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Riding Pants

What kind of pants do you wear when riding?

  • Leather or Textile riding pants

    Votes: 89 74.8%

  • Jeans / Normal Pants

    Votes: 16 13.4%

  • Jeans / Normal Pants with armor underneath

    Votes: 3 2.5%

  • Jeans / Normal Pants with protective overpants

    Votes: 11 9.2%
  • Total voters
    119
JoshF

JoshF

Let's Ride!
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Location
San Francisco, CA
Moto(s)
2009 Yamaha FZ6R - Raven
Name
Josh
I'm curious what people are wearing for pants when they ride. I want to be as protected as I can when riding but I also want something that is comfortable. I have an Alpinestars NYC leather jacket which has good padding. I also wear a Shoei full face helmet. Pants is where i'm confused. I bought the Alpinestars Urban DNS pants. They basically look like black jeans but have some knee padding. I have noticed that the knee padding moves around a lot since they are a bit baggy and I wonder how much protection they would have in a crash. Since I am a noob I just don't know better and appreciate your input.
 
When I ride my BMW I ride with a Roadcrafter one piece suit, but when I ride around town on my sumo I wear Shift Havoc Leather pants.
 
Jeans for around town, quick trips, out to dinner.
Textile overpants any time I get on the highway or take an extended ride/long trip.
Leather 1-piece at the track.

Anything that's baggy/oversized has the potential to slide or twist out of shape, which can lead to you not being protected anymore. If you're wearing gear, it should ideally be form-fitting.
 
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I don't commute or run errands on my motorcycle, so wear full gear 99% of the time. One piece leathers or 2pc Roadcrafter.
 
Keep in mind that there are two different protections here: abrasion and impact.

Textile or leather will outperform jeans for abrasion. While pads/armor provide impact and some abrasion protection (assuming they stay where they're supposed to) if you just wear armor under jeans you can still lose a lot of skin in a slide.

No matter what, it boils down to how much risk/pain can you tolerate. A low speed low side is primarily an abrasion risk (you lose it on an oily patch or in some gravel). The biggest risk in a low speed fall in traffic is the traffic -- and I'm unaware of any motorcycle gear that will save your ass from being run over. If you're commuting on a freeway armor becomes more important.

So.. my choice is full gear with armor when out touring the twists or the freeways, but textiles (armored jacket, A* cargo overpants) for surface street errands/commute. YMMV.
 
Joe Rocket Honda Jacket and Phoenix Pants when riding to work and long distances. Jeans and Rocket Jacket for around town.
 
Heavy "biker"-style leather pants for me. I recently picked up Titan knee/shin armor, which straps right to the calf; doesn't move around at all, plus they keep my legs pretty warm.

I'm planning on picking up padded shorts to almost-complete the safety ensemble. I still need to figure out how to best hook my jacket to my pants...
 
I would always wear snug armored leather pants with a leather jacket, zip-together. These days, I've given in to the convenience of a 'Stitch, but if you're going to be wearing riding-specific pants, and it sounds like you are, make them good ones.
 
Leathers for hard railing and track days. Textile gear for commuting / touring. I slow the pace down during the winter due to colder temps, and tend to wear textile exclusively at that point.
 
I always wear my full-face helmet (Scorpion EXO 1000 - love it), scorpion textile jacket (with armor), and riding boots. For pants, I alternate between just jeans for commuting to work or quick errands ( < 3mi on neighborhood roads) , regular jeans but with my mountain biking leg armor underneath (knee+shin protection) for medium-distance riding, and full on scorpion textile riding pants with built in leg armor for longer pleasure rides up in the mountains, or on highways. Now that I have the scorpion riding pants I'll probably ditch the jeans w/ mountain bike leg armor underneath and just wear the riding pants, unless I'm going to a party or something and don't want to sit around for hours wearing huge ridings pants.
 
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SlideSF said:
Depends.
Click to expand...

I don't ride that fast.


zane said:
unless I'm going to a party or something and don't want to sit around for hours wearing huge ridings pants.
Click to expand...

Givi luggage = safe place to stash gear while not on the bike. :) The asphalt doesn't care if you're going to a party...

087.jpg
 
Shoei RF1000 Helmet
NJK Leather Jacket
Various Leather Motorcycle Gloves
Tourmaster Air Pants(come with removeable full waterproof liner, and removeable thermal liner)
Alpinestar SMX Plus Vented and SMX Plus Regular Boots(I have another pair of another brand, but feel more safe riding in the race boots all the time)

I don't leave home without them, no matter how hot it is outside. :thumbup
 
SlideSF said:
Depends.
Click to expand...

on what? or did you mean the adult diaper? not very good abration resistance from what I'm told.

I like Motoport pants. easy on, easy off, in the luggage when I get there.
 

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My bike is now my primary mode of transport. Brief short distance jaunts I wear textile pants. For commute to work and twisties, leather.
 
'Not exactly a scientific poll, but it's nice to see that the vast majority responding are gearing up properly.

The rest of you.....get with the program.
 
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