Motorcycle Gear Reviews

I love trying out new gear and this is the first time I have gotten the opportunity to test the Italian gear maker Dainese. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them and I was stoked to get a pair of the Dainese Drake pants to review.

It's pretty rare that I get a piece of equipment that I get the opportunity to crash test, mainly because I try and avoid crashes whenever possible! Unfortunately in early December 2008 I had a 30mph get-off on the freeway. I was fully geared up at the time, and one of the most crucial pieces of gear I was wearing that day was the Shift Bullet Gloves.

My first helmet was the Shoei TZ-R, which I ironically have not reviewed on this website until now. I'm not quite sure why, it's been a great helmet and the standard by which I measure other helmets that I test out. What spurned this review is that I had to retire my faithful friend recently that I have spent thousands of hours with, perhaps even tens of thousands. The TZ-R was my helmet for 3 solid years and it has since given its 'life' to protect my noggin. A couple weeks ago I was in a motorcycle accident, and that TZ-R saved my face and my brain, so I figured the LEAST I could do is give it a proper review/burial. Read on to hear my thoughts!

The following a a Motorcycle jacket review by the BBM user Budd.

Fall is upon us and those mesh gloves just aren’t cutting it in these cooler temperatures. I went out looking for gauntlet style glove that could offer me some warmth in these cooler fall months. The Joe Rocket Ballistic 5.0 gloves were on sale at KneeDraggers.com for $36, so I thought I would give them a try.

I recently got the opportunity to test Shift's Streetfighter jacket. It is a bit different than most jackets out in the market since it uses both textile material and leather to combine the best of both worlds.

Motorcycle boots are a key component of protection while riding. They protect you against the wind, rain, hot exhaust and the pavement if you are unfortunate enough to crash. I've heard horror stories of riders tennis shoes flying off in a crash and then the rider grinds their feet against the rough asphalt. I love my feet, they get me around quite well and I don't want anything to happen to them. I regularly ride with motorcycle racing boots so I was eager to see how these new Shift Street Shoes stacked up against them.

The following a a Motorcycle jacket review by the BBM user Sangria7.

I am very new to the motorcycle riding community, and as a new rider it is very important for me to have good riding gear. Unfortunately, I have found that a lot of reviews on storefront websites are not detailed enough for my taste. At the same time, I heavily rely on these same reviews on whether or not to purchase a particular item.

The summers in California can get pretty hot especially when you are riding a motorcycle. Some riders choose to ride around in shorts and a T-shirt instead of any protective motorcycle gear. Just a couple weeks ago a coworker of mine who regularly rides around in normal clothes crashed his motorcycle at around 40 mph. That medium speed crash has put him out of work for a month, broken a leg and given him some nasty road rash on his legs, chest and arms. To avoid a fate similar to his I always wear my gear even if it is hot out, and this SHIFT Airborne jacket has made that much more pleasant.

The great folks at www.RidersDiscount.com provided me with the FS-10 helmet by HJC to review. I have been dying to try this helmet ever since I saw it online. It has features that few other helmets have and the price is lower than even the most inexpensive Shoei helmet.

The piece of gear I received for testing was the Mens Safety Green Airglide 2 Jacket. The first things I noticed when I took it out of the box were, "Wow this seems like a good quality jacket," quickly followed by, "Wow, this is... bright!"
The jacket is made out of Cordura and covered in 3M Scotchlight reflective material. I already have a bright green Kawasaki motorcycle, but when you place this jacket next to it, my bike appears to be a deep shade of forest green. To be honest I was a little apprehensive about wearing something so bright since I normally ride in a black helmet, black leather jacket, black overpants, black gloves, and black motorcycle boots (notice a theme?). After a little debate I figured that I should give it a shot, besides whats the worst that could happen?