Keep ya pants on

**greenhorn** · 28th July 2004, 14:42

If any of you guys ride into work, what protective gear do you wear?
I'm looking to buy some and i'm wondering what do most people go with?
I'd look a right dork in leather pants where i work but they seem to be good protection and a bit cheaper than some of that more techo stuff you'd wear over the top of your work trou and remove when you got to work. Or maybe there are leather pants that would go over the top of your trou, its just that i havent found any big enough.
Someone mentioned to me you should go for tight leather pants so you dont "rag doll" if you come off. Not totally sure what that meant??
What sort of prices have you paid for your gear? I dont care at all about style but being a new guy i'm pretty much terrified of coming off so i'd like top notch protection to help my confidence.
Being mainly a commuter i'm not going to be racing around at incredible speeds so whats your experience with keeping ya pants on?

**WMCC** · 28th July 2004, 14:50

Originally Posted by greenhorn

......so whats your experience with keeping ya pants on?

Good quality belt with a Harley Davidson buckle will do the trick nicely.

**greenhorn** · 28th July 2004, 14:52

Yup no chance of them coming off wearing that

**vifferman** · 28th July 2004, 14:56

I almost always wear leather pants on the bike and get changed at work. Commuting is pretty dangerous, especially where D'Aucks are concerned, so I need the protection. I do get the odd bit of fuckwittery ("Ooh - nice pants!", "Kinky", that sort of thing), but I don't care, as it hurts sliding on the asphalt.
The only real drawback is they're aren't waterproof (the rain gets through the stretch panels) so I wear a pair of 100% waterproof seam-sealed nylon pants over the top when it's very wet.
The pants cost about $250 about 9 years ago, and have since been upgraded with Knox CE armour in the knees, and a zip to attach them to my Teknic jacket. The armour was crash tested, and saved me from any major damage when side-swiped by a car last year.
Other gear includes 5 pairs of gloves ranging from $0 to $190, a $700 jacket, StylMartin Strada boots (waterproof) which were $249, and a (now) ratty AGV helmet, which was a steal at $200 (normally $350).

By the way - there's nothing that gives the same protection as leather. My jacket had a hole worn through the Cordura from a slide of a mere 3 or 4 metres on smooth asphalt. The kevlar armour on the sleeves fared a bit better and was just scuffed a bit, but the most that happened to my leather gear in my various getoofs is the seam stitching needed redoing as it unravelled a bit (after a few weeks) and I needed to put some dressing on a scuffed patch.

**svs** · 28th July 2004, 15:05

Always wear leather too and get changed at work. Never received any 'fuckwittery' comments - most of the girls seem to like the leather

**Jackrat** · 28th July 2004, 15:19

Normaly wear leather,Don't get any shit,most blokes don't like a punch in the mouth.

**Two Smoker** · 28th July 2004, 15:41

Depends, if im going to go for a blat after work, i wear my one piece suit for some good knee down action..... If im just going to the dairy Draggin Jeans and Nazran Jacket...

For your purposes i would recommend Cordura pants and Jacket.... Will set you back about $700 in total, but are completely waterproof (almost) and have plenty of armour..... You can also wear what ever you want underneath..... where with my one piece im restricted to shorts and at the most a jumper...

**Motu** · 28th July 2004, 15:48

You don't say what you do for a crust,I've never worked anywhere where it mattered what I looked like (even trolls are employable) and I wore engineers boots on my bike for years,had enough accidents to be happy with the protection level - get a big pair of ugly cordura pants and pull them over your flared cords with paisley cuffs - it really depends on what you wear on a work day....and where you can change.....

**Hitcher** · 28th July 2004, 16:55

Originally Posted by Jackrat

Normaly wear leather,Don't get any shit,most blokes don't like a punch in the mouth.

Which is why the animal rights movement picks on little old ladies in fur coats, rather than bikers in leather!

**750Y** · 28th July 2004, 17:26

I have:
4 jackets(2 leather(1 armoured)),1 vented mesh(armoured), 1 cordura(armoured).
3 pants: 1 leather, one waterproof cordura (armoured),1 PVC.
1pc rain suit
1pc race leathers
4 pairs bike boots(race,tour,harley,street)
3 pr gloves (1 winter waterproof,1 summer waterproof), one race)
I use them all... depending what i'm up to, where I'm going & what the weathers like( or which fantasy-man the mrs wants this week, lol )
only thing i really want is a good bib & brace & a balaclava & i'm set. no wonder i'm broke ...sigh.
I'd go armoured cordura for the ultimate all round practicality for commuting or touring.
fast riding i'd go leather every time.

**Coldkiwi** · 28th July 2004, 17:58

leather is worth it even if its a bit of a nuisance once you're at work. When I used my leather pants, i typically wore thin trousers under them if it was cold or shorts if it was warm and got changed at work. as for getting hassles, i've always maintained you'd look stupider with skin grafts in an ICU than you do with leather pants showing scuff marks!

As for keeping them on, its generally a good idea to dispense with as many buckles, tassles or other bits hanging off your body (like back packs) as possible. 'Rag dolling' in a crash is where you get rolled (or tumbled) around because you're wearing something that has grabbed the ground rather than slid across it. Sometimes there's not much you can do about it (i.e kerbs tend to makes things pretty ugly) but ideally, having a one piece suit (or as close as you can get) with nothing to grab on to is the best bet in a bin. You don't have to be 'racing around' to get hurt either. One of my most painful crashes occured at 30kmhr when I was wearing jeans (which i do maybe 0.5% of the time!!)

**Ms Piggy** · 28th July 2004, 18:03

I wear Armour-Tech gear, it's heavey duty nylon...possibly that codura stuff. It's good stuff but the draw back is it gets a bit smelly

It also has armour in it but to be honest next time I'm buying riding gear I'll buy leather b/c I wear it everyday. My theory is it's better to be over protected than not waering enough gear.

This is the only link I could find & it's not that good sorry.http://www.northacc.co.nz/site/pages/rgear.htm

**MrMelon** · 28th July 2004, 18:06

All I generally wear is my Draggin jeans. I've got a 2pce set of leathers, but the top doesn't fit as well as the pants, so I only wear them when I'm out for a big ride.