What do you wear?

Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

For off roading ? ,

I thought pah Mondo Enduro did it in leathers ie across Siberia , I'll do the same and bring some water proofs but bring some decent off road boots and a off road helmet and goggles.

In that leg 1 getting out of dodge ie Europe to Asia via Turkey and the balkans is going to suit leathers nicely.

Leg 2 the Stans Kazahstan is hot boiling hot desert which leathers is ok too sort of like Spain but hotter.

Leg 3 is the far eastern Russia and Mongolia , Up to Lake Baikali is hard gravel track for 1200km , Mongolia is the muddy stuff as seen in LWR.

Possible Leg 4 road of bones TWICE , which is gravelly muddy rocky pot holed for 1400km.

The next bit is a bit hmm , since a crazy part of me wants to ship the bike to South Africa and ride it back to the UK via Ethopia. But this needs a carnet.

My thoughts now are:

What would you wear for 150-180 days of solid off roading?. (except the days spent in Europe and Korea).

Must be light , rain proof , not cost a fortune and not be bulky, which the leathers + water proofs and a few spare layers as secondary clothing can be used to keep warm.

Bike jenny only makes 115 watts if I take the TT = no hot grips anything the engine doesn't need gets sucked up by the camera and headlamps. Which means clothing has to make up the gap. (DR650 has a stronger jenny).

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
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Dom · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Sep 2004 Karma :

Revit gear is meant to be fairly solid and also waterproof.

https://www.revit.eu/cms2007/images/collectie09/FJT079_1150UF.jpg

Charlie · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 May 2007 Karma :

I think my brother has got that jacket, it is made up with like a 4 layer system, so it suits all the seasons...

You know Itchy you have made me want to do a trip like yours, so I went to waterstones to and bought 4 adventure traveling books! (I had book vouchers to use) Mr. Green

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Nath · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Karma :

Call me vein if you want, but looks come into it as well. With space a minimum your bike jacket and trousers are going to be worn off the bike as well. The only "bike gear" that wont leave you looking like a tit walking round town is the obligatory black leather jacket.

My four European tours, two Scottish tours and one European rally visit have all been done wearing a black leather jacket and combat trousers. Don't see any reason to change a winning formula. I go trailriding with this classic combination as well:
https://homepage.ntlworld.com/steven.coy/images/rbz/derbys-ride-11.jpg

Btw did you get my email dude?
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yen_powell · World Chat Champion Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Karma :

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

I've done trail riding in my blue 'zap' one piece leathers, race boots, helmet and gloves along with plenty of other stuff lower down on the scale; in contrast there's that picture of Korn doing a decent sized jump just in flip flops and shorts!

Not being the type that likes to 'take a bloody sight more care' (where's the fun in that Razz

), I think I'd look at some kevlar jeans for a start, with decent boots and knee armour underneath.
Should have a reasonable amount of protection in most conditions.

For the top half I'd be going for enduro armour for the off-roading, either with a light weight motocross jersy over the top in the hot, or a thicker leather/textile jacket over the top in colder climes and for faster road work.

Then go for separate thin waterproofs to be got out as required.

I've been going on about them a bit elsewhere, but I really like my Roadcrafter one piece easy-on thingy (even if it is slightly to small for me thanks to the luck of ebay). Easy to take off so you can walk around 'normally' - though does mean you don't have a jacket to walk around in if it is raining/cold. Quite chunky to store however, though you could possibly remove armour and use off-road stuff instead.

Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

yen_powell · World Chat Champion Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Karma :

Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

Charlie · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 May 2007 Karma :

Hmm I guess I have a few more years to save up, I will be doing this after I leave university and have sorted some money out, so could be in like 5 years time or so. Plenty of time to do planning and saving and buying the gear along the way.

Although I'd be tempted to take an un-organised approach and see how far I can get.... (then again I don't have the first clue about organising a trip like this... I have bought some books, shall hopefully rectify this)
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Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

tony_d123 · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 08 Apr 2007 Karma :

Personally, I get very warm even mild trail riding, so lots of thin layers that I can remove as required are my preference.
For that reason I would always go for textiles over a leather jacket.

Road riding is a different matter, so its leathers every time with some thin waterproofs for when its pi55ing down.

I guess you will have a real mixture of roads and terrain so textile layers are more flexible?