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AGATT: My motorcycle safety gear, including airbags.

Are you a gear head that picks hobbies based on the range of equipment you can learn about and Acquire?  If so, the motorcycle riding is for you! Starting from the top...

Earplugs

Always wear earplugs.  My favorites are 
  • Surefire EP-3 or EP-5  You can get these at motorcycle shows, gun shows or Amazon
  • Etymotic Research ER20. that I get on Amazon

Helmet

First off is the helmet.  This is my long oval / high forehead friendly Arai Signet-Q.  This one has a Sena FM Radio bluetooth unit and the visor shield.

The Sema is loud enough to talk over my earplugs.










Jackets

I wear a jacket pretty much all the time no matter what the temperature. I have commuted home in the summer if it is in the mid 90s with just an airbag and no jacket.

The first jacket is a KLIM Goretex Latitude Jacket.  I can't rave enough about this jacket.  It works for me for 3 seasons, is waterproof and very visible. I really like this coat. The Hi-Viz does get very dirty on the inner arms.








The second coat is an Olympia mesh jacket with Cordura on the outer sleeves.  It came with a rain liner. The Hi-Viz on this  jacket gets crazy dirty where the air flows through the mesh.

Airbags

I have two airbags both in Hi-Viz.  Both get pretty dirty.

The first bag is the original Hit-Air hi-Viz vest. It is similar in style to their early police vests.  It it is heavier than the other and blocks a lot of wind so I still use it in the winter. This unit really faded. There is no way to buy a replacement shell even though the airbag can be completely removed.








The second bag is newer and similar in style to their equestrian airbags.  This bag is lighter than the other and allows more airflow.




Overpants

I wear both of these pants over my work clothes. 

This pair was made by Columbia  They have Cordura wear areas and are water resistant with a waterproof pocket. These have no ventilation. I used to have a pair of TPG pants that started off more water resistant and had leg vents. 

This pair of pants leaks pretty significantly in the crotch area.















This pair was made by  Columbia mesh with zip off legs. I never take off the legs.  They have Cordura wear areas. They are pretty comfortable. The the leg velco for the knee pads can become uncovered near the removable zipper.  This can snag and ruin the crease area of pants worn underneath. 















Gloves

Basic


These are the bare minimum in riding gloves. The Hi-Vis Olymypia gloves have knuckle protection and are very visible. These gloves are not waterproof. They provide very basic protection.












e even more "bare minimum". They are better than nothing in the summer with some palm protection. These breathable gloves are water resistant for the first year of ownership. 









Heated Gloves 

Winter commuting can be comfortable if you have warm feet and hams. My heated gloves are wired to the bike with the battery so they never go dead.  I have a lead that hangs out the side of my seat.  The winter coat has  a Y-wire that runs down both arms to a single cable that comes out the back of my jacket.  That plugs into the wire hanging under the seat..  These are two pairs of Gerbing gloves. 

The top Leather G5s are nice microwire gloves.  The wires run down the back of the fingers. These were great gloves until the connector wires broke from me flexing them to stuff them into my coat. They lasted one season after the repair.

The bottom pair are new cloth XE. They are also microwire.  It sees like they changed something in the connection and wire location.  The heat starts in the palm-side heel of the hand and runs down the front/inside of the fingers.

The XEs are more flexible but the G5s seem more comfortable and I like the heat better..

Boots

I have summer and winter boots.  All are waterproof. I have an E width foot.

The top pair are made by Rev-it.  These are/were reasonably warm for the winter.  They were water proof for maybe 1 to 1 1/2 years. Now they leak and fill up with water. I had two pair. They both leaked.

The second pair are TCX 5 Plus GoreTex boots.  They are very waterproof and are pretty comfortable. The outer sole is soft when walking.  I've only had these 6 months.


The bottom pair are summer Rev-it waterproof boots.  They have reasonable air-flow.  I really like these boots.  They are too short when it rains because pants cannot overlap the boots enough to keep water out.



Other

Snowboard bandannas make great winter face protection.

The glasses are Rudy Project Mager glasses with prescription inserts.  This lets you change the lens color without having to have multiple prescriptive lenses.













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