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Need feedback from BHPians.

I am well aware of the need of good riding gear and have slowly upgraded my kit to have the right set of protection (Rynox Tornado riding jacket, Rynox Advento pants, TCX Stelvio Full boots, Viaterra Grid gloves and MT Blade 2SV helmet). I ride the KTM ADV 390 with a 40L top box. While we all kit up in full for highway rides, I wanted to understand what are the other riders doing for daily commute?

My commute to work is an 18km ride with a mix of highway where I can cruise at ~70 to 80kmph for some portion and a lot of bumper to bumper traffic for the remaining. Now I have browsed this thread enough to understand that a 50 kmph crash can also do a lot of body damage (especially to the skin).

I want to understand what do you guys do for your daily office commutes. Which gear do you wear on a daily basis and which do you skip and why? 

Would also appreciate recommendation on specific gears which makes this easier for you(e.g. better commuter jacket).

For me, I am willing to wear my entire gear ensemble and then dump the pants, gloves and shoes in the top box while carrying the helmet and the jacket to work (my desk has space to keep them and my colleagues are used to my avatar). Better safe than sorry.

Looking forward to your inputs,
Malliketh

My office commute sums to a total of 3 kms(one-way) in city.I wear a full gauntlet gloves and a rs taichi kneepad under my trousers and keep it for the whole day.
For boots,I use one from stylmartin, which in essence have just adequate protection for city use,but looks like a sneaker.
The kneepad and boots helps in being discreet too.:)
Even though statistically,I am aware that crashes can happen anywhere, considering the difficulty in getting in and out of a jacket and pant multiple times daily(going home for lunch),I am taking the risk in case of a crash by ditching my riding jacket and pants.

Considering your distance,higher speeds on highway, and frequency of getting in and out, i would suggest go for the whole gear, especially if you have space to safely store your riding gear at your office

Hi @TheVaas, picking your brain again and pardon me for being a noob. :D I checked out the Intrepid and Blizzard once more. While I gather from your last post that the grip wont be an issue after a bit of riding, I am little concerned over the protection they offer. The knuckle and palm protection seems to be inadequate (only soft PVC knuckles and sponge padding) in the event of a crash. I do understand that the price point doesn't help either.

However, I noticed that other WP gloves I found in this thread (namely, Raida AQDry, Bikeratti Meridian, Shima Touring Dry) also miss out on one thing or the other. The Solace Versadry seems to offer good (hard) knuckle protection, palm sliders and extra finger padding.

So my question to you and others is: How do I decide which one will have the best of both worlds (safety and price)? Another issue I am facing is regarding the availability of the gloves. Most of the sites don't have these in stock. The only one I found is Orion Motors https://orionmotorsindia.com. Would it be fine to place an order with them? Which are the other reliable sites from where I can place an order in case they stock up?

No issues in asking relevant questions. I mentioned the Intrepid purely from WP feature, the low cost (as compared to the competition) and my own personal usage. Also, WP/Winter gloves aren't something that would be used all year - assuming the weather in Kolkatta. So the protection offered is manageable. Crash or accidents are part of the 'societal pre-conditioning' ideology that accompanies anyone buying a 2-wheeler! Gloves (and helmets) fall more times due to our carelessness while parking than whilst wearing them :cool:

The other brands mentioned do offer better protection and would recommend to go for them if your budget permits. One thing to note is that WP/Winter gloves are already thick enough because of the materials used to make them. In addition to this, they add the protectors etc. So overall flexibility will be limited - not as free flowing as regular summer/mesh/textile gloves.

I doubt there is a straight answer to this - heavily subjective. But only when you test (with different brands) in real life scenarios, can you actually come to a solution. As discussed many a times in this thread, gear purchase usually is an on-going life event. It's akin to evolution in itself (of bank balance too!). The more you ride, the more you understand yourself and accordingly suitable gear is acquired.

meetarin, with affordable riding gear, we may have to make some minor compromises on safety. Only you can decide what is best for you. Im the biggest proponent of trying and buying riding gear. Since you did try out a few Royal Enfield waterproof gloves and know how well they fit, or how well they dont fit, I would suggest that you get the best option among them. The Blizzard has the better form factor because it is a full gauntlet. You will be able to tuck the jacket sleeves under the gloves. The Stout will have better abrasion resistance since it is leather. However, it is a shorter pair of gloves.

Buying riding gear online without trying them out beforehand gives you a 50-50 chance of finding the right fit. In case the gloves dont fit, you will have to find a buyer for it from the local riding community. If you have to buy online, then there are no issues with buying from Orion Motors. They are one of the most reputed riding gear stores in the country.

So an update on this.

LABs mailed me today asking me to ship the boots for inspection. I declined saying no point in all the effort (and trust me, it is an effort when you bring Mumbai traffic in consideration and that I can visit only on Saturdays. They are closed on Sundays. Shipping doesn't even make sense)

They responded saying they don't do local repairs. The boots are shipped to Italy for repairs. A bit difficult to believe considering the costs. I know they do that in Europe, but India-Italy sounds like a stretch.

Even if this shipping to Italy thing is true, it seems too much for such a minor job. Not to mention the duration this whole thing would take.

Plus there's still no indication from LABs/Gaerne that they'd accept the warranty claim. And I'm a bit peeved about that.

While such minor things can be resolved by a local cobbler, imagine having the sole come off. Unless you have another pair of boots, you are stranded for a month or two.

TROOPER, perhaps you could use a local delivery service like Swiggy Genie or Dunzo, to get the boots to the importer in your city. I dont know what more needs to be seen to confirm that it is a warranty claim. The sooner that LABs gets it, the sooner they can send it to Italy for repairs.

Bikester Global had tried this trick on me. They delivered a defective Modpac and expected me to send it back to them. I flatly refused, while at the same time engaging with them. After three months they saw that I'm not going to relent and the negative reviews on Google/Twitter were piling up and finally they gave in. Not that I was in any hurry. Money was refunded and I inspect Carbonado products at Hyperrider before buying them. What's happening is that defective items are shipped online, and I learnt my lesson. In another instance LABS had shipped a KRIEGA pack with all straps missing and they organised reverse pickup and exchange very promptly, I must say. They're my favourite now and I buy everything from them

Slightly different scenario for me. The boots were in use for 2 months when the velcro came off. LABs are consistent with the whole "shipping off to Italy" thing. Once shipped, the boots won't be back for a max of 7-8 weeks.

I'll be visiting the store this Saturday, and if they okay it for repairs then fine, if they say they need time to "inspect", which really isn't needed, I'll bring back the boots with me.

Even I was/I'm in search of a daily-wear jacket with good protection when I use my Bonnie in the city and was surprised to know that there are literally no options except for some sold by RE (most of them are heavy but can pass it as a regular jacket). I have decided to get at least 2 such jackets from UK, where we have plenty of such options.

Falco & TCX has some boots (with lace) which looks like regular boots but has good protection.
TCX-


Triumph and even RE has some nice leather gloves.

For knee protection, Solace has CE level 2 guards, which can be worn inside/outside pants-



For elbow- Leatt has some options which are CE rated.


Hope this helps.

Great perspective :D

Agree again. I have dropped the idea of getting the pair online without a trial. For now, I have gone ahead with the Stout from RE and placed the order since I found it to be the most comfortable amongst the pairs I tried. Let's see how it turns out to be! Thank you again :)

I went to Orionmotors, Koramangala, Bangalore to buy a riding pant. To my disappointment, I am unable to find one for my height. The knee protectors are quite a bit below for me. Being vertically challenged, this is a bit of a problem.





Rynox pants are having negative feedback in Team-bhp so I skipped checking it. Also, I find visually they does not look that well made compared to other brands.



Lot of 'Jeans' pants with protectors.











The helmets are too flashy for my taste.













They are also selling Tyres, paddock stand and other parts as well.







Yesterday I went to LetGearUp, HSR Layout, Bangalore, but it was closed. I will check and go for the Scott Knee guard.

https://sportnetwork.in/pl/motosport...ody-protection

I had the exact same problem with most riding pants at Orion Motors. Finally went with Solace Riding Gear. They have their brand store in Banashankari. The Coolpro V3 pants have adjustable knee guards and fit me quite well. I am 5'4" for reference.

Purchased RS Taichi GP WRX gloves from 6kiom at 50% discount. (14500 MRP-7250 RP).It is a race glove and the leather feels really supple and soft compared to home brands. From what i have learned, being a race glove, the palm area is made for more feel and it shows. Feels like long term durability(not protection) might have been sacrificed for better feel from the bars. The seams are internally stitched for more protection, but does not pinch or rub on the skin.
I usually wear a size small on most of the brands, but in this case, size Medium fits me right. (the measurements from Taichi website is accurate to a tee)
Only the white/black combination of the said glove is on offer and the reason being slight discoloration of the leather. I have also noticed Black dye sticking on to the white leather in some areas. The gloves though imported in Jan 22, looks old.
If one doesn't mind the visual defects and only cares for protection, can definitely check out the same. I think they have one more piece left.

My experience with BigBadBikes, Banglore.
Got the KLim Adv Goretex Boots when launched. Fantastic quality. Used them for touring on the Honda Africa Twin and recently for Off road Trail riding on the Xpulse.

In March 2022 noticed on the right shoe thumb area a minor crack.
Couple of rides later, noticed the margins opening up by few mm.
Called up Sean from BigBadBikes and he asked for a couple of pictures to submit to Klim. A week later the Warranty claim was Approved. I was told to continue using the shoes, till replacement arrives, which may take a couple of weeks/ months as Klim was short of stock worldwide.


Last month BigBadBikes received stock and were ready to ship.
But :sadface I had to cut the old shoes in a particular way and send pictures.
I was expecting them to ask me to ship the shoes.
"No sir, No need to return. Only pictures needed" :Shockked:
With a heavy heart, cut the shoes and sent the pictures via Whatsapp.
Couple of days later got a brand new pair of Klim GTX Adv shoes via courier.
What an experience. Surely, this has been my best customer experience ever.