[Eastwood Co]

A coworker and I have been having an ongoing argument currently about street riding and what gear you wear.

ALONG WITH

What do you consider high mileage on a sport bike or any bike for that matter.

He's interested in picking up a bike, as well as myself for a little putt putt around. To myself, a well maintaned 30K miles on a motorcycle is nothing.

We obviously understand I4's and others are high RPM and most riders on the street beat the piss out of them. But to me that's still low.

The other discussion is gear. When I ride its a 2 piece or 1 piece leathers. With the corresponding helmet, gloves, boots.

So in the poll post up what you would consider high miles to avoid, and what you wear on the street. Hopefully we can get enough posts to make a decent percentage out of it.

 

[Manolo]

oops i meant to choose 40,000 - 50,000 miles

 

[EvilTwin]

I've never owned a pair of leather pants that fit me right, and my 1pc is pretty much track only, so 99% of my street riding is done in jeans and a leather jacket, and that's because a bike is a form of daily transportation in my book, so I'm not going to wear special pants every time I swing a leg over. Always wear some type of boots though, riding, combat, or otherwise. When I was in the accident that broke my collar bone I was wearing Dickies, since I was coming home from work; 50mph slid down the road a goo bit once I landed, minor scrapes to my left knee, but the pants didn't wear through.

As for mileage, this obviously depends on the overall condition of the bike, which I'm sure you understand. But once a bike hits 40K you really need to be on top of things.

 

[spiderman636]

If I am going to work (4 milesl) I'll wear jeans, boots, gloves, leather jacket. If I am going on any kind of ride where I am going to lean the bike over I'll be in leathers.

Mileage depends on care. I'd have no issues buying a 50k mile bike I'd it appeared meticulously maintained

 

[RedAndBlack]

I would say about 50k is considered high mileage. The problem with bikes is they demand a lot more maintenance and the average sportbike rider doesn't seem to understand this. So very often, I see friends buy bikes with 30k mileage that the original owner hasn't done anything but oil changes. So the fork oil, valves, brake fluid, coolant has never been changed. And this type of bike that's essentially been neglected is a lot worse than a 50k bike that's had its maintenance done thoroughly.

I wear a one piece when doing any aggressive riding but when I'm cruising around town, I got a leather jacket with impact protection and just wear jeans. I should probably wear my boots more often then I do, I'm probably half and half when just wearing the leather jacket, but always wear gauntlet gloves and my helmets are all top of the line brands.

 

[oldninjadude]

Typically your sportbikes get abused.. so I look for as low miles as possible.
But thats not the whole story, some bikes are well taken care of, I look more at the owner & the condition of the bike.
How well maintained it is can tell more than the odometer.

 

[riverszzr]

one piece or two piece always~ with real boots, gloves and helmet


as far as mileage issue........

as been stated it totally depends on maintenance and how it has been ridden.
I see bikes with 5k on them I wouldn't wish upon my enemy to ride to the McD's only a couple blocks away and I see bikes with 100k on them I wouldn't be afraid to have my mother ride around the great USA

Typically Minnesota/northern states attitude is anything over 20k is shit though and part of that is I see tons of bikes, where they have numerous owners and each are told (or assume) the previous did the called for maintenance and even though they may have only put on 2-3000 before re-selling yet again, that 3-6 owner bike never got valves adjusted, throttle bodies synchronized, fork oil flush, brakes flushed etc and now is 10+ years old with 18k on it, then again I see one owner bikes where they only ride 1000-1500 miles a year and never think about maintenance since they barely ever ride... Don't fix it until it is broke attitude. Some of those are now 20 year old bikes with 20k on them and never had shit done except an oil change every few years and a new battery when the previous puked, or tires etc, but only cuz someone pointed out theirs were smooth......because far too many of those type of riders don't even check tire pressures or look at their bike before heading off on their once a month or twice a month ride. They think if it starts it is good.

 

[Randall1028]

Thank you for posting this. I've been wondering the same thing, especially the gear part.

I currently don't ride aggressive so when I ride, I always just wear

• an armored jacket (either my Rev'it Ignition 2 or Dianese Airflux depending on the weather)
• Dianese 4 stroke gloves
• Speed and Strength rage with the machine (with forcefield armor independently attached to my knees)
• shoei rf1200 helmet
• TCX Riding Shoes/Boots

 

[jerryg951]

Well I have 35k on my clock now and would love to see how many more miles I can put on her. I am a mechanic so I love working on the bike. And if I am riding canyons or hopefully track soon it's my 1 piece suit. To and from work it's boots jeans helmet and gloves.

 

[asterix]

Always helmet, gauntlet gloves, leather jacket (with back protector), and motorcycle boots. If not planning on 'playing', or planning on 'playing' within reason, speed and strength rage with the machine jeans (I've got some BMW ones but they're a bit tight -- I'm working on that). If I'm planning on a spirited ride, I use my AGV willow leather pants. If I'm planning on a really spirited ride, 1 piece (again, with back protector).

 

[CHEEF13]

For anything more than a commute one or two piece with good armor all around.. High boots sidi race air my preference. My arai helmet and gauntlet gloves.
Anything to commute my leather jacket with back protector one of my helmets usually my arai and high boots

 

[halcyon026]

oops i meant to choose 40,000 - 50,000 miles

Damn it, I made the same mistake.

 

[weaponzero]

For street riding:

I have 3 jackets. One of which is leather, one of which is a waterproof textile, and one of which is a mesh. The leather one has a full circumference zip and I have pants to match it and make a complete 2 piece suit.

When I'm not wearing the 2 piece getup, I have a pair of Knox strap-on leg/shin armor I wear underneath my jeans (normal jeans for now, but only temporary).

I have 2 pairs of full calf length boots: AXO Aragons (race boots) and A* SMX-5 (street/commuter boots)

Full gauntlet gloves always. Have Knox Recons for when it's nice out, and for when it's not, I have Icon Patrol waterproof/insulated.

 

[RJ2112]

I mainly ride in textiles, as I only ride on the street. Armor for impacts, textiles because they can deal with a wider range of temps than leather and are generally easier to clean.

I do own a perforated leather jacket which I can use briefly in the spring and fall. I have textiles that cover every range of temps, due to me starting out riding in the PNW, where cool, cold, and colder and wetter are the word of the day.

Moderate temps make it easy to wear plenty of gear. I have 3 pair of over pants so I can wear my office attire/business casual stuff with my steel toed boots and not be over burdened with changing. Unzip the stuff and I can work all day without it being obvious I rode to work.

A bike with less than 20K? Pretty hard to F that up, unless it's been looped and run dry on oil. If it's over 10 years old, and has seen less than 2-3K/yr, it's going to have issues from sitting.

More than 50K/15 years, a lot of bikes start to lose compression, and it becomes much more serious if the maintenance has not been performed. Dry rotted tires, flaky electrics, shot batteries and idiot switches.... rusted out tanks and such.... if it's been ridden and hasn't been sitting for a few years that may not be a big deal.

 

[OMSpooner]

I'm guilty of not wearing gear like I should. Almost all of my riding is in jeans, boots, hoodie, helmet and gloves. I prefer the thinner motocross style gloves given my particular style of riding.

 

[AlexZX6R]

It's fun to be a power ranger

Safety first.

 

[thesighbored]

When you ride just about every day either to work / weekend twisty / long distance / just around the block hangout, it's hard to have a fixed set of riding gear to stick to.

Unless you are a hardcore ATGATT (which I am totally not), you will wear whole nine yards protection for any riding you do (which I don't).

I totally understand the risks & dangers involved whenever I am not fully geared and on the bike, and I accept it. I had my share of falls/crashes, so I know how it hurts. The weather here gets so hot at times that to be fully suited up is like cooking yourself.

I do appreciate the advise by others especially about ATGATT, but it boils down to personal choice, what I don't appreciate is when people start shoving ATGATT all up in your face and try to put you down for not conforming with their beliefs.

A person may not be fully geared up, but if they are riding safely, they are still considered a squid? I believe that "squid" term originated for the douches that rode dangerously for themselves and others, and were usually not in any gear. But over time anyone that isn't in full gear is called a "squid". I don't think that's a fair point, but I don't care if people call me that either.

Hopefully I didn't offend anyone, just sharing my 2 cents.

Ride safe & safe ride to all!

 

[InkedZX6R]

My personal opinion, mileage doesn't matter it's the maintenance. You can have a 20k bike be a time bomb and a 60k bike still have another 60k in it. That being said, I'd avoid 60k+ if you don't know what you're looking at.

 

[trackdayhero]

I probably have a few hundred thousand miles on motorcycles (and almost 50 years riding). For most of my life I rode with jeans and a good jacket and good shoes/boots (high top hiking shoes). The last 5 years or so when I got into track I mostly wore 1 piece leather on the back roads. This year I am back to riding in jeans, a good jacket and high top hiking shoes. Why? I was riding like a crazy ass hole with a false sense of security the last 5 years and I don't want to that anymore. I've slowed down a little, don't break so many laws and am more at peace with myself.

 

[2y4life]

No matter where I go, I do wear my gear all the time although I admit I don't own any leathers as I've yet to find any that will fit me. I may have to do custom one of these years. I wear textile jackets, textile pants, helmet, gauntlet/short gloves, and boots every time I ride as it was a part of the compromise between the Missus and I.

As far as high mileage, once a bike is past 50K, it's in fairly dangerous territory BUT as many have mentioned, it truly depends on proper maintenance but we know that many owners of supersports tend to neglect and abuse their bikes moreso than other bikes. I wouldn't buy a a 50K bike unless I knew the owner or it had meticulous maintenance log but that's not to say a 20K bike can't be a ticking time bomb either but chances would favor the bike with the less miles, speaking generally.