Riding Gear that SUCKS

[rogue]

Originally Posted by zed

guess I've had good luck picking my HJC helmets. they fit my head well, and have held up very well, no problem with the visor or padding and they have protected my head in a couple crashes.

that KBC I had fit very well for a month or so then it started tearing up. none of my HJC's have fallen apart as fast. I had a shoei that I didn't like too but I ended up with one that is one size too big that is more quiet than any helmet I have ever worn.

Joe rocket mesh jackets have also served me well. I've slid about 30 foot on asphalt, the jacket did it's job.

for gloves I have tested my technics a couple times. they have held up very good. I've got a pair of MotoGP that I like and a pair of Icon TIMax. I like the Icon's but one hand doesn't feel quite right. I've worn others that both felt good.

Did you know you can call KBC direct and they'll replace anything that's broken at no charge? The snap on the strap broke on one of mine. I called about it and they offered to send me a box and a call tag, replace it, and send it back to me at no charge. Unfortunately I never got to do it since I had to replace the helmet shortly anyway. I've had no real problems out of the KBC's I've had. The only reason I recently purchased another KBC is because it no longer fit me well. I lost alot of weight last year after I got it and lost some in my face (I was kind of baby faced) which caused the helmet not to fit correctly. It's still a great helmet. It fits my daughter well so I gave it to her. The new one is my third KBC helmet.

Like you I had no problems with my first HJC (CL-14). I think they're good helmets. I replaced my HJC with a KBC because it fit me better and the price was right.

I imagine my JR mesh would have done well in a 30-50 foot slide. But the crash I was in, sliding around 200 feet on pavement, not to mention doing some tumbling and rolling...I doubt it would have held up to that type of abuse. Especially not as well as the MotoGP did. The mesh weave on the MotoGP is much better constructed...it's tighter and appears to be made of a different material than the JR mesh, yet still very breathable.

I also have/had a TourMaster textile jacket that I slid about 30 feet in. The only evidence of the slide in that jacket was a little black mark on the shoulder where I hit the pavement and it came off with a little scrubbing.

The Icon gloves I had are the old Hooligan gloves. Those were some bad ass looking gloves. They fit me well, which was surprising, especially since I have tiny hands and have problems fitting any gear well. They're also really warm. What I didn't like about them was the padding in the palms was extremely thick and I couldn't feel the throttle response well in them. I tried and tried to break them in. Wetting them and wearing them, trying to stretch them out, but no matter what I did, my throttle response continued to be jerky because I couldn't feel what I was doing. I eventually gave up trying to wear them while riding and gave them away.