Motorcycle Clothing
Where to Buy from
The first place I look for motorcycle clothing and accessories is Hein
Gericke.
They are the only large retail chain of motorcycle accessory shops in the UK (44
stores in the UK, 56 in Germany and a few in some other countries).
So the chances are there is one near you if you're in the UK.
Even if there is not, they also have a mail order department.
To find your nearest store visit their website at
www.hein-gericke.co.uk
My personal recommendation is you visit one of their stores.
I found their staff to be highly trained and good.
Lots of the products they stock have the Hein Gericke brand name on them.
The Hein Gericke brand name in my opinion is very good, it's a mark of quality.
The quality of their products is often better than main brand products costing
far more.
I hope to be reviewing some Hein Gericke branded clothing soon.
I also recommend when you are in a Hein Gericke store to take home their free
catalogue which has nearly everything they sell in it.
It is well worth a good read all the way through to see all the things they sell
(there is far more than just clothing in it).
You can also have the free catalogue delivered to your address,
www.hein-gericke.co.uk has a order
catalogue section.
Eye Sight
It is a very good idea to have your eyes tested even if you have never needed
spectacles (glasses).
If you have never had an eye test, its a very good idea to have one no matter
how good you think your eye sight is (its common to think its good when its
bad).
If you have never needed spectacles, you should at least get your eyes tested
once between the age of 20 to 25 and also once between 40 to 50.
After the age of 60 you really should get regular eye tests no matter how good
your eye sight is (above 70 years old is very high risk of eye problems).
For expert advice about ages, speak to someone who specialises in eye sight,
the person who does an eye test will be able to advise you the best.
People often do not realise their eye sight is gradually getting worse over
the years since their brain adapts.
If your long distance eye sight is affected, how far you can see will get
shorter and shorter gradually over the years often without you realising.
Its also common not to realise your brain slows your vehicle down, does not
overtake vehicles unless there is a massive gap,
lorries are very hard at speed, pulling out of a junction or roundabout etc..
I assume you have seen this with 80 year old car drivers but it can happen to
a 23 year old who never needed spectacles before.
The person who tested my eyes told me that people have a significant drop in
eyesight at 20 to 25 years old and some people need spectacles for the first
time.
The eye sight test for obtaining a driving licence in the UK is only a
minimum requirement and your eye sight has to be very bad to fail it.
Having a proper eye sight test at a opticians will be to a much higher
standard.
If you wear spectacles when riding, I recommend you buy some with an anti
reflective coating, you will be able to see much further and better,
night riding is even better. An anti scratch coating is a good idea unless you
keep the visor down most of the time.
In the UK SelectSpecs.com sell
prescription spectacles with anti reflective, scratch resistant coating and
other things from £15.75 including delivery and VAT
Helmet
The best way (will not scratch) to clean the visor is with a spectacle
(reading glasses) or camera cleaning cloth (microfiber) with plenty of water
(soak).
The motorcycle helmet is the most important item, it's also the only item that is a legal requirement to be worn in the UK.
A helmet wears out, it does not really age.
The polystyrene absorbs your sweat, as it does it loses its elasticity and
hardens.
This makes the fit very loose, like the helmet is one or two sizes larger than
when new.
When it gets too bad, you need to buy a new helmet.
The most important thing is to get one that's the best fit, it does not
matter if it's a £50 helmet or a £500 helmet,
if it's a bad fit, it offers no protection in an accident and is noisy and
uncomfortable.
To find the best fitting helmet, you need to try every make and model at
every price point.
Try as many shops as you can find, since they can stock different makes and
models.
When you think you have got the best fit, try the same make and model, one
size smaller and one size larger to confirm the correct size.
You then need a trained helmet assistant to check the helmet fit is safe, all
shops should have at least one trained person.
They will check that the helmet is not too loose and that it can not be turned
around your head easily or rolled off,
you can check these for yourself but a trained assistant is better.
Since most shops refuse to accept a helmet back once you leave the store
unless its faulty,
you should try it on in the shop for 15 to 20 minutes.
Watch out for pressure on your forehead (excessive pressure over minutes often
stops you concentrating or thinking clearly),
or if you get a headache or when you take it off you notice excessive red
marks on your forehead, it's too small.
You must leave the helmet on for 15 to 20 minutes for these problems to show
up.
A helmet will very slightly, permanently squash to your head and face, but its
only slightly,
so a very slightly uncomfortable tight fit will change to a perfect fit
(slightly tight).
A slightly loose fit when new will become very slightly looser.
The tighter the helmet, the safer it is in an accident, but too tight and it's
uncomfortable and can give you a splitting headache (could make you crash).
Never loan your helmet to someone else, since if any part of their head or
face is larger than you, it will permanently squash to that size at any age.
If you have a choice of helmets that are all the same perfect fit.
You might also like a removable liner so you can wash the liner that touches
your head all the time, you may also like a cooling / antibacterial one.
Generally the more expensive helmets have more sound insulation (but
they will be noisier if they're a bad fit).
If you live in the UK, fogging / misting up is often a problem in some weather conditions (see Helmet section in Riding in Winter webpage).
If your hearing is affected by motorcycling,
the normal thing is to wear motorcycle ear plugs to stop you permanently
damaging your hearing.
If you have a non flip up helmet, some shops sell an anti wind noise fabric
that fits underneath and around the bottom of the helmet.
Flip up helmets are popular since you can speak to people easily and show
your face (your hearing is still effected), you can also eat and drink.
But the main reason is if you wear spectacles,
you do not have to remove them while putting the helmet on / off and risk the
wind blowing them off the bike.
Motorcycle Helmet reviews can be found at http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/motorcycle-helmets.htm
Gloves
They are a necessity, if you fall off your instinct is to land with your hands
(very damaging and painful even at very low speeds without gloves).
The main requirement is leather to stop road rash, a motorcycle glove normally
has additional protection built in to the glove.
Some motorcycle gloves use special textile materials instead of leather that
have anti road rash abilities, do not use a non motorcycle textile glove.
The type and quality of motorcycle gloves you use will have a very large
affect on how well you can control the throttle, clutch and brake.
A learner is normally less sensitive to the motorcycle controls, so it's even
more important to have a glove that reduces the feel of the controls as little
as possible.
An experienced motorcyclist will also want a glove like that to make it easier
to control the bike.
For the ultimate control of the throttle, clutch and brake you want no gloves on, but it is very dangerous if you fall off or anything hits your hands.
The ultimate glove would be the thinnest, softest leather between your
fingers and the controls and good stretch ability on the back of your fingers
and knuckles.
On a hot summers day some gloves stick to the back of your hand making it very
hard to smoothly operate the clutch (brake and throttle also suffer).
So stretch ability / ventilation holes and or a material that does not stick to
the back of the hand is useful.
But the ultimate glove is only any use in warm weather with no rain.
Most motorcycle riders in the UK have discovered that most of the year the
weather is not like that.
The old fashioned answer to this problem was to put a inner glove or liner
inside the glove.
The inner glove / liner would serve to reduce wind chill (reduces the cold wind
getting though the fabric) and often have some water proof abilities.
The problem with the inner glove / liner was it slips and slides within the
glove making it very hard to accurately control the bike (especially the
throttle).
The more it slips and slides the worse it is as well as how thick it is.
Another common problem was the breathability of the material (sweaty hands are
always a bad idea for trying to use the bike controls inside a glove).
The breathability and waterproof problem has been greatly improved by the
invention of GORE-TEX.
This material is famous around the world as the number one waterproof,
breathable and windproof fabric used in outdoor clothing (mountain, skiing
etc..)
GORE-TEX greatest ability is to be breathable and yet wind and waterproof,
breathability is key since cold sweaty hands loose a lot of heat and feel.
The slipping and sliding problem has only just recently been fixed by bonding
the liner to the glove called GORE-TEX X-TRAFIT.
Its an expensive product but so worth the extra money,
because it means you have a windproof, waterproof, breathable lined glove with
the feel and control of an unlined glove.
It also means you can use the same glove for most of the year, in the very
coldest winter days in the UK you may need to use a
Winter Glove.
When trying on gloves in a shop there are several things to test including.
Try touching your thumb to each finger to see how much feel you have.
Try wrapping your hand around your other hand (to simulate operating the
throttle).
Try pretending your operating the clutch to see how easily the glove stretches
at the back of your hand / knuckles / fingers.
When you take off the glove see if anything slips and slides within the glove.
I went to my local Hein-Gericke store (see Where
to Buy from section above to find your nearest store) and tried on 4 lined
Hein-Gericke own brand lined gloves.
Because all 4 gloves are Hein-Gericke own brand I found the quality of material
and construction (stitching etc..) to be very high quality for the price.
X-TRAFIT Leather Gore-Tex
See Hein Gericke X-Trafit Leather Glove Review
Tour LT X-TRAFIT
Very similar to the X-TRAFIT Leather Gore-Tex above but not quite as good (also
no visor wipe), try both gloves on in the store and make your own mind up.
Costs £59.99.
ECO GTX II
This has the Gore-Tex liner but its old fashioned type = not bonded so it slips
and slides, it also has no visor wipe.
Its still a very good glove, but at £49.99 you think why would I want the
problems of the liner when I can pay £10 more to remove the problem?
Again I recommend you try one on in the store and make your own mind up.
Blader
This is only a £34.99 glove and has a Sheltex liner, its not bonded and so slips
and slides (but does have a visor wipe).
Sheltex is a competitor to Gore-Tex but costs less, it also claims to be
windproof, waterproof and breathable.
But as soon as I tried it on in the shop after the Gore-Tex gloves above I could
tell its not on the same level, but what do you expect at that price?
The quality of the materials and stitching etc.. are still very good but its the
liner I did not like.
It felt thick (so reduced feel substantially) it also did not breath anywhere
near as good as the Gore-Tex (but I was in a shop that's often far worse than on
the bike).
Again I recommend you try one on in the store and make your own mind up.
I personally would not wear a glove with a liner like this, I would do
everything possible to afford the X-Trafit or at least the ECO GTX II.
If I really could not afford to get the better gloves, I would look at a
Hein-Gericke unlined glove.
Coat
The bike is small and very underpowered above 50mph, this means your biggest
enemy is wind resistance, your coat is the biggest wind surface area.
Different materials have massive differences in wind resistance,
leather is smooth and makes the wind flow around and away from you,
a textile coat traps the wind and slows the bike down significantly more than
leather,
plastic reflective safety coats are the best thing since they are smaller and
lighter than leather and are also smooth (and waterproof),
but do not breath and are very hot (horrible, leather is much better).
A coat that flaps in the wind is also wind resistance, so get one that's
stiff enough and tight enough to flap as little as possible.
Things like wool jumpers etc. might be much smaller and lighter, but their
wind resistance is terrible.
Of course back wind or slipstreaming lorries can eliminate this problem.
Just make sure you stay well within your stopping distance!
The coats wind resistance also effects how much your blown all over the road
by side wind.
I use a high quality motorcycle leather coat.
A leather coat should last a very long time so it's not economical to buy low
quality and upgrade to high quality later (so buy high quality in the first
place).
The low quality motorcycle leather coat I used put a lot of its weight on my
shoulders (that's very bad since it's heavy, it should be on your hips).
The coat was hard to walk in because it restricted the movement in my arms (bad
quality shape and no stretchable leather or fabric in the movement sections).
It was also hot because it had no ventilation.
The high quality motorcycle leather coat I use is very good and very
practical on and off the motorcycle.
It is adjustable and elastic around my hips so nearly all the coats weight is on
my hips,
there is very little weight on my shoulders, sometimes there is a little air
between coat and my shoulder / neck (that's very good when using for long
periods).
The arm joints have stretchable leather so it hardly restricts my movement when
walking (very useful, I can walk for miles easily).
It has good ventilation, small holes under the arms,
zips front and back that when open allows the coat to breath very well in hot
weather and adjustable vents in the top of the coat.
It also has all the hard body armour in the arms but still hardly restricts my
movement when I am walking.
Lots of people will tell you a motorcycle leather coat should be tight and
only allow something like a shirt to be worn beneath it.
I have always used a coat that is slightly to big for me, so I can wear anything
beneath the coat.
As the weather gets colder I put thicker and warmer layers of clothes on
underneath the coat.
When it's really cold I put an outdoor / mountain thick fleece on underneath.
In the coldest days of winter I put a waterproof coat over the leather coat
which substantially reduces the cold (stops the wind getting though the zips and
seams).
As a result I am able to use the leather coat comfortably almost all year
round in the UK.
The only times I struggle is during the very hottest days of summer (because
black leather does not reflect the sun),
and when it's raining and very windy (because waterproof coat I put over the
leather increases the wind resistance and how much I am blown about in side
winds).
I have read in the Hein-Gericke catalogue that they sell leather jackets with
a TFL Cool System that claims to reflect the sun despite being a black coat.
This seems like a brilliant idea on hot summer days, but the only slight
downside I can see would be on cold days when the sun is out it would be colder.
See Where to Buy from section above to find
your nearest store or order your free catalogue.
Trousers
Normal denim jeans with Kevlar in side are the most practical when it's not
raining.
They are normally sold as motorcycle jeans, the Kevlar is meant to replace
leather for protection from road rash if you fall off.
Denim jeans with Kevlar are easy to walk in, breathes and are not hot in
summer.
It's up to you if you buy motorcycle trousers, many do not bother. If you do
not, normal thick denim jeans offer some protection.
Boots
The ultimate best thing to wear on your feet to control a motorcycle is good
quality walking leather shoes.
But they offer, very, very little protection in an accident, you do not want to
even think about the injuries so a boot is the only option.
The reason a leather shoe is so good at controlling a motorcycle is because it
allows you to easily move your ankle up and down to change gear.
You also have good feel between your foot and the gear change lever and when you
get off the bike you can easily walk to your destination.
So the challenge is can you get a boot that is as good, the answer is no
(except it will give you far more protection in an accident).
It's a physical impossibility, but some are much better than others.
It's not always a question of the most expensive is best, because the
manufacturer has to work out what's most important, protection, control or
walking.
The first thing to do is try on as many boots as you can.
1. Try walking in the shop with them, if it's to hard to walk in them for any
distance they are useless unless you do not plan to walk far in them.
The following tests can easily be simulated in the shop by putting your hand
on the top of your left foot and pushing your foot upwards while your heel is on
the floor.
2. How well can you move your left foot up and down to change gear.
3. How much feel is there between your foot and the gear change lever.
4. How much protection do they give in an accident.
All boots will give better protection than shoes.
The stiffer the boot / thicker the padding the better for protection.
A motorcycle boot should (not all do) have much more protection built in to the
boot including.
Solid hard round discs that go around the ankles.
Some will also have shinbone protection.
There are many other things that may have been added to a motorcycle boot to
make them better in an accident and more practical for motorcycling.
5. How good is the materials, quality of construction etc.
6. What are they going to be like in the wet and cold?
If the boots do not have any special water proof, windproof, breathable
materials inbuilt (like Gore-Tex or Sheltex),
Wind and water can get through stitching, zips and laces easily.
You can of course put water proofs over the top.
I am still trying to find the perfect motorcycle boot.
I have had a quick look in Hein-Gericke (see Where
to Buy from section above to find your nearest store).
I did try on their Custom II boot for £74.99, it is well worth trying on in the
shop.
Then try on their other boots and see what you think.
I do plan to return to Hein-Gericke and spend a lot more time evaluating their boots in store and hope to try my favourite on the bike and do a proper review.
Water Proofs
You can buy motorcycle water proofs, but they often cost more just because
they say for motorcycling.
You can buy water proofs for walking, pedal cycling, fishing and other uses
that will all work for motorcycling.
The only thing you need to look out for is how well sealed the front zips are,
the front seams are also a weak point.
I tried a normal walking waterproof coat and the rain got through the main
front zip.
I then tried a normal walking waterproof coat that claimed to be storm proof,
the rain did not get though the main front zip because there was a waterproof
flap over the outside of the zip (waterproof flaps between you and the zip are
useless).
All that matters with waterproofs is all zips and seams need to be storm proof
where the wind hits you, the wind tries to force the water in.
The strongest wind will always hit you head on since the bikes moving
forwards, so you do not need storm proof zips behind you.
The only other place you need a good waterproof seal is between you and the
seat, you often end up with a puddle of water to sit in (make sure the seam is
good).
You can buy waterproof leather gloves but the leather still gets soaked, the
waterproof part is underneath the leather.
You can buy waterproofs that go over your gloves, but you will find
controlling the motorcycle more difficult.
The best way to get a waterproof seal is by fitting handlebar muffs or maybe
plastic hand guards (stops the wind forcing the water in),
see Hands in Riding in Winter page.
You can buy waterproofs that go over shoes or boots, some are for
motorcycling and others for pedal cycling (even some for walking).
All that matters is the front of your foot is protected and a bit of the sides
(make sure you have enough grip to stop motorcycle falling over).
Lined waterproof coats and trousers are better than unlined ones (not so hot, sticky and less condensation).