Category: Gear Reviews

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

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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

Alright, gather round—this one starts with my missus looking at me over a mug of tea and going, “Get a new helmet for your birthday.” And who am I to argue with a woman encouraging better gear? So off I stomp to the London Bike Show at Excel, boots loud, expectations low, ready to find something that actually fits my head and my vibe.

First hurdle: getting served. I’m stood at the Helmet City stand, waiting my turn like a decent human, and somehow blokes who rocked up after me are getting helped first. Classic. Must’ve left my invisibility cloak on. So I deploy the old stage cough—deep, theatrical, impossible to ignore. Suddenly, I exist again. Funny how that works.

Now, I briefly considered whether I’d have had better luck if I’d turned up in skin-tight leggings and a branded crop top, doing the whole promo-girl routine. But that’s not me, babe. I’m here for gear, not attention for the wrong reasons. Anyway, once I had the guy’s focus, fair play—service was solid. Helpful, patient, no weird vibes once we got going.

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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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Clothing/Protection Gear Reviews

Furygan Jet Lady D3O Sympatex Shorty Boots Review

Right, let’s talk about the eternal struggle: finding bike boots when your calves aren’t built like pipe cleaners. Some of us have legs with a bit of presence, alright? And most full-length boots act like they’ve got a personal vendetta against that fact. I’ve done the whole desperate late-night scrolling, rolling the dice on dodgy second-hand pairs—absolute circus. So when I finally landed on the Furygan Jet Lady D3O short boots at the London Motorcycle Show, it felt less like shopping and more like a small personal victory.

Now, these are ankle boots—so let’s be honest from the jump. You’re not getting the same level of protection as a full-length touring boot. If you want full gladiator mode, look elsewhere. But what you do get is a proper, practical compromise: solid CE armour, decent coverage, and—most importantly—comfort that doesn’t make you want to launch them into the nearest hedge halfway through a ride.

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Categories
Gear Reviews Riding

Leather One Piece Suit and Track Day

Just picked up this Alpinestars one-piece suit off eBay. With a bit of patience, I managed to blag this decent nick one for a monkey, not bad as they often go for £150-300 odd. Sizing was a bit tricky, as I’m pretty tall and skinny (6’1″ & 11 stone), but an EU52 fits well for height, not too bad around the waist and it only a spot baggy around the arse. Plenty of room for my separate back protector. The knee sliders are also nicely worn, so I won’t look a complete track day virgin… 😉

My plan is to try some track days, starting with a Novice Skills Day at Brand Hatch. Run in combination with Kent Fire Service and MSV, it covers Biker Down, slow speed control, an IAM/RoSPA observed ride and two 20 min track sessions. All for the princely sum of £55. It’s been a while since I did a Biker Down course and more slow speed and IAM tuition is always handy. Watch this space for my report back on the day.

Right Now on eBay Find an Alpinestars one-piece suit on eBay
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Gear Reviews

ABUS Granit Detecto XPlus 8077 Disc Lock Alarm Review

The ABUS Granit Detecto XPlus 8077 is a big chunky, yellow disc lock alarm with a chunky long name. But, as we already have big chunky security chains, why did we buy this disc lock which is surely not as effective? Yes, it’s true, chaining your bike to something does make it more secure, but lugging a 10kg of chain and padlock around where ever you go is less than ideal. Especially as a Givi Monokey top box is officially only rated for 10kg…

→ Check out our full Motorcycle Security Guide

Thus, the choice to use a disc lock that is easier to transport and still reasonably effective as a theft deterrent is appealing. For example, when out for a quick blast to seaside chip chop and don’t want to take a huge top box or when touring and you’re already carrying tonnes of luggage, the last thing you want to pack is a huge chain as well. Far easier to just squeeze in this little disc lock amongst all the other luggage. That and spotting this lock reduced on Amazon Prime sealed the deal.

Abus Granit Detecto X Plus 8077 Disc Lock Alarm

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Gear Reviews

Alpinestars S-MX Plus Boots Bargain

Alpinestars S-MX Plus BootsMy latest eBay bargain has been these Alpinestars S-MX Plus race boots. Albeit a slightly older model from around 2010, they’ve been barely worn and came in for the princely sum of £50. A damned sight better than their usual £250 retail price – sorted!

They’re a little different from my past S-MX 4 and current S-MX 5 waterproof boots; firstly they’re not waterproof, rather they are nicely vented for cool feet in the summer – which really works once you’re over about 40-50mph.

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Gear Reviews

FreedConn T-COM VB Helmet Bluetooth Headset Intercom Review

TCOM-VB Bluetooth Intercom

Bluetooth headset helmet intercom kits T-COM VBSo, you want a motorcycle Bluetooth communications headset for your helmet, listen to some tunes, your SatNav or natter with your partner, friends or pillion whilst you ride. But, you’ve checked out other Bluetooth headsets for motorcycle helmet offerings from the likes of Sena, Midland, Interphone, Cardo etc in the shops and probably come to the conclusion it’s gonna set you back quite a bit of cash. But, you’ve seen eBay is littered with funny Chinese branded gadgets at far more affordable prices. Sure they may not be the best Bluetooth headsets, just how bad can they be? Well, I took a punt on a pair of T-COM VB Bluetooth headset and this review tells how they turned out.

The first issue is narrowing down what you’re buying as you browse the glut of these intercoms on eBay. There are seemingly dozens of subtly different variations, on branding, spec and revision. Ultimately, I just took pot luck grabbing one of the cheapest FreedConn T-COM VB Bluetooth helmet intercom kits I could find from a UK seller. I wasn’t keen on waiting 4-6 weeks for a China-based seller to post or risk getting charged for VAT and duty by Royal Mail on arrival. Expect to pay around £40-50 a pair on eBay.

Right Now on eBay TCOM-VB Bluetooth Headset
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Categories
Gear Reviews

Herbert Richter Phone Case Mount Review

When it comes to satnav’s on a motorcycle you basically have two choices: splurge a tonne of cash on a proper waterproof and rugged device from the likes of TomTom or Garmin, or you make do with the smartphone you already have. With the latter cheapskate route, you either make do with audio direction only and keep your phone in your pocket or you look at a waterproof case to mount to handlebars. This is where this Herbert Richter phone case and mount come in.

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