I'm moving from the US to CH (near Baden) in 10 days. Yay
I currently own neither a bike nor gear, having given everything away a year back. But, once in CH, I plan on buying a used sports tourer as soon as practicable.
Should I buy and bring gear (suit, helmet, gloves) from the US or should I just get them in CH? I'm looking for comparisons in terms of styles/prices and safety standards. I'd also appreciate any links to online catalogs for Swiss stores...
I especially like the Aerostich Roadcrafter one piece suit:
And if I brought a helmet, I'd get an Arai from the local dealership. As for gloves, I like the Held gloves, but they're originally from Bavaria, not far from CH!
Hej, I'm no biker and all I know is that suits helmets and gloves are very expensive . My brother in law bought his suit that for in germany, while there you can buy everything much cheaper, and while you will come here and life close to Baden this will be a good option (quiet near)! I'll ask him for a web-link.
Here is what I can recommend in Switzerland in the Kanton Aargau, Moto Mader is a company of good standing.
Not too sure about US prices, but I'm just buying kit for my first bike and found that it was cheaper by about a third to buy my helmet in the UK from an on-line shop compared to the dealer in Geneva...
Just one note: I recently bought a new helmet (BMW, made by Schuberth I believe) and it had a big warning sign "Not for use in the US, not approved by US department of transport..." (or something similar). As it is a rather expensive helmet and German TÜV approved (and EC conform), I guess there are simply different standards which make minor changes necessary. This could mean that your helmet from the US is on the other hand not street legal here. I cannot imagine a cop checking stickers inside the helmet, but after all it could be an insurance issue...
I bought a Schuberth S1 Pro, and just checking the manual, there is a Caution notice as follows:
A quick web search tells me Schuberth don't really export to North America, but that the DOT standard in the US is actually easier to pass than the ECE standard (lower impact velocities required).
So basically, if you buy a helmet in the US, make sure it is ECE approved, not just DOT approved.
I agree. I was checking it up in the meantime as well: BMW does sell gear in the US as well, from suits to socks. However, no helmets!? Must be a legal thing...
My view based on my experience, better to buy gears in the US because comparatively they are cheaper than in CH. Each country/region has it own standards e.g. DOT/SNELL in the US and ECE in Europe. I don't mine as long as my gear has either one - but not sure in terms of legal implications.