My Gear

General Gear

• Jackets
  • Current – Aerostich Darien – My street jacket only becuase I don’t want to use the same jacket in the dirt.  I find the pockets much more user friendly than the Kilimanjaro.
  • Current – First Gear Kilimanjaro Jacket – I bought this to be my dual-sport jacket.  About the only thing I don’t like on this jacket is the chest pockets.  They are a combination of Velcro and zippers that makes using them difficult even with gloves off.
  • Former – Belstaff Mercury – I purchased this jacket as a replacement to the Discovery that was too warm.  I used it for several years and never got wet but I did have to be careful when it rained as the jacket tended to ride up in the back since it is a half length.
  • Former – Belstaff Discovery – I got this jacket from a friend when I was first getting into rallying.  It is a great jacket, never leaks, however, I just couldn’t take the heat above 80 degrees F.
  • Former – Joe Rocket Phoenix and Alter Ego – My original jackets when I thought to stay cool I’d need mesh.  I’m a firm believer in the opposite now.  The mesh allows the hot air to get at you and heats you up.  There is too much airflow to allow sweat to build up as required to cool.  With non-mesh jackets, I’ve been in 100+ degree heat and chilled due to the degree of versatility in airflow.  I do believe these jackets have their place such as short trips to work when you don’t want to show up soaked in sweat!
• Riding Pants – Aerostich Darien.
• Heated Jacket Liner – Gerbing.
• Undergarments: LD Comfort – It is critical to ensure there are no seams on your clothing between your butt and the seat when riding long distances.  These do that and were also designed to wick moisture away from your body, but hold it on the outside to facilitate evaporative cooling.  They also keep you warm when the weather is cool.  Pure magic!
• Nolan N-104 Helmet w/ integrated audio – Modular flip-front helmet with integrated speakers and microphone.  Allows me to eat and drink without stopping, and the integrated audio allows me to hear and transmit with my various audio equipment.  I upgraded to a 104 after my crash with the 103.  I like the extra room in front of the mouth for the mic in the 104.
• J&M CB-2003 Communications Center – The CB-2003 along with the optional CFRG-D module allows me to hear audio from my GPS, XM Radio, MP3 Player, and soon my Radar Detector.  It also allows me to communicate via, Cell phone, CB Radio, FRS/GMRS Radio.  It is overpriced and does have some weak points, but there is nothing else to compete with it if you want CB.  Many others are going to bluetooth systems without CB but the combination of wanting CB and battery life have kept me out of the bluetooth helmet thus far.
• GPS
  • Current GPS Units – For rallying, the Zumo 550 is automatically in as it controls my XM and phone.  I’ll use it to route to my next bonus.  The Nuvi 785T is usually running next to the Zumo looking at the long term picture and running what-if’s.  The Montana gets the nod on the Dual Sport trips although I’ve used it instead of the Nuvi in rallies to try it out.
    • Garmin Zumo 550 – This is my main on-road GPS.  Bluetooth’s my phone into the CB-2003 audio system and is combined with a GXM-30 XM reciever for satellite radio, traffic and basic weather (no radar).  A lot of people complain about the lack of features in the Zumo series.   It does not have all the data fields of the earlier GPS units or today’s off-road units such as the Montana but it is easy to use.  It is very easy to modify the active route either on the fly by selecting the go to menu then selecting a destination and adding it as a via point or by modifying the route from the active route menu.  It would be nice to have the weather radar available in the Zumo 665 but that is the only thing I’m missing out on by not upgrading.
    • Garmin Montana 650 – This unit is my 1st choice for off-road and dual sporting.  It gets props for rallying because of its customizations such as when POI’s remove from the screen as you zoom out but its interface for routing is about the worst I’ve seen.  When you are navigating to a destination there is not even an option to search near your current route.  There have been some improvements in the software since it was 1st released as originally there was not an option to add a via point to the route on the fly.  Instead you had to go to your routes, modify a route to add the via point, then go to that new route.  If I could only own 1 GPS this would not be it, but if I were to pick my top choice for a dual sport GPS… this is it!
    • Garmin Nuvi 785T – It has been discontinued because it uses MSNDirect and is not waterproof but it is inexpensive and uses SD Cards.  Get an Aquabox to make it waterproof or do what I do and put a ziplock bag over it secured with a velcro strap wrapped around the mounting base.  I am a big fan of Nuvi’s in general.  They are intuitive to use and this one adjusts arival times considering time zone changes.
    • Garmin 60CS – This was my 1st ever GPS and it has been fantastic.  If it had an SD card like the 60CSx does, I probably would have never got my Montana but the 54 meg of storage with the non-x version has rendered this GPS useless for rallying although I still use it as a backup in the dirt.
  • Options for next GPS
    • Garmin Zumo 665 – New and expensive, but it has all the features I’m looking for.  Will need to hold off for a bit until J&M builds an adapter for it but it will likely replace the Zumo 550 as my main GPS as it can do everything it can plus, displays the speed limit, has lane assist and most importantly can display NEXRAD radar with a $30 per month marine radar package from XM.  It comes packaged with the GXM-40 XM reciever.
    • Garmin Nuvi 550– a perfect all around GPS for a budget, it is designed to work in a car, bike, boat and for hiking.  It is waterproof and is preloaded with maps for the US and Canada.  I will likely buy this GPS this year while I wait for the Zumo 665 to get established.
      • Use this Mount for a motorcycle
    • Garmin GPSMap 478 – This unit is designed for boaters but makes a great option for motorcycles since it is waterproof and can display weather and play satellite radio with an XM antenna.  Before the Zumo 665 came out it was in the lead for my next GPS if $ was not a concern.  If you find one of these for less than $500, buy it.
• Givi V46 – 46 Liter Top case
• Power distribution – If you are going to farkle, you’re going to need some form of power distribution.
  • Fuzeblocks – Allows me to have a fuse panel that I can select between always on or switched power on each of 6 circuits.  Designed by a LD Rider for LD Riders.  Hands down, I will use this on any bike it fits.
  • Eastern Beaver’s 3 circuit solution – On small bikes a fuzeblock is difficult to fit and is probably not needed.  My DRZ uses one of these and even it is a tight fit.
• Lights
  • Driving
    • Baja Design Soltek Fuego’s – One of two HID options that turn the night into day.  Don’t plan on turning these 3900 lumens per light on unless you are the only one on the road.  I ordered a spot and a driving beam version.  They are very good construction as I have well over 100k miles on and had them on when I T-boned a dump truck that totaled my 1st FJR.  The lights had a few scratches but powered up without issue.  Here is a great write-up on how to install some solteks including the digikey micro switch to be installed in the blank flash to pass cutout on the left control housing.
  • Aux
    • ADVMonster – LED Lights popular on the ADV board, a do it yourself, see Sanjos thread on ADV.  I have two model 60’s putting out 3600 lumens each and a nice flood style pattern with down range punch.  ADVMonster sells the lights separate from the switches so you build the package you want.  Their PWM dimmers have high beam bypass so when you hit your normal brights, the LEDs come on full power also.  I have a pair of these on the FJR and very rarely turn on the Solteks now.
    • PIAA 1100XAux Lights – an extra 55 watts of super white light equivalent to 85 watts of regular lights.  This is what I had on my R1/First FJR.  They are a major amp draw and provide little additional light.  Look at smaller LED options instead.  I no longer use these.
    • Denali D2 – Complete solution including dimmer, FJR Specific mount, 850 lumens.  I’ve never tried these but many people like them.  I think you are much better off with the ADVMonsters.
    • Clearwater Lights – Designed for M/C use, complete solution, FJR Specific mount.  Taking money out of the equation, these seem to be better than the ADVMonsters but just barely.  I have not tried these but everyone who I know that have them love them.
    • Rigid Industries Dually – Lights only, need to find own switching and dimmer.  Looks like easy to mount on FJR.  I have not tried them.
    • Trail Tech Lights – a variety of lights but no complete solutions and no FJR Specific Mounting.  I have not tried them.
• Tank Slapper – Plastic to protect the shiny paint
• Radar Detector – Valentine One – It has indication as to which direction the radar is coming from.  I’ve found I’m much better at determining where and if there actually is a cop as opposed to my former Escort Passport unit.

Gear I have used in the past

• Boostaroo – Boosts the signal coming out of any audio device like an mp3 player using 2 AA batteries.  I used this with a cord designed for connecting an mp3 player to a chatterbox headset without using the chatterbox.  A pair of batteries would last 1-2 months using it nearly every day on my commute to work.
• Chatterbox X1 – my communication device when I was on my R1.  It has built in FRS/GMRS radio abilities and attaches to the helmet so it is great for people with multible bikes.  They now offer one with bluetooth.
• Basic Audio – Since I didn’t like having the chatterbox always on the bike, most days I would just use the chatterbox headset sold on this page and got the special adapter cord (1st item below the headset) I talked about in the boostaroo section and used those 3 items together to listen to my mp3 player.
• Brittish Motorcycle Gear – BMG (Formerly Belstaff) – The ultimate waterproof clothing.  BMG withstands a firehose for 1 hour to obtain its rating.  Even Aerostitch can’t do that.  I have a Mercury Jacket and Ezeon Pants.
• Tourmaster Synergy Heated Jacket – There is higher quality options out there for keeping you warm but this works great for me, integral controls makes this a one stop solution.  I’ve done several hours below freezing on an R1 without getting the slightest bit cold.  Update: After several years of use, the power cord finally broke due to walking away from the bike hooked up one too many times.  A stop at a hardware store fixed the plug and I now use this as a back up to the Gerbings I purchased.
• Garmin GPSMap 60CS – worthless for routing as it is designed for hiking, but functions as a weak backup and data logger.
• Nolan N-103 Helmet w/ integrated audio – Modular flip-front helmet with integrated speakers and microphone.  Allows me to eat and drink without stopping, and the integrated audio allows me to hear and transmit with my various audio equipment.
• Kisan ChargeGuard CG-25 – Monitors Voltage, Amp Draw and displays temp, I had troubles with the shunt breaking so I found an alternate from ADVMonster.