Overview of My Motorcycle Riding Gear

One of the first things that Jerry taught me about motorcycle riding is to always wear protective gear. It doesn’t matter how hot the weather is. Always wear not only a helmet but also a high visibility jacket, pants, boots and gloves. After riding for almost seven years, I still follow his advice. It is better to sweat while riding than potentially deal with avoidable medical bills later.

Helmet

One of your most difficult decisions as a rider is finding a proper fitting helmet. For me, that helmet is the Shoei RF-1100 full faced helmet in XXL. Even there, I needed modified cheekpads so it would fit me comfortably. My issues with this helmet are 1) a lot of wind turbulence within the helmet and 2) it can be quite hot in the summer, particularly in traffic jams. To reduce the noise of turbulence, I always wear ear plugs. The downside to wearing earplugs is that my Scala SHO-1 distorts the audio at high volumes.

A lot of riders prefer intricate graphic designs or dark colors on their helmet. I stick with the unsexy plain white helmet in the hope that other motorists see me better.

I recently bought and returned the successor model RF-1200 helmet. This model was supposed to be much quieter. Unfortunately, I never was able to test whether that is true because the sizes have changed and the XXL RF-1200 (the largest size that Shoei makes) doesn’t fit my head.

Underneath my helmet, I have attached the Cardo System SHO-1 Bluetooth intercom system.

Jacket & Pants

BMW Motorrad sells some great apparel. I am particularly impressed with their AirFlow line. Unfortunately, BMW apparel is twice the cost of competing brands and rarely discounted. Also, if you want a day-glow yellow jacket, you need to buy a vest to go over your nice Airflow jacket.

My first jacket and pants were early versions of Olympia’s Airglide line. They are solidly constructed and served me well for six years. The fluorescent yellow version is so bright that my camera even captures its glow. The Olympia line cost about half of BMW’s apparel line. When I bought a new jacket and pants this summer, I bought the newest version of Airglide pants. However, I switched to Olympia’s Dakar jacket. The sleeves are a bit longer while the chest is not as baggy. In the spirit of Alton Brown’s search for multitasking tools, the Dakar layers better than the competitors’ jackets for cold mornings and wet weather.

As a proud BMW K1300S rider, I showed my brand loyalty by putting a BMW pin on my jacket.

Boots

For replacement boots, I followed WebBikeWorld’s recommendations and upgraded my Sidi Slash boots to Sidi Doha boots. These are extraordinarily comfortable both on the bike and when I stop and walk around. For more protection and riding during inclement weather, I am considering also purchasing a pair of BMW Motorrad Sport Dry boots.

Gloves

I swear by my BMW Airflow gloves. They are extraordinarily comfortable. They have been warm enough to wear even during winter. And six years later, they are still in great condition.

Glasses

I have a pair of old Maui Jim Ka’anapali Sunglasses. The frames are constructed from a flexible titanium that works very well inside a full faced motorcycle helmet. The vision from the polarized lenses is outstanding. And when I have scratched the lenses over the years, Maui Jim’s customer service has been fantastic, restoring them to original condition for a nominal price.

Updated on March 14th, 2019