PGS motorcycle armor review (PDM armor review)

http://bikegear.in/guards/body-armour-online
This is where I bought it from.

I had read a few bad reviews about bikegear.in on mouthshut.com. Thankfully, the product was delivered to me on time. The armor was in good condition and hence no complaints about the shopping experience.

This is how it looks like

I ride a Bajaj Avenger 220. Going by the style of motorcycle, leather should have been my 1st choice but I had a tight budget. Mesh jackets were okay but were too mainstream. Armor seemed interesting enough. I had earlier tried fox armor however, I was not satisfied with its build quality

PGS body armor comes with all the protection integrated. It is quite sturdy, looks like it can take impacts and protect you well. None of the parts can be detached. The cloth material does good breathing. The armor has shoulder, elbow, chest, stomach and spine protection. The belt is adjustable and comes with velcro. I would have liked a buckle instead to ensure tightness throughout the journey.

These armors are meant for motocross and stunts but can be used for touring as well. The armor makes you confident enough to open full throttle. It shields 70% of the upper body. The armor is as comfortable as a full face helmet ( By this I mean that a full face helmet is not very comfortable when worn for the first time but when you get used to it, you cannot ride without it. The armor will also share the same chemistry with you)

The armor is best worn inside t-shirt/jacket. Wearing it outside will make you look like power ranger or a wannabe robo. But if you are hairy, wear a vest and then this armor and then the t-shirt. This is what you will end up looking like

clicked by Sagar Acharya

The armor will make you give an impression that you are a man on special mission and a guerrilla warfare expert. :D

The 2 strips connecting the chest protection and spine protection will obstruct your head movement if you wear a full face helmet. I removed it for my convenience. If you want to keep those strips, using a modular helmet will be convenient. Also, the spine protection tends to get stuck in low waist pants. Wearing normal or high waist pants or proper motorcycle pants will make it much easier to carry. When seated, the chest protection bends a little to form V shape. When seen from side, you will look like you have grown a pair of boobs. But i guess this V shape bending helps you cut through the wind better. I do not know if it was meant to be that way.

The armor does not protect you from rain or winter So you will have to carry additional jackets for the same.

I have worn this armor during 3 rides and I have faced no issues apart from the need to adjust it every time I get up (like a tight t-shirt).

All in all, I would say, for Rs 3700 it is a good investment to ensure safety when riding a motorcycle.

 

Alternate advantages of full face helmets

Enough has been discussed about the safety that a full face helmet offers. Let’s look at some other advantages too.

Photography by Sagar Acharya for Bajaj Avenger Club - Bengaluru

• You ride in city and want to overtake someone. He/she might be preparing to spit. Full face helmets will protect your face. Full face helmets can also protect you from driving smokers who throw ash out of their windows.
• A tinted/mercury coated visor can enable you to think about anything and smile. You can check out anyone and give any expression which satisfies you without having to deal with consequences.
• On a nice motorcycle, you’ll look great if you wear full face helmet even if you are ugly.
• Full face helmets prevent you from easily eating or drinking thereby regulating your food consumption habits.
• Full face helmets do not let you smoke while riding.
• Full face helmets keep you warm in cold weather. In summer, it can induce sweat which will in turn keep your head cool.
• Full face helmets can be locked to your motorcycle.
• A full face helmet can act as your container in super market.
• In situation of fight, it’s easier to hit someone with full face helmet.

Why I chose Bajaj Avenger and not any other motorcycle

My first Bajaj Avenger

Disclaimer: This blog is not against any motorcycle make or model. Motorcycling is more of rider’s preferences and the motorcycle’s capabilities together.  If I choose a motorcycle it means that it suits my requirements to the best and need not necessarily mean that it is the best motorcycle for everyone.

I was done with riding 2 stroke scooty and dio. I wanted something of bigger displacement. I had a thing for cruisers right from childhood. Race and motocross types never impressed me. Speed was never my priority. It still isn’t. I leave to every place much before time and never in hurry. However, I felt that my new vehicle should be powerful enough to take me to my destination quickly when needed. I always dreamt of owning an eliminator during early days of college. Other commuter motorcycles were out of question. Back when I bought my 1^st motocycle the only budget performance motorcycles were P220, Avenger, RE, R15, Karizma, Apache RTR and a few more.

I ride daily. My daily commute used to be around 33 Kms. Occassional long rides was something that had been there in mind.

Royal enfield was in consideration. My main problem with RE is its sound. (You read it right.) I can happily admire an RE passing in front of me but being compelled to listen to that thump everytime I ride didn’t seem like a good idea. Besides, RE comes with its own maintenance demands and I was not sure how respectfully I can keep up with it.

I read a few reviews of avenger. It seemed pretty okay. I took a test ride after which I was convinced that I will be comfortable on it even if I ride for 150 plus kms at a stretch. The motorcycle seemed very balanced and steady the 1^st time I sat on it. I was not too much into motorcycle tech specs but the comfort and the styling made me finalize on it. The other advantages were the price and waiting period. Going for an RE at that point would have made me cut down on other expenses.

It’s only after about a few thousand KM on your motorcycle you will start understanding your chemistry with it. Servicing was done exactly as recommended in manual. I did a few short distance trips and a few long ones. Did a 1300 Km ride from Bangalore to Gulbarga and back. In 2 years I was done with 25000 plus Kms.

What I liked in Bajaj Avenger 220:

·         Extremely comfortable ride quality

·         The top speed isn’t as bad as I had thought. I have done 120KPH on Hyderabad highway
The bike has started in all sorts weather Bangalore has seen.  The coldest start that my motorcycle saw was when it was 10 degrees Celsius in a hill station.

·         Not affected too much by cross winds

·         According to me it is the best looking Indian make motorcycle

·         Fuel economy is decent if you ride at moderate speeds. It has given me 48 Kmpl many times

·         Low rpm torque is something that surprised me. The figure on paper is just 17 Nm but has seen the bike performing quite well when stuck in mud, pot hole and rain water. It impressively goes up hill and does offroading quite well though it is not meant for it.

·         Maintenance is easy. Just get the regular servicing done, keep the tyre pressure appropriate, wash regularly, lubricate the chain and get the wheel alignment checked.

New Bajaj Avenger

What could have been better:

·         Sometimes rare brake seems inefficient. Front brake compensates for it. Yet rear disc brake would have helped I feel

·         Durability of clutch cable

·         Crash guard

After about 25000 Kms I have fallen in love with this motorcycle so much that I don’t want to ride any other. A couple of months ago my 1^st avenger got stolen (mentioned earlier in another blog post). I bought another avenger. This time the price and waiting period both didn’t matter yet I chose the same vehicle. My tuning with this motorcycle has been great and it has served me well in short and long rides without cable cuts or oil spilling problems. 

Some of the common questions I get asked/statements made in front of me and my replies

Bajaj? Really?
Yeah does that make a difference when the product is great

Avenger Lacks thump
I prefer it that way. Sparta makes a lot of noise. Buddha never did. Both have fans following

It can’t do off-roading
It can but you may not be very comfortable doing it. If you have a strong back please do give a try

It’s a poor man’s bullet
Seriously? Both are made for different purposes.

It is nothing but Pulsar with a different body
True but tweaked to be a cruiser. Even I follow news about bajaj. Thanks

It does not have resale value
No problem

It’s not durable
My friend’s well maintained avenger is 6 years old and it still works like new.

It’s not great in traffic
Turning radius is huge. It helps you stick to lane discipline.

If you have any doubts about the motorcycle, feel free to leave your doubts in comment section. I will be more than happy to answer.

The Breakfast Ride to Nandi Hills - By a Rookie Rider

It had been a decade since my last visit to Nandi Hills. Back then, it was with a bunch of students and now it was with Bajaj Avenger Club - Bangalore. Needless to say I was extremely excited about the ride and was even more happy to ride with the club.

Thanks to the founder of the club Srinidhi's wake up call, woke up on time and reached the meeting point quite early and then one after another riders started pouring in. It was a delight to see all the mods on different bikes and every time it is a new learning. Meeting familiar faces & greeting new faces in the wee hours of the morning was fun!

The ride to the hills was well coordinated, with newbies picking up the discipline of formation rides pretty quick and riding together. The Marshal did his job well, motivating and guiding the riders. Both experienced & newbies. After a while a new hand signal was shown by the Marshal & I was trying to figure out what it meant. Later, we met and he explained that its a 'Thumbs Up' signal indicating that the rider is riding well. Oh the happiness & pride, when someone says you 'Ride well', even if you have been riding for about 10 yrs is beyond words.

After reaching the destination, riding up the hills was a task with all the bikes aligned in single file formation and we had accomplished it flawlessly until the last curve, where a newbie lost control of his bike and was drifting down. At this moment a few brothers from the club parked their respective bikes and helped him push his bike in to the right position. And that's brotherhood for you. Always willing to lend a hand!

After riding up the curves of the hills, we had all reached the entrance of the hills and with fog all around it was a sight that needs to be seen to experience it & one which would make you forget about the rat race in life and just live the moment.

Then all the bikers gathered up & started introducing themselves, accompanied with some chit chats. Later on, along with two other riders went up the scenic routes scouting for a restaurant to have some breakfast and reached the top of the hills.The beauty of the top of the hills still lives on, even if its polluted by the careless hipsters. Good job by KSTDC in barricading the place. We went in to the restaurant & had our fill. Then invited rest of the club members to have some grub to energize for the ride back.

After a while of getting some rest, it was decided to descend the hills. The ride back was also well coordinated. Riding in single file formation and being appreciated by onlookers, being photographed is a euphoric feeling in itself. But, after a while the signs of lack of sleep started showing up in some riders. And had to slow down a bit. We finally made it back to the meeting point and the riders dispersed from there to their respective destinations.

All in all, the wait of a decade to visit Nandi hills was well worth it. 

Cheers!
Ride Safe!

Ride to Yelagiri – as seen by the gsK

Riding to Yelagiri with BAC was there on my to do list from a long time. I had planned for this 30 days in advance. And as the saying goes, man proposes, God dispeses; My motorcycle got stolen and my left shoulder got dislocated. Doctor fixed my shoulder but what to do with the motorcycle?! Anil Kumar of our club was kind enough to lend his motorcycle to me since he was unable to make it. Thus I was all set to ride to Yelagiri

Sagar and Kiran came to my place next morning to pick me up. From my house, we rode to Electronic City meeting point via NICE road. Surprisingly this time more than half of the riders were on time. That’s when Sunny and I realized that we were running short of fuel. We went a little ahead and got our tanks filled and waited there for the group which was being led by Ankit. After a few minutes, we saw a few lights flashing at a distance. 2 sets of collinear headlights were seen which certainly meant that BAC is coming. We cranked up our engines and joined the group just before the sweep.

We stopped for tea at a tea stall on the way somewhere in Tamil Nadu. Heat was catching up but it didn’t bother us much. Till now Ankit had been maintaining a speed of around 100kph due to which we didn’t feel the heat. Took a brief break, had coffe/tea/snacks and again we were back on road.

Then we rode for a while and we reached our breakfast destination. Over breakfast a healthy but loud debate like leg pulling session happened between brothers regarding who supports which political party. Election time was around and hence the topic seemed interesting enough to keep us waiting till our orders came. Once the delicious idlis, doses and pooris were served, nobody actually cared.

We finished our breakfast and waited for the grand entry of BAC Chennai. Yes, this particular ride witnessed meet up of 2 chapters of BAC; Bangalore and Chennai. Chennai team led by Siddharth received a warm welcome. After the meet and greet, we made a motorcycle formation based on color (No this has got nothing to do with racism). We rode to Yelagiri hills from there. While riding to the top of the hill, we encountered a lot of gravel since the road asphalting was still in progress. We somehow managed to dodge that and finally reached our resort after taking a very small ATM break.

All the boys freshened up and we gathered to ride to a different place for lunch. I do not know how the non vegetarian food tasted, but the veg rice, rasam and papad were too good. We finished our lunch soon and started playing in kids’ play area. Yes we actually did that. Luckily it started raining. We thanked God for giving us much needed rain. After a while, a few boys went topless and played Lagori till the rain stopped. It looked like they had great fun playing it. An injured me watched it from a distance and it looked no less than a gay porn intro

We rode back to the resort where Sunny and Sagar took video bytes of riders. Sagar filmed the whole thing while Sunny played guitar live to suit the mood of the byte. By evening, people got booze and lit up campfire. Sunny and I went to the town to get stationery to write certificates for riders who were being recognized for their efforts during the previous ride of BAC. While returning from town, Sunny took me to his school where I happened to meet his principal who seemed very delighted to know that a biker group has come to Yelagiri. The school also looked very scenic and I was not really in a mood to come back to the resort if it was not for booze.

We reached the resort and I secretly wrote the names of the riders on all the certificates. By then campfire had begun and all the riders were already a few pegs down. Frank confessions started happening. The confessions were interrupted in between to present the certificates. The confessions resumed post that and a few of them really took longer than we thought they would. But then, everything is fair when you are drunk. Dinner was as nicely cooked as lunch. All of us had dinner near our parked motorcycles. Post that a cake cutting session was organized. I got too tired by then and hence, came to my room and slept off. The next morning we freshened up, had awesome breakfast and reminded each other of what everyone spoke about after drinking. Hangover retrospect meetings are always fun. Then we started from Yelagiri. Rode continuously till the place where we had received BAC-C. In between, Srinidhi’s car broke down. Srinidhi reached the restaurant after getting his car fixed. From then on, we rode till a McD non stop. A lot of curious onlookers were taking photos and videos. We felt like the stars of the evening. Post a photography session, we rode to Bangalore non stop. I was delighted to see “Welcome to Karnataka” board. We stopped at our meeting point. From here, the riders rode to their respective homes.

Here is the teaser of the ridomentary

Yelagiri ride, a landmark event for BAC where two chapters of the club met, was indeed a fun joyride with a great display of passion for riding and brotherhood