Replacing gear

[vifferman]

What? The ferry is choice! Lots of people do exactly that. Some days in summer during the commute hours you literally can't move on the back of the ferry for the number of bikes packed in.

No doubt; Karen newst to take the ferry when we first moved to D'Auckland, then walk up Queen Street. She enjoyed the trip, especially on fine days, but it's a bit mental: catch one of the few ferry-feeder buses to the ferry, then catch the (crowded?) ferry to downtown, then cycle back to College Hill. My current choices are:

• Catch the bus from just across the work from home, get off in Fanshawe Street and walk up to College Hill;
• Swap to a different bus and get off in Ponsonby and walk downhill to College Hill;
• Find Person C to be our third passenger, take the car, park in the basement of my destination.
• Catch the Vifferbeast from the gargre, and get off in the basement of my destination.

Seems a bit no-brainery to me. Especially if I can convince Karen to pillion to work on Fanshawe Street, rather than take the 25-minute bus ride.

[jrandom]

yeah you're right, although I do enjoy the peace of a country ride - velo or bike too. I have an Intruder and its kinda wide, so I have issues splitting lanes. I've come home with black and blue knuckles a few times..

I remember exploding a rather expensive bar end mirror on my GSX1400 against the side of a 4WD on the northwestern motorway. The pieces landed in my pillion's lap. *That* learned me not to put them on both sides of the handlebars.

[awa355]

It's all relative, I guess.
I've got many pairs of gloves - tend to hang on to them when they're replaced. The dubiously waterproof Spidi H2Outs will probably be Ok if I treat them with something, even if the liners are poked.

...

I bought a pair of Spidi H20 outs off T Me. for $10. Not a rip in them, and the water stays out.

When I started late 60's, It was an open face helmet, goggles, a scarf, Swanndri jacket, steel toe cap boots, and some sort of gloves.

Went everywhere like that for years, Just what young riders wore, unless dad owned a farm.

First bike was a V50 3spd Yamaha, $160 new, $60 deposit, paid the rest off over 12 months.

Looking back, riding seemed so simple; wear what we could afford and go without the rest.

With retirement approaching, my current bike will probably be my last. Motorcycling has become just so expensive.

[jrandom]

Seems a bit no-brainery to me. Especially if I can convince Karen to pillion to work on Fanshawe Street, rather than take the 25-minute bus ride.

Yes, certainly. Were it not for the exercise benefits of cycling I'd see no sanity in commuting by any means other than motorcycle.

[iYRe]

I remember exploding a rather expensive bar end mirror on my GSX1400 against the side of a 4WD on the northwestern motorway. The pieces landed in my pillion's lap. *That* learned me not to put them on both sides of the handlebars.

haha havent done that.. on the velo though, in Otatahuhu I came round the back of a van from the right, then up the inside, and was going to slow, and couldnt get my foot unclipped, and fell sideways into the van. The lights went green so I hared off down the main street. It made a big boom when I hit (with my shoulder), but I wasnt waiting to see if I had done any damage. No rego = win.

[pritch]

With retirement approaching, my current bike will probably be my last. Motorcycling has become just so expensive.

That's so damned depressing.

It is expensive though. I just paid for insurance, rego is due next month, and on Monday the bike goes in for a 20,000k service. There goes the fat end of a couple of grand in total?

And I plan to begin my transition to retirement next month.

[Mom]

Do not gain weight!

Whatever you do!

All well and good buying great gear, a considered purchase that fits the bill and the pocket, only to gain a shed load of weight rendering the gear purchase redundant.

If you are like me you wont scrimp on price if it suits your purpose and size and situation. Just save a bit of extra funds to cover your arse should you fall foul of a gain weight problem caused by a hospital stay/steroid enhanced/broken leg/drug induced/love of good food attitude that will see you outgrow your new gear in a flash

[Gremlin]

I use levels of gear. Top flight gear is over $3k just for the jacket and pants, but they're fantastically good (both in crash and weather protection). The gear is not used for commuting however.

Then I have the commuting and every day gear, and still have a selection (or perhaps I spent too much). I've just replaced my commuting jacket I bought 2nd hand for $150 after 6.5 years odd of riding. Figured that was well worth it.

Yes, I spend a small fortune on motorcycling, but I do lots of km, so I figure I get a good return

[Motu]

I've been there and back - when I first started riding it was a DJ, jeans and sneakers, no gloves, no helmet. By the end of the '70's I was in full leathers, fullface helmet and good boots. I'm gradually drifting back - stuff is just so damn expensive these days...now I'm in kevlar jeans and 10'' work boots. I might have to replace the Spidi Tourmaster with a Line 7 next.

[iYRe]

I've been there and back - when I first started riding it was a DJ, jeans and sneakers, no gloves, no helmet. By the end of the '70's I was in full leathers, fullface helmet and good boots. I'm gradually drifting back - stuff is just so damn expensive these days...now I'm in kevlar jeans and 10'' work boots. I might have to replace the Spidi Tourmaster with a Line 7 next.

In the 80's I had a GSX1100ES - jeans and those plastic waterproof pants you got from para rubber, 3 jackets if it was raining, boots, gloves, and a scarf. I had 2 cars but never drove them. I used to strap my $5000 bass guitar to the back of it and go jam with the boys (we had a factory with studio behind the powerstation where I kept one amp, one at home).

Modern gear is a WHOLE lot better.. but then, back in those days I didnt care :P

[centaurus]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. One of the big expenses of being a biker (particularly if you commute by bike) is replacing your gear what seems like fairly regularly.
.....

I am in the same boat vifferman. I put so many k's on my bikes every year that I really chew through my gear. The worst ones are the gloves. My last winter gloves (that I wore as all-year gloves for a couple of years) have been replaced due to wear holes on the innerside of the fingers (the part that sits on the clutch/brake lever).

I've been struggling for a long time trying to figure out the best option. I want good protection and confortable gear so I can ride for many hours, but I cannot affort summer and winter gear.

I think I have found a good setup in the past year, that allows me a good compromise. I have a two-piece leather set with pants having vents in the crotch and behind the knees and a removable winter for the jacket, which allows me to use them both in summer and winter. True, summer never gets that hot here in Wgn but having more or less layers under the jacket usually does the trick for me.

For winter and rain I have decided (after a lot of trial and error) on a two piece: overjacket & overpants. The overjacket fits so well over the leather jacket that I can't even feel it's there and the added wind/cold protection is enough to keep me warm in winter.

With the gloves I've given up on winter gloves - too bukly and I can't really find a pair that will be waterproof for more than 1 hour in the rain or for longer than 3-4 months after purchase. I now ride in my summer gloves and have a pair of rain-off overgloves that seem to keep both cold and rain away when needed and are quite easy on the levers.

[vifferman]

For winter and rain I have decided (after a lot of trial and error) on a two piece: overjacket & overpants. The overjacket fits so well over the leather jacket that I can't even feel it's there and the added wind/cold protection is enough to keep me warm in winter.

With the gloves I've given up on winter gloves - too bukly and I can't really find a pair that will be waterproof for more than 1 hour in the rain or for longer than 3-4 months after purchase. I now ride in my summer gloves and have a pair of rain-off overgloves that seem to keep both cold and rain away when needed and are quite easy on the levers.

Yeah, I've come to the same conclusion, and will be buying a two-piece oversuit some time in the nearish future. It's a fkn stupid idea having a waterproof liner on the inside of gear, as the nett result is that you still get damp, and it takes ages to dry out the gear. Plus I *hate* the feel of water trickling down the outside of the liner - because it's cold, it feels identical to not having a liner, until you get home and find that you're actually not wet after all. Except now my liners are failing, so I get home and find out I AM wet after all!

I recently bought some Rev'It waterproof gloves - they're much less bulky than any other similar ones I've owned, and have very good crash protection too. They'll be inadequate for cold weather, but hey - that's where the heated grips help. When my pants break again, I'm buying some fairly ordinary but good-fitting leather ones.

[tigertim20]

It can be fucking expensive, so I become a cheap cunt, not that I go and buy the cheapest shit i can find, rather I haggle a whole lot.
Be patient, wait for runout, last of the line stock, My helmet cost me about 40% of retail because the new model was on its way to the shop, I saved hundreds right there.
Youll get the same with all of your other gear if you are prepared to be patient, and buy your stuff from a variety of places, then you can easily buy 3k worth of gear for only half that, or less if you are lucky.

bike gear last ages, factor it in, keep a seperate account you put a few bucks ito a week, then you have an account with a running balance of enough to buy that pair of pants that are $300 down from $650 on clearance, even though you know you wont need them for another 18 months.

you get the picture

[GrayWolf]

Yeh I guess if I added up the money invested in gear hanging around the place it'd run into a few K's worth. Buying quality gear does enable you to build up a 'wardrobe' of gear in the event of getting soaked... dry gear for the next morning, and seasonal changes.. I have mesh and lighter jackets for summer. I have 7 jacket and pants (sets) around the place 4 helmets, 6 prs of gloves and 2 pairs of boots ......... The Partner has even more gear than me.... has to be 'colour matched' and how she feels for the day?

[cc rider]

I dunno... sometimes I think it's all too hard, and I should just give up.

I don't think going naked is the solution v'man

You know I still don't have a leather jacket I like. I mean a 'fav'. I've got road jackets - cordura, textile, winter, track suits & even managed to bugger up up the Power Ranger suit
I don't know if one of my helmets got a knock so now I need a new one & gloves too. I loved those gloves. They fit like a ... well, you know

I've started looking for a 2nd hand retro leather jacket instead. It'll already be wore in & won't cost a fortune.

I scored a friend brand new leather pants & jacket for $100 at a garage sale. Decent brand. The seller made the foolish offer of 'pay what you think they're worth.'