barring major physical deformities, i think it is just something to get used to. When you get a bike, try to adopt a more toe in approach, which would make it easier to get your thighs in. Trust me, a lot of newer riders will find it difficult, including myself, early on.

The idea of using your thighs to grip the tank aids in cornering stability for the body and reduces upper body fatigue, since you dont need to hold yourself up with your upper body as much. Also being loose on the upper body also aid in reflexes, important in emergency avoidance. If you are all stiff holding yourself up, it would be more difficult to steer quickly.

What size feet are you? Unless you have some monster sized feet, usually the stock pedals are sufficient. Like I said more premium bikes will have more adjustments. There are aftermarket rear sets if the stock ones dont fit you. The aftermarket ones usually have more adjustability in them.

This post has been edited by jaycee1: Mar 7 2025, 10:14 AM

I'm using these motowolf MDL 0349 long gloves as my daily. I have 2 pairs used alternatively for the past few months. Can't say how durable they are but as I do 35k a year, I usually don't expect my gloves to last over a year.

About the only complaint I have about them, is that they don't have a smooth hard palm slider. They fit small, so go up a size. I usually wear S in everything, these I wear M which incidentally is the smallest size they come in.

Not bad price for full goat leather (well almost, save the bit at the thumb) at around 160 when on discount. You can test them out at Serdang or Vamanz.

I wouldn't buy a helmet online unless I have tried it on before. Even then make sure the shop honours a return/exchange policy if you can't get it to fit properly.

Helmets fit differently even from the same brand. You really ought to test fit one at least 30mins before buying one.

For example, my M sized HJC rpha 70 fits perfect, but the same sized HJC F70 wouldn't fit at all.

2XL isn't a rare size. HJC and LS2 can be had in that size. Try the bigger shops/principal/importer/distributor instead of motorcycle shops. They should have more sizes.

nice boots

Those pants will have CE rating. Look up the appropriate CE1 and CE2 for impact protection (usually the armour) and "A-AAA" for abrasion resistance. You probably not need to worry too much about what material it is made of as long as it performs in the CE Abrasion tests.

Safety is always a compromise between your risk aversion, cost, riding style, overall comfort and where you ride. Do note, Aramid backed pants can run hotter as with high quality thick full grain leather, which is still the best for abrasion.

Boots and gloves will be the next most important safety items after a helmet. Get those first and worry about jacket and pants, or you can make do with cheaper items if on budget constraints.

Gloves, get leather ones, with a hard plastic/carbon fibre palm slider, the larger the better. The palm slider is the most important part of the glove. Pity some manufacturers either undersize them or omit them.

Boots, if you are newer rider get at minimum a higher cut boot that is relatively stiff against lateral crushing, as for newer riders on a big bike stands higher chance of jatuh bodoh. Dropping a 200kg bike on your lower leg is no fun. A good, stiff boot, may make the difference between limping off with an ankle sprain, or stretchered out with a broken ankle.

This post has been edited by jaycee1: Aug 11 2025, 11:21 AM

I do.

Better pants will also have an armour pocket for the tail bone.


I'm actually using chest armour in my hip pockets since my pants have sizable pockets, so if i did use hip armour, i need to sew the pockets smaller so the armour stays in place. Easier solution is just use larger armour. On the same note, when buying pants, some of the better ones have more Velcro fasteners to adjust your armour pocket size so you can place whatever armour you buy correctly. Armour don't work if it's not placed correctly.

This post has been edited by jaycee1: Aug 15 2025, 10:50 AM

Even WP boots will eventually leak. All of my "WP" boots leak after a few months to a year.


My daily non WP mid cut leather work boots actually do pretty well. Just have to treat them every so often and make sure the seams/stictched area are waxed. They are not WP and no WP liner, so water will still get through the zips (no gusset) if you spash yourself running through a big puddle.

For what's it worth, unless you are going for multiday, multi hour touring, I prefer non WP full leather boots. They dry up much easier than WP boots if you do get them wet and they are less stuffy.

Like i said above, I would wax all the seams and see if it works better. Pretty sure it would.

How bad you need pants depends on how you ride and how you plan to crash. Safety is a compromise you have to weigh in for yourself.


I wear riding jeans with armour everyday to work. And keep them on all day. I just don't use kevlar lined for comfort.

Normal commute is more impact protection so armour is important. Unless you banzai to office everyday, sliding and loosing skin isn't high on my things to worry about. Not to say it's not important, but armour itself will also protect on slides, just not that big a coverage as kevlar lined.

I'm in full gear everyday. ATGATT.

This post has been edited by jaycee1: Aug 23 2025, 12:12 PM

You can try Bike Quest at PJU. They are a bit hard to find, because the shop it at the first floor next to a speed99. They carry Clover riding gear (most of them have CE abrasion rating), Forcefield armour (good stuff that) and Falco boots (especially good selection for female riders).

For Klim, you can try Welly.

You can try NKS@sentul or GoBike@PJS (its sister retail store) for Shima brand.

As an alternative to Serdang, you can also try Vamanz at PJS.


The reason you only commonly find CE abrasion rating on European brands is now, to sell riding gear in most of Europe, they require CE abrasion rating/test to qualify for motorcycle gear. The Japanese lack in this area so far. So if you must have a garment that is CE abrasion rated, you have to look at the European brands, and the rather steep price they come with.


The reason why CE abrasion rating garments are more expensive (on top of the cost of testing and certification) is the testing schedules not only covers the actual abrasion, but also seam strength. So, higher rated garments most will have double or triple stitched reinforced seams at a higher production cost. Your AAA garments will also likely use far more exotic fabrics than your normal A or B rated garments.

Ultimately, safety is a compromize between cost you are willing to pay, skin you are wiling to lose, comfort (AAA garment can be hot and heavy) and what sort of riding you do most of the time. For me as a daily commuter, my speeds usually dont go much over 100 so for me impact protection and daily comfort/cost is more important than abrasion. Broken bones are a lot harder to deal with than roadrash, but thats not saying severe roadrash is not a bitch to deal with. Its a compromise i make for myself and myself only.

and FWIW...if you are buying riding gear, make sure you buy the correct size. Most end up with sizes too big thinking they are more comfortable, but that is mis placed. Armour needs to be tight and in place for it to work as intended and too much fabric flapping in the wind would and could cause all sorts of buffeting, vibration and loss of comfort. I have a jacket that causes so much buffeting on my helmet that I cant go over 170 without getting a headache. Wasnt a problem before as my 400 maxes out at 160, but my 800 will do 230.

Go with leather for the best and deal with heat. They are stiffer and dont flap around like ill fitting fabrics.

This post has been edited by jaycee1: Sep 2 2025, 11:57 AM