My experience with buying motorcycle riding gear on a budget

My first ride with all gear was way above expectations. All comfortable and well fitting.

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Hi guys. Paid a visit to Lazy Ass Bikers yesterday and picked up a jacket, pant, gloves and boots. Also went on a nice 100+ KM ride today early morning around 6 and was back home a little past 8.

First, I would say I had done enough research, was getting confused, plus experienced members rightly said to get one set of things at a time considering budget. But I am an overthinker. Wearing a jacket but no pants won't let me ride in peace. So I set a budget in mind and went for the purchase. End of the day, something is better than nothing.

I stepped into LABs and a guy named Rohan attended me. I told him I am a complete newbie. Didn't tell him what all I had looked up on their website and had made up mind about. He didn't even ask me my overall budget. Call it coincidence or what they call the power of attraction, over a period of an hour and half, Rohan went on picking up whatever I had decided on, or thought what would probably fit in my budget. Like a sniper. One after the other. Overall, credit to him for helping me out. He also had proper reasoning as to why he was recommending something. We also had good discussions in between about different motorcycling stuff.

So here's what all I picked up.

Held Tropic 3.0 Summer Jacket. I tried this on first. The fit, finish and build felt great. As if it was made for me. Also tried one from Komine, which was good, but the material quality of Held was far superior. Then tried a Rynox, which was heavy to hold, and I knew it was nowhere near Held even before putting it on. Even the zip on the Rynox felt crude in comparison.

Post that Rohan also fit the back protector from SAS Tech and the jacket felt great. Well protected and comfortable was the feeling.

Coming to the ride, there was a slight flapping in the biceps region, may have stopped if I had tightened it to the second setting. But I was too lazy to stop and do all that. So either tightening should solve it or I have to hit the gym. Even the wind flow was great. Kept me cool and ventilated throughout the ride. Can't comment on how it would feel with the sun in full blast.

Next up, pants. Since good pants are a rarity in the 8-15k price range, I had made up my mind to just get one. Better to have something for protection than nothing. So again Rohan just got this, Komine protect mesh pants. There's another all season one, but not available in my size. Couple of sizes to try and I was good to go.

Nothing to complain. Comfortable fit. The knee guards slid in the right position once I sat on the bike and I was good to go.

Tank grip pads. On the pants. So your bike looks clean.  I despise how tank pads ruin the looks. Plus couple thousand bucks saved:

Komine Guren gloves. Part leather part fabric. With all necessary protectors. I did try one from Held, but the fit of the Komine felt as if it was made exactly for my hands.

These aren't waterproof. Rohan said he doesn't recommend those cause there won't be much riding in the rain and no point baking your hands for the remaining 8 months. I agreed. Plus gloves aren't that expensive, say, compared to boots. Can pick one waterproof one later if required.

These gloves took like 15 to 20 minutes to break in. Post that I was very comfortable. Hands stayed cool. And no paining palms, which were happening on every local ride around town. Can easily use the mobile with gloves on for basic stuff.

Finally. What I was most paranoid about. To get something really good for my feet.

Gaerne G Yuma Aquatech boots. Waterproof touring boots with CE 2 protection.

For full protection, its the Gaerne GRW. But it isn't waterproof. There's the Gaerne Adventure too. Looks like a tank. We were pretty sure it would be cumbersome to use on the RR 310. So I had to go for the Yuma.

Tried size 45 which felt loose. Then 44, which felt a bit tight. Tried 45 again with pants tucked in and a tighter socks and it was okay. I was expecting something like a sport shoe fit. Rohan said it needs to feel a bit loose so you can move your feet for gear shifts.

Came home tried them on and I was worried. Went to Decathlon and got thick woolen socks and tried them on. Felt alright.

Then on today's ride, the shoe shined the brightest. Well not more than the bike and meself . Took a couple KMs to get used to them, but then on it was fun. Especially gear shifts. I was eager and looking forward to them. In comparison I used to despise shifting gears while wearing the Adidas shoes. How much difference does a proper gear make!

Made in Italy boots.

June 2021 Manufactured. March 2022 Import.

CE 2 Certification

Some info from the booklet, since nothing is available on Gaerne's website.

Gaerne's booklet info confused me a bit so looked up some proper info here

Approx 10 year life from manufacture.

So the break up is as follows.

• Jacket: 13.5k

• Back protector: 3k

• Pant: 12k

• Gloves: 5.5k

• Boots: 18k

Overall Dent(The acceptable kind): 52K

My first ride with all gear was way above expectations. All comfortable and well fitting. Let's see how things work out in the long term. Special kudos to Rohan from LABs for helping me out. And thanks to members here too for helping me out in the process.

OT: Special mention to truckers on the highway. For today, I wasn't inconvenienced once by a trucker. I have driven for over 50K Km, but as a newbie biker, today was important. Was very apprehensive as to how I would tackle overtaking trucks and riding besides them. So have to tip my hat to truckers for no sudden lane changes or irresponsible driving they are frequently accused of.

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