Just joined the uncool kids club

[Spanky's Monkey]

Taking the MSF next month and I want to have all my gear ready for the riding portion. I actually brought my bike first and just got my temp plate today. Not riding yet cause I don't know how. So anyway in my search for protective gear I decided to settle on hi viz. Here in Decatur, IL it seems to be very uncool to wear gear. Most riders with gear only wear a helmet and little else. Well I've always been different and I think my choice of gear will reflect that. Still waiting on my Bell Vortex Manifest helmet and I'm going to get the Olympia AG4 pants to go with my AG5 jacket. I love the fit of the jacket and the Alpinestars Ridge Air boots feel good during the break-in period. Walking around the house in the boots feels like I could wear them while hanging out as long as I'm not hiking anywhere.

Reflective strips in the Airglide 5 jacket plus a rain liner and removable thermal insert sounded great to me. Rain liner can be worn zipped in the jacket or over the jacket. It's a nice setup with some great features to make wearing while riding comfortable.

 

[ShoopCE]

Nice gear!

BTW, you're in the club that plans to keep their skin in the event that they go down and end up sliding a bit. It's amazing how quickly even blue jeans evaporate when sliding across asphalt.

Chris

 

[payneib]

Nice gear, good choice. Don't worry about how it looks for now, you want it to work, and be comfortable. After all, I think the majority of bikers suffer from this:

When you do fancy something a bit more "snazzy" there are other options. I've just bought an RST Roadster jacket to go with my kevlar jeans. All the armour, leather, good cut. Don't know what it's like for weather protection, it's only for summer.

 

[jesse_sanders]

^ looks like my jacket

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Water Bear]

Lovin' the gear Spanky's Monkey. I've got hi-viz luggage on my bike and have been looking at a hi-viz mesh jacket.

Good luck with the MSF course! That's how I learned to ride a bike and the Fz6 was my first. It's not a bad way to go :thumbup:

 

[Red Wazp]

Smart call on the gear. Wish I would have been that good when I was beginning to ride.

" I'd rather sweat than bled" is my motto. Paid off when a deer totaled my FJR 3 years ago-still riding.

Have fun learning to ride and remember to keep your eyes up the road and the throttle works both ways.

 

[Motogiro]

I don't know ....but the coolest best riders I know wear the gear. :rockon:

 

[Cloggy]

Looks like you got yourself some good gear :thumbup: I wear a high vis vest during the winter, but I'm always wearing the full gear whenever I ride.

 

[agf]

Looks like you got yourself some good gear :thumbup: I wear a high vis vest during the winter, but I'm always wearing the full gear whenever I ride.

same same ----- only need to protect the bits you want to keep!

 

[dbldutch02]

only need to protect the bits you want to keep!

Like!

How cool are the shorts and flipflops brigade going to look covered in skin grafts and pressure bandages?

 

[gnyce]

I feel 'cooler' with the gear on. Dunno, somehow feels... 'gladiatorial', like I'm going into battle... hand-to-hand combat with the cagers. That reads weird, I'm aware, but there it is.

 

[gbose]

'Most riders with gear only wear a helmet and little else....'

Can you post pictures? :Flash:

 

[Monica A]

Remember: road rash takes longer to heal than a broken bone.

ATGATT (All the Gear, All the Time) is my moto.

Even when it is 100 degrees, I wear the gear. We were riding o\in Idaho on our recent road trip (they have no helmet law). It was funny that standard bike riders still wore helmets, but H-D riders didn't. The best was the lady on the back wore a "brain bucket" and the rider didn't. Obviously the passenger had a little more brains than the rider.

I don't wear gear because of some dumb government law. I wear it for myself in the event of an unexpected off.

You can't legislate stupidity out of the populace.

You wear that gear and be COOL my friend!

On a side note, when I started riding 5 years ago I found a book called "Proficient Motorcycling" by David Hough. It's a fun, easy, informative read. I highly recommend it. My hubby, son and I reread it every winter to remind ourselves of good riding techniques.