New Winter Gear

The problem with a motorcycle, especially El Duce, is that you want to ride it all the time. This is fine if you live in Florida or California. I happen to live in the Pacific Northwest. Portland, Oregon to be exact. It rains and can get bitter cold during the winter, as it is now.

I have a parking spot that I pay a little bit of cash for every month for parking El Duce. I bought it with the intent of riding El Duce to work every day. August through late October I did this. As winter progressed it just got too damned miserable to ride. I did not have the right cold weather gear to pull it off without numbing half my body. The gear I did have is very nice, Dianese leather jacket and gloves, but not made for the winter chill.

You might be saying to yourself, "Well, go out and buy some gear." I would say to you that just because I bought a Ducati does not mean I am a rich man. I busted my ass to be able to buy it. Also, we all know that bike gear tends to be very pricey. I like to slowly piece together gear to make it affordable.

I was able to cobble together some winter riding gear. It consisted of some cheap Olympia motorcycle glove liners, a windbreaker that my friend left in the back of our car for a year, a wool jacket I bought from The Gap way back when and a $5 rain suit from WalMart. All and all it did what it was supposed to. You will note one huge glaring issue though, no armor. I feel naked without knuckle, back, shoulder and elbow protection. It just wasn't safe. In the words of my friend and mentor Jesse Crotty, it was "no bueno".

Today I decided to stop by our local Cycle Gear to poke around. The first thing I saw was a pair of very nice Frank Thomas winter gloves w/ knuckle protection. On sale for $40. Leather and nylon outer shell with retro-reflective piping, inner lining of membrone (sic) with an outer lining of poly. They have a nice large gauntlet and are very comfy.

The next item I found was critical. A Frank Thomas armored 3 in 1 winter jacket. It was a medium and fit perfectly. It too was on sale for what I thought was $149.00. It is waterproof, made of tough ballistic nylon and has a removable inner windproof fleece liner. I decided I could afford the $149.00; generally you cant touch a good jacket like this for under $300. I'm pretty sure it was last years model, hence the super low price.

To round out my winter gear I grabbed a pair of cheapo MotoBoss waterproof overpants for $14.00. I will get a pair of decent riding pants with armor at a later date.

These items will make all the difference in the world. I took them to the counter and guy rung them up. When he got to the jacket he asked me how much I thought it was. I told him $149.00. He looked at me and told me "Nope, $70.00". I was shocked and pleased.

So for around $130 I got a nice set of winter gear. I love MotoCorsa as much as the next guy, but I would have been lucky to be able to buy one windbreaker/thermal undershirt there for that price. Although Erica, who works in the apparel area at MotoCorsa had me try on the aforementioned undergarment and it was the best feeling piece of clothing I had ever put next to my skin. Damn you MotoCorsa and your evil sales ninjas! She had me and I was going to buy it but I reigned in my desire to compulsively spend. I still do want the leggings though.

After riding today with the new stuff on I have to say I'm impressed with the quality and pricing of the Frank Thomas gear. I was completely warm in the jacket and gloves (it was around 40 degrees +/- this afternoon). The gear seems decently made, comfortable and is affordable. I feel like I'm shilling for them or something but screw it, it's decent gear for the price. I feel like if it falls apart in a year I will have gotten my money out of it.

What was the point of all of this? Now I can ride my bike to work even in really crappy weather and use that parking spot I'm paying for.

El Duce is made for riding, and that's what I'm going to do.