Motorcycle Riding Gear Guides

Budget versus premium gear is down to personal preference. Often, premium stuff is higher quality, will last longer and won’t let you down when you need it most. So, it’s worth spending a little extra when it comes to important things like helmets if you have the available funds.

It’s also handy to spend a little extra when buying camping equipment as you’ll be able to get lower volume kit that you can pack away easier.

But that’s not to say you have to go premium.

There are plenty of low budget options in all motorcycle gear categories that are more than capable of taking you around the world. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find a lot of premium kit is completely unnecessary and just clever marketing – making you think you need it because either a. everyone else on Instagram is wearing or using it or b. drilling it into your head that it’s the best.

Personally, I’ve used everything from an old pair of jeans, army boots a £20 jacket and old helmet to ride from the UK to Iraq, to testing £2,000+ bike suits for my old job at Motor Cycle News. And I often found the expensive stuff to be massively overkill.

Now, for our round the world motorcycle ride, I prefer a mix of equipment. I like cheaper clothing and riding gear because you don’t stand out as much and the gear gets battered anyway. Also, there’s no point in expensive pro-laminate anymore because I’m no longer in sub zero temperatures so I can have cheaper lighter kit. But then I like to spend a little extra on a good comfortable helmet and lightweight quality tent. It’s about finding a balance and finding gear that works for you.

No, definitely not. You can ride and travel in whatever you feel comfortable in. Adventure bike kit is simply a hybrid of touring and off-road clothing and gear.

So for example, an adventure bike helmet is a comfortable touring helmet with visor etc, but also has a peak and a little more ventilation so it’s suitable for off-road too. 

 Adventure bike boots are the same. They take cues from enduro boots with added protection, tough buckles and are taller, but aren’t as extreme as full on motocross or enduro footwear. 

And when it comes to adventure bike suits, they’re simply touring kit with loads more ventilation, peppered in pockets and sometimes posh ones have extras that you’ll find handy off-road like long sleeve vents, map pockets, hydration bladder pockets etc. 

So, many of these hybrid options are great for motorcycle travellers who mix both on and off-road riding. But, if you’re predominantly road riding then it’s unecessary, and if you’re hardcore off-road then it may not be enough. It’s about where you’re going, the type of riding you’re doing and what you feel comfortable in. 

Our How to Choose Your Adventure Riding Gear guide will help point you in the right direction and gives plenty of decent examples. 

Pro-Laminate Gore-Tex, or just Laminate for short, is different to the typical Gore-Tex lining you get inside a bike jacket. The reason it’s different is because there is no inner or removable lining. The Gore-Tex membrane is actually built into your outer jacket.

This means that Laminate jackets allow water to slide straight off it. Again, there are pros and cons to this. The main pros are that they are far warmer and more waterproof because water doesn’t permeate into your jacket and then hit a waterproof barrier like with the lined system. The liner system means that your outer jacket will get sodden, while you don’t have that issue with laminate because water can’t get through.

The con is that they tend to lack ventilation, are not multi-climate jackets, aren’t well suited to very hot conditions and are often on the heavy side. The other negative is that they are on average far pricier. However, the technology used in building these jackets is always evolving and these laminated jackets are improving each year. 

You’ll find more info on Pro Laminate and Gore-Tex in the Winter Riding Gear Guide and the Best Waterproof Jackets Guide.  

Yes! We’ve been testing motorcycle gear for over 15 years in all conditions and parts of the world. Andy worked as a professional motorcycle journalist for five years and part of that role was to test a huge range of motorcycle gear so we have plenty of experience with this and are more than happy to help you find the right kit. 

If your question is on something we’ve reviewed or have a gear guide about, please post a comment on that page as it may help other readers.  

Or, if you’d prefer, you can contact us privately.