Motorcycle Gear Reviews
This section includes motorcycle gear reviews with testing conducted by Rider magazine editors. Gear reviews include apparel, parts & accessories, helmets, electronics and tires. If you are looking for a certain type of gear, use our browse by type option to see one gear category at a time.
Adrian Sports/Chase Harper 6XM Motorcycle Tankpac Review
Clement Salvadori
June 7, 2013
Riders have been carrying stuff on top of their gas tanks for as long as there have been motorcycles, and the array of tankbags on the market is large, everything from teeny-tiny to humongous. The latest from Adrian Sports/Chase Harper is a good mid-size container. Chase Harper is an old name, dating... Read more »
Joe Rocket Alter Ego Motorcycle Jacket and Pants Review
Greg Drevenstedt
June 6, 2013
Ventura County, California, home to Rider’s editorial office and some of our favorite test roads, is the perfect environment for testing Joe Rocket’s Alter Ego jacket/pants ensemble. In the springtime, mornings in Ventura are cold and sometimes blanketed with dense fog. The marine layer usually burns... Read more »
Race Tech Gold Valve Cartridge Emulators Review
Bill Stermer
June 5, 2013
A vintage bike is a two-edged sword. On the one hand is the joy of having other riders come over and say, “Nice bike! What year is it?” On the other are the problems associated with vintage electrics, vintage reliability, vintage suspension and anti-stop brakes. My old bike of choice is a 1976 BMW... Read more »
Shoei GT-Air Motorcycle Helmet Review
Greg Drevenstedt
June 4, 2013
When helmet manufacturers release new models or update existing ones, they often incorporate new features or adopt them from other helmets in their lineup. The GT-Air is an all-new full-face helmet from Shoei that combines new and existing features, and is priced between the top-of-the-line X-Twelve... Read more »
Touratech Motorcycle Suspension Review
Mark Tuttle
May 30, 2013
Adventure-touring motorcycles are often burdened with heavy luggage and accessories, then subjected to a fair amount of abuse when they’re taken to all of those adventurous places. In most cases, the bike’s original-equipment suspension is just barely up to the task; in more extreme instances it... Read more »
Arai Defiant Motorcycle Helmet Review
Greg Drevenstedt
May 30, 2013
The Gospel According to Arai: the prime objective of a helmet is impact energy management; everything else is secondary. Kinetic energy, the amount of work required to accelerate an object from rest to a particular velocity, increases at the square of speed. When speed doubles, say from 30 mph to 60... Read more »
HyperPro Motorcycle Shock and Fork Springs Review
Arden Kysely
May 7, 2013
It’s the rare motorcycle that leaves the showroom with stellar suspension, and my 2009 BMW F 800 GS is no exception. The stock male-slider fork is non-adjustable and the rear shock allows fiddling only with spring preload and compression damping. The kicker (literally) is that BMW’s ideal rider weighs... Read more »
Nolan B4 Motorcycle Communication System Review
Ken Aiken
May 6, 2013
Nolan’s new B4 communication system has all the functions of other top-quality Bluetooth motorcycle systems and some of the same limitations. It offers A2DP stereo from FM radio and MP3 players, linked GPS, pilot-to-passenger and bike-to-bike intercom, and of course, full cellphone capability. The... Read more »
AltRider Crash Bars and Luggage Rack Review
Arden Kysely
May 3, 2013
Adventure bikes like my BMW F 800 GS roll out of the factory ready to blast into the boonies loaded with camping gear, food and spares—or so you would think. Truth is, they need some accessories to be fully functional. The top items on my list are crash protection for the inevitable rough-country tipovers,... Read more »
Cardo scala rider G9 PowerSet Review
Eric Trow
May 3, 2013
There’s no denying that social media has become a huge part of our lives. And the popularity of social networks continues to explode. Facebook. Twitter. FourSquare. And now…Cardo? Cardo Systems, the makers of the scala rider G9 Bluetooth motorcycle communication system, have managed to create a veritable... Read more »
