[iguana]

Hello folks,

Need your recommendations for the following gears for my new Himalayan.

1. Helmet - Have finalised LS2 storm ff800.
2. Jacket - have shortlisted - RE Nirvik and Rynox stealth evo 3. Which one would you recommend?
3. Gloves - Viattera Holeshot is what i have found as an all rounder in this forum reviews and elsewhere. Budget in and around 5k. Just needs to be VFM and durable.
4. Pants and boots - not decided yet. will need your recommendation.

Have read a lot of pages since last one week and I am quite confused. Requesting the forum’s help.

Also considering I am located near Yelachenahalli Metro Station, please suggest shops for above in Bangalore.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Is it true that the Indian Govt has restricted Shoe imports? Since they come under safety gear. Like helmets, even these will need certifications (I'm told)

Sebring, IIRC this move was supposed to happen last year and the Indian Government gave a 12 month extension. This topic has been discussed extensively in the past on this thread. Most recently our motorcycle community's very own Mr. Stig had also posted about it over here (The Riding Gear thread).

That said Royal Enfield has been steadily releasing some riding boots over the past few months. So we wont be without any options. Its just that these may not be the top choices for some of us here but they will probably be perfect for someone looking for their 1st proper pair of riding boots.

Speaking of Royal Enfield's riding gear, the very helpful merchandise rep insisted that I try on their brand new Continental GT themed leather jacket. Its a little flashy for my taste but it fit me well. It seems to be built for Indian physiques (read potbelly ready sizing). Unfortunately, it doesnt come with any inserts for armour, so I had to drop the idea of picking it up.

If I do get a second leather jacket, I probably will swing for the very classy TVS leather jacket which was shown at the launch of the Ronin. I hear that its hard to find but I havent gone looking for one, either. Now, if only I knew someone in TVS who can help get one in my size .....

[anilupadhya]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Now, if only I knew someone in TVS who can help get one in my size

It's available on their website.

https://shop.tvsmotor.com/products/l...34&vc4=index-1

I guess their shoe is the most affordable one with toe and ankle protection, but not waterproof.

https://shop.tvsmotor.com/products/t...ual-shoe-denim

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by anilupadhya

]
I guess their shoe is the most affordable one with toe and ankle protection, but not waterproof.

https://shop.tvsmotor.com/products/t...ual-shoe-denim

These shoes actually look good. Anyone has got these and any feedback to share? I read somewhere, or maybe heard in one of the Motorinc podcasts that TVS makes good gear but don't market it enough.

[anilupadhya]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

These shoes actually look good. Anyone has got these and any feedback to share? I read somewhere, or maybe heard in one of the Motorinc podcasts that TVS makes good gear but don't market it enough.

I have them. It's not an everyday wear.. it's not as comfortable as a sneaker/casual shoe to walk around.

Used it for a ride to Goa, did not find them uncomfortable at all. It got drenched in pouring rain, but hasn't lost its sturdiness.

Absolute VFM at the discounted rate.

[shyamg28]

Originally Posted by iguana

1. Helmet - Have finalised LS2 storm ff800.
2. Jacket - have shortlisted - RE Nirvik and Rynox stealth evo 3. Which one would you recommend?
3. Gloves - Viattera Holeshot is what i have found as an all rounder in this forum reviews and elsewhere. Budget in and around 5k. Just needs to be VFM and durable.
4. Pants and boots - not decided yet. will need your recommendation.
...Also considering me located near yelachenahalli metro station please suggest me shops for above in bangalore.

Congratulations on your new motorcycle!

Between the Rynox Stealth Evo 3 and Nirvik, although I have no personal experience riding with them, I had almost finalized the Nirvik a few months ago. It feels the better built and more modern if I may say so, among the two. Both are tried and tested. So you wouldn't be going wrong with either.

Viaterra Holeshot - aces! I've used them for a touch over 20k kms. The leather is solid and it still feels really comfortable. I love that it adds a bit of girth around the handle grips, making it easy for touring too.

RE has WP Tso Kar pants. Heard good reviews about them. I have Viaterra Spencer pants which I have found to be extremely comfortable and well fitting.

For riding boots, check these...

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

That said Royal Enfield has been steadily releasing some riding boots over the past few months. So we wont be without any options. Its just that these may not be the top choices for some of us here but they will probably be perfect for someone looking for their 1st proper pair of riding boots.

HSR has a host of riding gear shops. See neil.jerocho's post below about some gear shops. Jayanagar has some RE outlets where they have stocked up on plenty of riding gear too. So you can try it out there too.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

While checking out track use helmets (Which Helmet? Tips on buying a good helmet) in Bangalore, I had visited 3 riding gear stores in HSR layout.

[rookieraj]

Originally Posted by iguana

hello folks,

need your recommendations for the following gears for my new Himalayan.......suggest me shops for above in bangalore.

I have the FF800 helmet and the Holeshot gloves and I find them to be very comfortable.

I opted for a mesh jacket so I picked up the Solace Urban Pro V3. It comes with thermal and rain liners and it provides full value for my money while offering very good protection and comfort especially when riding on warm and sunny days.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Originally Posted by iguana

Have read a lot of pages since last a week and confusion is what i am into. Requesting your all help. Also considering me located near yelachenahalli metro station please suggest me shops for above in bangalore.

Originally Posted by shyamg28

Congratulations on your new motorcycle!
RE has WP Tso Kar pants. Heard good reviews about them. I have Viaterra Spencer pants which I have found to be extremely comfortable and well fitting.

HSR has a host of riding gear shops. See neil.Jericho's post below about some gear shops. Jayanagar has some RE outlets where they have stocked up on plenty of riding gear too. So you can try it out there too.

Congratulations on the Himalayan! Do bless us with some pictures

1. Helmet - The Storm FF800 is a fantastic helmet and is what I am hoping to upgrade to soon.

2. Jacket - As Shyam said and as Neil has recommended, the Nirvik is a wonderful product from the RE Stable. If you don't want something as hardcore, the Explorer v3 from RE is the next best choice. It's largely textile with just a couple of mesh sections. Have used it for around 10,000 Kms as of now with no complaints. You will have to purchase a Back Armour, though.

3. Gloves - Viaterra Holeshot is your best bet if you want a short cuff glove. If you want a full gauntlet, then you can choose between the Viaterra Grid, Rynox Storm Evo 3 and the Solace Furious V2, all amazing at the price point. There is also another glove that caught my eye from RE's Lineup called Roadbound. It is a short cuff with Full Wrap Knox SPS and is Overall CE L1 Certified. I'd say try them about and see if you like it.

https://store.royalenfield.com/en/co...ack-1591135936

With regard to the full gauntlet gloves, I had made a small comparison sheet earlier, I'll drop it below to save you some time



4. Pants and Boots -

Pants
In addition to Shyam's recommendation, check out offerings from Solace and Rynox as well. They have some good stuff too.

Boots

This largely depends on your use case. If it's only touring, boots like the RE E39s, Solace XT Evo, Falco Atlas, Tarmac Tour, Raida Explorer etc, are the better option. (With the E39 being the top priority amongst these, of course)

If you plan to do touring and some amount of trail riding, then boots like the Ryo Conquer, Tarmac Adventure Pro, Falco Mixto, RE TCX Boots

If it's mostly trail/ off-road riding, then boots like the Fly Maverick Motocross Boots would be ideal.

With regard to stores, as was discussed on this thread earlier, its always advisable to know your staff before going in so as to not get misled by salespersons. HSR has a few good stores, and there's 6KIOM, Adeshwar Ryder's Arena and Orion etc where they stock most products.

Do let us know what you eventually pick!

[iguana]

Thanks. Your thread was crucial in my purchase of Himalyan and the comparison sheet is one which i already got converted to excel in the other thread.

Keeping western ghats and bengaluru rain in consideration what will be your priority for gloves and boots among the ones you recommended.

will soon join with the new himmy for ride with you so that it looks better in flesh than pics.

[irajput]

Originally Posted by iguana

3. Gloves - Viattera Holeshot is what i have found as an all rounder in this forum reviews and elsewhere. Budget in and around 5k. Just needs to be VFM and durable.

I can personally vouch for the Holeshots. Crashed at 100kmph on the street, they took the brunt and didn't get damaged too much either and my hands were completely protected, didn't suffer a scratch.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Originally Posted by iguana

Thanks. Your thread was crucial in my purchase of Himalyan and the comparison sheet is one which i already got converted to excel in the other thread.

Keeping western ghats and bengaluru rain in consideration what will be your priority for gloves and boots among the ones you recommended.

Haha, glad to hear

On the presumption that you are going to tour mostly, I would say get the RE E39s and the Viaterra Holeshot/Grid. Try out the other two contenders as well and figure out what your palms are comfortable in. If you encounter rain a lot, which for the region you may, you can pick up the Viaterra Tundra, Rynox Dry ICE or similar gloves.

[iguana]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyTangoFox

Haha, glad to hear

On the presumption that you are going to tour mostly, I would say get the RE E39s and the Viaterra Holeshot/Grid. Try out the other two contenders as well and figure out what your palms are comfortable in. If you encounter rain a lot, which for the region you may, you can pick up the Viaterra Tundra, Rynox Dry ICE or similar gloves.

So went on for the gear shopping spree today.

Orion riding gear was closed.

Then found the closest one to be Adheshwar. Reached there and regretted as I had a passport renewal appointment last week - could have used the ample roaming time by jumping the wall.
Anyhow directly told them LS2 FF800 is what I need but was confused as to graphics. I didnt take the head measurement as I understood from the forum that different shells fit differently.

Going forward they made me try an XL, which had some free space to let helmet wobble around head although the cheeks were a tight fit.

Then went with L. After zeroing in on the size, next step was to finalise graphics. It felt a hurricane of task since every graphic was kind of having there own advantages. Finally zeroed in on this

Two factors which led me to select this graphic was it being dual tone and the night riding orange reflection for safety at the back. This one was XL and they asked me to wait for L but then played a gimmick of changing the padding to convert into L from XL. Is this possible?

Then I thought - lets use the holiday well so rerouted to Gear n Ride as suggested and found it to be closed. Went straight to Powersports International HSR. Asked for Viaterra grid - it gave more sense of security as compared to holeshot - tried them and XL size was snug fit. Purchased it immediately.

While billing found Thunder 4 SV and Solace V3 pants too there.

- Helmet - tried the Thunder 4 SV had an M size snug fit. But the top of the head felt more comfortable in it as compared to LS2. Read somewhere in the forum with respect to LS2 and MT top of the head size recommendations. Also why is the size difference?

- Solace - Pants were pretty good also consulted with the sales person and he mentioned exactly same as per your findings regarding the absence of tailbone armour in other in similar price range. Thought of buying the solace near Banashankari being near to house. Went there again the same outlet but it was closed.

Next was jacket - went to the showroom from where I bought my bike - Kwality bikes in yelanchenahalli. They hardly had 5 jackets and Nirvik was not among them.

In search of riding gear on my scooty instead of my bike gave me a good 40km ride. Which brings another issue to the forefront i.e. a perfect setup for himalayan mobile mount. Which didnt let me take the bike in first place to the new streets of Bengaluru. Kindly advice.

[WhiskeyTangoFox]

Originally Posted by iguana

In search of riding gear my scooty instead of bike gave me a good 40km ride. Which brings another issue to the forefront i.e. a perfect setup for himalyan mobile mount. Which didnt let me take the bike in first place to the new streets of bengaluru. Kindly advice.

Awesome! Gearnride in HSR has the Pants. That's where I picked them up from. If you are already sure of your size, you could order it from them or directly from solace. About the jacket, since there are umpteen RE Stores across the city, I'm sure you'll find the Nirvik somewhere.

OT but since you asked, for the mobile phone mount, this is the setup I'm using currently and is working out great for me, ableit being slightly expensive.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5592037 (A New Beginning | My 2022 RE Himalayan)

My mobile holder doesn't have the vibration dampener, but I'd suggest you get the version that has. I'll drop the links below.

Mobile Mount- https://motodrift.co.in/product/hima...altitude-moto/

https://www.amazon.in/BOBO-Controlle...am=true&sr=8-5

[rahulcmoulee]

Looking at getting a pair of riding boots for my weekend rides. Have been making do with my sneakers for now. Came across this Raida Tourer boots
https://raidagears.com/motorcycle/ra...-boots-hi-viz/

Does anyone have any experience with these boots? Open to other suggestions too.

[Mu009]

Something of an urgent ADV boots query (only via the idiotic lens of first world problems). Been running around in circles online - to the point that I even came across posts from Red Liner on advrider.com . Help me out? I have a tendency to ramble and over-explain, so I will attempt to be brief.

I stay in Jabalpur (MP) and would have to go seriously out of my way to be able to visit a well-stocked store. Normally my pattern is to wait even 1 year+ and travel expensively/extensively to pick just the right stuff for myself. However, I will very likely have to make a trip to BLR/TN (starting 10th December), and am not in the mood to use the guzzling 7 Seater that is my usual long-distance companion. Ordinarily, I would have picked something up from a big city after visiting a store, but I just haven't managed it since I restarted biking. Couple that with being addicted to the convenience of a personal vehicle wherever I go, a flight for the aforementioned trip would be my last option - I would probably try my level best to postpone the commitment instead. Add to that the news that boots are going the same way as helmets wrt homologation, I'm ready to take the online route.

I don't own any riding boots. I have an ECE 22.06 helmet. Also, a mesh jacket with CE2 Level armour (shoulders, elbows and back) and 610D Polyster wherever applicable (RE Streetwind Eco that the ever-helpful neil.jericho brought to our attention). I plan to acquire a decent pair of pants and full-gauntlet gloves before starting. I am well aware that riding experience/skill/fitness are perhaps more important question marks than owning a set of proper boots, but given the apparent scarcity of boots my first priority would be a solution for my boots dilemma. My point being, please don't take a lack of queries about other stuff as hubris from a relatively inexperienced rider.

To finally come to the point - my conundrum surrounds availability and sourcing in addition to product choice itself. In terms of my use case, while I have only just restarted motorcycling, with my truck in just the last 5 years, I have done multiple trips of each Ladakh, Spiti, Kashmir, Gujarat and Rajasthan + 1 trip to the Western Ghats and down south (BLR/Nagerhole/Munnar). The usage of the bike is expected to be along similar lines, just a little less frequent. So far, with only a single outstation trip (Indore 550km away), I have put 8k kms on my bike in 1 year.

Even in city, I somewhat over-frequently stand up on the pegs for potholes, bad roads and speed breakers - being spoilt by my truck + being generally impatient + squats being a regular workout choice for me. In fact, ever since I moved to alloys on my GT650, I've had to slow down on bad roads since I now have to worry about the alloys. No Enduro/Motocross or tough trail-riding type abuse by any stretch of the imagination, but I have a tendency to be very rough on the stuff I own (while using only, I mean - I am meticulous wrt maintenance and upkeep). So I usally prefer to overbudget for my needs.

Would love to hear your suggestions, but I'm also enclosing my shortlist below. Budget isn't an issue - I prefer to pay more once rather than "buy cheap and buy twice". Looking for something with replaceable, easily available parts. Also, given my complete inexperience with boots, their stiffness and the different clearances they may require between footpeg and levers, I would welcome your inputs on any and all aspects in terms of fitment of purpose. Moreover, I would love to know of reliable retailers whom I can buy from. From those listed below, I would also welcome your input on the reliability/customer service of the sellers I've mentioned.

1. Alpinestars Tech 7 Enduro Drystar
Available through LRL Motors and Orion Motors in a colour I like. Might be overkill and a touch uncomfortable. Definitely overkill for the near-continuous dual carriageways from JLR-BLR on my first trip.

2. Alpinestars Toucan GTX
A top choice as far as ADV boots go from what I understand, but I can't seem to find someone with them in stock. Definitely less protective than the Tech 7s, but that is expected with the comfort on offer. I actually like the look of the Corozals more, but since the Toucans are the better boot, I would rather spring for them.

3. TCX Drifter
Ever since the RE Stelvios disappeared, I've been kicking myself for not having restarted biking in time to have purchased those boots. Therefore these do seem a little unpalatable for the price in comparison the the steal RE was offering. Available through High Note Performance and Orion Motors.

4. Dainese Seeker
Seem more show than go. Definitely more road-biased than the others. It's just that I like the green colour and easy availability via an official importer (Motomadness). They would work for my upcoming trip, but might go the way of Axe77's Forma Adventures up in the mountains. I am open to having 2 pairs of boots, but at 45k, I'd rather not have to splash out again when I plan my next trip in a different direction.

Thanks in advance,
Cheers!