Starting out

[XR250 Si]

Hi all,

I am just getting into motorcycling and will hopefully be buying my first bike in the next month or so ('06 Honda XR250L).

What I need to do is get my riding gear sussed. Will mostly be using bike to commute to work daily and use off the beaten track in the weekends. Will mostly be gravel and light stuff to start off with until my confidence builds

I have had a look at the Dririder range and think I will go for the Rallycross Evo jacket with the upgrade kit and the Rallycross pants. The Rallycross gloves seem to have a good amount of protection too, although I haven't had a chance to have a proper squiz at them (only seen these on the Dririder website).

I'm seeing all these boots and helmets, but what I need to know is what to look at and what to avoid. I would prefer to have just one pair of boots that I can use for on road/off road. With regards to the helmet, should I be looking at the closed face style or the motorcross style with goggles?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[degrom]

Welcome to KiwiBiker(KB)....

Helmet - I would go for the closed face if you are going to commute a lot. It keeps the wind and weather out. But the open-faced once looks cooler with a XR.

Boots - Get comfortable once!! You will be using them a lot and I would hate to ride around with sore feet!!!

Your gear is something that defines you. (Don't take orange boots if you don't like it!!!)

[Zukin]

Hi there

Welcome
It wasnt too long ago that I stumbled on this website too

Most of the guys on here are fantastic, I also ride on the 250, and am currently looking at all the gear.
Whislt I have trail riding gear, I have found it too cold when on the open road for long periods of time

In regards to the Jackets and Pants, you are looking at the right ones there, these are what I am about to buy too.
Whilst there is more in the Dririder range, these appeal to me as a good cross riding style jackets and pants

Boots - There is a really good thread on here so look through the posts on here.

Cheers and welcome

[clint640]

Welcome to KB, that XR is a great choice for a learner bike.

I'm looking at updating some of my gear before summer & have quizzed a few people about their Rallycross jackets & the reports have been all good.

No doubt you've seen the boot thread, Unless you want to splash out on some $700 Sidi Discoveries the Forma GT is probably the best blend of on & off road.

Get a full face helmet 1st but an MX helmet + glasses/sunnies is great for zapping around town in summer so maybe consider getting one eventually.

With gloves it's good to have a couple of sets as well, get some warm waterproof ones 1st then invest in a lightweight set as summer sets in.

Cheers
Clint

[XR250 Si]

Cheers guys, glad to be here too.

Thanks for the great advice so far. I will take a look at all these suggestions.

I certainly am looking forward to bike purchase day.

[merv]

Great bike you'll have there and welcome.

We've talked about all sorts of stuff here:

Here's what I said when I got my XR http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=22715

Then when I took it out in the Wairarapa http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=22980

We've talked about boots here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=32686

I talked about our GRex adventure helmets in this thread http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=30301 and that's the type of helmet you could get for mainly road and a bit of dirt. I used mine on the Capital Coast Adventure ride and on a trip in the South Island and its great. Would only use goggles and MX helmet for more hard out dirt.

[XR250 Si]

Thanks for those cool links Merv. Certainly sounds like you've had fun on your XR250.

I've been looking ahead and found a pack rack for the XR250L on an Aussie website. Can't remember what the web address was now though.

Will have a look at those GRex helmets.

[Ruralman]

Hi there and welcome - the XR will be a great starter bike. I do both road and off road riding. The Dri Rider stuff is great so carry on there. If I had to economize and buy one helmet it would be my flip front HJC - I certainly wouldn't want to ride any distance at road speed with my dirt bike helmet. The HJC has good venting and you can ride with either the visor or whole front opened up. When trail riding you often need plenty of venting.
I personally wouldn't only have one set of boots. Again if I was trying to economize I would buy a set of tidy road boots like the RJays (about $160) and get a second hand pair of dirt boots off Trademe unless you were going to be using them a whole lot. The road boots will fit under the legs of your pants if they're not too tight in the leg so you can walk around comfortably without the boots being obvious. Most dirt boots are pretty uncomfortable to walk in for any length of time as they are designed not to have a lot of give in them, but my road boots are just as comfortable as a pair of shoes. There are usually heaps of good boots on Trademe

[Zukin]

Thanks for those cool links Merv. Certainly sounds like you've had fun on your XR250.

I've been looking ahead and found a pack rack for the XR250L on an Aussie website. Can't remember what the web address was now though.

Will have a look at those GRex helmets.

Hey there

You can always get this pack rack (you need to scroll down about 3/4's of the page, they have 2 lisitngs for different models) which should fit (not 100% sure though with the late model one though) and even better its made right here in little ole NZ

[clint640]

I've been looking ahead and found a pack rack for the XR250L on an Aussie website. Can't remember what the web address was now though.

Will have a look at those GRex helmets.

2 words about packracks: They Suck. (IMHO anyway)

You want to keep the weight as close to the centre of the bike as possible, particulary offroad. I've seen packracks break more than once on adv tours too, they don't like rough roads & the XR won't have a hugely beefy rear subframe to support it anyway.

If it's a light pack carry it on your back. any heavier strap it onto a carrier - you won't be carrying a pillion so a duffel bag or similar can be strapped lengthways over the rear of the seat & a carrier.
I use panniers, riding solo they can sit well forward & you hardly notice they are there, I like to be able to swing my leg over the bike. You do need to fit some rails to tie the bottom of the bags to so they don't flap around & push the plastics into the muffler.

A few of us are aiming to be at the KiwiRider Kaipara Coast Adv ride on Labour weekend if you're set up by then. They reckon it will be perfectly suitable for n00b's & there was even talk of some gravel riding classes.

Cheers
Clint

[far queue]

Jacket - I got a Dririder Rallycross Jacket with the accessory liner about 6 months ago – brilliant. Leave both liners out and let the breeze blow through on the hot summer off road rides, put them both in and stay warm and dry on the wet winter rides – I stayed warm and dry in the cold and wet on the way home from the Brass Monkey.

Pants - I don’t have any adventure pants yet – I wear leather on the road and jeans off road. I’ve looked at the Dririder Rallycross pants, but didn’t like the look of the vent in the knee area – it’s permanently open – if it could be closed I’d probably get them. One of the local shops have Thor and Moose adventure pants that I’m thinking about.

Gloves - MX for off road and summer riding. Insulated road gloves for the cooler weather and rain.

Helmet - An MX style helmet off road and a road helmet on the road. The MX helmet is great off road – lightweight, cool, good field of view, peak. The MX helmet is crap on the road at any speed for any distance (100+ kph for 50+ km), it’s noisy and really catches the wind, thus putting strain on your neck. My road helmet (Shoei XR600) is at the end of its life (great condition, but 8 years old) and will be replaced with a Shoei Syncrotec2. If you want one helmet get a flip front (lots of brands and prices to choose from) or if you want to spend a bit more have a look at the Arai TourX adventure helmet.

Boots – I wear MX boots (Thor Quadrant) for any ride that will have off road component in it and road boots (Stylmartin Stormy) for road only riding. A cheap starter boot I’ve seen used is army surplus lace up boots. I haven’t used them but I guess they do the job and the price is right.

Ummm, I think that’s about it … oh, and welcome aboard

[merv]

If you read my links you'll see that I talked of the Ventura racks and they only have them for the hard out dirt XR and not the L model and the subframes are all totally different. Sparky got me a set of brackets but they were no where near right so I adapted the old ones from my DR250R in the end and he sent the brackets back.

So sorry Zukin for this model XR the Ventura link is no use except for the racks themselves. You need to figure out how to make up some brackets of your own. The other brand of rack is perhaps the way to go. I stuck with Ventura because we already had so much of their gear.

As for Clint640's comments I'm happy with the Ventura racks on adventure rides. For a long day you don't want the weight of a pack on your back. I have racks on all our dirt bikes and the WR is the most hard out and with the flimsiest subframe and it is surviving OK. I strapped a bag onto that when I first got it because I couldn't get the Ventura L brackets initially and on its first ride the Pukemanu I was forever having to check the bag was still hangoing on - it fell off once because no matter how well you strap them down they get a hard time on rough tracks. As soon as they made the brackets I bought them.

Adventure ride links here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=27185 and here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=2336

[Motu]

I use the Nolan N70,same as the GRex,and it's a good helmet....if you have small ears.Probably a bit noisy by road rider standards,but you won't be cruising at 225kph anyway.I really like my MX helmet for around town,gravel and of course off road - it's just so light and breezy with good visability,but no good over 100kph.I prefer my trials boots,not as full on as MX boots - but oh so much safer than road boots,I know what I'd rather be wearing when a car bumper hits my lower leg.Even after getting an enduro jacket,it seems I prefer my old Spidi touring jacket - it's 3/4 length (like,down to your bum) with good pockets,hard armour,coolish in summer and toasty in winter,extras for ''extra'' weather.It's dusty and worn looking,like I'm in the Afrika Corps or something.....it's just....comfy.All my bikes have a carrier,I strap down to that.

[cooneyr]

Just to add my two cents worth. First up I'm about 3 months of getting my full so dont have any experience like some but have learnt alot over the past 9 months.

I have a Grex RD1 helmet and use it all the time for commuting and long distance adventuer riding. I foolishly got a MX helmet first and found it to be noisy and cold at high speed and also rain drops hurt at 100kph (hit below the googles but above the chin guard. The RD1 is a good price too.

Re the Rally cross gear. Got a 2005 jacket (pre zip off arms version) and really liked it until I had a low speed low side on some ice on monday. Now I have a couple of holes (one small and stiched/glued up and one large with a nice big black patch on it) in the mesh pannel on the front of the shoulder. Not overly impressed given that hit the ground around 40kph - what will happen at higher speeds. The non mesh parts stood up well but the mesh pannel seems a little bit weak. The mesh liner (the second layer) interestingly didn't rip though and the waterproof liner is fine. If you wont be falling off then awsome jacket but not so sure for those of us in the realy world.

I really like the Rally cross pants. With resped to Far Queue's post about the knee vents, I do notice the cold a little but when you warm up (I'm a hot person that can break into a sweat on a -10 degree day) they are fine. The vents dont let to much air in so dont seem to bother me too much. Besides all of which if you are going for a longer ride put the waterproof liner in to stop the wind.

A really good feature of the rallycross pants is that they are fine/light enough (due to lack of lining) to be able to be put inside your boots off road so that you dont get holes in them from stones flicking up and hitting your shins. I commute with the same boots though and get annoyed with having to clean them though so can put pants over the outside. Again foolishly got a pair of Dririder Nordic 4 pants for commuting then found them too warm in summer but they only fit over the boots due to the bulk.

I have Fly 605 boots which I find OK but they are heavyish and stiff. I have some Neo leather gloves with a thinsulate layer that I use everwhere. I've fallen off a treadly enough times on road (did about 15000 kms commuting in past 5 years) to want the extra protection and put up with them off road. Leather gloves dont seem to be that bad off road when wet and covered in muck.

Best of luck with whatever you choose. Biking is heaps of fun just remember there will be set backs (I'm still nursing the damaged ego from my ice slide) but its worth it.

Man this is a long post - have to keep it shorter next time

Cheers
R

[XR250 Si]

Cheers for all this info guys.

Clint, I'll have to see how I'm getting along before I commit to any adventure rides. Will keep this trip in mind though.