Alright darlings, pull up a crate, crack a tin, and let me tell you about the boots that’ve been carrying my stubborn, road-hardened self up and down the tarmac lately: the Spada Pilgrim Grande. This isn’t just another polite little Spada boot review—this is from someone who actually lives in her gear, who wants her kit to work as hard as she does, and still look like she could start a riot outside a biker bar if the mood strikes.
No one likes cold hands and fingers when riding a motorbike. Sure, some will pack their bikes away for the winter, but they can miss out on some beautiful sunny winter days. Some make do with heated grips, which do help but can still leave your fingers and back of your hands cold. Some fit muffs on their handlebars, which although effective rarely fit on a faired bike. One of the best solutions is heated motorcycle gloves – decent protective gloves with an integrated electric heating mesh sewed inside.
Dutch firm HeatPerformance produces many such heated gloves for a variety of sporting activities, skiing, hiking, outdoor work and of course heated gloves for motorcycles. HeatPerformance put forward their gloves for review, which now we are in Scotland we can most definitely test out.
The HeatPerformance Maximum heated motorcycle gloves are powered from two 7.2V 2600mAh Li-Po batteries, which slot into the cuff of each glove. The gloves have 3 heat settings, which are quoted to give you between 2.5 and 8 hours of heat depending on setting and charge within 4 hours. The gloves retail for £150 which includes one pair of batteries and a charger. A spare/replacement set of batteries costs £40.
As great as leathers are, once the hot summer arrives they get awfully toasty and sweaty. In days gone by a good pair of Levis was considered perfectly adequate for a casual summer ride, but you really don’t want to come off your bike just wearing a pair of fashion jeans. I also doubt today’s Levis are as robust as pairs made in days gone by. Today we have on the market many motorbike jeans with Kevlar or other branded variants of this super strong abrasion-resistant aramid fabric, like the Covec used on these Bull-It SR6 jeans I picked up last summer.
The Bull-It SR6 set me back £60 in a sale, which included both knee and hip armour inserts (they’re sometimes optional extras) – bargain. But are they actually any good? Read on to find out more.
Staying safe when you’re riding a motorcycle is paramount. Motorcyclists are 27 times more likely to be involved in a collision than other road users (according to research from the Insurance Information Institute).
That means it’s important to invest in quality gear. What you wear when on two wheels will help to protect you against the cold, sun, wind and rain, as well as absorb some of the impact should you be involved in a collision.
The human body doesn’t do so well when it’s thrown from a motorcycle at any speed, but if you’re going over 30mph then it’s even more important to be protected.
Think back to when you were a kid and you fell off your bicycle – with the cuts and bruises to your hands and knees. If you come off your motorcycle at speed then that experience will be amplified.
Let’s see how you can stay safe when on two wheels.
How much for a pair of sock?! Socks are socks, aren’t they? As a self-confessed cheapskate frugal shopper, I purchase almost all of my socks and underwear from budget supermarkets opting for whatever socks seem sturdy enough to last a while. So when Soxsmith asked me to review some technical motorcycle socks, I was very interested to see how they stacked up and if they’re really worth the extra outlay. Yep, I must be getting old to appreciate being given socks…
When it comes to staying warm on a motorbike, the traditional option is to layer up, loads of jumpers and thermals, but you inevitably end up feeling like a Michelin man with restricted movement issues. These days, however, there’s loads of great electrically heated cold weather motorcycle gear on the market, from gloves and socks to vests and pants. All nice thin layers that will keep you toasty without the bulkiness. The only problem is, much of this serious gear comes at a serious price.
It’s at this point you may have noticed there’s a lot of very cheap heated clothing on eBay from China. It can’t all be that bad, can it? So, in the name of research, we picked up a heated vest for the princely sum of £20 (delivered). A far cry from big-name brands costing £100-150 or more. Read on to see if we wasted our money or found a little far Eastern gem.
Whether you already own a motorcycle or you’re about to buy one when you ride you will need to wear a motorcycle helmet for your protection. Let’s face it when it comes to protection – a motorcycle helmet is the most important part of your motorcycle gear. Maybe you have just bought your first bike, and now you’re looking for a new helmet – or you just need to replace your old helmet and you simply want to refresh your memory. There are many different brands and types of motorcycle helmets, which is great as there is always something for everyone. The downside, however, is that it is not an easy task to find the right motorcycle helmet for you – one doesn’t just ‘buy’ a helmet. When buying a motorcycle helmet online it is not a straight forward decision – so how do you choose the right helmet?
This article has been made in cooperation with FortaMoto.com
Last month I started the process of getting some bespoke made to measure Hi Pro textile trousers from Hideout Leathers. This week they were ready for a trial fitting, where I could try on an early first cut to test for size and see what further tweaks are required.
Trying to find motorcycle clothing that fits well can be a real struggle. Nobody wants ill fitting gear, making you worry if armour will remain in position in an off or just looking naff. I’m fairly tall and slim, so finding trousers long enough in leg and with slim enough waist is not easy. My wife is somewhat the opposite and similarly finds it tough to hunt down gear short enough – it’s not so easy to turn up leathers. This is where Hideout Leathers really corners the market with their custom motorcycle gear tailor made for you.
Tucked away in the Essex countryside a short distance from Saffron Walden, Hideout Leathers have a small store and workshop, where they sell many decent brands off the peg from the likes of Rukka, Dane, Halvarssons and Lindstands. But uniquely they offer their own range of custom tailored motorcycle gear, an alteration service for off the peg item and an repair service for older gear.
Right, let’s set the scene: small hands, permanently cold fingers, and a bank account that laughs in my face every time I even think about heated gloves. Sound familiar? Yeah. So instead of living that luxury life, I’ve been running the Dainese Clutch Evo D-Dry gloves with heated grips—and honestly, it’s been a pretty solid working-class solution.
Picked these up about 18 months ago at the Excel Bike Show (dangerous place for the wallet, that), and they’ve been through everything the British weather can throw at a rider. I’m talking proper conditions—snow, sideways rain, biting wind, the odd “why am I even out in this?” kind of day. And through all of it, these gloves have held their own.