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ATGATT - Gear Selection and rider opinions

lorneboden

lorneboden

Mini Bike
I was interested in getting a general response on gear options, ratings and to also hear what other folks are using for protective gear.    We have threads and threads dedicated to the selection of oil, filters, risers, seats, how to wash and wax.  However I see very few threads or discussions on safety gear.

I think that ATGATT is a catch phrase that is often thrown around,  but what does ALL THE GEAR really include.  Below are some questions

What gear do you wear ?
What gear do you consider to be more important than other gear ( summer vs winter/mesh vs leather )
How do you rate your gear ?  ( comfort, safety, style, useability )
How do you rate/review gear before buying it ?
Have you had the misfortune of testing your gear and how did it rate compared to your expectations ?
Ideas and out of the box thinkers,  anyone got some suggestions for gear ?

Personally I am a big believer in ATGATT,  I have been riding for about 25 years and I have been hit and have hit some of the strangest of things.  I have had highsides, lowsides, and the all too famous self induced, I forgot the kickstand down and lost it on the first corner..  ( grin, oh yes I did )

I ride with the following gear:

Tourmaster Boots
Fieldsheer Titanium Air 4.0 Mesh Pants
Icon Field Armor Stryker Vest  or Full Body Polycarbonate Armor from Perrini
Icon Justice Mesh Gloves
HJC Fullface Helmet
Lastly either a full leather jacket with shoulder and back protection from Perrini or a  XElement mesh jacket with elbow, shoulder and back padding


I am interested to get anyone elses input and opinion on gear and safety related conversation

 

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I am a confirmed, over the top Safety Nazi believer in ATGATT. For me ATGATT means a full face helmet, motorcycle jacket or t-shirt depending on weather, jeans, sneakers or boots, and usually gloves. NO exceptions.
 
WillyP said:
I am a confirmed, over the top Safety Nazi believer in ATGATT. For me ATGATT means a full face helmet, motorcycle jacket or t-shirt depending on weather, jeans, sneakers or boots, and usually gloves. NO exceptions.
Click to expand...



:rotflmao:


I normally use gear. But I am also guilty of not using it at times. So I guess I'm middle of the road!  :-\
 
I would feel naked in just a t-shirt.  I am not sure I could do it without having an uneasy feeling.  Not saying I haven done it in my youth,  but I dont think I could do it now. 
 
I know what you mean, I rarely rode with a helmet prior to the Connie, but wouldn't ride without one now that I've gotten used to it.
 
I like the added advantage the body armor provides being a nice snug fit,  is that is helps with being bounced around on the rough roads,  it helps control the body core and keeps you nice and straight. It also helps hide the plumbers butt crack that normally shows up in a t-shirt alone at higher speeds    :motonoises:

Its not appealing seeing some big hairy oof ride past you displaying that crotchrocket butt crack in a t-shirt that has lifted half way up his back. :(
 
Full face helmet, gauntlet style leather gloves and motorcycle boots (never in sneakers). Depending on where I am riding (not the weather), I wear either full leathers or a 2-piece FieldSheer textile suit.
 
I wear: (1) HJC modular helmet (Sy-Max II or and I-Max). I know  that as full-face offers more protection but I'm willing to accept the risk.(2) Aerostitch Roadcrafter (either a one piece or a two piece) or an Aerostitch Darien Light with Darien Light pants or First Gear Mesh-tex Jacket and pants. The choices are mostly entirely weather dependent (I ride year-'round). If it's hot and no rain is likely for a day ride then it's the mesh gear; if I'm travelling and it's summer then it's the Dariens otherwise it's the Roadcrafter(s) (one piece on the Connie, two piece on the Goldwing). (3) Aerostitch elkskin roper gloves. (4) Aerostitch combat lite touring boots.
 
When she's riding with me, my wife wears similar gear except she wears Tourmaster gloves and New Balance hiking boots.
 
I always wear an HJC half helmet, FirstGear Kilimanjaro Air touring jacket, and a pair of gauntlets.  When it's cold or wet I wear the FirstGear pants and Tourmaster boots, and when it gets to be the dead of winter I have electrics.
 

After a low-speed dump off a gravel-filled rural corner wearing khakis and a leather jacket, I now ride with the following gear:

Sprecher leather Boots
mechanic's Gloves in summer, Eddie Bauer gauntlets in colder times
HJC CL-15 Fullface Helmet
Lastly, Speed&Strength mesh jacket with elbow, shoulder and back padding, S&S overpants with knee pads, (not knee pucks).
= S&S gear has liner, vest for jacket in cold weather but I wear a parka over all them until I get electric vest/gear someday

Have separate hi-vis vest for night riding. Have a Farm&Fleet yellow rainsuit in XL to go over other gear easily.

Works for me from April to December, as long as snow/ice is melted/gone.
 
I am surprised that no one has mentioned any sort of body armor besides some padding in the jackets and pants.  No dedicated purposed armor,  I must be one of the crazy few who does wear it. 

Great to hear about everyone elses gear and options.

 
I am learning to adapt to the ATGATT but it usually is MTGMTT (Most of the gear most of the time). 

I wear motorcycle boots - Touring style
Helmet - Modular
Gloves (Depends on the kind by the weather
Jacket - Technics with armor
Riding pants - HT overpants

Sometimes I do not ride with the overpants but that is usually on short trips to run errands.  For the safety it provides I like the peace of mind even if it takes a while longer to get on the road.
 
99% of the time I get on the bike ...

full face helmet
Aerostich 1-piece since 2005
leather gloves
sidi touring boots

I ride in Texas year round.  Weather determines what I wear under the 'stich .... boxers, tee & sox is minimum.

I can't convince myself that mesh does any good in a go-down, I have no desire to have poly melted into road-rash.

My other 1% ride I substitute an old Gericke below-the-waist leather jacket and jeans for the stich.  That's what I had before I bought the 'stich.  It's my "nostalgia parade-lap" gear.  The leather is hotter than the 'stich with vents open.
 
AJC HiVis full faceor Fulmer modular, Fieldsheer mesh or leather jacket, Brazzos boots or Tourmaster depending on weather. Bilt Mesh/leather gloves or full leathers if it gets cold, and Bolt Tour pants if cold or wet. Never shorts, jeans always. My son who rides(19), I feel I have to be an example to him..bc he wanted to be like the young guys who wore t shits, shorts, and tenny shoes. I showed him pics of those guys who went down, and spoke to a few EMS guys I know...He now is always in gear.
 
I have the following gear and mix and match it depending on the weather:

HJC SyMax 2 modular or HJC CL-something full face. I'm going to replace these with either a Shoei Qwest or an Arai before summer
Bilt Storm textile or Power Trip Mojave Mesh jackets or Draggin Jeans Kevlar mesh shirt
Joe Rocket Ballistic 5.0 or Olympia Airglide 3 pants
"swat" style boots or Icon Tarmac mesh boots
various gloves and liners, I have 3-4 pairs of gloves and a couple different liners

Comments:
Both helmets are noisy, but comfortable
Bilt jacket- surprisingly decent for the price, very warm. Fleece removable liner that you can wear as an outer layer when off the bike. Good vents. Probably won't be good for hot weather even with all the vents, but we'll see how that works. The Power Trip jacket is real comfortable and flows a lot of air. It has a waterproof liner but it doesn't breathe at all so it's like wearing a plastic bag.
JR pants- had these for about 6 years and they are in great shape. Warm, but they dont' breathe well so my jeans end up being damp after a long ride. I have a pair of JR mesh pants, had those for 4-5 years, but they have not faired as well. The closure broke off so I used zip ties to put it back on, and the mesh liner has torn from my boots hanging on it.
I just purchased the Olympia pants today, I had gone looking for some Tourmaster Flex pants, these were on sale and are very nice. Breathable rain liner, very comfortable, NOT black. Can't wait to see how they are in the heat.
Boots- the swat boots I've had for a long time, used them for dog training, and for riding. They were about 70 bucks at a shoe outlet store, have held up well, but will need to be replaced in a year or so.
The Icon boots are great. Breathable, easy on/off, comfortable.
 
The forces of physics (nature, if you will) do not care what you may or may not wear. You are either kinetic or potential.

Therefore I believe in being "Kinetically" prepared for living rather than being "Potentially" unprepared for being dead.

Any "Tanker" would tell you the better the armour the higher the survivability

My current and usual wear is
Shoei X-11 Full-Face Helmet with clear shield
Cheaters safety sunglasses underneath the shield (easily removed before dark)
Roadcrafter "Stich" with armor
Held Steves or Cortech gloves
Oxtar or Sidi boots

But more importantly than being totally A.T.G.A.T.T.

Whenever I ride I always have the S.E.G.A.O.M.F.  :nananana:

Shiite
Eating
Grin
All
Over
My Face!
 
Scorpion XDR Commander 3/4 jacket Hi Viz
Scorpion EXO-700 Full face helmet  Hi Viz
Roadgear Xcaliber Overpants (only in the winter with liner below 40)
Firstgear mesh tex pants with armor in summer
CBT's lites

Cheers
Ron

 
I am clearly not a proponent of ATGATT. No, I'm not saying not to wear it. LOL.  :beerchug:

I just don't do it all the time. Many times I ride wearing jeans. Which means I might as well be wearing nothing.

Part of my problem is I'm fat, but I'm working on that. Until that time when I'm not, ATGATT is too damn expensive, because the only thing I can have custom sized is leather, and I am way over $900 for pants and jacket custom tailored.

Nobody makes nylon gear for me unless I want to roll the pants hem up a few folds and the sleeves.

But I'm getting closer to being able to wear what I've got (can wear most of the jackets now) so there may well come a day when I too wear ATGATT.
 
Privateer said:
I am clearly not a proponent of ATGATT. No, I'm not saying not to wear it. LOL.  :beerchug:

I just don't do it all the time. Many times I ride wearing jeans. Which means I might as well be wearing nothing.

Part of my problem is I'm fat, but I'm working on that. Until that time when I'm not, ATGATT is too damn expensive, because the only thing I can have custom sized is leather, and I am way over $900 for pants and jacket custom tailored.

Nobody makes nylon gear for me unless I want to roll the pants hem up a few folds and the sleeves.

But I'm getting closer to being able to wear what I've got (can wear most of the jackets now) so there may well come a day when I too wear ATGATT.
Click to expand...

Privateer- Look under possible group buy in this section, for $425 get a one piece full mesh or textile suit with rain & cold weather liner custom made. Guy said they have made a 7X before with a 70" waist.....Might be worth consideration! HTH.
 
I have moved my riding gear up a notch recently. All new gear:

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Add to this a pair of Tourmaster mesh pants that I had to order when I brought these home. I wanted riding pants I could wear in any weather from hot summer to rainy winter. I'm still qualifying the pants (with two liner layers they a purple SOB to get into and out of). The jackets are good to go, especially the mesh jacket.

What I am totally striking out in is boots. My feet run hot so I need mesh boots to keep my feet cool. I also have w-i-d-e feet and most boots are far too narrow to fit my foot. I also demand lace fronts and side zip entry which narrows the choices significantly. A BIG problem with shopping for boots - few of the manfacurers mention width or are willing to accommodate variations in width. In order for me to find a pair that fits my width I have to go two sizes too large which makes it nearly impossible to shift with any sort of feel. I have an old pair of HD Presidents that fit well but are not very sophisticated. The newer models are better but much harder and stiffer with tall toes making shifting almost impossible.

I want a soft, pliable, mesh front/side, mid-height, front lace (or velcro strap), side zip, wide, comfortable enough to do some light hiking, side armor, soft toe boot. So far SOL.

Dan
 
Freeze Out
Cold wx riding clothing @ Cycle Gear
Was talking to a pal last Sat and asked him about what he was wearing.
Bought at Cycle Gear. Riding a semi naked bike, his KTM Adv, he was comfortable at 40+ with the Freeze Out clothing. Wind Blocking material that also breathes.
Sale about 50% off now. Got the brochure in the snail mail recently. Went down to Tacoma store today.
Hope to give a ride report of the clothing soon. Not all items in stock, got the balaclava and glove inserts today, Top/bottom longs on order (stock/delivery  problems due to recent snow storm clerk said) Been usIng the economy polypropelene long johns for years with the Gerbings heated jacket/gloves/insoles.
 
I have the Freeze Out glove liners, they work pretty well. I bought the neck gaiter and socks for my wife. She's only used the socks so far but likes them.

Bergmen, as far as boots go, that's a tough one. The Icon Tarmac mesh boots I have are very nice, light, comfortable to wear off the bike, but they don't have a side zipper, and they have those elastic laces with velcro closure at the top. I have a pretty wide foot and they fit me well.

I agree on the multi layer pants. I recently bought some Olympia Airglides, that have a rain/wind liner that can be used as a destination layer (they look like warm up pants). I'm finding I can't really use the pants as an over pant on top of jeans, it gets too bulky. The other day I tried using only underarmor cold gear leggings with the liners and then the mesh pant on top, and was very comfortable in the low 40's on a ride. I think if it was real cold I could use a fleece pant between the underarmor and liners and be toasty without adding too much bulk. I find that on the Connie I get a lot less direct wind on my legs compared to my old Vulcan so wind protection isn't as much a requirement.
 
DanL said:
Bergmen, as far as boots go, that's a tough one. The Icon Tarmac mesh boots I have are very nice, light, comfortable to wear off the bike, but they don't have a side zipper, and they have those elastic laces with velcro closure at the top. I have a pretty wide foot and they fit me well.

I agree on the multi layer pants. I recently bought some Olympia Airglides, that have a rain/wind liner that can be used as a destination layer (they look like warm up pants). I'm finding I can't really use the pants as an over pant on top of jeans, it gets too bulky. The other day I tried using only underarmor cold gear leggings with the liners and then the mesh pant on top, and was very comfortable in the low 40's on a ride. I think if it was real cold I could use a fleece pant between the underarmor and liners and be toasty without adding too much bulk. I find that on the Connie I get a lot less direct wind on my legs compared to my old Vulcan so wind protection isn't as much a requirement.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the boot info, I'll check them out. My long list of requirements is very good at eliminating just about everything. I'm going to have to compromise somewhere to get good protection for my feet. The laces are the least of my concerns so the Icon's may work.

On the pants, I tried them for the first time this past September. It was a pretty warm ride so I wore zip-off pants underneath. In the mornings I could ride very comfortably with mesh over pants. As it warmed up I simply stopped and zipped off the lower legs of the pants and rode with shorts under mesh. Excellent! Also, when we stopped, taking off the mesh pants I was already in shorts. I haven't tried them for cold weather rides yet, just wrestled into them at home. Jury is still out on that one.

The mesh jacket is spectacular. Two layers of liners cover cold and wet (but probably not for long drenching rain storms like the Transistion jacket is made for). With no liners it is eezee peezee to get into and out of and extremely comfortable.

I've only worn the Transistion jacket once. I really, really hate the method Tourmaster has come up with for liner installation and removal, especially the sleeve attachment. This is way worse than they used to be it takes a lot of fidgeting to line up the snaps and loops. If I had known that I would have looked at other jackets but I came from a Tourmaster I wore for ten years that was fantastic so I stayed with the brand. Oh well.

Dan
 
I finally found a jacket I was happy with at a price I could live with...and it is well, ...sort of noticeable:

IMG_0362.jpg



at night>

IMG_0361.jpg
 
Sidi boots
Olympia jacket (mesh or full depending on weather)
Olympia pants when spirited or long diatance, jeans for casual riding
Shoei Qwest
Full finger motorcycle specific gloves
 
I learned on my first ride to work on Stink that the right pipe will definitely melt the inside right heel of a dress shoe.  Other than that issue, I'm fully suited and like the Shoei R1000 best for its quiet nature.  I have an Arai that I love and it looks wicked but it's SO noisy even with plugs.  I always wear plugs, too.
 
millsan1 said:
Sidi boots
Olympia jacket (mesh or full depending on weather)
Olympia pants when spirited or long diatance, jeans for casual riding
Shoei Qwest
Full finger motorcycle specific gloves
Click to expand...

Nice set!  :beerchug:
That's pretty much what I wear, except for the helmet - I've got rf-1100
 
Thanks Carlson.  I love my Olympia gear and have met the owners a couple times.  My full jacket is the Moto-X and it is awesome.  Def the swiss army knife of jackets.  I wore that on a weekend ride last year with temps from mid 20s to mid 70s and was comfortable at all temps using the liners, zip out sections, etc.

GF has the 1100, I wish I had chosen that instead of the Qwest.  The Qwest is still good, just the 1100 is better.
 
About 99% of the time I am in full gear, or atleast what I call full gear.

Full Face Helmet - Bell Arrow Air Raid w/ SMH-10
Coat - Tourmaster Sonora
Pants - Usually Kevlar Jeans or Heavy Blue Jeans
Gloves - Full fingered, various due to season
Boots - Lately I have been wearing Justin Boots Wellington Boot

I had a Cortech GX Air 2, but the buttons kept popping off of it, so I got the Sonora. I have been having a few zipper problems with the Sonora lately (small inner liner zipper coming open), and I really need to look into a new coat. Again.... :mad:
 
I ride with:

Fly Paradigm full face helmet with UClear HBC 100

Fly Terra Trek Jacket

Fly Butane Riding Pants...or

Fly Cool Pro Mesh Pants...or

Drayko Kevlar Riding Jeans...depending on the weather

Fly Milepost Touring Boots

Fly FL1 Gloves

Just put in my order for one of the new Adaptiv GlowRider Jackets in Hi Vis Green...I really like the Electro Luminescent technology to glow in the dark!

Ride safe!
 
I am ATTGAT, to the best of my ability.  Living in Florida, AND personally running hot, it's
difficult to gear up without heat exhaustion setting in(for me anyway).

I 'don' :
Shoei RF1100 Full Face Helmet
SEDICI Milano 3-in-1 Mesh Jacket (Liner OUT)  :-[
Alpinestar Mesh Riding Gloves
Riding Boots (don't know who makes 'em, but they're reaall comfy)
Jeans or Icon Mesh Overpants
Reflective Vest
 
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