I thought you always wear gloves? ;)

Taking the cue from Pleiades's post:

In the late 70s a pair of jeans, or a pair of jeans over another pair of jeans for added protection! A pair of DMs or Derry boots if raining hard, a second hand Cromwell helmet that seemed to fit at the time, a wax cotton Belstaff jacket with no armour and what ever gloves my brother had spare at the time.

In the mid 80s a made to measure leather jacket, a decent helmet that fitted ( the make escapes me ) good gloves that fitted but it seems from the photo below I still stuck with the jeans and wore trainer type boots.

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/scan0001.jpg

Now - I have the choice of three good helmets my usual being a flip front Caberg that is ok to ride in the up and down position, Buffalo water proof and armoured gloves and textile trousers with armour at the knees. I recently wore leather pants and jacket from HG but these gave way to the textile trousers and another Belstaff wax cotton jacket ( this time with armour in the elbows and shoulders ) as I've been doing a lot of off road stuff in the last few years. I'm sure the belstaff is not the best thing to wear from the protection side of things and I should be looking at perhaps a Knox type back protection as well. Forgot to mention - these days I have a lot more regard for my feet and shins and so wear Sidi enduro type boots.

Fun to hear what others are using!

Myself; I've yet to have an off so maybe that's why I hardly ever bother putting on anything but the bare minimum - gloves, jacket and helmet. Putting on the pants and boots is just such a hassle.

For rain/cold: Rukka Kalahari jacket & pants , Schuberth C3 (even though I'm not THAT old...), some generic bargain bin gloves and some generic bargain bin boots.

Warm days: Lindstrands jacket, Alpinestars S1, Schuberth C3 and whatever jeans, etc for the day.

Occationally I'll wear my Shoei Hornet but I'm using it less and less after getting the Schuberth which is just so good with built in bluetooth and stuff

@Fiddich - you don't look too happy in that shot, sums up the 80s I suppose! ;)

How did the bike's sidestand not sink in the dune, we didn't have pucks in them days just crushed McEwans Export cans!

You've reminded me that I must get round to scanning some of my old biking photos...

The sand was baked hard - it would probably have been a Steinlarger can in those days as I was living in Palmerston North NZ at the time.
Was it just youth and a feeling that we were invincible that we paid little regard to what we wore in those days?

For me I will never ever leave the house- even to pop to the shop 1min ride away without a bare minimum of.....

Gloves, Draggin Jeans, Magnum assault boots, leather jacket and helmet.

For my day to day riding I.e to work etc I wear....

BOOTS....
Magnum classic assault boots. Ive used these for years including on military exercises and work. They are a fantastic boot. Very comfortable, breathable, if looked after they are waterproof and give great ankle support. When I had my Major off in 2009 I was wearing my Magnums at the time and I didnt injure my ankle at all, they took a great beating and supported me well.

However as I now do more and more riding in all weather conditions I will be buying some tech 3s or similar boots. I'm not going for an all out stiff motorcross boot as I do allot of walking in my bike boots and need them to be a little more moveable.

JACKET.....
I currently wear an akito leather jacket. It is about 20 years old and was originally my old mans past on to me when I first started riding. It is thick padded leather and I have 'utilised' its functions back in 2009 and once again it protected me and did its job well.

However it is a winter jacket and about kills me in summer. I will be buying a new material jacket in the coming months. I will be making sure that the new jacket has built in armour, shoulders, elbows and back protector.
It will have a removabel liner so I can use it in winter and summer.

TROUSERS....
I have a pair of RST material trouser with hip, knee, shin protectors and also removable liners. These are a fab pair of trousers, sturdy warm and fairly showerproof. I always wear waterproof trousers over the top of them though for added wind protection and water protection.

Before this I allways used Draggin Jeans. Having seen a live show where they tested the draggin jeans by having a bloke wear them, sit on his arse and be dragged behind a harley D drag bike, I know they work!

So they have fantastic protection when sliding accross the tarmac as the jean material melts and provides a sliparry serface to slide on and the woven kevlar protects from the tarmac coming through. But they have no real impact protection. This is what aided in the destruction of my knee back in 2009 and so I have now moved on to more protective/padded trousers.

GLOVES....
In winter and on rainy days I wear my Frank Thomas waterproof gloves. Nice and thick and warm.

In summer I wear My 661 armoured Downhill moutain bike gloves. However these will be changed this year to propper leather summer gloves as I dont forsee them holding up in an off.

LID.....
I currently use a Wulfsport Prima dual sport lid.
This is a cracking lid, it is very light and fits well. I know it works well in an off as I have tested it before as stated above. It does have a good safety rating as well.

Im due a new lid as this one has been crashed, Im looking into slightly more expensive lids with better safety ratings. However if the same style lids are cropping up with similar safety ratings I will simply buy another Prima.


Thats my two pence worth anyhu.

I ride quite hard, so the protective gear feels important to me.
When I ride my Tenere, i use my offroad set of riding gear.

-Helmet HJC: bought it, because road helmet is not so breathable when on terrain
http://www.bscenter.si/default.asp?p...C_AC-MX_Killer

-Body Armor Thor: for better protection of my ribs and other body parts. Seems good, because from manny minor falls I am still with all bones ok
http://www.bscenter.si/default.asp?p...ct_RIG_SE_2012

-Knee protectors Acerbis Impact Evo: just bought new ones. I already broke 2 of them (different brands)before, cant imagine what would happen with my knees without them. Seems a must for me.
http://www.bscenter.si/default.asp?p...bis_Impact_Evo

-Botts Sidi Crossfire TA: on our last trip in Tunisian desert I injured (twisted) my ankle badly. If I had these boots on that trip already, I would prevent the damage of my leg, that is now healing for 5 weeks and still not ok and in pain.
Good protection is a must when that kind of riding style.
http://www.bscenter.si/default.asp?p...SIDI_CROSSFIRE

When on terrain offroading I use cross gloves, because they are softer and is better riding comfort and feel. On hot day I use cross pants and tshirt, for better airflow, so body does not overheat when hard riding is on schedule.
In this case I always wear functional underwear to keep the sweat away from the skin.

When on several day trip or cold/bad weather I use cordura pants and jacket, to keep my self warm and dry during the day.
In cold conditions I use windstopper functional underwear from Bikers.

And when on terrain Camelback is a must!




When riding street bike, there is complete another set of equipment that is used.

Think for me its the oft use acronym :ATGATT -All The Gear All The Time.

Like others, even if its down the shops etc

I`m probably over paranoid but after years of seeing all those weird injury pictures you got in FHM mag, I decided I liked the way my body was put together and didn't want to mess with it :eusa_angel:

Even the cheapest of the cheap textile jackets and trousers are better than jeans and a t-shirt. And even a cut cost pair of leather boots are better than your Nikes/flipflops.

Always remember my instructor telling me that coming off on tarmac and sliding along in jeans was akin to taking a belt sander and holding it to bare skin. Scared the bejeezes out me :)

Saying that I`m still to purchase a decent back protector - even toyed with a full body armour underneath my Akito enduro textile jacket but maybe this is a bit OTT for on road stuff?

Ryben

ATGATT for me as well.

On the road I use:
- TCX Competizione GTX boots
- Dainese Air G Back protector
- Held Sting glove for cold/wet weather; Spyke G-Fresh Air for warm weather. Both with hard knuckle protection
- either my Rev'it Sand combo or my IXS leathers
- Shoei XR1100 helmet

Off-road:
- Alpinestars Tech 3 boots
- Zandona Corax body armour
- Held Sting glove for cold/wet weather; Spyke G-Fresh Air for warm weather. Both with hard knuckle protection
- IXS Cordura combo
- Airoh S4 helmet

All the gear, I like my skin where it is
For road
Alpinestars tech3, akito desert trousers and jacket, hjc road lid, arlen ness gloves
When I ride mx
661 knee protection, tech 3 boots, full body armour, mx lid and goggles, alpinestars jersey and pants
Imo it's just not worth going out without it
Tried riding the quad on the road in normal clothes without a lid and just doesn't feel safe, I'd rather be sweating than have gravel rash should some idiot have me off