It’s almost track season!  If you need to get geared up, make sure you’ve got real track worthy gear.

On your first time out, it’s usually ok to wear your street friendly gear until you know you’re going to commit to going to do more. On my first track day with Zoom Zoom last year, I just wore my street leathers and didn’t buy a 1 piece suit or track boots.  But this year, I plan to do more and will definitely be investing in a 1piece and boots.

Buying proper gloves is a good start. You need a little more protection on the track, with a stronger gauntlet, more reinforcement points and armor. It can be difficult to find women’s track worthy gear, so I’ve put together a list of gloves for you to check out.

Dainese: Racing 2 Lady

MSRP: $229.00

Sizes: XS-XL

• Constructed in cowhide,
• Composite steel and thermoplastic resin inserts on the knuckles
• Tightening strap
• Reinforced, padded leather palm.
• Fit designed for the female hand
• Elasticated insert
• Pre-curved fingers
• Perforation on the outer side.

Held: Phantom

MSRP: $289.99

Sizes: 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 11, 12 (6.5 is xtra small and the size I wear so you can imagine how small 6 is)

• Palm and back in highly abrasion-resistant sweat-resistant and colourfast kangaroo leather
• Unlined palm. Back and thumb fully padded with shock-absorbing SUPROTECT and 100% Kevlar®
• NEW: We have discovered that one of the most common injuries is dislocation of the little finger. This happens because the little finger is inadequately protected. To avoid this, we have given the little and ring fingers additional Kevlar® padding on the inside and outside
• Pre-formed, crumple-free palm
• Special flat seams reduce pressure points on the inner hand, and enhance feel
• GFK shells with 100% Kevlar® ceramic polymer matrix coating give perfect protection to the side of the hand and knuckles
• Side of hands and knuckles protected with highly abrasion-resistant stingray skin, (dasyatis bleekeri), a world first. This is underlaid with shock-absorbing gel, for unmatched impact protection.
• Protected Velcro straps on the cuff and wrist
• Visor wiper

Heroic: SP-R White

MSRP: $120- $300 (Todd/Heroic is clearing out the black and white SP-Rs, so you can currently get them in size 7 and 8 for $120)

Sizes: 7 – 16

• Full kangaroo skin carcass
• Exotic Stingray fish buckles, hand sliders, palm sliders
• GP Pinkie – finger protection during crash
• TPU Knuckles
• TPU Sliders
• HEROIC Articulated Fingers – Keeps fingers in Racecurl
• Kangaroo Thumb deflector – keeps hand buckle from getting damaged in wreck
• Fully stitched with Kevlar and bonded Nylon – ultimate threading
• HEROIC Logo with shock protection memory foam.
• Extra inch of gauntlet from predecessor

REV’IT: Raven

MSRP: $149.99

Sizes: S-XL

• TPU hard shell knuckle protection
• Dual composition palm slider
• PU injected finger knuckles
• EVA foam
• Schoeller-Keprotec at palms
• Aramide liner

RS Taichi: GP-WRX

MSRP: $159.95

Size: One size for women, XS

• RS TAICHI original molded carbon hard knuckle and finger protector with 6mm dual compound foam.
• Perforated leather used between finger for ventilation.
• Carbon slider with 6mm dual compound foam in palm to prevent hand from gripping when crash.
• 5mm foam padding on wrist for better protection.
• Aramid knit on knuckle to finger tip for maximum strength (inside of glove)
• Wrist closure with rubber molded protection.
• Additional leather layer on side of little finger for abrasion resistance.

This time we chat about gloves. Why do you need them? How much should you spend? What’s the difference between $20 and $100 gloves anyway?

Make sure you don’t miss: Gloves 101.

This Ignition jacket has been so popular for REV’IT that it took them 3-4 years to update it.  Many manufacturers like to rehash their lines every 4-5 years (much like helmets) and they’ve definitely taken some liberties with both the Ignition and matching Gear 2 pants.

As mentioned in this previous post,  the Marryls have been discontinued and instead, REV’IT combined the fit and features of the first generation Gear pant to make the new Gear 2 pants.

I’ll be picking these up TODAY and I can’t wait! I’ve been dying to get my hands on this outfit since I saw it in October.  These two items are the perfect for year round riding and touring. I’ve put about 20,000 miles on my other Ignition and I love everything about that jacket except the length of the torso.  It sits right on top of my hips and I just wish it were either an inch shorter (for my super short torso) or a little bit flared at the waist. It had a really straight line from the armpit to the waist and for someone with narrower hips, it’s perfect. But for me, it pushes up a little bit.

For those of you who are looking for a really great deal, now’s the time to buy the current versions from your dealer since they should be marked down to get ready for the new versions.

The Ignition 1 is the longest, most fitted jacket for those of you with longer torsos, narrow shoulders and long arms. I can’t say enough good things about it.

You can find them both online at Revzilla or in person at Scuderia West, or your local REV’IT dealer.

“I’ve been listening to you on the Pace podcast and want to thank you for doing what you’re doing! I love the fact that you break down in detail you review of products instead of the typical simplistic responses of “Great” or “Lame”. Anyhow my question is not about gear, but about your SV. I love the look and V-twin sound of the SV. I’m not so crazy about the seat height, I’m only around 5’4″ w/appox 28″ inseam. I used to ride a 93VFR – which I could flat foot a single foot and was *OK* doing so. Do you have any mods on your SV to lower the seat height? If so, what do you find works best? Do you have bar risers? I’d like to use a bike like this to commute. The 2012 Ninja 650 is on my short list as well but it lacks the “coolness”/vibe of a V-twin – but the ergos are much closer to what works for me.”

Answer:

I also have a 28″ inseam.

I’ve never modified my bike, ever (or any of my previous bikes). My best friend has been my Daytona boots as well as my riding experiences since I started on a scooter back in 2003.  For me, spending time on a ninja 250 for a couple years after that, and then a ginormous z750s made me appreciate the nimble and lightweight abilities of the SV650s. I never even thought about modifying it.

Are you wearing protective footwear? If so, the traction on them will give you extra leverage and help compensate for the lack of height.   If you aren’t, something like these will give you an extra inch, easy: http://motonation.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=7&idproduct=6326

I also wear Sidi Fusions, and they offer absolutely no additional height. Actually, they took away a good inch from me. I really had to modify my riding technique (focus on smoother breaking) to adapt to them and be comfortable with just relying on my left foot.

Even in my daytonas, I still can’t flat foot both feet in those, even with the additional 2 inches. I’m flat on my left, and that’s all I’ve ever needed on that bike (or any bike for that matter).  It has such a low center of gravity and is so light that I’ve gotten used to the weight distribution and just using one foot. Being a twin certainly makes things a lot skinnier between um, your legs.

I guess I’m a bad person to ask about this, because I’ve actually lost vertical height but haven’t done anything to my bike to compensate for it…. I’ve just modified myself!

I can only recommend checking out www.SVrider.com to see what others may have done to modify/lower their bikes.

Learn how to change your own oil!

Then, spend an hour with me, trying on gear and figuring out what fits, what doesn’t and were to buy it.

On Sunday, March 4, 2012 from 1pm-3pm, my friend Aleks will be teaching a girls only  oil change class at the Moto Shop in South San Francisco.  Changing your own oil takes maybe 30 minutes and is soooo easy. It’s so satisfying knowing how to fix something on your own motorcycle. It’s yours, why not figure out how it works?

Afterwards, we’ll move over to the couch and my friends at Scuderia West in San Francisco will be sponsoring this class by providing samples of jackets, pants, boots and gloves for you to try on. As this class is limited to 5 people, Aleks and I are going to give you some real one on one time in this class.

As of this post, there are only 3 spots left. Ack! Sign up before someone else takes your spot.

See you then!

My favorite pair of gloves on the planet are being discontinued.

Better get them while you still can.

The fit on all of these are all curvy and generous in the hips/thighs/waist. Olympia’s pant feature accordian stretch panels along the hips/thighs for an even more adjustable fit.

If you have any that you’d like to add to the list, please feel free to comment.

1. Olympia Airglide 3

$229.99; Sizes 4-18

Fully ventilated, removable waterproof liner, adjustable knee armor, full hip to toe zippers, perfect for summer/spring/ hot weather riding.

2. Olympia Promax

$249.99; Sizes 4-18

Waterproof, removable thermal liner, adjustable knee armor, full length zippers from hip to toe. No ventilation, perfect for cold weather/ wet/ winter riding.

3. REV’IT Axis (unisex)

$139.99; Sizes XS-3XL Standard, S-3XL Short, M-2XL Long

Full 2 way zipper, from hip to toe, no hip armor, thermal liners or ventilation, comes in standard/short/long insteams.  Waterproof, lightweight overpant.

4. Tourmaster Venture Pants

$149.99; Sizes XS-XL.

Vents, full length, waterproof side entry leg zippers and zippered side entry.  Adjustable knee armor.

5. Firstgear TPG Overpants

$249.95; Sizes 6-18

Full length zippers, removable liner, waterproof.

Now’s the time to upgrade, with these super comfortable, flexible options that are pretty much invisible until you need them to do their job.

If you’re an active person and participate sports such as mountain biking or skiing, these companies also make other products that would work in those kind of activities too.   The prices vary from

1. d3O Labs

d3O makes body armor inserts for every imaginable part of your body; back/shoulders/elbows/knees/hips.  It’s super flexible and comfortable and especially well sized for women’s gear.  Check out their Youtube channel to see how this stuff works. You can find their armor in products offered from manufacturers such as Klim and FirstGear. To full outfit your jacket and pants, you’ll spend about $150-$160.

2. TPro by Forcefield BodyArmor

A full set of these will cost you $180 through Johnson Leather. Each piece is constructed of 4 layers of the material, which all work together to absorb the impact. If the pieces are too wide for your body part (the shoulders are too wide for me), you can simply trim the sides to get it to fit into your jacket.  Their armor works a little differently than others, check out this video I posted on youtube, showing you the difference between a regular rubber ball and the material that TPro is made of.

3. SAS-TEC

SAS-TEC is also super lightweight and comfortable.  They also make a range of options to cover your entire body. A full set will cost you about $150 as well.

At first I was afraid… I was petrified…

To be fair, I’m going from what can arguably be called the most comfortable motorcycle boot ever.  Going from that kind of experience to this one has definitely been an adjustment. My feet have been spoiled rotten, that’s for sure.

When I first tried these on, I was overwhelmed by the sport fit and the way my ankles were immediately guided into sport riding position (knees forward, ankles bent, much like a ski boot).  And, as they were a brand new pair of boots, they were stiff and rather uncomfortable and awkward to put on and off. I have very high arches and it was a struggle to slide my foot in and out.

I’ve always heard from Sidi owners that they’re super comfortable. I believed them at first, and then I begun to think that they were lying to me, that it was a conspiracy to buy Sidi boots.

I was wrong. So very wrong. Thank dog! Not only have they been comfortable off the bike, but of course they are extremely comfortable on the bike, in sport riding position.

After about ~50-75 miles, they’ve started to really break in and stretch out.  I never thought Lorica (fake leather, yeah for vegans!) would stretch this much and was very skeptical. But as promised by my wonderful coworker Brian and many loyal customers, they have turned into an exceptionally comfortable boot.

I pushed these boots far beyond their limits by working an 8 hour day at Scuderia last Saturday. What was I thinking? By hour 5-6, my poor pinky toe started to squish and suffer with each step. But I knew that I had made these boots work much harder and in a very different capacity as they were intended. I was surprised at how comfortable the soles were and fully expected the bottom of my feet to scream at me by the 2nd hour.

Check out additional photos here.

I’m excited to have a more thorough review for you soon. Stay tuned!

Episode 99; Shopping with the GearChic

I give the guys my fitment tips on how to shop for your gear. Whether you’re a man or a woman, you need to know the differences between motorcycle gear shopping and casual gear shopping.

Give it a listen here.