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.
Silver Eagle Outfitters Kula-XD Cooling Vest Review
Greg Drevenstedt
August 9, 2012
Vests aren’t cool, at least not in a sartorial sense. They haven’t been since the days of Saturday Night Fever. (Recall that soon after the disco craze, John Travolta’s career slipped into a coma, only to be revived 15 years later with Pulp Fiction, and Vincent Vega wouldn’t be caught dead in... Read more »
Sena SMH10 Bluetooth Headset/Intercom Review
Joe Michaud
August 9, 2012
Wireless Bluetooth motorcycle bike-to-bike headset/passenger intercom units continue to improve. New technology advances the breed and the pace of progress quickens. But does the ad hype on the box accurately describe the real-world performance of the gear inside? The Sena SMH10 incorporates some of... Read more »
Alpinestars Tech Performance Underwear and Touring Summer Socks Review
Greg Drevenstedt
July 26, 2012
Riding in the summer is great, with long days and a few ready-made three-day weekends that encourage us to pile on the miles. But summer riding can also be physically demanding, with our bodies sometimes exposed to the extremes of heat and humidity, or perhaps tropical storms or monsoon rains. Many riders... Read more »
Horizon Unlimited Achievable Dream DVD Series Review
Greg Drevenstedt
July 25, 2012
Motorcyclists tend to be dreamers, captivated by the desire to explore new places and have new experiences. Perhaps that’s because our two-wheeled machines, extensions of ourselves that glide through space and time with grace, power and promise, are more like magic carpets than just modes of transportation.... Read more »
Motorcycle Camping and Adventure Gear Buyers Guide
Jerry Smith
July 24, 2012
It’s been a great day on the road––or off it––and as the sun heads for the horizon you’re thinking about where to bed down for the night. You could look for another stuffy motel room with questionable sheets and a constant drip from the shower, but somehow that doesn’t go with the adventure... Read more »
2012 Rider Staff Camping Challenge
Rider Magazine Staff
July 5, 2012
Ride to Live, Live to Camp——THE 2012 RIDER CAMPING CHALLENGE In spite of our best efforts to provide for Murphy’s Law around here, things can still turn out wrong, go sideways, and end up messier than a soup sandwich. Our plans for a camping comparison test of the new Suzuki V-Strom 650 and 1000... Read more »
Midland BT Next Motorcycle Intercom
Scott Williams
June 5, 2012
Remember when communicating with your passenger relied on hand signals, thigh pats and knee squeezes? ah, the good old days… OK, motorcycle intercom systems aren’t new, but Bluetooth technology makes them a lot easier to set up without hardwiring anything to your bike. You can share pithy observations... Read more »
Dunlop Sportmax Roadsmart II Motorcycle Tires Review
Mark Tuttle
June 1, 2012
(This review was published in the June 2012 issue of Rider Magazine.) Ask any group of serious sport-touring riders what their main gripes are, and right after monkey butt and nature calling too often, you’ll most likely hear something about tires. These are savvy, demanding motorcyclists whose bikes... Read more »
Arai XD4 Motorcycle Helmet Review
Greg Drevenstedt
May 31, 2012
(This review was published in the June 2012 issue of Rider Magazine.) Adventure bikes continue to grow in popularity and sales, and paralleling this trend is a proliferation of gear and accessories tailored to the demands of on- and off-road riding. In the late ’90s Arai introduced the first dual-sport... Read more »
Nolan N-90 Modular Helmet Review
Susan Salvadori
May 8, 2012
The unofficial word is that motorcycle helmets should be replaced every five years or so. My Nolan N-100 Modular (a.k.a. flip-up) was pushing that age last year, so I asked Clement to get me a replacement; I liked my Nolan because it fit well and was “100 percent Italian” … always a plus... Read more »
