CVStar has a new bike! Burgma now has enough waterproof and cold weather gear for a ride around the world, from top to bottom. Time for me to get my "kit" in place.When I started motorcycling in 1972 (or was it 1971?) the kit was very simple. Frye boots, leather work gloves ,and a denim Levis jacket. A friend gave me a pair of large military surplus deerskin mittens with knit woolen liners. The index finger was separate from the remaining three fingers so you could grip the bars and still work the clutch and front brake. Perfect in cold weather.
The only thing I still have is the jacket. I actually used it on both the cross country trip in 1972 and again in 2006. I used the mittens for many years when bicycling. Too bad they are gone now.
Shortly after I returned to motorcycling in 2003 Burgma and I went to London to visit CVstar (oops - CVstrom) who was studying for a semester there. We happened on a flyer in the street advertising a motorbike accessory shop. I think it was in northwest London. Anyway, we pulled out the transit map and found the nearest station to the shop. As I recall we were nearly the only customer there at that time and we stayed for at least an hour or two. The proprietor had pictures of himself on his first motorbike at age three. He had been a motorbike mechanic and I believe had raced bikes. The night he met his wife she gave him a ride home on her scooter and when they married, the honeymoon was a European tour two up on a Beamer. The shop was a relatively new venture for him.
I had only intended to look at gear, but he was so helpful and I knew I was eventually going to buy boots, jacket and a new helmet. I was a lot braver, confident and coordinated 30 years ago. This time I wanted plenty of padding. Besides the Belstaff jacket felt great. It seemed a shame not to get the accompanying padded pants.
He suggested Blundstone boots. He did not have my size on hand, but his distributor was nearby and he insisted on sending his young clerk on the "push bike" to pick up a pair in my size. I have rarely been on the bike without them and they are great for mowing the grass (steel toes you know) and other outside work.
For the last year or so I have been looking for Blundstone replacements in the U.S. without success. (The soles are shot and the uppers do not have long to go.) This trip will require new footwear. Eventually I decided to try traditional touring boots. The Blundstones were not waterproof and a couple of recent trips in downpours suggested that this might be a very valuable feature. After some Internet research the best option/value seemed to be Joe Rocket Rhino's. No one in town had that model and when I looked on the Internet it seemed that they were discontinued. No where, no how.
After trying on several brands and models I bought Set Ups. They are apparently made/marketed by Sidi and they are also discontinued, but hey, they were less than $140 and they felt good. The uppers are very comfortable, but the soles are a little stiff. I expect they will soften up with wear. The soles are also very sticky and give a good feeling of confidence on the ground. They are a little thicker than the Blundstones and I may need to adjust the shift lever up a tick. I like the reflective trim. Safety, safety, safety.
The Belstaff jacket and pants are good to go. My helmet is now nearly 5 years old so it should probably be replaced before the trip. Burgma and I both have leather baseball batting gloves for dry weather (the padding softens the vibration) and kayak gloves for wet weather. We still have the yellow banana rain suits from the 2006 cross-country trip.
Now it's on to finding a good GPS and maybe communication gear. It is not really about the gear, it's really about the ride.
