Modern Vespa

...find yourself tempted to color-coordinate your riding gear to your bike?

I am aware that there's a thin, foggy, line that separates classy from cheesy when undertaking gear color-unity with any given machine,

Case in point:

I recently purchased a Bell 'Flippy-Face' helmet because it went just oh-so-well with the new/old BMW R1200R I bought late last spring....but to be fair, it WAS on sale from it's regular $400 retail price down to about $270 (USD), adding an undeniable incentive to go 'a-matching'.

For some time, I've also owned an open-faced 3/4 helmet in the same gloss black and white, to be worn with goggles, though I very seldom will wear this type of helmet.

My riding jacket is a well-worn, black leather, Joe Rocket retro style with white bars on the shoulders...also matching the bike/helmet visual combo.

This all started with my gloss black-with-white-striping BMW R18 from four years ago.

The funny thing is that I don't usually like black bikes AT ALL, unless they're a gloss finish, with contrasting finishes and textures to balance the overall look.

An extra bonus here is that the current Beemer B&W ensemble also overflows nicely onto Trixie's Speedmaster, in case I decide would decide to steal HER bike for an afternoon.

And yes, it can quickly become a 'slippery slope' of riding fashion excess, so we won't mention the sneakers and socks, will we?...

I guess I should be thankful that none of our machines are pink....not that there's a thing wrong with that....to paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld.

Bike and helmet color match, good ….anything else no thanks.

Nope. I've never kept a motorcycle long enough to color coordinate anything. Last time I tried I ended up with a Vanson's full suit in red/white on a green bike.

We have a guy at work who might be related to Imelda Marcos, he must have over 100 pair of shoes. He can shoe match with a watch band!

What is boring nowadays is most bikes are black, white or gray. Same with most cars on the road. Now you Triumph looks good in the black with white accents, but Vans shoes hurt my old man feet.

I need quite the reverse. My beige scooter is practically invisible side-on and I have had two close shaves at traffic circles. So I need some bright clothing and helmet for better visibility.

Not for me, I prefer the visibility of a white crash helmet.

Out of choice I would choose a red, blue or orange scooter/bike.

Presently my GTS and Triumph Tiger are both blue.

My Triumph Rocket is silver and red, my recently purchased '98 BMW K1200RS is.....ready?......
.....yellow (and silver grey), and that one is a bugger to match much up with.

Joking aside, I never put much stock in high viz riding attire and just ride as if I'm invisible to other traffic.

So far, so good, but then, I've only been riding these things since what....1967?...holy shit! where DOES the time go?

I DO own a white full-faced helmet, though I've almost never worn it. I don't even know where it is right now, maybe in a closet?

Often, my color-coordinating is more accidental than purposeful, and I always seem to own my riding gear longer than I do any one bike.

Both my helmet and my summer motorcycle jacket are Safety Vest Yellow, and I'm convinced that I'm invisible when I wear them.

just so long as you don't colour coordinate with your surroundings!

I can understand the appeal of trying to color coordinate a little bit.

I myself have trended towards helmets with red accents to match the scoot. I also tend to choose gloves with red accents, but I rationalize that it makes my hand signals more visible as well as coordinating a bit with the scoot.

Nah.

I typically wear grey-yellow goretex high-viz gear meant for offroading...riding my retro red Bonnie on paved roads.

I bought the offroad pants & jacket when I actually donated sweat riding offroad. Fell in love with having loads of large pockets, excellent adjustable ventilation and, yeah, high-viz yellow decorations.

My head shape is stamped as 'Arai-long-oval' so that's what the helmets are. Always with some colourful graphics as I, illogically, prefer graphics to high-viz helmets....and an absolute no-no is a one-colour only helmet. Just because I find them boring.

To complement the complete ignorance of any dress codes, I like to wear black& white road racing shoes, with fancy bright red stripes on the sides. They are just good, comfy shoes.

Oh, and I've found a nice pair of old style, brown real leather riding gloves. Those go nicely with....well, no they don't, but I still like them.

Ah, and the tube scarf. That's a well worn one, originally black, now greyish. With a dark shade of orange flaming skull decoration. I've kept using this one because of its excellent wind stopper qualities. Got it dirt cheap 'cause apparently flaming skulls where not in fashion at the time.

I don't pay any attention to coordination of my gear. I have only bought two riding jackets over my 45+ years of riding. Both are black leather. I've probably bought close to 20 helmets. I tend to by the best quality helmet I can get and I look for sale prices. So my helmet colors can be a bit whacky and might even clash with my PTW color.

I had two weak moments this morning.

Left both shops without another two wheeler thankfully.

Second one looks perfectly sized for your Hobbit stature

And has those training wheels i need to boot.

I think one of the many Znomit nieces is getting spoilt next week.