ND4SPD

What does everyone have for gear and what are your experiences with it?

I mainly have off the shelf stuff. I guess I'm fortunate enough that it fits me and I haven't had the need to go custom.

Alpinestars GP Plus gloves - crash tested and held up well. No busted seams and no spots wore through.

Alpinestars Stunt jacket - Not worn too much since I quit riding on the street not long after I bought it. Build quality seems great though and I'm confident that it would hold up well if it had to.

Honda HRC suit(made by Hein Gericke I believe) - Bought on sale for around $325 about 5 years ago. Crash tested in a highside and it passed. Only one seam was compromised, but the leather itself is intact. I know I should upgrade to something that has a little more padding in it, but I really haven't felt the need to as of yet.

Alpinestars Tech back protector - Crash tested and it passed as well. I wish it had coverage for shoulder blades and kidneys, but I guess that will require an upgrade to a different make/model.

Alpinestars SMX Plus boots - Several years old and also crash tested. I'm fully confident that they're the reason I still have my left ankle intact after my bike smashed it into the ground at speed. Boots are still fine and usable - I just need to replace one of the toe sliders since it flew off somewhere.

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jose_jimenez

You must be very bored.

Purpdust

All that for a Magna

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GSXR 750 - Track
CRF450X - Dirt
CRF100F - Soon to be a Mini Motard

tigerblade

I have a Spidi jacket that zips to the pants. I forget what the name it is. It's made it through 3 crashes at various speeds and I only had to have one seam resewn at the chest. I've had Teknic and Spidi gloves with no problems either brand. I have a Bohn Pro Race back protector. I still exploded my spine into a bunch of pieces, but I don't think any back protector would have done any better. I currently have a Spidi Norick 1-pc suit and it's held up through two crashes. The first was a decent-speed tumble that just scuffed the leather in a couple places. The last crash was a flop into the dirt with no damage to the suit. I have had Sidi Vertebra boots for the past several years and just replaced them with a new pair this winter. Shoei Z-II Jimmy Moore replica helmet, but may look to get a Scorpion. I'm impressed with the Scorpion I got for my wife.

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SuperDave

Vanson Leathers - I've had six sets since 1991. I've crashed, been ran over, hit walls, raced in the rain, hit walls, and bled all over them. I crash well, but the Vanson's help a whole lot. My set from 1991 I sold after the year...they were covered in asphalt and blood stains. My suit from 1992/1993, I sold to the guy that helped me at AMA races. I still have the other suits. Vanson's have an integrated back protector.

Suomy Helmets - Been wearing them since 2001. Started with the Gunwind, and now I wear the Spec1R's. I love them because one can customize the interior to make it fit. I got my first Suomy delivered to Daytona in 2001, and I wore in in practice that got red flagged. I was sitting and it was the first helmet that I could feel air moving through the top for cooling like I thought it should have. I tried on the new Suomy Vandal, which is a less expensive helmet because they were able to reduce visor pieces and paint and decal prep alone with on shell size, but it's not shaped for me, so I'll be sticking with the Spec1R for a while.

I have long fingers that are small. Makes finding gloves hard. I can fit into a Medium, but the extention of my thumb and fingers makes it so I need to wear an XL. I hate to admit it, but the Tecknic gloves are very nice and durable. I've had other name brand gloves, but they haven't worked as well as I though they should in the durability department. Vanson started making custom gloves by measurements last year, I believe, and I got a set in 2006. I do love them.

Oxtar Boots - I have narrow feet, and they fit me well. Just picked up a nice hardly used set on ebay before Christmas to replace my worn set. I am talking with Puma about their new motorcycle boots. Very unique design that looks different but has some very nice safety features.

I wear my stuff a lot. Schools, racing...ridden hard and put a way wet, left in the trailer in the heat, then pulled out again.

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bwhip

Helmet: Shoei X-11 Bostrom
I can't imagine a cooler, more comfortable helmet. My X-11 Norick did a great job of protecting my dome when I decided to fall off at 85+ a couple of years back.

Gloves: Held Kryptons
I used to have Teknic Violators, but these are much more comfortable, and provide better protection. I love the protective material across the knuckles, as it is very flexible, but still provides outstanding protection

Boots: Alpinestars SMX (Soon to be replaced by Oxtar TCS Evo Replicas)
The A-Stars have been great for several years, including surviving a get-off. I bought them close-out from NewEnough back in 2003, and they've held up well. The soles could be a little stiffer so that the pegs are not so hard on my feet toward the latter stages of a trackday. They're about done, so I found a deal from NewEnough on the Oxtars, and will give them a try.

Leathers: Z-Custom
Perfect. I sort of wish I'd ordered them with a hump, but they wanted a few hundred extra for that, and they were already expensive (but very impressive).

Back Protector: Bohn Cool-Air
Exceptionally comfortable and cool, providing very good protection. My former protector was the Alpinestars Tech, which looks like would provide the best possible protection, but is also fairly bulky and stiff.

Road Gear: Cortech Perforated Leather Pants, Cortech TourMaster Cordura Jacket, Vanson Perforated Leather Jacket (the cheaper imported one), and some Joe Rocket street boots.

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phobe

Lid: Shoei X11 Shane Byrne best fitting, best vented lightest helmet I've ever had
Suit: Z-Custom (haven't had the chance to use it yet )
Gloves: Alpinestars SP1... they have served me well for ~5 years but are starting to come apart. I think I'll replace them with Helds.
Boots: Sidi Verigo Corsa... I love them but I don't love getting the ankle brace stuck in my heel guard.

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Repeater

Scorpion 700 lid only helmet that fits my mishaped head.

Sidi boots that catch the rearsets and piss me off.

Sidi socks. these are nice.

A* tech something back protector

underarmor to wick the sweat. great stuff keeps the body from sticking to the leathers and keeps you cool.

Z leathers with the bump (bump costs 90.00 bucks stop being cheap bwhip! he will stick it on for 150.00 after the fact.) best thing i have bought. They allow easy movement on the bike. 1400.00 is cheap for what you get.

Kushitani GPR gloves. these things are expensive but great. no hard armer thankfully. they need some venting though.

CBRVFR

Boots - Alpinestars SM-X They seem decent, have worn well over the last couple of years, and I've replaced the sliders. I think there are more protective boots out there.

Gloves - I have been using Tecnic gloves, but they haven't fit very well, and there's that whole Aaron Yates association thing.. I just spent a bunch on the newest. top of the line Held GP-!, which seem to be very well made. I'm weraing them now. Actually, they're a little tight, so we'll see how well they break in.


Helmet - Shoei X-11, custom painted. No complaints at all. I just got a Scorpion EX700 because the deal was too good to pass up, and the helmet is very comfortable and has nice features, such as the no-fog, quick change visors (2) that it came with. I intend to paint it when I get some time.

Street gear - Aerostich Roadcrafter - custom made 2-piece, very comfortable and durable. The gold standard for street gear. Widder heated vest ( Harley badged )

Bohn Racer Pro back protector.

Barnacle Bill Custom one piece leathers with GP armor. The best bang for the buck out there.

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TornadoB8

**TRACK**
Suit: Dainese K
Lid: Shoei X-11
Footwear: Sidi race vertabra
Gloves: Joe Rocket Speedmaster
Spine: Dainese

**Street**
Jacket: Fieldsheer
Footwear: Carhartt
Lid: KBC V-2
Gloves: Joe Rocket Blaster or Razor

**Stunt**
Footwear: Flip flops
Suit: Billabong shirt & shorts
Lid: Yeah...right

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CCS#27
Dunlop, Vortex, Vesrah, Silkolene

Paranoid

Suit: A* 1 piece
Gloves: A* Gp Pro
Boots: A* SMX Plus
Helmet: Suomy Spec-1R Extreme
Back Protector: Teknic

All my stuff is for the track as I don't have a street bike

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ONEvcs

I've got mostly stuff someone already mentioned, and a Dainese leather jacket (forgot the model), works well; and Dainese gloves (never knew the model name) which work fine.

I ended up buying the A* smx plus boots, but wanted to try the Gaerne boots. No one in my area had them in stock and I wanted to try them on before buying. This is what I'm talking about just in case you've never heard of them. I had some x-cross boots by them long ago and they were great.

Gaerne - The Boot Company

Forgot the Icon field armor. Fits fine under the leathers and it's comfortable.

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bwhip

They told me it would be $300 or so for mine. I would have done $90 for sure. Oh well, I'm not fast enough to need aerodynamics anyway.

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bwhip

Squid!

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SheepOfBlue

Helmets:
Arai Corsair Blue Tommy Gun
Arai Corsair Kitagawa
Jackets:
Joe Rocket Phoenix I (likely getting replaced)
Joe Rocket Blaster 2
Boots:
Alpinestars Blue SMX-Plus
Alpinestars Blue SMX-4
Pants:
Joe Rocket Phoenix
Tourmaster Apex (soon to be ordered)
Suit:
Joe Rocket GPX-R
Gloves:
Joe Rocket GPX
Tourmaster Unknown model (no longer made)
Icon Cold weather gloves
Backprotector:
Alpinestars Tech Backprotector

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HondaGalToo

Helmet: Arai Corsair Hayden Laguna rep

Boots: Alpinestars Supertechs (track), SMX Plus-gortex (street)

Gloves: Held Galaxy

Suit: Vanson 1-piece custom (track), Vanson 2 piece custom (street), Aerostich (street)

Backprotector: Knox Ricochet (track), Vanson CE/Aerostich back protector (street)

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deftones156

Helmet: HJC AC-11. Decent helmet, finish chips easily, I may be shopping around.

Jacket: Alpinestars TZ1. Fits great, looks good, hot as hell. I'm getting it perforated.

Gloves: Alpinestars SP1. Decent gloves, very long break in period. Pretty average comfort. May be shopping around for some Spidis

Pants: Alpinestars street cargo pants. Pretty happy with these textile pants, have knee armor, not much venting.

Boots: Alpinestars SMX-Plus. Only used a few times, but I feel much more secure. Gotta get used to the feel when shifting though...

Spine: Velocity Gear back protector. Only ridden with it a few times, but it's thin and comfortable.

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luvtolean

Helmet: X-11
Leathers: Zoomi Custom (don't buy)
Gloves: Held Galaxy
Boots: Daytona Security Evo

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navydevildoc

Helmet - Arai RX-7 Corsair
Suit - Dainese "Tank" Suit w/ back protector
Gloves - A* GP Plus, A* GP Tech
Jacket - A* "Stunt" Jacket
Boots - A* SM-X

Other standard riding fare - Under Armour, dog tags, iPod, Chatterbox, garage door opener, and always bring common sense.

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abtech

Current:

Helmet: Scorpion EXO-700
Boots: Oxtar somethings
Leathers: Z-Custom
Gloves: Held Phantoms
Back Protector: Custom made Bates 8 plate

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CBR929RE

Suomy Spec1r
JR 2 piece leathers
Sidi Vertigo Corsas that don't get caught on my heel guards cause I know to not get them stuck.
MotoGP Nitrous gloves, survived one minor crash with minor scuffing on one palm.
Spidi Back Warrior that I haven't tried yet because of the damn winter.
A* T-stunt airflo jacket, only mesh jacket I've ever seen that even looks like its worth a damn.
JR mesh gloves, if I can find better mesh or really cool gloves I'll get them.
Fieldsheer textile pants, seem nice but I hardly wear them cause I have the leathers so I'm not really sure why I bought them.
Fieldsheer textile jacket, survived the same crash as the MotoGP gloves but got a hole on the inside of the elbow somehow. now retired.

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for1only

Arai RX7RR McCoy, Quantum F Haga-red
Kushitani and AGV suits
Alpine Stars SMX and Oxtar TCS race-white stormtrooper boots
Alpine Star GP1 Gloves

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quick26

i ride naked.



suomy lid
cortec all weather jacket, has the removable liner.
technic cloves
steel toed work shoes and jeans. i know, i need to buy some good pants and boots

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luvtolean

I've been told by old timers steel toe boots can cut your toes off.

Dunno if it's true or not. I went down in steel toes, and I have to say, they did well, and the leather was ground down right over the steel.

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Someone needs to present the facts and the physics rather than just the rhetoric. Poor old Carmelo doesn't understand the physics of a motorcycle. - Jerry Burgess, on spec tires and changing engine rules

quick26

it would take a lot of force to cut your toes off with steel toe boots

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