I’d like to do a brain dump on some of the gear I’ve used over the past many years of dirtbiking, dual sporting and adventure riding.
Gearing up for Alaska
I sold my Mosko Moto Basilisk pants, and I get the impression its going to be very cold and very wet in Alaska for thousands of miles. I’d rather not having to put on/off rain pants 20x a day, but rather just zip vents open/closed and if it gets really HOT, I plan to take my mesh pants that have slide protection.
So, I started researching wet/cold weather slide protection pants. I mostly looked at Klim Carlsbad, Klim Raptor, MSR xplorer and Mosko Moto Basilisk pants/jackets.
I choose the MSR xplorer pants because they have a tall version with super fabric on the knees. They also have knee/hip armor that I can add or remove depending if I want to run my knee braces. The knee braces are a pain for blacktop only because they are bulky and slow to go number2 with. I like how the MSR pants scoops the cool air into the crotch vents with the air flowing to the behind the leg vents…which I wish was larger. The MSR pants, the pocket kind of drives me nuts as my phone barely fits in there. Also, I wish they had belt loops and size 37 tall 🙂
For a jacket, the Basilisk jacket xl seems a bit TIGHT with the techair offroad airbag vest and 2 layers for warmth. If I only had one layer and plugged that into the bike when it got really cold, I think I could get by with the basilisk jacket. ALWAYS the basilisk jacket the neck is uncomfortable to me when zipped up all the way.
I was considering the MSR xplorer jacket, but its too bulky (won’t store well once I’m on BDR trail and take it OFF and fold and store it) and too many pockets, so that is leaning me towards a Raptor 2xl jacket for winter as I can layer as much as I want and have plenty of space. I tried on xplorer jacket xl and 2xl with 2 layers and airbag and I’m just right in the middle between the two. Given the airbag, I lean towards the Raptor because I will never had elbow/shoulder/back armor when I’m on my t1200 nor t700, I will ALWAYS have my airbag that has elbow and shoulder/back armor. I noticed with the XL mosko shell, the puffy jacket might poke out and thus get soaked with water and pull the wet in and under my jacket.
If I sold my klim enduro 2xl and basilisk jacket, I’d easily pay for a raptor and the grey MSR pant and Grey raptor should match well enough.
Comparing the basilisk and Raptor, the Raptor fits perfect with two layers and my airbag, however the arms are very short for me. The basilisk the arms are about perfect, but its too tight around the armpits and rubs a lot…but the main issue is the zipper by my adamsapple hurts so I can never have it fully zipped up. So long as I have my winter gloves and the raptor tucked in, I think I’d rather have the raptor than the basilisk.
For Alaska Luggage, I got the Giant Loop around the world bags that are 90 liters and they seem so ideal, especially with the QD to Outback motortek luggage racks! I’m really happy with them, I only wish I could QD them to my T7 tusk racks, but the tusk racks are too thick so I can’t move them easily 🙁
I do NOT think I’ll have to have a top bag and thus I’ll put my drone and gas bag on the top rack.
KLIM
Pants: I LOVE the klim pants with the side zip for phone, chapstick on left side, wallet and wet wipes on the right side.
Klim, request for enhancement! I want an INSIDE THE BOOT Baja S4 pants! For full mesh with slide protection. I won’t buy any adventure pants that are not INSIDE THE BOOT pants! BECAUSE I want my boots connected to my bike and don’t want extra material taking up space in my bags and besides its a pain to get them around my MX boots.
I’m going to try: the mesh with slide protection mosko moto INSIDE THE BOOT PANT!
https://moskomoto.com/collections/pants/products/kiger-mesh-pant?variant=40200542158909
I got the kiger mesh pants and went for a ride when it was about 85 degrees on my ktm 500.
Pros
- slide protection
- I can feel some air coming in, but its not as much as the klim mojave
- I love the inside the pants with slide protection! that is exactly why I bought it.
- It does have enough room for my large knee braces
- these maybe my most used and loved pants I use for non-dirt bike rides(for dirt bike, I will continue with the klim mojave).
Cons
- I wish it was grey to match my other adv gear, but it is NOT black. I NEVER buy black moto gear, unless its boots as there are usually no other options.
- It was super hot IMO 85, and I tried soaking it with water and a little water would go through it, but no absorption for the wind/fast air cooling affect.
- DAKAR Pants
- Pros: they have zip vents that are large and the material is tough, but IMO too too hot, in fact I ran them on the snowbike for a long time.
- Cons: way too hot for working hard on the bike, might be ok for dirt roads and hwy. If its winter, I run full winter kit instead of dakar. Too hot, likely because I run the full knee braces with the klim tactical pants, which has 3d0 armor about 1/4 thick. I have the klim tactical shorts, but almost never use those because the knee brace strap bothers my skin w/o the pants version.
- Mojave Pants
- Pros: These have been my fav and I use them almost every ride and have several sets. I’ve worn out a klim Mojave pants, which is hard to do. They have enough room for my astricks knee braces. I’ve worn the mojave on my ADV bike in temps of low 50s and much prefer to be a bit cold than super hot. I LOVE the cold and HATE the heat.
- Cons: I wish they had better slide protection as I use them ALL the time for adventure riding/street riding and 100% dirt riding. I’m WAITING for someday the Baja S4 pants will come as “inside the boot pants”.
- I did some playing around, I have outside the boot Mojave size 36 and they are just a bit small ish with the knee braces, so I think I would upside to size 38 IF/when klim ever comes out with a Baja S4 inside the boot pants. I could NOT stand the outside the boot pants, what a hassle! I just want my MX boots with inside the boot pants thank you very much! I will NEVER buy outside the boot pants…unless they are winter gear or rain pants. I do have the Klim Enduro pants/jacket and LOVE that combo and run the Baja jacket for ADV 99% of the time and if its cold or wet, I put on the enduro jacket/pants, but super rare as I like it cold.
- XC lite pants – I have a set, but usually just run the mojaves.
- Carlsbad Pants. I sold my set of carlsbad…you guessed it, too dang hot!
- Klim gloves. I have about every klim glove and love them all, but usually run the dakar pro for ADV and mojave for dirt. Sometimes I run the dakar gloves if a bit cooler for dirt biking. It if gets really cold, I’ll put on the winter full length gloves so air doesn’t come into my jacket for ADV.
- Klim Baja S4 jacket – my all time fav and most used motorcycle jacket! For ADV, I put a small hydration bag in it and its wonderful. A hydration pack hurts my shoulders if I’m not moving around I get stiff. If its cold, I put a rain jacket on, sometimes its the mosko moto deludge(I like how packable it is and lightweight) jacket and other times if I’m likely to crash off road, I bring the enduro, but its bulky. I LOVE the klim Zephyr wind shirt and keep it in my s4 jacket back pouch all the time, if it gets cold in the morning, I put this little shirt on and it keeps the wind out of the mesh jacket.
- Klim adv boots. I bought these and regret it, because these boots don’t provide enough protection for adv and I’d never use them on the dirt. They just sit there. If street only, and its going to be wet and cold, I’d bring them, but I’d rather have the drystar tech7 any day!
- IMO if a boot is comfortable, they do NOT provide good protection.
- Klim snowbike gear is my fav too! the Havcok boots and bibs are perfect IMO.
- Klim Krios Pro helmet. I have two of these and they are really nice because they are light weight, comfortable and I LOVE the auto adjust face-screen based on light or dark, so I don’t have to have multiple screens. I have worn out 4 of the pieces that control the face shield up/down. When it wears out it doesn’t close properly and drops down when you hit a bump. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but so far Klim has had me send them in and they fix the worn out part and send it back (great customer service!).
Once you get used to the fidlock system, you’ll never go back. Its so easy/fast and secure! Its on the Klim helmets
I wish the Krios Pro had a 3d printed gopro mount like the f3/f5, as I’ve broken many chin mounts and the wannabes I mounted too low so I can’t see the blinking red light on my gopro, so I don’t know if it is or is not recording.
https://wannabes.life/products/chin-mount-for-klim-krios-pro-helmets - F3 and F5 helmets are so NICE for dirt biking! I do like the 3d printed gopro mounts too!
MOSKO MOTO
- Basilisk Pants
- Pros: seems like pretty tough and flexible pants, but given the Cons I almost never use them. They just sit there collecting dust. I used them for snowbiking before I got the klim havock bibs.
- Cons: Gen1 pants scratched my Tenere 700 a ton on ONE ride, not a lot of mud mixed in, just the anti-slide with the zipper really took a big bight out of my tank and side panels. I think I could work around this, but the REAL issue is there is NOT enough room for my knee braces and I have super skinny legs/knees.
- Basilisk Jacket
- Pros: I LOVE this jacket and use it all the time in the cold (snow biking) because I tend to crash through small trees and it can take a beating. If I know there will be cold weather, I leave my Klim Baja home and wear my dirt bike armor and put the Basilisk jacket over it. If I’m on the street, I put the basilisk on, once I hit the dirt, I store it and run a jersey to run cooler.
- Cons: I broke the vent zipper almost first use, but if you wear the zippers in and be careful and use two hands to zip/unzip, you should be fine. I was in a hurry and ridding my bike and tried to open/close with one hand and broke the zipper handle off. Mosko Moto paid to have it fixed.
- Mosko Moto Luggage
- I’ve owned several and they kind of drive me nuts with “too organized” with too many pockets for the tank bags. and the saddle bags are too heavy compared to others IMO and should allow your gear to dry out as you ride like Tusk bags, but have a dry bag for separating dry-gear and a wet tent. Think about all the mold that increases in a drybag that has wet gear in it!
