Its a common thing, for people to react this way . Everyday I ride to office fully geared helmet, jacket, knee pads & gloves. Also I keep my headlights ON during day time also. People are like "Your lights are ON" & show hand actions that my lights are ON. People do ask "Issme garmi nahi hoti (Dont you feel Hot). Then I explain this is a net(mesh) jacket & it has protectors & it is for safety. When the price is revealed, they are taken aback & say ok ok.

But I just say to myself. You will be seeing me like this everyday, If you dont like my looks close your eyes

Also once you are use to riding with your gear, you will feel uncomfortable when you dont wear them.

Vishal

I wore my jacket, gloves, knee guard & helmet for a ride to Jawhar on sunday and oh man the people on the road went crazy! Especially those with chicks in their cars/bikes. They would try to impress their female companion by over taking me. But alas, what do I tell em, my pulsar doesn't go fast :P :P. It just goes!
Its funny when people stare but what the hell doesn't matter. IGNORE!

that's funny

I have experienced that with my helmet frm my colleagues, i got a GPR for 2500/-. but it gets maximum attention wen kept on my office desk...
it is costly but it is a one time investment unless u lose it...

Today I was going home soon after the College.Railway Crossing was closed and I had to stop,soon after I stopped many people started starring at me and were giving me smiles.I was like what I ain't a Joker ! Fortunately in my city only me and one of my friend wear Gloves and Helmet while riding bike.

But it feels so good when people actually keeps starring at you,I felt as if I was a Celebrity !

All is well if you as a biker abide by the rules of the road and keep yourself safe by wearing gear , Let others stare , we know why we wear it ....


On a different note , dude i think you are using too many short forms , try to keep it low .
chears

People would stare at anything that looks or behaves different: from beautiful chicks to smart bikers.

People are kinda amazed seeing one with riding gear, as most of the populace is not even aware of its functionality. People used to give me looks when I used to wear the ProBiker gloves while riding my bike earlier. But then, gradually a lot of people have started wearing gloves (most of them non-protectional in nature though), and hence the stares have reduced.
But now, with the DSG Nero, the stares have become even more frequent & long. I do feel concious (& at times, enjoy the attention), but I'm glad that it I have taken a step torwards safe biking.

Knee guards, a good helmet & riding boots are next.
(Can imagine the weird looks people will give when they see me fully geared on the city streets)

Bangalore is a big City with Super Bikes, Harleys and has biking culture giving Pune/Bombay a tough fight.

Imagine it over here (in Bihar), Joe Rocket jacket, Joe Rocket riding pants, Alpine Stars/Yamaha full gauntlet gloves.
Che Guevara replica SparX lid and ankle length boots.

Stares? People turn around/stop to look at me.

My next aim is to get a Racing Suit. (Let me get a bigger bike first)

Bangalore is a big city, but its still in India. & people are the same throughout India.

Man, I envy your riding gear. Can you post the stuff on the riding gear thread, do that I may oggle at it.

riding gear such as jackets and good gloves are quite expensive....thats the only problem with them

Think about it this way , how much would you pay to get back a broken limb or ur life for that matter . The theory is , the more u ride the more chance u have of falling down . Better safe than sorry .

ya from that point of view ur correct.

I have narrated some of my personal experiences, especially when I am riding wearing protective gears. For once, I was totally overshadowed by a fellow rider, and the rider wasn't wearing much more than a helmet. Not one...not one person was staring at me . It was in a traffic signal. I looked around. People in auto-rickshaws, buses, cars, bikes, pedestrians etc. all had their eyes fixed on the rider besides me..well ogling to be precise.

So whats it all about? Well, this was no rider that one comes across every corner. Its a "She". So what's the big deal? I've seen lady riders on bikes now and then. Well, not like this one. She was all dressed up ..errr ..attractively I should say. Wearing some sort of short pants that looks like a short skirt. But then, it couldn't be a skirt, as I can't imagine how one could sit astride a bike with skirts. Anyway, the bike was a sparkling new Red pulsar 135 LS. Looking all pert and pretty she was. Thats not all..read on.

I'm not a fast rider. That day, I happened to be in a hurry for office as I had some other personal work elsewhere. So when this traffic light went green, I was off well ahead of the pack, settling down to a steady 80. Not fast, but on that stretch of road, thats pretty fast. Now I saw a rider fast catching up on me on my rear view mirror. Guess who? The lady on red. She zoomed past me all fired up. Shes got spunk..that one.

Well lady, if you happen to read this. I don't how you handle the stares", But Thumbs up from me for giving the biking scene a refreshing look ...though go easy on the throttle . Besides your bike may still be in its run-in period .

I guess in India wearing protective gear is considered showing off, like one of my colleague who asked me if I think whether my hero honda passion is a superbike cause I wear a jacket.

According to him jackets n stuff are only for super bikes.

and this guy forget about gloves n jackets he wears chappals when riding his pulsar !!!