Do it all Dual Sport riding gear

Just to get everyone's head in the game...







So... this is my first dual sport since the 1971 (I think) Yamaha 360 Enduro I bought new with my hard earned nickels and dimes - lifeguarding paid $.65/hour back then. A few pure street bikes and lots of pure motocrossers besides, but no other dual sport/enduro bikes. 35 years between dual purpose bakes...

I wore motocross gear for motocross, and wear road gear for road biking - and tempted fate more than a few times on the ol' enduro riding around in jeans, or cutoffs, or a tank top or whatever. Got lucky, except for once - major roadrash, involving nothing but a Speedo, a toolbox, and nothing but my own driveway (but I won't tell a living soul that story). Hopefully, in my mid 50's, back on an enduro/dual sport, I'm going to be much smarter now.

What I'm looking for is ideas/recommendations for throw it on and ride gear that won't get left at home if I'm "just" riding a few blocks to a corner store - gear that's fast on and off and yet provides at least a minimum of protection. The R is going to be replacing my Dodge Ram 2500 diesel for all the short little running around trips I make - and probably a lot of the longer ones when the weather is nice and I don't need to be towing a 24' trailer with me. Gear that at least provides some abrasion and knee/elbow protection for those short rides, and yet can be quickly ramped up by throwing some serious armour on underneath for a full day of riding. Gear that won't be left off when the temperatures get into the low 30/90's because you feel like you're going to get heat stroke. Gear that will even keep you dry if you get caught in the infamous, ever changing mountain weather.

Anyways, I've got a good helmet and good boots, so right now I'm looking at jackets and pants, with an eye towards the armour that will eventually go under both. I don't want to be hit by trucks on the road ever again, so high visibility is good. Style I couldn't possibly care less about. I've been looking at stuff on various internet stores, but it is pretty tough to get an idea about it when you can't actually see it in person, try it on, etc.

So... suggestions, experiences, and recommendations? The temptation to just not bother will be great if the only alternative is crawling back into full motocross gear to ride a few km's to work, or the corner store, or just head out in the back 40 for a quick half hour of riding.

Cheers!

Jager, you might want to read up on this: Dual Sport Gear

SheWolf wrote:

Jager, you might want to read up on this: Dual Sport Gear

Yeah, I've been following that.

But I'm thinking more along the lines of really versatile stuff i.e. something just as easy to throw on as a jean jacket and wear to town.

The "going out all day" stuff is great, and I could always just throw on all the old motocross gear and be pretty well protected. But experience has taught me that the full on gear tends to be left off back at home when you're "just" making a five minute run into town, riding into town to work at the office, etc.

Is there stuff out there that members are aware of that offers that kind of ease of donning and wearing around town with at least minimal protection.

My Yamaha jacket I have is exactly that. I wear it everywhere. It's light, it can be worn with whatever you want to wear with it, you can wear it over armor. I just find it a really useful item and one of the best investments I've made in regards to multi-purpose.

SheWolf wrote:

My Yamaha jacket I have is exactly that. I wear it everywhere. It's light, it can be worn with whatever you want to wear with it, you can wear it over armor. I just find it a really useful item and one of the best investments I've made in regards to multi-purpose.

Yeah, but it doesn't have any built in elbow or shoulder protection, right? I know the problems with that kind of protection shifting around, but at least it offers minimal protection beyond what fabric alone does, which means armour as well needs to be worn in my mind. And that leads me back to feeling that if a jacket doesn't offer at least a bit more than clothing fabric for protection, "may as well put the MX gear on anyways".

It is a nice jacket from the looks of it and I've seen similar jackets from other manufacturers. But I want just a wee bit more than fabric alone for grab 'n go protection that doesn't include donning the armour.

I know there's got to be some stuff out there that fills this niche.

I also have THIS. It's as good as my enduro jacket, has a removable spine bar, but you still have shoulder pads, elbow pads. It fits nice too. I have it from when I had my 600. The liner is removable, it's fully vented, and you can also remove panels on it to you have mesh for hot weather, yet still retain the armor.

dude! rest up!

i duel sport and enduro on my wrr. i strogly reccomend thor 50/50 boots, icon standard jeans, and your choice of jacket and gloves. the 50/50 boots are killer and the jeans look like jeans you could wear all day.

SheWolf wrote:

I also have THIS.

Aha... that's the kind of crossover gear I'm looking for.

I've just started feeling strangely vulnerable since I arrived at my mid 50's and discovered I neither bounce as well as I used to nor heal as fast as I used to.

I've also come to realize that, given the way I used to ride back in the 60's and 70's, often with nothing but a jersey and a pair of jeans, it is ever so true that God often protects fools and idiots from themselves... or at least he did in my case.

Thanks! That's a good start to alternatives to full on dirt gear.

Hey, you're only as old as you feel. I'm no spring chicken myself age-wise, but that doesn't stop me from being a wild, crazy and unpredictable bitch on 2 or 4 wheels.

SheWolf wrote:

Hey, you're only as old as you feel.

That sounds fine in theory until you're on day ten of a winter warfare exercise, dragging a loaded toboggan behind you through deep snow while trying to keep up with young guys that are less than half your age on a little four or five mile slog up the mountain... which is what I'm going to be doing in about three days. I can tell you'd have felt a lot younger after that kind of stuff 25 years ago.

Quote :

I'm no spring chicken myself age-wise, but that doesn't stop me from being a wild, crazy and unpredictable bitch on 2 or 4 wheels.

Get back to me in 13 years and tell me how it's going... I felt pretty much the same way you do - when I was your age 13 years ago.

Lots of fun still left to be had on this side of the grass. But the body really starts letting you down somewhere around 50, even if your job has lots of physical exercise involved (and mine does). And you pay your dues accordingly.

One amusing thing once your age starts to hit the fence is looking at the younger ones out there and snickering "Your turn is coming."

You know, it's funny you say that. I try not to let that crap get to me, but some days it's inevitable...like when I look at my 13 year old and go...holy shit where did the time go? And he's worried about growing pubic hairs!!! That's when I get on the bike or the quad and go find a mudhole....only thing is they are still all frozen!!!

SheWolf wrote:

That's when I get on the bike or the quad and go find a mudhole....only thing is they are still all frozen!!!

Given your affinity for mud, you should have joined the CF and went infantry. We get paid to live and play in the mud. Which is perhaps why I'll avoid mud every time if it's easy to ride around.

There's still hope for you, you know - the cutoff age for Reservists in Canada is 55 and I do believe there's a reserve unit located near your home town. Go for it. I actually taught at the Vernon Battle School back in the early 80's. Come to think of it, I didn't see a lot of mud there, though. Cactus at Oyama and lots of nice swims in the lake (always plan the route marches to parallel the lake, y'know), that's what I remember.

Anyways, I need to start looking at those jackets and pants once I get back from this winter mobility exercise. Spring will be here by then, and it will be time to tell the shop I bought it from to stick the crate on the delivery truck.

You must have spent a fair bit of time up at the base camp at the top of the hill before heading into town then. Every summer the city is flowing with cadets and everything under the sun. As for mud, there's lots in the spring/summer/fall up behind my place. I'm just going thru withdrawals.

The October 2008 issue of Motorcyclist gave 4 out of 5 stars to the Olympia Bushwacker Mesh Jacket and Airglide 2 Mesh Pants. Fully armoured. Sorry, I can't find the review on line. Here's a link to the manufacturer. http://www.olympiamotosports.com/bushwacker/bushwhacker.htm

montesa_vr wrote:

The October 2008 issue of Motorcyclist gave 4 out of 5 stars to the Olympia Bushwacker Mesh Jacket and Airglide 2 Mesh Pants. Fully armoured. Sorry, I can't find the review on line. Here's a link to the manufacturer. http://www.olympiamotosports.com/bushwacker/bushwhacker.htm

I can second their review. I have the full Olympia suit for my street riding and it is top gear stuff. I have owned Aerostitch suits and the Olympia gear is not only cheaper, in my opinion, its better!

P.S. They also make killer gloves!

So, what do DS riders concentrate on for protection I wonder.....
We ride on both pavement and dirt. Do we go the leather route like street riders, or the armor route like dirt riders, or a combination of both ?
I have no answers, I ride mainly forest roads, and in addition to a good helmet and gloves, I wear a pressure top (chest, back, shoulder and elbow protection) and sturdy leather boots. As you can see from my avi, my pants are Levis, and that's a glaring hole in my protection - should my next purchase of pants focus on padding for dirt or abrasion resistance for a street getoff, can I have both ?
Is a bruise better or worse than road rash ? - I dunno.............

ITS

Have you checked out dualsportarmory? I'll be getting a pair of...well one of those, don't know which one yet.

montesa_vr wrote:

The October 2008 issue of Motorcyclist gave 4 out of 5 stars to the Olympia Bushwacker Mesh Jacket and Airglide 2 Mesh Pants. Fully armoured. Sorry, I can't find the review on line. Here's a link to the manufacturer. http://www.olympiamotosports.com/bushwacker/bushwhacker.htm

Thanks.

Not interested and going to have a look right now, though. Nothing personal - but after spending the last two weeks on a military exercise ski touring with a 300 lb arctic toboggan, in -40 temperatures with 130 kph winds to add to the fun... right now I just want to think about bathing suits and hot tubs for another week or so. So freakin' cold we eventually just built quinzees and moved in. Interesting insight into what it's like to live as a gopher, but not much fun.

It will probably be another week before I even warm up. Then I'll go have a look at that gear.

inspector wrote:

ITS

Have you checked out dualsportarmory? I'll be getting a pair of...well one of those, don't know which one yet.

Don't forget to use the code to get a discount. https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/vendor-deals-f14/dual-sport-armory-wr250r-forum-discount-t36.htm

Just ordered Rock Gardn's Flak jacket we will see how it works. It seems to get good reviews.

Motoport Kevlar Ultra II Air Mesh jacket with quad armor. They also make kevlar jeans with armor as well as armored overpants. Pretty impressed with their stuff and I mainly ride offroad. However its easy just throw on and go to the store as well. I had my jacket made to allow the use of a Leatt brace. Its has a zip off collar. Zip off to use the brace, zip it back on if youre not going to wear the brace. pretty versatile stuff and is custom made to your measurments.

The standard tri-armor is not so great, but the quad armor is really impressive.

manufactured in house in a small shop in SoCal, not in China, and quality is top notch. Expensive? Yes, but cheaper than medical bills and time away from work.

http://www.motoport.com/Home

InTheSticks wrote:

So, what do DS riders concentrate on for protection I wonder.....
Weride on both pavement and dirt. Do we go the leather route like street
riders, or the armor route like dirt riders, or a combination of both ?
Ihave no answers, I ride mainly forest roads, and in addition to a good
helmet and gloves, I wear a pressure top (chest, back, shoulder and
elbow protection) and sturdy leather boots. As you can see from my avi,
my pants are Levis, and that's a glaring hole in my protection - should
my next purchase of pants focus on padding for dirt or abrasion
resistance for a street getoff, can I have both ?
Is a bruise better or worse than road rash ? - I dunno.............

Well, I started this thread so I guess I should post how it looks to end up.

After licking my wounds for a month and rewarming my body from the Winter Exercise From Hell, I started researching all purpose dual sport riding gear. The post above pretty much sums up what I think a lot of us do - ride on the tar to where we're going, then prowl around exploring forest service roads, mining exploration roads, old skidder roads, some single track, etc. At least, that's pretty much how it goes up in the Rocky Mountains of BC and Montana - not a whole lot of desert and goo riding here, although if you're determined I suppose you can find a place with lots of sand and/or mud to play in. I wanted stuff that would give me reasonable protection on the tar as well as dirt, and something that I could just throw on for a quick run into town without armouring up for
a full day of motorcycle play.

So I looked at what Shewolf suggested. The Yamaha jacket looked pretty cool, but they don't seem to sell those anymore. Couldn't find them in Yamaha's website, and the Yamaha dealers I visited didn't have anything dual-sporty on the walls. Ended up pounding the Internet looking at every thread and review I could find on dual-sport (or "adventure" if you prefer) clothing. Ultimately, this is what I ended up choosing (well, will be ordering after the 19th when I get back home).

Tour Master Transition Series 2 Jacket. $171 w/shipping at Motorcycle Superstore.





I strongly considered this; not only seemed to be what I was looking for, but the extra benefit of a real closeout bargain at $150
http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/snow/snow+coats+&+parkas/fieldsheer_highland+waterproof+jacket#

The difference? Well, I preferred the incredibly ugly but also incredibly high visibility of the Tour Master. Shewolf could be standing bare ass naked next to you if you were wearing this, and nobody would even notice she was there, much less naked. I love Montana, but the people down here drive a little bit crazy on the tar. They kill lots of motocyclists down here (and of course, lots of motorcyclists kill themselves). So... the more visible I am driving on the tar to the people down here who just don't look, the better my lifespan looks. I can put up with the eyeball-frying color if it makes people in pickup trucks see me before heading through an intersection. Fieldsheer doesn't offer this kind of color in the discontinued Highland.

Second point was venting. The Fieldsheer is reported to run a bit hotter than the Tour Master. They are very similar in many respects i.e. liners, pockets, waterproofing, etc, but the venting in the Tour Master is consistently reported to be good enough up until temperatures get into the 90's/30's C. I like minimal kit, so a jacket I can put on in the morning and ride all day with gets the nod from me. So maximum temperature range was a big deal for me - particularly when there isn't a whole lot of room on the little WR to store jackets, pants, etc as the day progresses. At least, there won't be on mine...

Third point was general. More complaints about Fieldsheer build quality than Tour Master, although no argument about Fieldsheer standing behind their products. I also got the impression pockets, flaps, zippers, tightening straps, etc was a bit better on the Transition, and it does have that very handy rear pocket.

It isn't a pressure suit, but rider reports are that the abrasion resistance and armour will suffice for going down on pavement and normal getoffs while riding dirt. It isn't a pressure suit, but better something you'll always put on for a quick run into town than full armour that you'll go "Nah, can't be bothered for a short trip". Nothing to prevent wearing full armour underneath...

There are some incredibly good prices out there right now on high quality adventure jackets, however. Something for everybody.

Pants... well, I looked at the Alter Ego pants Shewolf also endorsed. Considered them, but opted out for a variety of reasons. Again, maximum temperature range for the clothing was an issue as well as armoured clothing fast to throw on.

So it came down to Tour Master's Caliber pant, which was $145 at NewEnough.com:



or Fieldsheer's Four Season Mesh, once again a smokin' deal for $100 at Motorcycle Superstore:




And in this case, based on rider feedback and personal objectives, the nod goes to Fieldsheer.

Feedback indicates they have much better venting and therefore are far more tolerable as the day gets warmer. Worst comes to worst, I have can always pull on a cheap pair of thin nylon rain pants that will stow in a jacket pocket to stop the venting if it gets suddenly cold - but it is much harder to cool pants that don't vent enough. The Tour Masters generally gave the impression of being significantly warmer in warm weather. Thus, in my mind, making the Fieldsheer's more adaptable to extremes of cool to hot on one day's ride.

Other positives included the ability to position - and hold - the included armour where you wanted it. A real plus for a guy like me who finds the armour in most pants hanging down around my shins; my legs are so short they just barely reach my ankles. And I liked the lighter color. Yes, it will show dirt more - but it will hopefully also show me more when truck drivers aren't paying as much attention as they should be.

So there's my choices in the Great All Purpose Clothing Search. For my riding. Which is rarely in rain, never in winter, and not a whole lot in sand or mud. We have it better than that up here in the heights of the Rockies. Which is not to say I won't keep revisiting the web to do more looking before I get back home to place my order.

The big negative in this is I couldn't try on anything while looking around. I hit every bike shop around, five in total. Not one had Fieldsheer; not one had Tour Master. Some had Moose; what they had wasn't what I was looking for. Ditto for Joe Rocket. And ditto for First Gear. Therein lies the huge disadvantage - can't try it on to see how it feels before spending the money. If the local stores had what I was looking for, I'd be shopping there, not on the Internet. But telling me to find what I like on the Internet and they'll order it in for me - and charge me accordingly.... nah, not likely. Can always send it back for exchange, of course, but I really hope it will work out right the first time.

Meanwhile, I wear my old Answer Racing Edge motocross boots around the house, trying to figure out if they'll work for dual sport or if I'm in the market for dual sport boots. They're in need of a little bit of stitching repair and I suppose the psychedelic look from the time period will look a little funny these days - but they are blue like the bike! I just can't see wanting to park the bike high on the top of some mountain and taking a little hike through the boonies with them on - or walking out of the bush in the case of a breakdown, as far as that goes.

Once all the primary gear considerations are taken care of, next thoughts are towards some torso armour for those longer trips/adventures on the bike. Once again, based on rider reviews, I'm thinking Acerbis:



However, I have perfectly good hockey shoulder pads laying around here. Hockey pads worked for motocross when I was also playing junior hockey 35 years ago. They protected me then and now from full on trips into the boards and goal posts at speed, pucks going over 80 mph, sharp skate blades, slashes with hockey sticks, etc, so I don't know why they still wouldn't protect me from similar threats on a bike. And after 45 years of wearing hockey armour on my upper body, it is stuff that I'm confortable and familiar with. The off the shelf hard armour for motorcycling doesn't look all that different from my hockey armour, as far as that goes. Never tried the pressure suit thingy. But hard upper body armour is so very "been there, done that"... as it is for most guys who grew up in Canada playing hockey from the time they were big enough to stand up.

Anyways, another post on another topic, and I have to leave for a few days of pounding around in the bush playing Sgt Rock.

Jäger wrote:

Shewolf could be standing bare ass naked next to you if you were wearing this, and nobody would even notice she was there, much less naked.

Duuuude! Ok, I'll wear the Yammi bikini, you can wear the Electric Banana and I'll strip standing next to you. I wonder how many accidents that would cause...reminds me of the two poor schmoes who wiped out on their mountainbikes into the ditch when I randomly flashed them off my sundeck.

Enduro Jacket

You can still get these here In Canada, bud. My bike dealer said 3 days they can have on shipped to the store.

[quote="SheWolf"]

Jäger wrote:

Enduro Jacket

You can still get these here In Canada, bud. My bike dealer said 3 days they can have on shipped to the store.

Hmmmm... well, I think I've settled on the glaring colors with the built in armour by this point. Lots of colors I like better than the eye zapping yellow-green - including blue - but my self preservation instincts are running pretty high these days.

Yeah, I hear you...soon will be the days of the old codger motorhome caravan taking up both lanes of Westside Rd.