Holiday Gift Guide
This is the ideal list for the refined rider on your holiday shopping list. We have cultivated a variety of styles, functions, and price points to create a turducken of moto goodness from our favorite brands. You are sure to receive a hearty thanks for your thoughtfulness and endless research you must have performed. We have personally tested all of these products, and note: none of our links are affiliate sponsored. Anyhow, let’s start small and work our way up.
Chinmounts fit our Bell Race Star perfectly.
Chinmounts Action Camera Helmet Mount $35
Your special someone already have a cool action camera that lets them record their adventures? If so, chances are they have already tried all the mounts that came with the camera, like the curved adhesive mount that affixes to the top of the helmet. As cool as that may be, it acts like a air brake on your special someone’s head and leads to neck fatigue over time. That’s why they will be excited to receive this stocking stuffer. Chinmounts adhere to — you guessed it — the chin bar of the helmet which provides a much more immersive perspective for viewers and a lot more comfort for the user. Each mount is custom made for a specific helmet, so have that info on hand. We highly recommend the Low Profile Buckle add-on for dialing in the angles just right.
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Our go-to glove for café bikes
reax tasker leather gloves $72
We love low key, high quality, good looking gloves here and Tasker fits the bill. Leave the all-show-no-go to plenty of others on the market. Tasker brings the goods with 100% leather construction sourced from a combination of cowhide for the best abrasion resistance and goat hide for ultimate softness right out of the box. Accordion leather panels add stretch right where its needed while foam padding and TPU inserts in the knuckle area add comfort and protection. Perforations in the leather regulate temperature and make this glove a great three season companion. Available in black or brown and in sizes SM to 3XL, you’re sure to find one to fit your favorite moto fiend.
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Don’t leave the ladies off your moto goodies list.
Dainese York Air Women’s Riding Shoe $200
Ladies who ride are going to appreciate both keeping and looking cool, and importantly, staying safe. We like the street style of these York riding shoes from Dainese. While summer may seem a fair ways off here in the northern hemisphere, when the heat of summer does come around, the female rider on your list will appreciate Dainese’s extensive use of mesh and perforated leather in these shoes. Importantly, they are as comfortable as any shoe this style for her adventures off the bike. If she’s into a bit less flash, there is also a predominantly black colorway. Be advised when ordering to go smaller than usual as these tend to run a full size large.
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Maverick, nicely broken in.
Tobacco Maverick Riding Boots $300
We love styles that offer full protection and and do it discretely. You could say our favorite products have an Ulterior Motive — moto protection and every day style. We tell it to you straight — these durable boots made of thick cowhide do take time to break in, but its well worth it. After a dozen or so short rides, our Mavericks gained their own distinctive patina while adding comfort, a characteristic we love and don’t mind making a small sacrifice for. Vibram soles offer excellent traction on a variety of surfaces while Goodyear welt construction and built-in ankle protection work to keep you safe in the event of a fall. They’re available in matte black, but it’s the rich amber color that we would choose every time and have us seriously considering the Tasker gloves (shown above) in brown to match.
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As discrete as full protection gets.
Tobacco Motowear Ironsides Armored Jeans $400
You’re justified being skeptical about spending four large on jeans, but these are far from your ordinary 501s. When it comes to the ultimate in protective jeans, Tobacco literally has you covered. Featuring DuPont Kevlar panels in the seat and knee areas, these jeans have what it takes to keep a rider’s flesh off the tarmac. Nearly invisible pockets for the highest spec D30 flexible armor will keep his bones intact as well. Make sure you purchase that armor too, because it is sold separately as a set. While there are plenty of pants out there that will perform similarly, what good are they if they’re too ugly to wear? That’s not the case with these. The heavy weight selvedge leather breaks in quickly and only gets better with age. We particularly like the indigo, but black has also recently become available.
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At home in the hills and on the track.
Bell Race Star DLX Flex $820
Clearly there’s no more important body part to protect than one’s head so this is not a place where we are willing to skimp. Bell has maintained the Star model’s status as a world class helmet company since its introduction in 1967 and its one we keep coming back to. It can really do it all, right out of the box. You never want to leave an event early because you don’t want to be caught out at night with a tinted visor or have to suffer through the sun’s glare with a clear one. That’s why we appreciate the Race Star’s photochromic visor that self-adjusts its tint to meet the conditions, so you’re never caught out with the wrong visor — you’ll always have the right one. The light weight and rigidity of its shell reduces fatigue and protects against intrusions in the event of a fall. Thoughtful applications of magnets in the chin strap and cheek pads make it easy to strap the helmet on as well as wash the liner after heavy usage. We prefer the subdued matte carbon fiber colorway which helps this race-spec lid fit in for casual rides as well. Yes, it is spendy, but well worth it.
