Street Gear

I know many riders wear leathers and essentially track gear while riding on the street, others not so much. I'd rather not wear leather pants and race boots, so I'm wondering what others use instead, but are able to still stay reasonably protected in a fall.

Right now, I'm using the BMW City 2 pants that has some minimal armor for hips and knees and a material that is supposedly on par or possibly exceeds Kevlar. I also have the Dainese Asphalt shoes. I do wear a Dainese jacket and of course full-face helmet, also Held titan gloves.

I'd like to get shoes/boots that have more protection, but are comfortable and I can walk in. I was thinking of these AS SMX-5.

I was also thinking of getting jeans and using these underneath. Forcefield Pro pants. Any opinions or reccomendations welcomed. Thanks.

I'd also like to hear opinions on footwear.

Often times I wear my Sidi Vortice's, which obviously offer some the best protection on the planet, and while they are not too bad to walk in, they squeak like hell and everyone notices. I'd really only like to use them at the track and during spirited mountain rides.

I don't want some crappy pair of barely-over-the-ankle shoes that really aren't gonna do much. Any suggestions for street riding?

take a look at forma velocity boots. i use the forma ice flow boot and i think im getting the velocity boot too.

Does anyone have any experience with these?

Puma Desmo Boots

mark419ny said:

take a look at forma velocity boots. i use the forma ice flow boot and i think im getting the velocity boot too.

Click to expand...

Haven't heard of Forma, but those look interesting... How is the fit? Larger, smaller or same as other shoes/boots you have?

bronch said:

Does anyone have any experience with these?

Puma Desmo Boots

Click to expand...

Great boots...get a size larger than you usually wear. I usually wear a size 45 (US 11.5) but in the Puma I wear a size 46 (US 12). I wear the Desmo boots on my 1098R and with my knee sliders and the same boots without the toe shield with leather pants. I bought another pair just for jeans/leathers to go out in. I have the black with red stripe and they are great looking and get lots of compliments.

Tricolore said:

Great boots...get a size larger than you usually wear. I usually wear a size 45 (US 11.5) but in the Puma I wear a size 46 (US 12). I wear the Desmo boots on my 1098R and my with knee sliders and the same boots without the toe shield with leather pants. I bought another pair just for jeans/leathers to go out in. I have the black with red stripe and they are great looking and get lots of compliments.

Click to expand...

Great, thanks. They only have the gtx model in stock and I think the only difference is .... tex.

Any problems pulling your jeans over the boot?

For really short rides I wear jeans lined with kevlar protection like Icon, low cut alpinestar shoes, alpinestar vented textile jacket, Dainese back protector, full face helmet and light short vented gloves...

For long fast rides with my buddies, I wear 2pc leathers, high cut racing boots, full length leather gloves... etc ...

Really depends where you ride, how you ride and whom your riding with...

Bronch,

I agree about full leathers being a pain in the ... when street riding, but! In 2000 I was riding with some mates when a guy we knew asked to ride home with us, fast roads through some of the best mountain passes in Brisbane, he crashed at well over 140mph, god knows how he survived, mainly because of the fast thinking of our group of friends and a nurse who stopped to help.

His injuries were: a broken femur, broken ribs, punctured lung, broken arm, but the worst injury came from the fact that he was waring tennis shoes, he ripped his foot off, from the ankle, clean off, we wrapped it in a towel provided by the nurse, it took 40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, in this time he gained consciousness.

Because of the work put in by my friends, the nurse and my self the trauma unit at the royal Brisbane hospital actually re attached his foot, believe it or not he has use of this foot and walks ok, he is not riding bikes...

I've raced since I was 6, had some big crashes, including the IOM and northwest 200, I've found that good Kevlar jeans, a good jacket, gloves and boots are the minimum for riding a sports bike... Even in the hottest weather I use a joe-rocket vented jacket...

The crash detailed above stopped me riding on the road for 2 years... Still raced, it was pure luck that he is ok now...

Totally appreciate ur view, but safety for every rider is paramount, especially because most car drivers are oblivious to us... And will blame a bike rider for an accident in a heart beat...

Only my view, base on my experiences.. But in consideration for all of us.

Cheers

Bowdy

mig1199 said:

For really short rides I wear jeans lined with kevlar protection like Icon, low cut alpinestar shoes, alpinestar vented textile jacket, Dainese back protector, full face helmet and light short vented gloves...

For long fast rides with my buddies, I wear 2pc leathers, high cut racing boots, full length leather gloves... etc ...

Really depends where you ride, how you ride and whom your riding with...

Click to expand...

Very sensible approach and you must ride in some ridiculously high levels of humidity.

I alternate between Dainese Delta Pro leather pants some days and Dainese D6 Jeans others. Note: Underneath the jeans i wear Dainese Norsorex tights with built-in knee, hip and tail-bone soft protectors as well as a pair of "Shock Doctor" compression shorts with Athletic cup. When I wear the Dainese Delta Pro leather pants I don't use the pucks. I bought leather patches that cover-up the velcro area in place of the pucks. Purely cosmetic. I always wear my Dainese Torque Pro Out boots.

For upper torso I always wear the Dainese Thorax Wave Pro(back and chest protection) under my Dainese Ducati Corse 12 Leather jacket. Over the jacket I wear the Safermoto Hi-Viz Neon Airbag Vest. With all this gear it takes 10 minutes to get dressed but at least I feel safer and the wife appreciates it.

Oh, one more thing: I did buy the Alpinestars Bionic SX Knee Protectors to wear under my jeans instead of the Norsorex but they are not very comfortable and I haven't worn them much because of the fit is tight under the jeans and the straps irritate my skin behind the knee. I'll keep experimenting with them because the hard shell knee protection gives me more confidence over the Dainese Norsorex soft protection.

bronch said:

Great, thanks. They only have the gtx model in stock and I think the only difference is .... tex.

Any problems pulling your jeans over the boot?

Click to expand...

The puma boots we are discussing fasten with Velcro so you can tighten the boot around your leg to get your jeans over them.

I have to agree with the forum in that I always wear leathers. When I don't wear my Dainese Delta Pro leather pants I wear a pair of motorcycle leather pants made by Ralph Lauren, remember he rides a monster. I am wearing my RL leather pants and Pumas in my avatar picture.

I wear leather pants for the protection plus the grip leather gives me on my seat/saddle. My biggest fear is ripping my skin off, bones can be reset, lost skin is a real problem. Better safe than sorry

As for availability, I must say I buy everything on eBay. Who has the time to shop...

forma boots are the most comfortable boots i have ever worn. now i havnt worn many a pair i found off clearance one time and a good pair of alpine stars (great boot too just expensive). the difference is that i have big calves i am not built like a European. i would venture to say for the money the forma boots (ice flow or ice) are among the best you can buy. Fit the same for me as my shoes. im a 10 us. a 43 or 10 in the boot as well.
i am not 100% on this and i dont really care but when i tried on the Forma it was said that bayless had something to do with these boots. i cannot confirm or deny that nor did i buy them based on that info.

rsr racer on this forum has a pair too if you want to ask him or if he shows up on this blog.

I just got a BMW Streetguard3, replacing the Streetgurard 2 that I wore for over 5 years. The newer suit has improved armor protection. These suits don't leak and breath well with the new temperature sensative gortex, the pores responding to changes in temp, more breathability as the temps rise. The suit also uses the Kool Black technology that keeps the black suit from heating up so much in the sun, reflecting infra-red and near infra-red. I suspect that it helps a bit with the heat radiating off the exhaust loop on my Tri.
I always wear this suit when riding on the street. Incredible comfort through a broad range of temps. With the Winter liners out it's quite good in the summer. Although we don't get too much really hot weather here in Seattle, I found in tolerable even when the temps get into the upper eighties. I tried another brand briefly, but it was nowhere close for comfort.

Of course there's a drawback, expense, around sixteen hundred dollars. That said, the suit makes my much more expensive bikes more usable, so I ride more. A couple of weeks ago I was on the freeway doing seventy, 35-37 degrees, in the rain, in perfect comfort, not a drip, not a draft. In the end it's about the riding, the more comfortable I am the more I ride. Whatever the weather, I know I'll be comfy, so I ride year-round.

I only wear jeans and some regular boots for my short commute (all 30 mph roads). Still wear Rev'it vented jacket and gloves and Arai helmet. I did go down with a driver running a stop sign, and only had some minor scrapes on one knee, even though tumbled enough to ruin helmet, gloves and jacket. But for any real ride, and the general rule with my wife an I, ANY time getting on freeway or up to real speeds, no dumbing down the protection. Then I wear Sidi race boots, Rev'it Gear leather and mesh pants (fantastic by the way) and Rev'it leather jacket zipped to pants, with upgraded knox back protector.

My rule to my wife: If you knew 100% you were going to crash on the ride today, what would you want to be wearing. So wear that. And I can't ever imagine ever going at real speed and NOT wanting all my gear on if (when) I go down. I figure there are enough risks and ......... out there that none of us can control, so best capitalize on the things we can control. And by the way, the leather/mesh pants are MUCH better than jeans for the heat, so even more incentive.

I wear the Dainese boots and they too are great and comfortable, but squeek like its no bodies business when i walk.

I just got a pair of the Dainese Scarpa Pro boots, that are essentially the lower version of my taller boots and I dont have that squeeking noise. I am using those for commuting.

MacaveliMC said:

I'd also like to hear opinions on footwear.

Often times I wear my Sidi Vortice's, which obviously offer some the best protection on the planet, and while they are not too bad to walk in, they squeak like hell and everyone notices. I'd really only like to use them at the track and during spirited mountain rides.

I don't want some crappy pair of barely-over-the-ankle shoes that really aren't gonna do much. Any suggestions for street riding?

Click to expand...

bronch said:

Does anyone have any experience with these?

Puma Desmo Boots

Click to expand...

I have the short Ducati version that I wear to commute in warm weather, and they are so comfortable and non-descript that I wear them all day at work!

Pure Ducati - Ducati Puma Testastretta MID Boots

I appreciate all the info, thanks all. I'm going to try out the Puma Desmo boots for now, but the Forma's piqued my interest. I'll continue to use my Dainese jacket and back/thorax protector. I'm happy with my gloves and helmet. Still considering the padded base layer though and Kevlar jeans.

Bowdy, I hear ya. I see the end result of events like that frequently. I recognize it is a risk of some measure not to suit up like WSBK, but a risk I'm willing to take. I was hoping to find a reasonable balance between comfort and safety. I guess if I wore leathers and race boots more often I'd get used to it.

Thanks,
John

I think ur discussion is more around boots, which is why I share my story from 2000, good Kevlar jeans and a well vented jacket is good for the road...

Boots are a must... The bumpers on cars are the perfect hight to damage the lower leg and foot... Remember stoners crash damaged his foot and ankle...

Ban all cars and trucks, heheheheheheh!

Ride safe and live fast!

Bowdy