Love this stuff... ok here goes.
SUITS ONE AND 2 PIece
1. alpinestars rc1 1 piece. perforated. around 1k for it.
likes-- comfy first time I put it on. very soft feel. very durable top quality construction.
dislikes- none
Under the 2 piece section.
1. Alpinestars smx max air flow jacket.
retails around $700
likes- by far the finest jacket i have ever put on. fits perfect. air flow is unmatched. I swear i cant wear it under 70 degrees. It is leather perforated with mesh. This is the best jacket ever.
dislikes- the price is the only thing. its a lot to spend on just a jacket but you could wear it in the middle of the desert in july and be just fine
2. I have 2 agv hayabusa jackets that are leather. both are ok in fit and I wear them for casual riding. got them on ebay at a really good price. leather. fit is ok. quality is ok for the price.
3. I have only one pair of track pants. they are the joe rocket perforated blaster 2.0 blaster leather pants. the fit is on the large size so i had to exchange them once. other than that, they fit good and feel nice. not much padding but ok though. broke in good. very comfy in summer riding. well worth the price. I paid around $225 for them. decent price for full leather pants.
BOOTS>>>>
1. I have only owned one pair. Sidi vertigo air. I will never own anything else.
likes- comfy, perforated so they breath well. outstanding protection.truly second to none. I know i wrecked wearing them. The bike flipped up in the air and landed on my leg right on the boot. The force of the hit should have broken my leg but the force was diffused and spread out the length of the boot because of the plates on the boot designed to take an impact. THEY WORKED!!!!! bad bruise but no break. Ill take that any day. Plus most all the sections on the boot are modular so they are replaceable.
dislikes- A little pricey at i think around $325 now. THey were $275 when I bought them in 06.
GLOVES>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1. I had a pair of joe rocket gloves. gauntlet style. I think they were around $80 at the time. IN A WORD> JUNK!!!!! Period.
2. After that I went all out and purchased a pair of Held Phantom gloves. gauntlet.
Likes. I cant say enough. Best glove ever. No break in period. Made of sting ray. Kangaroo leather. soft and flexible leather. just flat out outstanding in every way. well worth the money.
dislikes.... THe price. around $250. And for some reason my pinky finger seems just a little short.???
Helmets................................
This is a hard one for me. Mainly because i have the worst time finding a helmet that fits me so my experience has not been good overall. That said I have 2 good choices.. more or less.
first up is the arai rx7 corsair. I mentioned this helmet in another thread but I will address it here. First. I think that the overall fit of the helmet is unmatched. truly the best fit i have ever had. Thats the only thing about it I liked.
dislikes. were do i start. First the liner has gotten all crushed after only 2 years. Very disappointing. Plus and this is the worst part. I hate the mechanism that the helmet uses to attach and detach the shields. Ive read the instructions, watched the video's blah blah blah. And still I have broken a part of it off 3 times now. And its expensive to replace. Worse yet, try going online to get the replacement parts. You would have better luck finding the gold pot at the end of the rainbow. Horrible on line service. takes forever to get anywhere with arai. So in the end, although I love the fit i had to go look elsewhere for my helmet. Thankfully shoei stepped in this year with the all new x12. I have one coming this week so i dont have an opinion on the helmet other than first impressions. Seems like top notch quality to me. as good and maybe slightly better engineering than the arai. compared to the rx7 not the v. havent tried that one. Any way the fit to my head is i think really good. Felt good in the store anyway. Cant wait to test it out....
Now the last part for me is gear under the 1 piece suits. I have a liner that i wear and its a must. its not any hotter to wear it and believe me you will be glad you did when you try to take the suit off. makes it a lot easier. I think its around $75 or so.
The last thing is padded riding shorts. I have a pair of bohn riding shorts that are very very well padded. I wish I had them when I crashed. It would have saved my hip from all the bruising.... I looked like Brock lesner beat on me!Any way they should do well to protect your hips and coccyx if you crash. THe hip is the big thing though and these do i think nicely. around $50 maybe...
On a side note i have a 2 piece set of rain gear by cortech. a little over $100 for them but the work very well. Breathes good and does keep the rain out. Ive ridden in down pours for long periods of time and have had not one problem. slips on over your suit and boots without any problems.
I think thats all for me. dont know how much it helps anyone but thats what i have to offer. I would have to point out that in my decision to buy the items i have listed here that I found i really love, I fielded a lot of opinions from members here about them before I made the purchase which really helped me out a lot since i had no previous experience with most of the gear mentioned.
Everything but the kitchen sink!
Hi Jeff!
