Stretch the geography just a little, and Australia could be an antipodean United States while New Zealand could stand in for Hawaii. While populations hardly match (Hawaii has a million and a half residents while New Zealand has more than five million and is also ten times the size, while the US has more than 330 million as against Australia’s 25), motorcycling is just as popular here as it is in the northern hemisphere. Naturally that also means that there are clever people inventing and creating stuff for motorcyclists and their bikes. Here are a couple their recent offerings.

Flying Solo:flyingsologear.com

有趣的是,澳大利亚加拿大感谢Flying Solo’s creative heart, Amanda Phoenix. She moved to Melbourne, Australia, from Canuckia a few years ago and was struck by the limited availability of local quality motorcycle luggage and clothing. It didn’t take her long to turn that realization into a luggage brand of her own. The unique thing about Amanda’s products is that they are developed with the help of a group of independent and unpaid riders from all over the continent who test them strenuously in all kinds of conditions.

The idea has paid off, and although I am not part of the actual test team, all of the Flying Solo products I have tested have looked good and performed outstandingly well. The latest are the A$249.99 Roxby Waterproof 60 litre Adventure Duffel and the A$109.99 Octane Leg Bag. I have to admit that I wasn’t sure about the leg bag; it just seemed a bit of a… hipster item (pun intended) but now I’ve used it I’m sold. I really don’t notice it when I wear it, despite the fact that it holds a fair-sized camera. It measures 180 by 230 by 90 mm expanded and comes with two alternative belt and leg straps. Postage to the US or Canada is expected to be A$20; Amanda says that “It hurts being in the corner of the map”.

The Roxby duffel is huge, and has found uses with me both as luggage for a flight to a bike test, and employment as a rack bag on the road. Like all of Amanda’s stuff it is beautifully made and very strong. I have found that it’s also water- and dust-proof, and she has taken advantage of that by fitting a valve which allows you to compress the duffel when it isn’t full. That saves looping anything over it, and it comes with its own straps to secure it to the bike. They use the extensive MOLLE loops on the bag.

Nemean Clothing:nemean.clothing

Ben at Melbourne’s Nemean Clothing is a relatively new entrant into the world of motorcycle gear, but he has been developing his product for quite a while. It is one of those things that make you wonder why nobody has thought of it before: a pair of leggings to be worn under jeans or other pants, made of abrasion-resistant material including Kevlar and equipped with crash padding. They mean that you can now wear any pair of jeans or other pants you like, and still be protected by your leggings. Other manufacturers have made abrasion-resistant leggings or padded leggings, but nobody seems to be combining the two ideas.

The idea of stuffing a set of crash pads under your existing jeans might seem a bit questionable, but Ben has sourced remarkably thin but nevertheless apparently effective armor made of Norsorex which meets the CE Level 2 standard. I mentioned these leggings recently as having been submitted for the MotoCAP tests. They did well, justifying their name which comes from the Nemean lion of Greek mythology with its impenetrable hide. The leggings cost A$450, plus A$30 per armour pad, which is not cheap by any means. But you can’t get the effect anywhere else as far as I know. Postage in Australia is free, and costs A$45 for the US, Canada or the UK.