Motorcycle Pants. Advice? What should I look for.

Off the top of my head I'd like something to slip on over my jeans so I can take them off at point B. Something with protection in the knees, shins and hips. Something that's cool (not too hot).

I generally wear pants with a 32 waist x 34 inseam.

Can you advise? Am I off base on my wish list?

It all depends on how much you are willing to spend. The link below is from a maker out in California that exclusively uses Kevlar. I mean exclusively, because there are many other pants that are made out of kevlar such as kevlar jeans, etc. but all of them uses only a small portion, not the entire pants. You kind of have to land on the "sweet spot" on those pants, where as the the pants below are made entirely out of kevlar. They said that Kevlar has a much better heat resistant than leather as well as abrasion resistant. It's very expensive, as I was looking to get a pair of the mesh kevlar pants with armour. It's going to run over $400. It's a custom fit, with a lifetime guarantee. If they can't' fix it, they will replace it. I'm still saving my money for these pants. I've never ever put much thought about nylon, polyester mesh or textile pants, but they are subceptible to burning. Meaning that from the friction generated during a slide, they will melt right onto your skin, onto of whatever road rash you will incur. Keep that in mind when you by gear other than leather or Kevlar.

Motoport - Cycleport The Motorcycle Supplies Provider

interactive3 said:

Off the top of my head I'd like something to slip on over my jeans so I can take them off at point B. Something with protection in the knees, shins and hips. Something that's cool (not too hot).

I generally wear pants with a 32 waist x 34 inseam.

Can you advise? Am I off base on my wish list?

Click to expand...

From what you’re describing, you’re looking for overpants, but with decent protection. I can tell you which pants to avoid then, the Alpinestars Street Cargo Pants.

Alpinestars Street Cargo Pants - webBikeWorld

I’m more of a commuter; I use my bike to get to work more often than just going on a joy ride over the weekend. I love these pants though, they’re not attention grabbing, covers your ankles when you’re sitting on the bike, definitely more protection than just wearing Old Navy “fashion” jeans. The overpants fits true to size. I wear 36 waist pants, and my over pants are also 36. I tried wearing them over jeans and they still fit well.

But so far, I find them too hot to wear over jeans in the summer, even over my thin Old Navy jeans. I also found the protection it came with, built in removable knee pads, to be inadequate. I typical wear 30 inseam and the kneepads don’t fall into the correct place. Also, because they’re cargo style pants, the protection rotates and this was a huge concern, so I removed them. Also, if this is an issue, you can’t zip the pants with the back of any jacket cause there’s no zipper connector.

So, part of my routine for gearing up, at home and at work:
1 - regular pants off
2 - put on some Alpinestars Comp Pro Shorts Comp Pro Short - Alpinestars Official Store,
3 - Velcro in Alpinestarts Reflex Shin guards (I don’t know why they added the word Youth now, I’m starting to hate A-Stars for not maintaining their website)
Youth Reflex Knee Guard - Alpinestars Official Store,
4- slip on the A-stars over pants,
5 - And fnally, another discontinued product, A-Stars Indy Shoes. (I’m still looking for boots, Sidi Dohas! If the seller ever replies to me!)

I wear a shorter inseam, so you may not get the following problem: when I’m off my bike with those overpants and shoes, the pants get caught under my shoe when I’m walking. Again, sitting on the bike is fine. I think it'll be too expensive to get my pants tailored cause the bottom part of the pants are too complex, unless someone has done it and it can be pulled up tailored in the knee section? Someone let me know!

Well, good hunting.:thumbup:

I like Olympia gear. They make a regular and mesh pants. They use real Cordura and CE armour. Good quality is not cheap. $189. for either solid or mesh. Both come with liner for colder weather and in the case of mesh, rain. Online or most BMW dealers stock them. Not usually on sale.

It basically comes down to two questions. 1: How much can I spend and 2: How much protection do I want. There's no doubt you can spend a fortune on clothing and one philosophy that will usually hold true is that you get what you pay for. So it's all about compromise based on the two questions. Personally, I have a pair of Sliders from Comp Acc that I really enjoy. I ordered them a size big and they run a little big which it explains and I am able to wear them over my work clothes (Carhartt FR pants). These have Kevlar patches in the impact areas so you may not get all over protection but it is a compromise based on my budget. They are only $80 and they have a couple of styles. My other pants are TourMaster Venture Air. They are the most versatile. They have two removable liners; rain and quilted, and the CE approved armour in the proper spots. I am enjoying these very much and hope I never have to find out about the whole mesh melting into the road rash thing. They are about $150, New Enough. OK, that's about enough. I think that was about 0.10 worth.

+1 on Olympia. I have the Airglide 2 mesh pants in grey and the Ranger 2 waterproof solid cordura. They both have full length zippers and go on over boots and pants. When it is above the upper 80's, jeans + mesh overpants are too hot for me, so I wear tights underneth.

Thanks to all of you. I'll take a look at the brands and the links you've given me. Personally I've been wondering why some kevlar isn't be used as a portion of the threads in mesh jackets and pants.

Fit, fit, fit. Even with overpants (or maybe especially with overpants) the right fit is important. I had a hard time to find leg lengths and knee pad heights that worked for me. As a result I purchased and re-sold 4 or 5 pairs of pants (thanks ebay) before settling on the pair I kept. Noting your location you could check out Greater Boston Motorsports in Arlington and Moto Market in Acton as places that typically have a few types/brands to try on and you can get a feel for what you like/need without going too far. If you're willing to go further Max BMW in North Hampton, NH has a decent section of clothing although mostly BMW brand (some Olympia). Seems like a lot of the other local dealers specialize in a more squidly street clientèle and as result don't have much to offer in the overpants department.

For my $0.02 I have the Tourmaster Intake Jacket and Venture Pants, Nitro Touring boots and Fox mesh type gloves with the hardened knuckles, and Shoei RF-1000.

I feel that they are decent quality, the armour is adjustable and the whole shabang cost me about $700. I like the fit and though I have not yet empirically tested them, I know that they are going to be light-years ahead of street cloths or denim.

I crashed my Honda 750 back in 77 on my way back to FSU from Miami on I75 into the rear end of a chevy impala at speed after falling asleep from a weekend of partying. Luckily even back then I took covering up at least on highway trips seriously and had a Bell Star, denim jacket & jeans, cowboy boots, and leather gloves. Outside of being one soar MF the only real roadrash I got was on my ass (really) where the pocket ripped.

Now I know regardless of what I was wearing I am one of the luckiest guys on the planet to walk away from a wreck like that, but I can assure you had I not done at least these minimums I would not be writing this.

So I guess my point is, do something. If you can't afford the best don't due without. Find the best you can afford and get it because it will make a difference.

I have a pair of the Tourmaster Venture pants. Its 3 pieces, air mesh, rain liner and quilt liner so good for most conditions.
They are not too expensive maybe $180. There are probably better ones out there, but I figure it beats a pair of jeans. One thing about these is you can order long or shorter inseams so the knees do tend to line up better. Being an overpant, you need to go up a size or two.

bro get the icon knee guards, i ride with them! they are the best out there, very confortable nad affordable!!

What do you guys think of these ST-5 Dystar cargo pants from A*?
Alpinestars ST-5 Drystar Textile Motorcycle Pants :: New Enough, LTD

+2 on Olympia gear. I have the Olympia airglide mesh in grey(silver). The pants have hip foam, I think its called EVA or something, and knee armour. The silver color is about 10 deg cooler than the black. In my opinion all safety gear is a compromise between cost, protection and comfort and the best safety gear is the one you wear.:rockon: