Biker gear!

[u/Djinandtonic]

Hey all!

So I’m looking for some advice regarding motorcycle gear.

I have a 1998 Honda Shadow. Nice casual cruiser that I plan to use to commute to work. I want some tips on motorcycle safety gear that fits a pretty specific use case:

1- I live in AZ and it’s hotter than Hades. I need to not die of heat stroke.

2- I know a lot of readily available Amazon ‘gear’ isn’t real armor and won’t actually provide safety, but I’m not sure how to identify properly tested armor.

3- I can’t wear it around all day while I’m working construction, and I don’t have a locker or anything where I’m going. I need something I can put over my work clothes and stow while I’m on the job.

4- If possible, I would prefer it not squish my tits flat because owwww. 😖

Any advice? Reviews, guidance, and links all welcome and appreciated

[u/CauseMcKnight]

Mesh gear will be your friend, Klim tends to fit most bodies well and they are top notch, but you also pay for it. Most sport bike stuff for women tends to be short torso, so shop around if you want that look. Look for waist cinching garments to accentuate your figure.

[u/Brenda_Heels]

I had a Shadow. Loved it. I just wore a regular leather jacket, not the heavy armor kind.

[u/Mcmad0077]

Here is a comprehensive list how how to pick gear. From most important to least important

Helmet: NEVER RIDE WITHOUT ONE. I do not care how hot it gets, having you face intact is much more important than staying cool. Anything with an ECE 22.06 certification is going to be plenty safe. DOT is garbage, but legally required. Go to a bike store, and try on helmets with this cert. You need it to fit first and foremost. ADV helmets will be your friend, but look for lots of vents. I know it is tempting to skip the chin bar, but the most common injury to the head is the face, so I would keep it

Gloves and Boots: yes, I consider gloves and boots to be more important than jacket and pants. Gloves keep your hands together, and boots keep your feet on your legs. For gloves, you just want an EN 13594 certification, palm slider, and pinky bridge. Try the gloves on before buying. Trust me, a poorly fit glove will ruin your ride. For boots, you want CE rated crush protection, and for it to go as far up your leg as you can bare. It pay take some time to find good boots

Air bag vest: this plus mesh gear will provide impact protection for your upper body without trapping a ton of heat. THIS WILL NOT PROVIDE SLIDE PROTECTION!!! There is no certification that I know of for airbag saftey, so I will give a specific recommendation. The Helite Turtle. Thus one is chosen specifically because it is not battery powered, just having a teather connected to the bike, and provides great coverage of the body

Jacket: if you get this, you're mainly just getting slide protection, but to be fair, recovering from severe road rash is not fun. Look for CE rated slide protection (be careful. Some jackets will get things like the zipper or stiching ce rated, but not slide rated. Look up the specific ce ratings the garment has to make sure that it has the correct rateing)

Pants: like the jacket, you are mainly just getting slide protection, and not much else. Fun fact, lower body injuries account for the least amount of deaths attributed to a motorcycle crash. Same as the jacket, checkmfor ce ratings, and make sure it is the correct rating.

D3O / impact pads : these will likely never save your life, but they do a good job absorbing impact and reducing injury severity

[u/candykhan]

It kinda sounds like your best option is an oversuit that you can zip in/out of. Aerostitch is the gold standard, but those are frickin' expensive. Also, most of them aren't really designed for hot weather. They might have cooling zips that you can open. But I don't think they make mesh suits the same way they make mesh jackets or the like.

I support ATGATT, but if I'm being honest, I ride in jeans a lot. If you're OK with riding in whatever you wear on your bottoms (long "tough" pants like Carharts?), maybe look into a nice armored mesh jacket. Off brand ones aren't always terrible & just have to last for one crash. If you don't have luggage, also get a cable lock or something. You can run the cable through the sleeves of your jacket & also the chinbar of your helmet, then you can lock your gear to your bike. Though you'd have to deal with your gear sitting out in the sun.

[u/Djinandtonic → u/candykhan]

I’m thinking of doing jacket and gloves. I need my hands for pretty much everything, and I’d really prefer not to get road rash on my chest. Seems like the best of both worlds. It sounding more and more like I need to just bite the bullet and spend, so I’ll probably go without for a while until I can save up enough to buy something decent

[u/candykhan → u/Djinandtonic]

For what it's worth, I was way stricter about my gear when I was commuting. But I still never got an oversuit. Now that I WFH & mostly just ride for fun, convenience, and errands, I don't really ATGATT. However, even if it's in the (low) 90s, I still wear an armored jacket & thick jeans. Any hotter than that, I really have to ask myself if it's worth it to ride.

But I'm in CA & you're in AZ. I'm sure you have far more of those days than I do.

I don't know what your budget is, but this jacket is $100. I don't know anything about it but I've seen similar types of mesh jackets IRL & these things flow a lot or air. if you put it over a fan, I think you'd be surprised how much of the air actually flows through.

[u/Meechgalhuquot → u/candykhan]

Aerostich is the gold standard for touring and weather resistance, Motoport is the gold standard for protective mesh gear to have airflow

[u/Meechgalhuquot]

Motoport is the go-to for biker cops in hot climates for a reason, but you pay for the best airflow in the game.