As Reinhardt commented on my previous post, adopting a policy of ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time) is the most successful way to protect yourself when riding a bike. And so the day dawned where I had to start my own spending spree in search of the gear that would suit me most.
I drew on the experience of two mentors here. In fact if you’re looking to start biking GET YOURSELF A MENTOR. Bikers are actually friendly people, and they’re often happiest promoting the lifestyle to new bikers, so there’s loads of advice for you to draw from. I also saved big money by having someone with me who’d made the mistakes before me and could advise against poor purchases.
Full Throttle in Edenvale was the first stop, where I browsed through helmets, jackets, boots and gloves. Nothing quite caught my fancy, and I’d yet to crack open the credit card. Unfortunately the only way to shop for gear is to browse everything, trying it on, feeling it, testing it. It’s monotonous and off-putting and disappointing when you see something almost acceptable, but not quite there. Whatever you do don’t give in and buy something that’s good but not quite what you want – wait and keep browsing – you will find what you want. The very last thing I looked at in the shop was a pair of Berik gloves. Finding those gloves triggered the sensation you feel when you see something you know you want immediately, and once I’d found that sensation and swiped my first transaction I used that newly-honed instinct to guide the rest of my purchases.
We headed off to Mosskays in Randburg to see if I could improve my browse/purchase ratio. I was in luck there. I immediately saw the Shoei XR-1000 Joust in black and white and knew I wanted it. I also found a Frank Thomas “Blade” leather jacket and a transparent tank-pad (I secretly knew which bike I was going to get by this stage, which also helps a hell of a lot.) Unfortunately they didn’t have my size for the helmet, so I took the jacket and tank pad. Things were looking up – I was halfway geared.
A quick call to full Throttle in Randburg confirmed that they didn’t have any stock of the Joust helmet, so my mentor called Brian at Biking Accessories and he arranged for it to be ordered in the next few days.
The last thing I picked up later in the week was a good pair of Berik ankle boots, perfect fit at Centurion Yamaha.
Gear Done. Next mission? Bike choice…
Tags: bike, ride, gear, shoei, accessories, Fullthrottle, Mosskays, jacket, helmet, gloves, berik, boots