It was in 2013 that Shoei first introduced the world to its J-Cruise helmet. It replaced a helmet called the J-Wing that had, in turn, been in the Shoei range for many years. But, for 2020, Shoei has improved and updated the J-Cruise with an upgraded model called, somewhat unimaginatively, the J-Cruise 2.

In a recent video review of a Halvarssons jacket I was somewhat disparaging about the hooded, inner thermal jacket. Predictably perhaps somebody commented that I was being elitist. Nonsense, I just felt that a hoodie in a Halvarssons jacket would alienate a lot of potential buyers. Personally, I’ve got nothing against a hoodie, provided it is not being worn by some South London, hammer-toting, pavement-mounting, scooter rider!

New from Halvarssons for 2020, and scheduled to arrive with us at some point in March, is a pant called the Zion. As Chris explains, it’s a bit of a hybrid. In its camo colourway, it looks like it should be an adventure pant, and with a removable waterproof membrane, this might reinforce such an impression. But, with no vents, this is no off-road pant.

This video review is somewhat of a biggie; both in terms of the subject it tackles but also in length. The subject matter is single-layer motorcycle jeans. Now, for some reason, we’ve always been big on riding jeans. Must have something to do with the kind of bikers we are. But, in recent years, we’ve become the poster boys for single-layer jeans.

You may not even have noticed that the Crosby disappeared from the Belstaff line-up for a while, but now it's back. It is made from a new fabric that has been produced for Belstaff by British Millerain and, of course, the jacket is now fully CE approved. The Crosby has long been a favourite of ours here at Motolegends. The shorter Mojave is sportier. It can be worn on the street, and nobody would ever know that it was actually a proper biking jacket.

We’re somewhat late to the party as far as video reviews are concerned, and we’re having to play catch up. Which is why we’re recording reviews every single day of the week. We’re reviewing a lot of existing products, but as new stuff arrives into the warehouse we’ll be reviewing all of that too.

The original Shark Evoline modular helmet was first launched in 2008. It was, in some ways, an evolution of the Boxer helmet that had originally been released by Claude Morin’s Roof concern about a decade earlier.

Let me kick off by stating that we at Motolegends are not saying that you shouldn’t trust a pair of Hood motorcycle jeans. What we are suggesting is that you should not trust the nonsense that the Hood Jeans people have posted on the internet about single-layer jeans.

We first met Lee at an American motorcycle trade show about four or five years ago. He's a bit of a motorcycling guru. He’s a well-known motorcycle trainer, a kind of Kieth Code of the road, but his pet project is his gloves.

The Shoei GT-Air 2 is not new. Indeed, it is now redundant and has been replaced in 2023 by the Shoei GT Air 3 helmet. It came out in 2019 and was, as the name suggests, a development of the GT-Air helmet that had been in Shoei’s range for many years. It would be fair to term it an evolution, although actually the new version shares very, very few parts with its predecessor. So whilst it still features the company’s AIM, multi-composite shell, it’s actually a totally new moulding. Other changes include better venting, a re-positioned chin strap, a ‘crack’ position for the visor and an integrated comms. system like you get on the Neotec 2.

Here at Motolegends we love the Halvarssons brand. They produce high-end gear at mid-market prices. We often talk about them delivering 90% Rukka quality at 50% Rukka money. They’re not the sexiest brand on the market. They’re not Dainese. But their gear works.

There just aren’t as many leather biking pants around as there used to be. Back in the day, every self-respecting biker had at least one pair in the wardrobe. But the leather pant was kind of hi-jacked by the sports bike crowd, and in recent years it’s been difficult to find really nice leather biking trousers; especially if you didn’t want knee sliders or a calf-gripping fit.

The default option these days for those who don’t want to wear technical motorcycle gear tends to be jeans and a leather jacket, although of course the kind of bike you ride and the kind of riding you do will also have a bearing on your clothing choices.

In this review, the chap in the cap tells us all about TCX’s adventure boot called the Drifter. It’s a slightly more off-road focused version of the company’s other adventure-style boot called the Baja. Now Chris likes the boot, and if you’re an adventure rider who is going to spend most of his or her time on the black stuff, this may well be the perfect boot. But recently Chris came back from a trip to Morocco on crutches.

We first came across the Richa Infinity 2 Pro suit when we visited Richa in Belgium in mid-2019. We can see now that they ruthlessly and cynically laid a trap for us. We had gone to talk about the UK market and to discuss our views about Richa as a brand. It was at that meeting that we discovered their amazing ‘Stripper’ commuting pants, and that we first sampled some of their new 2020 season gloves that we fell for big time.

In his latest review, the chap in the cap waxes lyrical about the new Rukka Kalix glove. It’s a short-cuff, summer, waterproof glove. Made from a mix of a textile fabric called Taslan and cowhide, its waterproofing comes courtesy of a laminated, Gore-Tex membrane. There are few gloves that are as well spec’d as the Rukka Kalix.

In this review Chris tells us about a single-layer pant from Klim that is far more functional than, at first, it appears to be. When we originally saw the Outrider we thought it was a casual pant for wearing off the bike, and certainly it has that Carhartt, workwear pant look look about it. But it’s actually a pretty impressive motorcycling pant.

There’s a lot of talk these days about laminated, motorcycle clothing. There seems to be a perception out there that laminated products are universally superior, and that drop-liner garments are not really up to the job.

We first met Lee at an American motorcycle trade show about four or five years ago. He's a bit of a motorcycling guru. He’s a well-known motorcycle trainer, a kind of Kieth Code of the road, but his pet project is his gloves. They're not like other bike gloves. They look more like the kind of gloves you'd wear if you were taking the dog for a walk, but actually these are some of the most amazing gloves we sell.

In his latest glove review Chris tells us everything we would ever want to know about a new glove called the Stancer that Rukka has introduced as part of their new 2020 range. The Rukka Stancer replaces the Argosaurus glove, which has been in the Rukka range forever. The glove has a huge spec..