Category: Gear Reviews

Reviews of motorcycle clothing, accessories, equipment and other gadgets.

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Clothing/Protection Gear Reviews

Ladies Kevlar MotoGirl Leggings Review & Long Term Test

Motogirl Leggings ReviewWhen you were a child, did you ever have a favourite pair of trousers or a top that you would wear to death and never take off? Well, my MotoGirl leggings are mine. I bought them in February and I have worn them pretty much constantly since.

MotoGirl Leggings Review

These MotoGirl Leggings are stretchy and come with knee armour and optional hip armour. They have pockets, loops for a belt and more importantly are completely lined with Kevlar. This is unlike some biker jeans which only have Kevlar lining on the main impact areas of the groin, hip and knees. Definitely reassuring if one ever has a tumble.

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Gear Reviews

Kriega US-5 DryBag Tail Pack Luggage Review

Commuting daily into the city I normally have a huge top box to carry my huge security chain, work clothes and lunchbox. The top box is very practical on workdays, but total overkill when on a weekend blast where something more discrete would be preferable. Kriega is a quality brand I’ve heard many great recommendations of, so it was the default choice when I picked up this US-5 DryBag tail pack from Infinity Motorcycles in Holborn for £50. It is the smallest tail pack Kriega does at just 5 litres and not cheap, but I’m hoping its quality will make it good value.

The US-5 tail pack claims to be completely waterproof and fastens to the rear of your bike onto the pillion seat, however, it can also be strapped to larger Kriega bags and luggage to gain more capacity. Fours straps are provided to hook around the frame under your seat, which then pokes out to attach the tail pack too. Otherwise, a specific strap to bolt onto your bike is also provided. Two further straps then thread through the bag and simply clip onto the other straps attached to your bike. On my Fazer, the four default straps made for a simple install, all sorted in 5 mins. Then the bag itself can be attached or detached with minimal fuss.

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Gear Reviews

Oxford Analog Motorcycle Clock Review and Test

I tend to have a love-hate relationship with bus lanes; when you can use them they’re great for filtering past long queues of traffic, but with so many not open to bikes or only active at random times it can be a pain to work out when you can take advantage of them. Especially so when you’re riding an older bike with no clock! This is exactly the problem with my wife’s Honda CBF500. Not wanting to get caught out with a bus lane fine, we bought this Oxford analog clock.

Oxford analog motorcycle clock

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Gear Reviews

Drift Stealth 2 Action Camera Long Term Review

You’ve probably seen and heard countless other reviews of this Drift Stealth 2 camera raving about its specs etc, so in this review, I’m going to focus on how it shapes up long term, as someone who uses it on a daily basis. I originally bought this camera back in November 2015, to replace my old Road Hawk RIDE camera, initially tempted by the higher def 1080p support and longer battery life yet still in a fairly compact package.

The screen shows the mode, free card space and battery life. Backlight was disabled to conserve battery.
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Gear Reviews

Visorcat Visor Cleaning Glove Gadget Review

Visorcat - 5One of a biker’s biggest bug bears when bombing around the countryside is the constant splatter of bugs. Midges, flies, wasps, mozzers and other bugs, all just want to commit suicide on your shiny new visor. Visibility soon sucks, and when you make the mistake of trying to wipe that big bug mess  from between your eyes, you inevitably spread a huge smear of insect entrails hindering vision even more… If you’re the sort to prepare, you may have  a rag and some squirty stuff under your seat for when you finally take a break, otherwise you just grin and bear riding most of the day with naff visibility.

This is where Visorcat comes in. A crafty gadget that straps to your left glove, sporting a soft sponge and rubber squeegee to let you clean your visor on the go. Sorted! Well, the lovely people at Visorcat sent in one for review, so read on to find out my verdict on whether it shapes up to be gadget or gimmick.

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Gear Reviews Hardware

Cree U2 Spot Lights Review

You know what parents are like strong opinions as to what is best for you, mildly tolerant of your motorcycle ‘hobby’, but secretly scared to death you’re gonna kill yourself on your bike. So my old man keeps seeing lots of big adventure bikes adorned with bright spotlights, and declares I must install said distinctive pattern of lights on my bike to ensure I stand out. My Dad has a few odd opinions, but more often than not he’s right.

After borking at the price of offerings from Givi etc, I decided to take a punt on some cheap Chinese lights off eBay. Very cheap at under £20 for a pair including wiring. I didn’t have high expectations, but they can’t be that bad, can they? Read on…

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Clothing/Protection Gear Reviews

Schuberth C3 Pro Woman Helmet – Initial Review…

Schuberth C3 Pro Woman Helmet - 1
In case you forget you're a 'Woman'...
Schuberth C3 Pro Woman Helmet - 6
Schuberth C3 Pro Woman Helmet

So, I went to the London Bike Show at Excel last week. The Man says “Get a new helmet for your birthday”, so I did. I went to the Helmet City stand and stood there for a few minutes. Being a shorter female I noticed that men who arrived after me seemed to get served first, until I performed a rather phlegmatic stage cough. Such is the required attention-seeking methods I have had to resort to on occasion.

Men who arrived after me seemed to get served first until I performed a rather phlegmatic stage cough…

I suppose if I had been wearing tight leggings and a chest-enhancing top advertising Carole Nash or MCN I may have gained more attention (although I suspect for all the wrong reasons). Anyway, once I had the nice Helmet City man’s attention I did receive good customer service.

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Gear Reviews

RST Moto-X MX Children’s Boots Review

RST Kids Motorcycle Boots - 1Forking out for kids school shoes and trainers several times a year costs enough, but if you need to get motorcycle boots too, then things really do start to mount up. Thankfully, these RST boots don’t break the bank.

As with most kids gear, it’s more often grown out of, rather than worn out. As such we were able to pick a good condition pair of these boots up off eBay cheaply.  They’re made from sturdy and solid leather, have a good chunky sole with lots of grip. The boots are waterproof lined, with two straps and a flap with Velcro to tighten the boots around the ankle and shins. They also have a leather gear change panel and a soft padded lip around the top.

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Gear Reviews

New Wijalis Seat for Fazer

Throughout the years I’ve been riding my Yamaha Fazer I have always found the seat a bit of a weak point. It suffices for short journeys, but after a couple of hours it’s less comfortable. But what really annoys me is how slippery it is, especially when wet, worse than Bon Jovi. In the past I’ve worked around these issues by strapping a Triboseat grippy cover on top, but it’s not perfect.

Recently I splashed out on a replacement seat from Wijalis, a small Polish firm that recover and rebuild all kinds of motorcycle seats. This particular seat was one ready built upon a standard Yamaha seat base, and although I was offered options to customise it further, I opted to stick with it as built, and thus set me back £100. Wijalis also sell seat covers on their own or you can send them your seat for remoulding as you desire.

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Categories
Clothing/Protection Gear Reviews

Furygan Jet Lady D3O Sympatex Shorty Boots Review

Having fairly wide calves, I have found it difficult to find motorbike boots to fit, especially higher ones. Having had no luck on eBay purchasing cheap second-hand boots I bought these Furygan Jet Lady D3O shorty boots from the MCN London Motorcycle show back in February.

The Furygan Jet Lady boots are a comfortable ankle boot, and although they do not provide the protection of a full-length boot they are a good compromise, being both comfortable and having CE armour protection.  They feature a waterproof and breathable Sympatex liner and a flap that Velcros over the upper part of the laces to stop them from catching on the bike. I have worn them on long ride-outs and also off the bike, finding them comfortable and easy to walk in. They work well with textile trousers which sit just over the top of the boots. The boots are low enough that they also work with leather trousers.

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