Choosing the best riding gear for a first-time biker

Since this would be my first bike, I'm trying to keep the costs low and focus more on the practicality & experience.

BHPian SubodhRage recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I need to buy a new bike and riding gear along with it. The bike would most be sub-200cc, and I’m fixed on the Yamaha R15, but any other suggestions are welcome. But what I really need suggestion for is the riding gear - I don’t want to lose safety, but also don’t want to be extravagant in the purchase. I’m looking for helmet, jacket and boots. Also, I’d prefer to buy all these offline, so do let me know of any good stores in Delhi.

Having ridden bikes for almost 4 years now - mostly owned by friends or rental, I'm finally deciding to get one for myself.

I had almost decided on an old Electra 350, for the sheer love of the locomotive pull in the Bullet engine, but I decided against it due to fear of reliability issues in the old Royal Enfield engines. Now, I’m back to square one.

During this sprint of four years, I've ridden some of the well-known bikes south of the 400cc segment. I've almost finalized on a Suzuki Gixxer 150 or an R15, but the decision is still pending from the higher authority (aka Dad), and would love to hear your feedback on the same. I'm looking for a good 150 - 200cc bike under Rs 2 lakhs. Since this would be my first bike, I'm trying to keep the costs low and focus more on the practicality / experience. I'm also looking in the second-hand bike markets here in Delhi and am seeing a fair number of good bikes at a reasonable price. However, considering the status of the Capital, I plan to check these vehicles (both from the dealers and any listings in the second-hand market), by the mid / end of June tentatively.

Since, the purchase of a bike is certain, I'm currently wading through countless beginner guide articles available on the web. I found a rather interesting video from Ryan Kluftinger at Fortnine which gives a detailed analysis of the road-accidents and informs the viewer about the most severely impacted parts of the body.

According to him, during motorcycle accidents, a rider needs to protect his head, hands, legs and chest. Of the ones I mentioned, unsurprisingly and statistically the chest is the least frequently injured part, and it makes sense because during most of the accidents the common contact points of a rider are his legs, hands and in some cases even his / her head.

With that being said, I fixated my eyes on finding some good, reliable and cheap helmets, boots and jackets. I’ll skip straight to my findings.

Helmets

It’s near impossible to find a DOT / ECE certified helmet under 2K. I increased my budget to Rs 2.5K almost and found some options from LS2 and Kranos. I’d love if any experienced gentleman can suggest me a good helmet under Rs 2,000 - 3,000. I've shortlisted the Kranos FF353 LS2 RAPID helmet.

It’s a pretty good helmet with ECE certification, however, what scares me is that although it’s ECE certified, the helmet’s shell is built from Thermoplastic. Thermoplastics crack up under load and fail to distribute the load evenly. The least you can do, is get a helmet with a polycarbonate shell.

I did some reading on the web about the helmet structure and what materials it should use, and although there are some really good articles, a Fortnine video explained it well.

Gloves

I already had these. I purchased the Studds SMG6 Gloves in the start of last year. The gloves were very cheap, and have knuckle protection as well as guard on the lower palm to protect in case of sliding. I’d say they’re a good buy in terms of comfort and looks. I don’t plan to purchase new gloves right now, but I think I’ll switch to a full gauntlet style gloves next time. What do you all think?

Jackets

Under the 5K range, there are some jackets which offer good levels of protection. I found a couple of those and will link them below:

Jackets by Royal Enfield

These are pretty reliable and economical as well. The jacket is design from 100% Polyester mesh and has CE Level 1 certified protectors at shoulders and elbows. It has adequate amount of ventilation from the pictures and reviews from many media channels show that these are indeed all-day usable. I've shortlisted the RE Streetwind V2 jacket.

Jackets from Spartan ProGear

This provides the same level of protection, however the fabric is Aeromid. From what I’ve read, Polyester jackets tend to be more breathable and cooler than Aeromid, and hence are more all-day usable. The designers of Cosmo definitely didn’t wanted their apparels to be stealthy and it shows in the product. The Royal Enfield ones are a lot stealthier in comparison to these. The looks of an apparel definitely depend on personal preferences but I’d say that if you’re planning to do highway rides at night, it’s better to have jackets that are reflective and stand apart in general. I've shortlisted the SCIMITAR Cosmo V2 jacket.

Jackets from Rynox

The key factor here is that these offer CE Level 2 protection at the elbows, shoulders and chest. Their price is a concern, but it keeps fluctuating between Rs 4,500 - Rs 5,500, depending on the platform. I've shortlisted the Air GT3 Grey Hi-Viz Fluro Green jacket.

Riding Pants

I don’t plan to buy any riding pants as of now. It obviously won’t be the expensive abrasion resistant ones from RE or Rynox, but normal Levis jeans.

Boots

Now boots are the main area where I need help from you guys. I have absolutely no idea which ones to buy and whether to buy it at all. So, I request you all to please provide your invaluable suggestions on these.

Here's what BHPian neil.jericho had to say on the matter:

You bring up some good questions. Let me try and answer them.

Suzuki Gixxer 150 vs Yamaha R15 - Both are excellent bikes. The Suzuki Gixxer 150 is more practical and is a workhorse. The R15 is sportier and is an excellent performer. Both are reliable and will run without issues for tens of thousands of kilometres. They are two different flavours of the 150 cc spectrum. You can't go wrong with either. Buy the one that appeals to you more.

Since you seem to have the budget for it, go for a new one. If you are going pre-owned, try and buy from someone who you know or if you have a common friend who can vouch for the condition and upkeep of the bike. Avoid falling into the value trap and buying a bike that will later need a lot of time and money to bring it back to its full glory.

Riding gear and helmet - We have two information packed threads here. There are two comprehensive threads on Xbhp as well for these topics. All your questions have been answered here and there.

On helmets, my suggestion is to increase your budget. Due to practicality / laziness / convenience, one may or may not wear the rest of riding gear all the time. But one will wear a helmet all the time. So get the best helmet that you can afford. I will suggest that you buy a good helmet up front and then buy your remaining riding gear in stages, as you can afford the best quality and VFM gear. That is the route that almost all of us here have taken over the years. Trying to buy everything in one go with a fixed budget will not give you the best of all the options.

For ISI + ECE, you probably need to account for SMK, Axor, Royal Enfield helmets that cost around Rs 4,000 - 5,000.

On riding jackets, get the RE Streetwind Jacket V2 and upgrade the armour later on.

On boots, get Royal Enfield's riding sneakers or boots. The sneakers are effective and provide some protection as compared to your regular trainers or sports shoes. They are wallet friendly options.

Try and buy. And buy whatever fits you the best.

Here's what BHPian no_fear had to say on the matter:

Dear forum member, as neil jericho said, increase your helmet budget. The sub 2k helmets are glorified plastic buckets. One of my ex-employees died last year on the Delhi Gurgaon highway after he fell off his bike and hit his head on the pavement. The Rs 2k helmet he was wearing cracked wide open, and his exposed head took the full brunt. Died on the road from internal injuries, leaving behind his wife and infant son.

I had told him 100s of times, buy a better helmet. Heck, spend 15k on a helmet and cut back on eating and drinking if you can.

As a well wisher, and for the safety of yourself, don't scrimp on a helmet. Look up Airoh helmets if you can.

If you fall off a bike without wearing riding gear, at the worst you will break bones or lose skin and you will experience what it feels to be meat crayon. Human skin grows back, human head doesn't.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.