Commuter bike?

HTF do you spend a grand on kit ?

Trousers £100
Jacket £80-120
Helmet £200
Gloves - £30
Boots - £50

So about a monkey will see you sorted

Paul.

 

A 50 quid pair of boots will not be warm or waterproof nor will they
last very long. Budget around 3 times that for a decent pair from
Gericke that are worth buying.

Gericke Pathan gloves will last years and keep you warm and dry for 35
quid. Held do virtually the same gloves for about the same money. It's
said that Pathans are a Held glove design made under licence. I do know
that Held make most of Gericke's own brand tank bags, so it is feasible.

Jackets costing a ton or so will be at the lower end of the market and
also won't be that good on a 50 mile commute down the A1 all year
round. Spend 50 quid more and you're into decent quality kit. Same goes
for the trousers - you'll need to spend at least 125 quid to get
something worth buying. The Held range are extremely good value for
money and Graham at GLFs in Flitwick holds a very good stock to try on.
I've just bought a new Held textile suit, so that might be an
indication of their usefulness.

Helmets are one thing where I'd differ from the usual opinion. I know
there are some top quality lids out there that won't break the bank,
but they may not last as long as an Arai. It's all down to comfort as
well. I find my Nitro F347 VN flip-front to be just as comfy on a long
trip as my Arais, but it's only slightly noisier. 100 quid will see you
wearing something safe and comfy, but chances are you won't get 5 years
continuous use from it.

 

You buy decent kit, because the cheap shite tends to fall apart quickly
if you use it every day in all weathers?

 

My point exactly, been there done that.

 

I think that if you go for a bike like the V-strom you're going to have to
budget more for kit. I found that my R100RT offered so much weather
protection that I actually believed I had decent waterproof gear. I rode
through a couple of torrential downpours with no problem whatsoever. With
the Sprint however, the limitations of my pikey gear were soon exposed. On a
recent trip back from Derby (admittedly through an unusually fierce
downpour) my RK Sport textiles didn't last more than ten minutes before
giving up the ghost. It's not too bad having a wet arse at this time of year
'cos it's not that cold but come November ...
Having said that I would take the Sprint over the BMW any day (I'd rather
have the extra power). For the commute you describe I would go for something
cheaper like a ZZR600 (or similar) and pay a bit more for decent kit.

 

I dunno... my Lidl stuff's only just started to do that, and it's over
three years old.

 

Oh dear - minor geographic confusion. Obviously long fast stretches imply
something capable of 70+mph.
Weather OTOH is a clothing issue. Fairings are only a partial solution
and are likely to sustain expensive damage in low speed drops by
an inexperienced rider in city traffic.

Which part of "Depends on the traffic on your standard route" did you
not understand.

I have, and they are a bloody menace in congested traffic.
Big and strong riders might cope better but still too clumsy in tight
conditions.

 

Absolute bollocks. I'm a weedy 5ft 8 and I cope quite easily with Pans
at low speed in town. They have to be one of the easiest bikes to ride
known to man.

 

Deauville. Boring as hell but designed specifically for this sort of
riding. Not too big nor too expensive to insure for a new rider. <dons
flame-proof suit>

 

In winter, they're the best solution IMHO.

 

Is that, for the first time ever, an addmission that you got it wrong?

Only partially. Keeping water and road shit from hitting you in hte
first place puts mush less stress on clothing, visors and gloves, and
enables much more relaxed riding. Even the best waterproofs have
limits, and if you rely on them alone you'll soon find where you push
beyond them, Like leaking crotches, as reported by Adie just this
week. I bet if she were on a Pan instead of an R1 she'd have remained
dry-knickered.

Much less 'partial' than clothing. A decent fairing keeps you bone dry
at anything over about 15mph.

By a clumsy one, you mean. I see no reason to assume that an
inexperienced rider will drop it. And in fact the Pan's fairing is
very well protected, IIRC, with special bits on it where it would hit
the ground, ensuring that in low-speed drops minimal damage is done to
bike and rider, and stopping the bike falling all the way to the
ground. Sound like an ideal solution to me.

Which part of "always (without fucking exception) wrong" do you not
understand.

Garbage. Absolute stinking piles of it.

 

Actually, while the Dullsville is, indeed, the most boring bike ever
built, it would probably not be a bad choice for the job.

Assuming that the OP has no soul, that is.

 

Maybe that explains why they seem to be so popular in Belge

 

Heh.

 

Easy-peasy...

http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cPath/1_15_7/products_id/4863
http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cPath/1_2_99/products_id/4871
https://www.jsaccessories.co.uk/view_detail.php?cat_code=Daytona Racer Gore-Tex T1 Boot
http://www.forthgear.co.uk/product/Koln_Gore-Tex_Glove_5110

That's my new winter wardrobe and was testing in torrential rain this
week on a 4 hour ride back from the Lakes and kept me totally warm and
dry. I was very impressed.

 

No they aren't.

Plenty in here regularly ride 'big bikes' such as the Pan in heavy
traffic etc, and without any problem.

So with that in mind, I suspect it's actually you that's the 'bloody
menace' in this particular instance.

Utter cobblers.

Twat.

 

I'm thinking along the lines of a Dullville for this fellow. Small enough
to be totally unintimidating, small enough to return good MPG, large enough
to not get mugged at the lights, enough fairings to keep off a lot of shitty
weather, cheap to insure, cheap to buy and there're usually plenty around.

We know they're not exciting bikes, but for a commuter with a new rider on
board, I'd pretty much say "Perfect".


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Those Nitro boots I got fom your old firm are still going strong Loz. Never
let a drop of water in either. Probably because they're made from Lorica,
not leather, but they keep my feet nice and warm even when it's fucking
freezing.

I'll try them on the bike one of these days


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

My 39 quid present (Spada jacket I was given n 2004) hasn't shown even the
slightest indication of wearing out and it doesn't let ANY water through or
in through the neck/cuffs, so you probably mean FT shite


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

They don't have to be wider than the bars to be a problem. It's ok if you
filter perfectly parallel but in a lot of cases (especially through slow
moving heavy traffic) you aren't parallel and it's easy to monitor getting
the front through but still twat a car with the panniers. Which is why I
don't use them