I know they say you are supposed to replace at least the helmet every 5 years (I'm well over due for that), but what about leathers/boots etc?
I've never had an accident or come off at any speed, but I'm assuming even leather has some sort of upper limit on effectiveness over the years.
How often do you replace your stuff?
Helmet: every few years, 5 or so, depends on how much I wear it.
Gloves: when the stitching starts to give and/or the glove becomes too loose
Jacket: similar to gloves. When it shows signs of age or becomes too damaged from just wearing.
Boots: similar to gloves and jackets. When the soles are worn out, or the integrity of the boot is questionable.
Pants: depends. I use Kevlar pants or heavy duty denim for most of my riding, so when ever they need replacing.
Underpants: every time I ride to the shops in heavy traffic around retarded car drivers…
Can I just get new liner for the helmet if it was never dropped?
Not as far as I know, the foam compresses over time which reduces the level of protection it offers.
the foam compresses over time which reduces the level of protection it offers.
If they made a helmet that lasted you wouldn't buy another one.
The problem is with the impact foam part of the inner shell. The things like cheek pads and removable liner parts is fine. You can take them out and wash them, or replace them if they are just not holding shape, but you can’t really replace to inner layer of the helmet that just goes hard over times from wearing and from all the swear, grease and oil that the human body exudes.
I have a rotation for my road helmets. Main helmet that gets most use, then a secondary helmet that is usually an almost retired previous helmet… I buy a replacement, it goes to main, main goes to secondary, secondary goes in the bin.
It would be nice to be able to just refurb a helmet, but I have found over time, the helmet quality and technology improves, and it’s such a low cost when it’s spread out over 5ish or so years.
It is mainly the ultra expensive helmets I try to preserve like the Rossi face helmet or the Bell CF Hans mounted helmets.
They're nowhere near daily wear and I can't afford to retire them at 5 years.
(Fully aware that price does not equate to performance. Just love Rossi surprise face.)
@[Deactivated]: I have separate track day helmets tyhat I keep a lot longer. They are way too expensive to just throw out after an expiry date and get worn so little during the year. So those types of helmets last a lot longer. I will often retire my track helmet to my main ride helmet. It's still good for road use, and too good to throw away.
I have helmets for road, helmets for track, helmets for off road, helmets for karting… I would go broke if I just replaced them "every X years" when they don't need to be. Again, it's all down to the amount of use it gets. If you pull it on every day to go to work, you should replace it sooner than if you wear it to 2 or 3 track days a year.
Underpants: every time I ride to the shops in heavy traffic around retarded car drivers…
Yes.. this
How do you find the Kevlar pants? Do they offer good protection?
Good can be a subjective term so it might be better to go with stats -
I remember when I bought my first pair of Draggin Cargos they were quoting a 2 second 'slide' time compared to 7 with leather, they're now quoting 7.45 seconds slide time across the range so I'm unsure if this represents an improvement in the quality of the garment, or a change in the testing process.
As with most products there are good and poor quality examples, so it's difficult to generalise but as a general rule - don't cheap out :)
yeah. this was why I originally went all leather. maybe it's time to have another look at the options.
a mate of mine used to say 'nothing is likely to stop a bone breaking, you just want to save your skin'
@jimdotpud: Yeah I doubt there'll come a day when I'd wear anything other than a 1 piece on the track, but there are some good offerings around now for general day to day riding.
If your budget allows, Sa1nt do some pretty good single layer jeans and cargos, some of them come with removable knee and hip padding. I'm not affiliated with them btw.
How do you find the Kevlar pants? Do they offer good protection?
Let's hope I never have the chance to find out.
Following…I just got a bike and looking to buy some better gear.
What I say to people is, don't skimp on the really important things like helmets or gloves. They are the most important things to concentrate your outlay on. You don't need a Dainese or AlpineStar jacket as your first jacket if it's going to cost you a large chunk of your helmet budget.
Kevlar jeans are pretty good as well and are a pretty cheap alternative that don't cost much more than a regular pair of pants. It doesn't need to be leather, but look for gear that is padded around the shoulders and elbows and along the spine.
Boots are the same. You don't need the latest "SMX-RR-GTX-F Race Series" boots for commuting when a normal commuting type pair will do. Just make sure they can be done up firm, cover the ankle and have at least two methods of locking them onto your foot. DO NOT wear elastic sided type boots. (same goes with thongs, sneakers and basketball boots)
quick question: has anyone Not crashed in the motorcycle yet? is crashing very common?
Six years & 100,000KM so far; zero injuries (not even broken skin), 2 written off bikes (1x my fault through inattention & over-braking, 1x freak accident).
Likely to happen over long enough time frames.
wow 2 write offs and no injuries. that's crazy. still puts me off getting a licence
9 years, 80000KM, no crashes, no drops, no injuries, no claims.
30+ years of riding and racing and I could count the amount of times I've come off on 1 hand. Worst I got was a broken scapula and cracked shoulder socket. But, in saying that, "your mileage may vary".
I've ridden about 90,000km over the past 6 years, I started with a CBR125R, never dropped it, never crashed it.
I now have a Suzuki DL650, dropped it a bunch early on, and a couple of times offroad, had 1.5 crashes. The half was an intentional 'o shit' moment offroad, locked the rear and just went down, was fine. The proper crash I locked the rear tyre (no ABS..) because someone crossed the intersection infront of me super late. Bike was fine, I was fine, but it did go down, would claim it as a crash.
Basically if you ride like a d-head you're more than likely going to crash at some point. If you are only in the city it may happen but it wont be much worse than crashing a bicycle. Or if you frequently ride in the country (not on main roads..)..
My scariest moment was crossing Australia on a motorbike - fatigue was the killer.
fatigue was the killer.
I think this is an important part that people overlook when riding a motorcycle. It isn't like sitting in a car and just enjoying the drive. You actually get fatigued quite quickly because there is so much more to riding a bike. It's much more physically demanding than just sitting in a car and turning a steering wheel.
10 years and ~100,000kms, nothing to report. I've been lucky :)
I had the same jacket and boots for over 8 years, they had 2 crashes in that time and held up extremely well, regularly replaced the helmet when I found something I liked. Went through a couple of pairs of Draggin jeans though.