Riding gears do arouse lotsa of questions in the minds of people...and its subjective.

Bikers who don't know the importance of riding gears will mostly shrug their shoulders thinking its a plain show off.

School children mostly ask questions about me being a racer

When i was in goa on 27th...we checked out of our room at 12 and had to take our lunch and leave...so i put on my riding gear which i had to wear and have my food I was at candolim beach and when we were leaving i saw two foreigners looking at me....they were not obvious but i felt they were half-smiling bcoz of my riding gear..as it was quite hot over there...but i know it sounds filmy..but i was particularly keen to know their reaction when i would ride past them...and yes..my babe certainly stunned both of them i heard one of them coming out with .fcuk(with that stunned look

Apart from this incident till now i didnt get any such looks...probably bcoz its fully black jacket and pant(got the wrong colour ..but i simply love it if im not on my bike...it feels as if i am some NSG commando ...i have dainese jacket, pant and gloves. daijiya helmet...no shoes as yet..shall buy them when i go abroad next.

whenever i see someone riding or touring on his bike fully geared...it shows his passion for biking and shows how much he loves his bike and himself

I am part of a motorcycle touring group called "Roadrollers". Weird expressions are seen when we are together. Yesterday, we had a out of city ride out session. We were 13 rides, all bikes were above 200cc including Comet, Avenger 200, Thunderbird. Each one of us were wearing full gloves, jacket, full faced helmet. (Just imagine how we were looking). We stopped at a tea stall. That's when a policeman came to me (may be because I was the youngest member, so he found me easily approachable). He first asked if we are having a India Tour . After that he asked me cost of these bikes, gloves, 'weird looking' helmets. After hearing the costs he said that instead of wasting so much money on these 'risky','heavy' bikes and 'flamboyant' gears, each one of we could have easily bought second hand car!!!

P.S- Another incident - One day after one such a ride out session, I stopped by a mall to buy something. Parked my bike outside the mall. I was fully geared up, the helmet was in my hand. That's when one shopkeeper (He didn't see my bike) asked me if I am an Indian air force pilot, heading home after my duty.

Interesting topic this one and I always wanted to share my experience. Was on the mighty R1, alpinestars jacket and sp2 gloves, oxtar boots and an arai helmet. Although I could ve easily crossed that yellow signal, but I preferred that pole position before the zebra crossing. Seconds later a chetak scooter arrives, rider aged around 40 or so. After observing me and my bike from all angles, he came up with this dialogue which still makes me laugh out my ***, goes like :

"Bhai saab, aap ROBOCOP lag rahe ho!"

Whaaaaat????? When did that 40 yr old kid watch the detroit hero in action. Lol..Cant forget this man...

Slightly off topic, but yeh similar experiences :

1. Bhai saab mileage kya hai? Kinne CC di bike hai?
2. Aapka dhuan mere mooh par padh raha hai (Underseat exhaust)
3. Kick start kahan hai?
4. The oncoming traffic, always trying to tell me that my headlights are on, i wish i could switch them off for those guys
5. A kid complaining to his father on RX, "papa aap woh wali bike kyun nahi lete". The father who's already in some tension " abey le loonga yaar, pareshan mat kar"
6. Bhai saab isme speedometer nahi hai, then i have to remind them of honda civic.
....and tonnes of other examples..

BUT NOTHING LIKE MR.ROBOCOP.

We were back from a group ride just entering the cit. One guy asked me if we were on some sort of Safety awareness ride. That was a sensible question though!
Stares are common.
Those days when i used to wear knee pads outside the pants, It was always seen as an invitation to drag. Have seen many ppl having a laugh i my expense
Similar questions. Are u going racing? Why do you wear it? i say just in case i fall of.
One guy said, if u r so afraid of falling why dont u use a car!
As for friends and colleagues, i just say that its like insurance policy. U may never 'use' it but when u need it u need it very badly!

I dont know if this query makes sense here, but anyway...Has some tried wearing the half skull bandana (e.g. worn by Sunny in the Intruder FotoFeature, worn by actor Martin Lawrence in the movie Wild Hogs) in public while riding. Can we get away with such a look or do cops (at least Mumbai ones) stop you for wearing something 'distracting' or if at all 'intimidating' or something which draws extra attention?

I once rode out of the MMSC race track in my full racing suit, completely kitted. Had to pick some fuel and some stuff. People were wondering where I'm from. I was even called an astronaut .

well they are certainly right Joel saar you blast off on the roads instead of space, that's the only difference between you and an astronaut

This reminds me of an incident when i was @ mahabaleshwar and met some of my Biker friends from RSA who were on their way back !!..AT Mapros, some kids came and checked out the riding gear ..and ran totheir Moms..claimi8ng to have met " THE POWER-RANGERS !!"

Best was during the ride to kanyakumari where at a village i stopped ;the villagers started touching my jacket, gloves, kneeguards etc to see what all hardened surfaces were there to protect me from a fall..when they enquired about the price....they were zapped to hear the figure..which easily could be a fortune for some of them...

Left me THINKING....!!

Cheers

Praveen P Sathaye

@06R1 ROLF. Robocop.

When I got Studds Helmet:
"800 rupay ka helmet ? Karol Bagh se ISI mark 200 mein mil jata hai"

When I first got Knighthood gloves:
"C***iya hai kya. Joker wale gloves pehenke bike chalata hai"

When I got a jacket:
"Topi laga le. Himmesh Reshammiya lagega."

After realising the value of gear:
"Aapne yeh gloves kahan se liye? Mujhe bhi lene hain."

No man-gadhant stories here. Real conversations with my friends and junior colleagues.

when any one asks me why do i have expensive helmet, riding jacket, gloves and all that. i show them my elbow and my hand. where the elbow was exposed and hand were in the gloves. by looking at the big scar the unserstand the value of the gear.

actually my dad was the one who got me the riding jacket. allas it is small in size(Large for people in South east asia is actually small on me :P)

I love this post. Such resemblance to my life too ... Although, I have only a Ozone Helmet & Leather Gloves!

People do stare at me, I don't know whether it's due to Half Racing stripes on My Pulsar's alloys or the Riding gear ...

Either ways when I ride, I'm a Strange Scene in the small City of Ajmer ....

Recently went out with my Spike Jacket, Armortek Gloves and even the Bionic Knee guards as well. Gosh! I tell you. Sometimes the stares can get distracting you know!

Actually what ever the rest of the gear, with and without knee guard, there is a huge difference in the attention u get. As in with jacket, gloves u r strange. With jacket, gloves + knee pad, u r alien! Wearing knee pad inside the pants helps though.

helps in what ?

tearing the pants apart or .....



ps .. actually if we notice .. people who wear a minimum of
jacket
helmet
[gloves [very rare]] look good on bikes

atleast better than a cheap 40 Rs sunglasses[no helmet] , sleevless shirts , chapals , and posers .. :P