[Superstuddc27]

Okay So im short on cash and I'm slowly making my way thru getting my gear and repairs for the bike and all that good stuff. Ebay is your friend.


Anyway, i needed something to hold me over (for gear) until I can afford a nice leather jacket, preferably from Alpinestars. So far, a friend of mine (also the seller of the bike) has been generous enough to let me use his helmet for the time being. So I have that.... and nothing else for gear. Basically I haven't started riding the bike too much yet cause it still needs rear tire, chain and sprockets, front brakes and stuff but I do take it out a couple times a week to keep it running.

Everytime I go out, this is what I put on for protection. Better than a white Tshirt and shorts right?! nfloor Well, i have my friend's Shoei Helmet which is pretty good. I have on my pretty sturdy jean pants...specificially, they're pretty tight and sturdy jeans from Expressmen. I have my wife beater tucked into my pants. I have a regular shirt over it, tucked in the pants as well. (So if i go sliding across the asphault, I dont get road rash on my back) I have on my boots (not ankle high, just some black leather Sketchers), and I have a Old navy denim jacket, fully button and tightened. And, I put on a pair of Nike Magnigrip gloves on (only leather gloves I have). That's about all the gear I have so far.



So my question. Will these be sufficient enough to at least protect me a little bit? Especially the denim jacket... or am I just making myself sweaty, hot and uncomfortable for absolutely no/little protection? If so, what a sucky trade off!


Well thanks.

 

[Eyespy]

Denim is marginally better than bare skin, except in low energy impacts, and low speed low energy abrasion forces.

 

[dennisred69]

They will work for slow spills. Nothing over 30mph probably. The gloves will be toast. The jacket will pretty torn up after that. It's a gamble no matter how you look at it. Any gear is better than no gear.

 

[ZxHunteR]

Denim is a thin cloth. How do you picture that reacting to asphault at 70 mph? Everything you listed would get ripped through but your gloves. Also, your friends helmet. What do you mean by 'pretty good' ? Il bet it would pop off your head if i squeezed you tight enough :lao as for your tight pants and under the ankle boots... worthless..


I got an Icon motorhead jacket for 150 on ebay. elbow pads, shoulder pads, baack pad, several zippies for ventalation and pockets. But whatever man, if your skin isnt worth that much to you...



I dont think you get what happens when you grind against concrete.

 

[mikem317]

Sorry, I think what you're doing is wrong. Except for the whole borrowed helmet thing.

Get the right gear. That crap that you're buying will protect you (maybe) from bugs and rocks that get kicked up at you. If you go down, that stuff will rip to shreads. Just more stuff that ER interin nurse needs to pick out of the wounds before you go into surgery, IMO. I'm only in demim jeans (Abercrombie, or other thick jeans) and that's only for city riding (less than 25 MPH). Express/Structure jeans are way too thin. You might as well wear construction paper.

Save the $, get the gear. Otherwise you're just on borrowed time.

BTW, is that an R1, or R6 in your avatar? If you have enough $ for one of those machines, you should have enough $ for the gear that needs to go along with it.

 

[ZxHunteR]

Except for the whole borrowed helmet thing.

nein, I consulted the motorcycle nazi and he said a used helmet is no good.




I have an idea :idea :idea lets gear him up in his snazzy "gear" and drop him off the back of a pickup truck going of speed... then we can hear about his skin grafing stories...



ok im done.

 

[mikem317]

nein, I consulted the motorcycle nazi and he said a used helmet is no good.

True. You would think a friend would tell you if it was dropped. BTW, I think most helmets can still be effective even after a small drop, provided that your cranium wasn't in it at the time of the spill. Even if the shell has a small rash, you still should be kosher. But you would never find me buying a helmet at a "scratch and dent" sale though. :dunno

 

[Jiggly]

you can at a minimum get a textile jkt for 75 with pads. Or a leather jkt for 150-200 low end, decent textile gloves will run you 30-50. Helmet you can get a HJC for 150-200.

My advice, take the next pay check get a jkt and gloves, following paycheck get a helmet, and live like a pauper for a month.

 

[Custom900]

Another gear thread. You guys are obsessed with what you wear. Listen, I know how important it is to be protected. I cannot claim ignorance when I'm out riding in shorts and a t-shirt. I know what the results could be if my body hit the ground. However, if all you have is denim then use it. Would you rather have the asphalt tear through skin first, or would you rather have a bit of cloth around you to slow you down a bit?

I'm not here to debate with you guys over wearing protective gear or not, but I am here to say we need to give this guy a little support. Encouragement can and will go a long way. Save some cash, buy the best available, but until then use the best you can afford.

I live in GA, and hate the summer heat. When you see me out on the roads I will most likely be wearing my t-shirt and shorts. No, I'm not out to set any speed records, just out for a ride or taking a trip to work.

 

[Superstuddc27]

Also, your friends helmet. What do you mean by 'pretty good' ? Il bet it would pop off your head if i squeezed you tight enough


I dont think you get what happens when you grind against concrete.

Thanks for the feedback. I just wanted to know how denim would actually work for protection. Also, I dont get the helmet comment. Is it cause I had it's too big or something? I dont remember posting that.


But anyway, WOW to the responses I got. I'm not a squid. First off, I think I need to clarify exactly what i meant cause i think I came off as someone that has an expensive R1 who doesn't want gear, that is trying to cheap his way for protection with Old Navy denim jacket.

So here it is. First my avatar. yes that's an R1. That is not my bike and I dont plan it to be for a while, since I just got my bike about 2 weeks ago. i have a 1995 Yamaha YZF600r.

2nd, I don't ride my bike regularly. I have taken my bike out twice ever since I bought it. I just said, everytime I ride (which is twice, cause i NEEDED to) that is what I wear. That was just there...all i really wanted to know was about the denim jacket. I guess I got my answer. I'm doing all I can to get the protection I need when I need to ride. I can't to seem to find any other way to justify this, but a) what do you do when you can't afford gear? b) You need to ride the bike. c) I'm talking riding the bike with no cages around and a total of two times.

:/ I am currently saving for gear. Alpinestars leather jacket, gloves, and some nice boots. :fiddy :fiddy Sorry if I made something unclear.

Another gear thread. You guys are obsessed with what you wear. Listen, I know how important it is to be protected. I cannot claim ignorance when I'm out riding in shorts and a t-shirt. I know what the results could be if my body hit the ground. However, if all you have is denim then use it. Would you rather have the asphalt tear through skin first, or would you rather have a bit of cloth around you to slow you down a bit?

I'm not here to debate with you guys over wearing protective gear or not, but I am here to say we need to give this guy a little support. Encouragement can and will go a long way. Save some cash, buy the best available, but until then use the best you can afford.

I live in GA, and hate the summer heat. When you see me out on the roads I will most likely be wearing my t-shirt and shorts. No, I'm not out to set any speed records, just out for a ride or taking a trip to work.

Thanks for the support! I was just saying that the denim jacket is all i have for the time being which is why I asked about it and you seemed to understand. :beer



As for the helmet everyone, when i said "borrowed", i LITERALLY meanted borrowed. I didn't buy a used helmet and I never will since you never know the whole deal w/ being dropped and all that. And the guy would have told me if the helmet is useless. He let me borrow it until my next paycheck comes in where I'll be buying myself a KBC vr-1 helmet. This was his backup helmet and I find it really generous of him to lend it to me for the time being.

 

[mikem317]

Another gear thread. You guys are obsessed with what you wear.

Sure. It's important. It's indicative of your level or responsibility, IMO.

Listen, I know how important it is to be protected. I cannot claim ignorance when I'm out riding in shorts and a t-shirt. I know what the results could be if my body hit the ground.

Not a lot of riders are as smart as you and I. Some people are ignorant of the fact that the combination of inertia, gravity, flesh, speed, and cotton isn't a good one.

I live in GA, and hate the summer heat. When you see me out on the roads I will most likely be wearing my t-shirt and shorts. No, I'm not out to set any speed records, just out for a ride or taking a trip to work.

I don't know the exact details, but the Hurt report said something that a vast majority of accidents happen pretty close to home. So you should wear your gear on your regular commute. That's when stuff will go down, statistically.

 

[vuu16v]

Cycle (before it turned into Cycle World) did a test 20 years ago and denim held up for 2-6 ft.. Compare that to watching, say Bayliss today in MotoGP, sliding in leathers for 20-30ft. and getting up pissed because the bike was toast. Denim is barely better than nada.

 

[mikem317]

I am currently saving for gear. Alpinestars leather jacket, gloves, and some nice boots. :fiddy :fiddy Sorry if I made something unclear.

No biggie. Do what you're planning on doing. Juggallo commented on that too. Buy your gear in pieces. I did. That way it's more affordable. Unfortunately, you just don't get all your toys at the same time. BTW, I'm a big fan of A*, in fact, I'm practically a walking billboard of the stuff. Good fit, good price, good reviews, decent quality. You'll like their stuff.

 

[Jiggly]

like in all the other gear posts, its a personnal decision and risk level but to be direct the jacket may help road rash, but it has no impact protection

 

[Superstuddc27]

Gotcha. I guess I gotta avoid riding for a long while. Damn, wish I had the money! But yeah mikem, I love alpinestars as well. My favorite, other than the fact that it is so damn expensive. But if i had one of those jackets, i'd be really happy to wear that.

 

[GreenZED]

+1 with custom to stop the abusive tone. the guy needs help not a speech.

look on ebay for a leather jacket in the 100-200 range. you will be surprised what you will find used, people are always selling their bikes so there are usually lots of goodies to find on ebay or craigslist.

if you want something that flows more air, AGV makes good value gear. try the agv airtex, 80 bucks for a ventilated jacket with CE armor. you can also save up some more and buy the alpinestars t-stunt for around 180 or so. look for that used and you can get it cheaper.

never trust a used helmet. scorpion exo 400 helmet --> 120 bucks, good value.

you dont have to buy everything at once, but buy it in a logical order with a goal in mind. if you want to be a track rider eventually, work towards getting a good leather 2 piece suit or something that you can zip together (like leather a* stunt jacket with bat pants). if you just want to ride on the street, remember that you dont have to stick with one brand, like say alpinestars. get what fits your budget. AGV and teknic make good gear for less. for strictly street, the icon recon or superduty pants arent bad choices. boots you will want too in order to protect your vulnerable ankles in a fall. any hi-top boot is fine to start but you will eventually want boots with better ankle protection. the alpinestars GPS-3 are good lower priced boots

order of street gear importance (IMO):
1) helmet
2) gloves
3) jacket
4) motorcycle specific boots
5) pants

good luck with your gear hunt. try motorcycle usa, ridegear, or kneedraggers for gear online.

 

[jim schmidt]

+1 on cooling the snotty answers. Denim is pretty inneffective in any crash over 15 mph. Bite the bullet on some gear and make sure that helmet fits correctly before you decide its safe. It's fine to buy a used jacket and you can save a little cash on boots if you need to. Get good gloves but you can go bottom end (but motorcycle specific) on those if you need to.

Remember, what you are choosing here is how much body damage you'll accept to save money on gear. Somebody posted a pic just today that should help you decide.

 

[OFFICER737]

Well hell....what about everyone pitching in a buck or two and help a brother rider out??? Maybe help him get some decent gear to get him through until he can get some of his own and maybe somehwere down the line he will do the same??? Or if someone has some used gear that is still in good shape to get him through??

 

[Superstuddc27]

Thanks everyone. WOW, officer you are one of the nicest people I've met. I don't expect any money from anyone though but the gesture was really nice.

Thanks to everyone with their supportive and encouraging posts. GreenZed, that's a great idea. When my next paycheck comes around, I will be looking into that helmet Scorpion exo400 or a KBC vr-1. And luckily enough, I've found VERY VERY nice pair of gloves with carbon knuckles and everything for $45 on www.newenough.com And ebay is my friend when it comes to jackets. Its a good idea to get these in separate pieces so it's more affordable and thanks for the advice. I know i won't be able to get a jacket and boots and all that for a while.. so that's why i was asking about the denim to hold me over in the meantime. LOL i guess the denim idea flew out the window!

 

[OFFICER737]

Thanks everyone. WOW, officer you are one of the nicest people I've met. I don't expect any money from anyone though but the gesture was really nice.

Thanks to everyone with their supportive and encouraging posts. GreenZed, that's a great idea. When my next paycheck comes around, I will be looking into that helmet Scorpion exo400 or a KBC vr-1. And luckily enough, I've found VERY VERY nice pair of gloves with carbon knuckles and everything for $45 on www.newenough.com And ebay is my friend when it comes to jackets. Its a good idea to get these in separate pieces so it's more affordable and thanks for the advice. I know i won't be able to get a jacket and boots and all that for a while.. so that's why i was asking about the denim to hold me over in the meantime. LOL i guess the denim idea flew out the window!

Bro keep hittin eBay, I picked up a used Joe Rocket jacket for $51 a few weeks ago, got a new Joe Rocket Meteor for $87. Got a new 2005 HJC CLK-12 helmet for $89. And I would have no problem throwing $5 in the kitty if others wanted to, I have no problem helping someone trying to do it the right way because hell it might be that needs a little push next time!