmw s 1000 rr
Now I have really got the itch to do some long trips (not on the s1000) going to get a bmw adrenture with all the knobs on, go a few ideas of where to go and what to see,just really baffled as to all the gear I have to get,I am a sports bike rider so it's all new to me.i want to buy stuff that will last, also I want to camp
Thanks everyone Andrew from manchester

I have been now on the road roughly 16 months.
I use Arai Tour-X helmet (good airflow, but annoying for taking photos because I need to remove helmet every time).
I have 3rd set of summer gloves going on at the moment, sweat and dust eat these gloves really fast.
For riding suit I use Touratech, which is good in the hot places. It also has detachable gore-tex upper jacket for rain and cold areas (they just take quite much space to store).
Under the suit I am using upper body armor and separate knee protectors.
Boots: Alpinestars Toucan goretex boots.

Yes, sounds like a lot, but this gear saved my life or at least saved me from serious injury when I had an accident with a truck in Jawa.

Remember, traffic over here is totally different than in Europe...

I always think that it is better to sweat than bleed...

Safe riding!