Looking back over the years, I think I could have bought another motorcycle with the money I’ve spent on helmets, boots, and other items of motorcycle clothing.
Like many, I started at the budget end of the market and got myself reasonably well-equipped without taking out a second mortgage. But as I started moving towards quality touring gear, the numbers rose quickly.
A decent laminated suit will cost mid-three figures with ease. Premium boots can make your wallet whimper. Gloves: pick your own number. £40 for some fabric ones, £250 for heated, waterproof winter gloves.
Constant Improvement
Motorcyclists have a peculiar relationship with clothing. We are forever searching for the perfect jacket, gloves that keep out continuous rain while doing motorway speeds, and boots that will keep out the cold.
As we chase these unicorns, the result is that many of us slowly accumulate motorcycle clothing.
Some of it is worn regularly. Some is kept “just in case”. Some are still perfectly good but have been replaced because we found something better, lighter, warmer, cooler, more waterproof, or simply newer.
And some of it simply hangs in the garage while we convince ourselves that we might wear it again one day.
I am, of course, speaking hypothetically … Mostly [Says the man with an extensive glove collection! ~ Ed.]
Second Gear Clothing
Which brings me to Second Gear in Ashbourne (DE6 1AJ), a small independent business that deals in pre-owned motorcycle clothing and is owned and operated by Kev and Aggie.
The business started, as many good things do, almost by accident.
Kev had retired and was looking for something to do. No desires for a grand business empire, not a plan involving venture capital, warehouses and motivational seminars.
Just a side hustle. Something interesting to keep him occupied and, presumably, stop retirement becoming an endless cycle of watching daytime television and rearranging the garage.
But the side hustle grew, and grew rather more quickly than Kev had expected.
First came the shop, and now Second Gear has expanded into the shop next door to the original premises, which is usually a fairly reliable sign that things are going right.
Yet, strangely, Kev appears to be trying to keep the business contained. There seems to be no burning ambition to conquer the internet, build a national brand or turn the whole thing into an online marketplace with stock photos and a warehouse somewhere in Milton Keynes.
The philosophy is refreshingly simple. Come to the shop. Look at the clothing. Try it on. Make sure it fits, and leave knowing that what you have bought is actually suitable for you, better quality than you might have afforded new, and is in good condition.
It is a remarkably sensible approach, which probably explains why it feels slightly unusual in a world where we are increasingly encouraged to buy things online at eleven o’clock at night while sitting on the sofa, three drinks in.
The Alternatives
Buying motorcycle clothing second-hand through Facebook Marketplace or eBay is an option, and I’ve done both successfully. There are bargains to be found. But it can also involve scrolling through hundreds of listings, trying to work out whether “excellent condition” means “worn twice” or “survived a 60-mph slide along the M6”.
Then there is sizing.
Motorcycle clothing sizes are about as consistent as British summer weather. A large in one manufacturer may fit like a medium in another, while something described as XL can either accommodate a reasonably sized human being or double as a tent.
Instead of spending several evenings scrolling, followed by travelling all over the place only to find they don’t fit when you get there, you can spend an hour at Second Gear searching out that perfect blend of quality and price.
But Darling …
I recently visited with the noble intention of reducing my own collection.
Hanging in my garage for about three years was an Oxford-laminated suit. Perfectly decent kit. Still useful. But unused, which meant it was doing that traditional garage job of occupying space while quietly gathering dust and making me feel guilty.
So off I went to Second Gear, with absolutely no intention of buying anything. None whatsoever. This was a purely administrative visit. Sell the suit, have a natter, come home and write this article.
Then I spotted the boots.
A pair of genuine BMW Motorrad Allrounder Gore-Tex touring boots. The sort of older BMW boots that have developed something of a reputation among experienced touring riders.
They are the motorcycle equivalent of a Toyota Land Cruiser. They are not the trendiest. Yet, if you know … you know. These are the gold standard, akin to Altberg boots. Frighteningly expensive, and absolutely worth every penny.
Extremely comfortable – once they are broken in, weather-resistant, Gore-Tex lined and capable of surviving years of hard use. They are the sort of boots that appear to have been designed by engineers who assumed their owners would only ever buy one pair.
They were in my size. The soles look as if they have never been walked on. There is minimal creasing in the leather and, worse still, from the point of view of my carefully prepared plan not to buy anything, they were less than a third of the retail price when BMW stopped selling them around 2010.
You can probably guess what happened next.
I left with the boots.
WYSIWYG
What you see is what you get. Second Gears’ stock reflects the people who buy motorcycle clothing in the first place. Sounds obvious, but stick with me.
Touring gear tends to appear in the popular sizes. Medium, large and XL are well represented, which makes sense when you consider the demographic of the average touring rider.
One-piece leathers are rather different. If you are a larger rider looking for a race suit, the selection becomes considerably thinner.
Apparently, the average motorcyclist who can fit comfortably into a one-piece leather suit is younger, slimmer, more flexible, and considerably more optimistic than me.
Bottom Line
Second Gear, then, is a rather good example of the circular life of motorcycle clothing.
One rider buys a premium jacket, wears it for a few years and then decides it is time for something new. Another rider takes on the same jacket at a fraction of its original price.
Everybody gets something useful from the arrangement, and a perfectly good piece of motorcycle apparel is saved from hanging in a garage next to an old battery charger and three mysterious bolts.
Motorcycle clothing is expensive. Quality motorcycle clothing is very expensive. Yet much of it has years of useful life left when its original owner decides to move on.
For riders prepared to consider second-hand kit, places like Second Gear offer the chance to buy better-quality clothing without paying premium showroom prices.
And for those of us with garages slowly turning into a motorcycle clothing retailer, it offers an opportunity to turn unused kit back into something useful, without the grief of online selling.
Just don’t make the mistake of assuming that taking something in means you won’t come back with something else.
I went to Ashbourne to get rid of a suit. I came home with BMW boots.
Honestly, I have absolutely no idea how these things happen.
