Newbie gear question...

So I got the learners on Friday, yay for me, and the bike's in the shop
getting the necessary roadworthy bits seen to. So all that's left is to buy
my own set of gravel resistant clothes to protect myself from myself and car
drivers. So do you have any recommendations of shops that don't mind talking
green learners like me through what fits properly etc. and who isn't going
to rip me off? To start with I'm after a helmet, gloves and jacket. I'm in
the inner north of Melbourne if that helps. Thanks for any help.
Shane
KR250 (soon)

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 10 Jul 2005 15:37:55 +1000

It's a real problem gettig gear before you have experience, because it's
the small things that piss you off the most. Like having the jacket
armour interfering with the helmet when you turn your head for example.
Somtething you can only work out in the shop when you know instinctively
how your head turns because you have made that movement so many times.

I suggest you start with a look at the MCC's protective clothing section
at http://www.roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au/a/11.html

When trying on a helmet, start by trying on every lid you can. Openface,
fullface, dirt, road, fliptop. Get a feel for the differences in fit -
you'll find some seem to fit your head better than others, although they
all feel odd to start with. Some will give you better vision than
others, see what parts of your vision are blocked with each lid. Put
your hands forward as though gripping bars and flick your eyes to the
side without turning your head, are there differences between helmets?
What about looking over your shoulder?

I'm a strong believer in beginners buying cheap kit to start with. Get
something that's good enough and cheap enough that you won't worry too
much about replacing it in a couple of years when you have a much better
idea of what you want.

With protective clothing, fit isn't as important as a helmet. Mainly
you want something that when all the zips are zipped and clips are
clipped won't slide around or up to expose skin. Don't leave a lot of
room for a thick jumper, instead go to kmart and buy skivvies and thin
wool jumpers, many thin natural fibre layers are warmer than one heavy
layer, and a jacket that's loose is uncomfortable and annoying.

When buying, consider the riding you will be doing. If you are going to
be doing mostly hooning - track days, lots of hills riding - then
abrasion resistance is a much higher priority than if you are commuting
or touring. The commuter doesn't slide much, they hit solid things
before that! But they do need to be warm and dry, the hooner doesn't
tend to ride in the wet... I strongly suggest knee armour, many crashes
are a perfect 3 point landing - 2 palms and a knee. Armoured jeans are
worth it if you figure you don't want to wear full leathers everywhere.
If the price tag disturbs you, then consider getting normal jeans, some
velcro, and some high impact foam knee armour for a DIY set. If you are
going to spend a lot of time off the bike, remove the armour from inside
the jeans. (probably wise to do that away from prying eyes...)

With footwear, get boots with a strong sole that projects past your foot
on all sides. That way the toes are less likely to touch ground and get
ground, and a stiff sole will present some resistance to crushing. Try
and have tough material between you and anything nasty like footpegs,
bracketry and road surface - this means elastic sided boots are not a
good idea. There's a fair controversy about steelcaps, I think they
aren't necessary and aren't all that nice to change gears in, but if you
have them then they aren't likely to be dangerous to you.

When buying winter gloves, be careful to get ones that aren't bulky in
the palm. Many of them have an inner membrane which does help to keep
the water out, but slides about inside the glove. The more bulk between
you and the throttle, the harder you have to grip to keep the thing on,
and there lies RSI.

If shopping in pawn shops for gloves, you'll likely find skigloves. I
attacked a set with sandpaper once, they managed quite well - that was
the kind with tough material on the palm. Snowboarder gloves might be
better, they seem to be less bulky in the hand. I think bike gloves are
preferable, but if the budget's tight then skigloves are better than
nowt.

Zebee

 

Take your clothes off, when you fall over, you loose your skin, skin grows
back, but leather costs money.

 

Um, see Zebee's response... That was much more helpful than yours.
Remember that before you press the *send* button next time.
Cheers again,
Shane.

 

I figured you be Bobby

But if you insist on an answer

Buy good gloves, your hands are the first thing that hits and the last thing
you wanta loose.

Get decent boots, don't have to be bike specific, but you need strong ankle
support, you don't want to put your foot down, sprain it, and have the bike
go over. Having a tall KR250, that will be important.

A helmets a helmet, but what you can afford, but make sure it fits proper,
it will expand, so when you put it on, it will be tight, and the look is the
puffer fish look. - the more money is just for comport, better liners that
last longer etc. But don't cheep out too much, a cheep helmet wont last
long.

Buy your self a jacket, If moneys an issue I suggest buying a synthetic
jacket with armor, most have removable winter liners, so you can take it out
for summer and put it in for winter. The synthetic stuff is water proof, so
its really handy, Protecting your self from the elements is another thing
you need to consider.

and just wear jeans for starters. Also a pair of PVC rain pants to slip
over your jeans, cost you 10 bucks. Another tip is buy a pair of thermals,
or stockings if your a chick (or what ever) keeps ya warm under the jeans.

And the rest of the money, invest it in good rider training. Better being
skilled enough not to fall over, than have gear to protect you from falling
over.

Welcome to Ausmoto, were its harsh week every week.

 

The first part is easy, the second difficult! Depending on what you
mean by 'inner', it's either Elizabeth St., or the little run of shops
in Heidelberg. The way not to get ripped off is to comparison shop --
even if you're going to go buy locally, check out the mailorder prices
online to get some idea of what people are charging.

My opinions: buy gear which fits properly, but don't bother spending
huge bucks on your first one. You probably don't know yet whether
you'll turn out to be a café racer or a rally pig or a Hamish,
so get gear that's fairly adaptable. I bought a leather jacket
first up, but to be honest the waterproof ones are probably a better
bet in Melbourne ...

Fancy graphics cost a surprising amount, and you can't see them when
you're wearing them anyway. It's a lot easier to learn throttle
control in lighter gloves: buy some summer gloves for the taking-it-
around-the-block-a-few-times phase and once you start getting out
more buy some winter ones.

Don't let salesweasels guilt-trip you into spending huge
dollars on kevlar this and armoured that: all that stuff isn't
worth a pinch of shit if you go under a semi, so save the money
and spend it on tyres, brake servicing, rider training, etc instead.

In inner Melbourne, you'll perhaps want to consider sticking
street tyres on the KR until you're used to it: knobbies on
tram tracks add a lot of unnecessary adventure and excitement.

Learn to use the front brake, even if that means falling off in
a carpark a few times. Too many learners get into bad habits
and end up not being comfortable bringing the thing to a halt.
Squeeze that thing!

-----sharks

 

Now you get lots of tickets?

 

Ummm, Sharko...

http://www.kr250.org/KR_home.htm

 

My mistake: I was thinking of the KLR. *waves dismissively*
All these little green things look alike.

-----sharks

 

Avoiding falling off with Kevlar too.......

Eh?

I'll have what he's having!!

Hammo

 

me too

 

KR, KLR, KLX, KLF, KLM, KKK, KPH, whatever.

Fetch me another beer, Nursie.

-----shark

 

If you want cheap gear try these guys:

http://www.spammerbitches.com

BVR

 

Maybe you should register that domain BVR

JL

 

....and have it automagically forward to http://www.underdog-leathers.com/ !!

 

don't forget www.underweasel.com

 

Legrooters.com probably exists though

 

See the guys at Bike Mart in Ringwood...EXACTLY what you're asking for.
Shp 4/ 70 Maroondah Hwy Ringwood
9879 5822

pete


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