I've picked up a great Joe Rocket leather jacket/pants (zips into one piece) from craigslist (I'm a cheap b@st@rd) that I'm very happy with & am currently looking for a good pair of riding boots & gloves, as well as rain gear. I'm also looking at these Joe Rocket tank/rear bags to carry my "stuff" as it's a PITA wearing a backpack in this heat: Not that I'm a particular Joe Rocket fan, but the quality seems to be good for the price & I liked the style. Can anyone recommend some better/best quality gear?
I'm not gonna lie, Craigslist is probably the best place to find good priced gear. Theres so many good deals to be had on there. People who have sold their bike and just looking to off load some gear. It's great actually. However, Personally, I like to buy my jackets and helmets new just becaues I don't like other people sweating in them. Plus hlemets are a bit more fragile so you need to watch how they were handled. I goto Motorcycle House | Leather Biker Jackets, Gear, Clothing and Apparel and superstore.
I've gotten great deals on gear, boots in particular, at motorcyclegear.com, but many of the online retailers have a close out section and that's where you'll find the best deals most of the time.
I'm happy with the JR Alter Ego jacket. See if you can find the second latest version, I got mine last winter for under $200 even with all the Canadian Taxes. Well worth it to avoid the sweat thing Randy was talking about. It transforms from a protective mesh for the hot to a waterproof warm jacket that's good close to freezing and a couple options for in between. Haven't had the misfortune to test it's sliding capabilities but I get the sense all would be not too bad until you hit the guard rail.........did I just say that?
I have two JR two piece suits and cannot really complain about them. I had a winter suit which they claimed was water proof...Oh fack, here I go again. Well it wasn't. You should have seen what they had me do to correct this. JR ended up sending me a new jacket. But none the less, I liked that jacket and pant set and basically wore it out. Wished now I had replaced it with yet another JR but went with something else and, well that is a long sad story. You can be cheap all you want with the clothing and suits, but I say, absolutely no used bean bucket. Buy new. Very safe helmets are available for not one hell of a lot more than what you find on Craigs List. Where you save on the used body gear, you can invest a little more in your lid to upgrade for comfort sake.
BTW. Those smaller JR tank bags are the cat's ass too. I bought one when I first got my ride based on recommendations of a friend. Never regretted it. Great for the day rides, and I have an bigger, expandable tank bag and hard bags for touring. And a tail bag. And a 75 litre back pack. But I try to travel light.
As far as boots go, I bought some Sidi On Road Gore-tex boots from Revzilla and they are the best boots I have ever owned. A bit pricy but read the reviews and you will know why.
Most people all have good things to say about the Sidi's. I've never used a pair for riding, as I found they were a little too tight for my wide feet. So something to consider if you have wider than average feet. I ended up going with boots from TCX. Been happy with them.
I have that exact tail bag with red piping on my vtr. works very well, keep my rain pants in it.. Comes off with the seat(sargeant) and does not rub the rear cowl. IMHO, for the money the joe rocket items are hard to beat. I have a manta J/R as a short trip tank bag that works very well also. Use it on the vfr too.. good stuff.
