Riding gear for a new rider I have $600 max to spend

[Jamiepo]

Well the title pretty much says it all. I am looking for a jacket, pair of gloves and a helmet for under my $600 alocation, if possible I would love to get a pair of pants but I am not sure what the average price I should be looking at.
I really want opinions on a couple of things that I have found price wise and quality wise. Any and all help would be much appreciated. I will be riding to and from work every day will jeans and steel cap boot be ok to ride in??

I found these gloves ebay - Gloves Better to have something that comes further up the wrist?

and this Jacket Jacket

Anyway I just need some good ideas where I can find godd stuff that are within my budget.

[Gremlin]

OK, first up, it might be possible to get under that budget, but if you end up skimping, how much do you value your appendages?? Depending on the value of the bike, you may end up spending more on the gear than the bike. If you have to choose between bike and gear, always always choose gear. You will thank yourself the first time you come off.

Helmet: HJC CL-14 is a very popular helmet, SNELL certified, good safe entry helmet. Probably around the $250-$300 mark (I think the special is over).

Gloves: Depending on the features you want, $60-$100 should do fine, waterproof, armour, etc is up to you. Gauntlet style gloves are better, protect your wrists.

Jacket: yep, that sort of thing is good, keeping in mind you are commuting. Try to look for velcro cuffs instead of a snap shut cuff, then you can do them up tight. Don't want the jacket sleeves moving around when you are er.. moving around

Your gear: Not bad, I do the same thing can't really be helped. Minimum though, look at getting some shin/knee pads (mx style) only cost $30, but will provide more and longer protection than just jeans. Boots are there to support your ankles (among other things), guys have broken their ankles in those sorts of boots because they didn't offer enough protection. Make sure you do them up tight all the way to the top. I use bobcat style boots as well.

eBay: Dunno if you are buying from them, but it is better to buy here for those sorts of things because of shipping. Motomail is in Auckland but does also do shipping. I think TonyB runs an importing business down there, not sure if he does gear, give him a pm perhaps. Also, Quasievil up in Hamilton does gear at farkin good prices (he also has a big thread in Online trading I think)...

[Jamiepo]

Thanks for the reply gremlin and yes I love every single one of my appendages!!! One final question I have is what are the differences in quality when it comes to helmets?? I found one here for $135 and was wondering if it would be acceptable or if I would be better of trying to get a second hand nolan.
Thanks for all of the help.
James

[Gremlin]

NEVER GET A SECONDHAND HELMET, that is unless you know the person very well, and it has never even been dropped.

Thing is, that even a drop can affect the helmet. Best bet is to always buy new.

OK, quality. Obviously differs based on price, but it has been talked about a lot on here so try a search about "helmet" or something. Different outer shells have also been argued on at length.

Basically, all helmets have to be DOT approved to be sold in NZ. It is design testing (ie, test the design, then you can manufacture). Optional extra standard is called SNELL. It is batch testing, meaning that each batch is tested to make sure. Highly recommended to get SNELL approved.

Price is also not indicative of overall satisfaction. Some guys have very expensive helmets, but find a middle of the road helmet more comfortable, maybe less road noise etc.

edit: I have no idea as to what model that is, and whether it is snell approved. You would have to ask

[Pathos]

never get a second hand helmet. They deteriorate without visible damage.

I came off my bike at 50kmph recently. Lost some skin on my knee and plenty of blood cause I was only wearing jeans.

[Ixion]

Well the title pretty much says it all. I am looking for a jacket, pair of gloves and a helmet for under my $600 alocation, if possible I would love to get a pair of pants but I am not sure what the average price I should be looking at.
I really want opinions on a couple of things that I have found price wise and quality wise. Any and all help would be much appreciated. I will be riding to and from work every day will jeans and steel cap boot be ok to ride in??

I found these gloves ebay - Gloves Better to have something that comes further up the wrist?

and this Jacket Jacket

Anyway I just need some good ideas where I can find godd stuff that are within my budget.

PM Mr Jackrat . If you ask him nicely he will give you some good tips. You can get stuff that is OK for communting biking cheaply through industrial protection stores - eg leather rigger gloves for $15.

The "must have the latest Shoei $1000 gear or you're not a real biker and you will die a horrible death in 3 days " guys will sneer at you and tell you that you will die a horrible death in 3 days. Ignore them, many of us rode for years with no gear at all and live to tell the tale. Some biker obsess about gear like women obsess about Gucci handbags. They realise that they are not safe riders and are going to crash and try to convince themselves that if they spend a lot of money on fancy gear then crashing is OK.

Steelcap work boots for instance, are probably not as good as proper bike boots. But if jandels are 5 on a scale of 0 to 100 and proper $1000 bike boots are 100, then work boots (with good ankle support ) are maybe 80. Almost as much protection and a hell of a lot more affordable.

Welcome to bikeing, it's a wonderful experience. I hope that you also have 40 wonderful years at it.

[Sniper]

Jamiepo. I might have a jacket for sale soon and also some gloves. PM me if you want or I can also put you onto someone who does good, cheap gear.

[ManDownUnder]

Two aspects to this,
1) Buy a new helmet
2) The web is your friend for the rest

If you are racing, get a really good helmet, if you just pootle about you can get a "lesser" one. I'm happy enough in my $150 Cirus lid beacuse I know it's been looked after since new, never been knocked etc, and I'll never do outrageous speeds in the thing anyway.

Leathers are available through here, through Trademe etc. And don't overlook wet weather gear. While not strictly safety gear, dying of the flu isn't a good way to go either.

Good luck chappie

[SlowHand]

Some biker obsess about gear like women obsess about Gucci handbags. They realise that they are not safe riders and are going to crash and try to convince themselves that if they spend a lot of money on fancy gear then crashing is OK.

Snap! That was me. I bought best I could afford (yeah right, student loan) because I was incredibly worried about coming off and losing something. On top of my gear Im buying more from Quasi, I think it must be the Gucci thing!

But then there are guys wearing Jeans all the time going way faster than I can . My other reason was that unless I come off and do the gear in, I should have it for years to come.

Only 'advice' I can give is do your research and buy stuff afterwards. I was way too eager to buy a bike/gear and go riding. I dont regret buying the stuff that was expensive to me, but I definately could have got away cheaper.

have fun!

[bugjuice]

for the record, i'd agree with MDU.. buy a new lid from the shop, then scour trademe for everything else you need. There's some good stuff on there (some virtually new) for half the price a shop can do..

[madboy]

My 2c... Only time I've come off was a low-speed low-side (like 40km/h) and I scraped ankle, hips, wrist. Didn't touch helmet, didn't touch jacket. Ironically helmet/gloves/jacket was the first thing I bought when I got into motorcycling, and it was only after hearing of the odd bin every now and then that I then bought pants and later boots. I'm bloody glad I had all the gear by the time I had my bin.

Then again, I've seen someone step off at 160+ in jeans and sandshoes and walk (well, ride actually) away.

I agree with the others here - buy a NEW helmet. Even a cheap new helmet will be more assurance than a flash 2nd hand one. All the rest of the gear comes down to luxuries... cheap jackets, gloves, pants, boots abound. Better to have cheap gear than no gear at all.

In saying that, I've been commuting for 18months with a cheap jacket (as well as all the other gear), and it's really starting to show it's age now. Seams are coming apart, and it's getting less waterproof by the day. So I'm in two minds about whether it gets replaced by another cheapie for 2 years, or a flash one at multiples of the price which might last a bit longer. Commuting is not the best for your gear.

[Sniper]

Got your PM mate and I replied. Send me a txt sometime.

[tracyprier]

Hi Jamie

For jacket, pants etc you might want to look at this guys stuff

http://lifestyle-imports.co.nz/

He also advertises on Trademe. I have so far bought leather pants and back protector from him (jackets are on the way) and his pricing is good and the quality of the gear is good also.

[Lou Girardin]

You can get new kit for that budget. Get your friendly local bike shop to check out W Whites XSpeed helmet and Arlen Ness jacket deal. Also their Dririder Nordic jacket and pants deal. A bit of mixing and matching will see you sorted.

[Jamiepo]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I must say that this forum is really great, all of the help and advise is really well recieved. Thanks too everyone that has PMed me with offers, I should have the money for this at the start of next week. thanks all.

James