This is more for me than anyone else ...

So with the sale of the Forte, and the Truck being in pieces the bike is not hte DD for me. Starting mileage this spring is 4190. I'm curious how many miles I rack up this year. Yesterday I put on 70.

OH.... and suggestions for wet weather gear and a hardwired phone charger for my FZ-09, '15 vintage

On my old GS I drilled the bodywork to install marine USB receptacles but even though they are for boats - they are only waterproof with the cover installed so you have to unplug. Not ideal.

For the new bike... I plan to take a cheap 12v Qi wireless charging pad and Goop it to my phone mount. This way the phone always charges when it's in the cradle and there are no connections to deal with (My phone is weatherproof provided it's not connected to a cord). I'll plumb it straight into the fuse panel under the seat. (I already installed the fuse panel in a dry location). It should only cost me $10 to try this - I have one in my truck and it's great.

What is your wet weather gear budget? I have a Klim Badlands Pro jacket that is great in foul weather that I bought on a 30% off sale for $699. It's also bombproof as far as armor and abrasion but it was damn expensive even on sale. I have some issues with it - the collar and the velcro mainly - but I can't argue with the basics being excellent. I've worn it for over 30k miles as my only jacket and it's wearing very well. No real damage - even with some getoffs in the dirt.

I have Sidi Gore-TEX Adventure boots - they retail for $550 but if you buy them from biker-land.de and wait 14 days for the shipping you can get them all-in for under $300. I got mine 2 years ago when the dollar was stronger and only paid $270 or so. These are some fine ass kicks too - indestructible. I'll have them re-soled when they wear out.

For pants I just have some crappy Frog Tog knockoff pull overs in my saddle bag. I hate wearing leather or textile moto pants. I just use kevlar cargo pants and Bohn armor undies.

Yeah... my budget definitely isn't that high! But I also know you get what you pay for.

My commute is only 15 miles so I'm not racking up the miles like crazy.

My wet weather gear is a set of fishing bibs that I got from Academy and a very lightweight waterproof windbreaker that I wear over my regular gear. It rolls up small and it's always in my side case. I also use it for wind protection when it gets below freezing.

I don't ride in the wet much, but I have a Dainese textile jacket that's fairly water tight and a pair of Scorpion pants that have a liner for rainyness.

My Dainese boots are anything but waterproof. Same for my gloves.

I'd probably get a set of frogtogs or whatever and keep them in my bag

I wore a pair of Frogg Toggs pants 3.5 hours of interstate in the rain. Not again. They split and tore less than halfway on the trip.

I'm currently looking for pant options and rain options now.

after last nights ride home, purchase #1 is a new rear tire. Mines the original with 4100 miles..... and the center is just about done. If I thought about the throttle I could get wheelspin.

For hardwired phone I went to a boat shop and bought a cigarette lighter style plug. Cheap and simple. I installed it always hot so that I could drive a GPS unit or charge a phone off the battery if I wanted to. Never gave me problems. One of the cheap dual port USB charging adapters and I'm set.

If your phone stays in your tank bag the a Power Cell of some sort is good for the rain, I have the usb charger that Cycle Gear offers up, On sale they are like 10 bucks

So far the best rainsuit I have used is the Bullfrog series of the Frog Toggs, Anything less is junk, As a messenger I would wear rubber hip waders and a fishing jacket.

My commute is 80+ miles each way starting 4am in the morning and I live in the ski area of Los Angeles, Wrightwood and the office is in Westlake Village so it is pretty chilly when I leave but warms up as I get down the hill so layers are always best for me.

And one of the first things I put on all my bikes is heated grips. Im a real baby about having cold hands so they are lifesavers along with a set of hand guards.

These are the bibs I have. Combined with a lightweight windbreaker like This over top of my regular riding gear. I wear the hoodie under my helmet to prevent rain running down the back of my neck and cover it with a yellow safety vest to aid in people seeing me, especially when it's dark in the morning and raining.

I'm one of those crazies that will go out in the rain for a ride and I have yet to get wet anywhere except it soaking through my boots. And I've been in some really heavy rains. The bad thing is when it's hot you get zero airflow and you have to stop to take everything off. But it does a wonderful job of blocking the wind in the cold.

I wear Danner Acadia boots (they were free). They are Gore-tex and weather proof to an extent, but even still when my pants go soaked a few weeks ago water ran down my legs into the boots from the top, that sucked.

Nick, I like the idea of those bibs, but are they packable? Like do you carry them everyday? My issue is that living in the south I might leave the house on a beautiful morning with no rain in sight, but at the end of the workday a thunderstorm has rolled in. Or on the way home one rolls in. I don't really want to have to stop at an underpass, and take off my gear to put on a rain liner and then get all my gear on again. No an over the pant type rain liner would be ok, but if they are Frogg Togg material they won't hold up to interstate travel.

In reply to octavious:

Yes, they are in the side case all the time. I have the same situation in the spring, dry in the morning, pouring on the way home. I roll them up tightly then wrap the straps around and connect them. I have the bibs, the jacket and my waterproof gloves in the right side case. There is enough room in there for a six pack just in case. And these are pretty small cases. The left side case gets my jacket inner liners, it's not uncommon for it to be 30-40 in the morning but 70-80 in the afternoon.

Before I bought the side cases I just used a backpack strapped to the pillion seat, it had room for everything plus my lunch but no six pack.

Cool. Thanks I'm gonna check those out. Maybe get a size larger than normal and just pull them on over whatever pants I am wearing.

Good to know on size, although the side and top cases on the Vstrom are HUGE. Half the time one whole case is empty.

I'm with MulletTruck....heated grips and hand guards are the first items on my list for wet-weather riding.

I drool over an Aerostitch one-piece, but the financial reality of the moment means I most often ride with an Olympia two-piece textile suit with zip-in waterproof liners top and bottom. Not very convenient, but very versatile if you can carry everything with you without having to wear it all, and don't mind stopping as conditions change dramatically. Stopping to change can be a pain, but I can go from comfortable at 40 and raining to comfortable at 80 and sunny with a quick stop to remove the liners and opening up a few vents. For me it hits a sweet spot for balancing versatility, comfort, protection, and price. Forget the exact model name at the moment, but I've had it long enough their lineup has changed. A quick glance at their site for the current hi-viz, three-season, zip-in-liner textile option with vents should be similar.

Boots for the rain are Alpinestars Gore-Tex Scout ADV models...they fit my feet well and never fail to keep me dry...I just can't wear them during hot summer days!

I haven't found a wet-weather glove I'm thrilled with; currently running some Alpinestar textiles with a thinsulate liner and waterproof membrane. They have been great at keeping me dry, and are pretty warm down to maybe 40 (no guards/grips) or below freezing (guards+heated grips) but they are so berkeleying fidgety to get off and on I'm not thrilled. I got them trying to maximize weather protection with minimal bulk. I'm also not convinced about how protective they are. I'm a real stickler for super-safe gloves; I'd hate to mess up my hands. As my dad said while he and I were shopping for some Helds, "The best motorcycle gloves may not be cheap, but have you priced out hand surgery lately?" I'm hoping to replace them before next winter.