Some of the gear Lem loves that you'll never see

That’s part of how this whole commerce-and-content thing works. I know you all know the manufacturers usually give us gear to be featured in things like bike reviews, and you know we’ll usually tell you what you want to know about a piece of equipment if you ask us about it. I don't usually have much of a say in what I get assigned to ride in. (Some, but not a ton.)

But how about the stuff you don’t see? When it comes to gear that's working behind the scenes, I have a lot more leeway in what I can use. When I go off to review some new motorcycle, I have a few items that are simply indispensable, and I thought a few readers might be interested in some of those pieces. Forgive my less-than-flattering photos. This is real gear that actually gets used, so most of it looks kind of knackered. In an odd way, the wear is probably a testament to how much I rely on this stuff to do my job,

Olympia Horizon jacket and pants

So Olympia gave me some rain gear a long time ago. I super appreciate it, because this is my favorite rain gear. It squishes up into its own pocket when I'm not using it, it doesn’t flap like crazy when I am using it, and there are enough straps so you can make it actually fit you instead of being the Gorton’s Fisherman. I wear this stuff on bike launches, and it rides in my saddlebags around the country when I’m just on a personal ride. And I have used it. A lot.

Look, the motorcycle manufacturers aren’t dumb. They locate the press launches in exotic places with ridiculously good weather. But rain happens. Heck, Harley-Davidson had us to a launch in Seattle. It was awesome and the weather was very cool and perfect for riding, but let’s be realistic: You need rain gear for that. I do not show up for a motorcycle launch without rain gear. And if I’m doing a long tour with Mrs. Lem, we go far enough we hit rain. I guarantee it.

I feel so bad for poor Olympia, though, because if the weather is poor enough we’re in rain gear, often the cameras aren’t rolling. For years and years now I have had this rain gear with a jillion miles on it, and they never even got a mention or a picture from me, so I suppose I ought to rectify that here. And for whatever it’s worth, this is my personal rain gear, too. I liked it so much I bought a set, so if they stop making it, I have a backup.

Canon 80D with 24-105mm lens or T4i Rebel body with 18-135mm lens

So, speaking of those cameras not rolling: Harley-D did their best to get us photos on that launch and it worked out fine. But one thing that’s always bugged me about bike reviews is that often, when the writers rely on the factory-provided shots, readers who check out half-a-dozen reviews are seeing the saaaaaame pics on every one. That’s not great. The other problem is those are very general shots. I try to take pictures of specific things I like or did not like or that I would like to bring to the readers’ attention. Sure, I have a camera on my phone, but it’s limiting. (It has lower resolution than I would like and the lens is very, very wide. I use it sometimes in the shop or when I don’t have a real camera at hand, but it’s not good enough to be a go-to. I gotta get a new phone.)

So I bring a camera. It’s honestly a huge pain in the ass, but it helps for those times we get rained out or when I can’t find a factory image of a flaw or feature on a motorcycle I thought was worth mentioning. When I shoot for RevZilla, I shoot on a crop-frame 80D with a 24-105 lens. (Yes, I know the focal length increases. It acts effectively like a 34-168, which happens to be supremely useful for most motorcycle stuff, be it landscape, cheating it into some zoom action, or closeups.) I like the body OK, and I am madly in love with the lens.

My own rigs are T4i and T5i Rebels with quite a few pieces of glass, but my go-to is an 18-135 lens. On my personal setup, I love the body, and while I like that lens, the 24-105 is superior. (The 80D is way better in lower-light situations. Most of what I shoot above a 1600 ISO is unusable on the Rebels.) Being a Canon guy helps when I want to interchange equipment with RevZilla stuff, too, though we’re less Canon-specific these days.

Useless-but-maybe-interesting-factoid: I bought my T4i from Spurgeon five years ago when he got a much fancier 5D. He is probably a bigger photo nerd than I am. (I really beat him up on the price, which I think he’s still mad about.)

True pros will point out how old this camera is, how crappy the sensor is, how it’s not a full-frame, and they’re correct. But it’s a working camera and though I’m not strictly a paid photographer, between it and Lightroom, it’s kept food on my family’s table for five years. Good enough for me.

If you’ve read all this and you’re bored or disinterested, take solace. I was in the same boat when I started. Better bodies and lenses (pro- or pro-sumer grade) allow anything from full camera control to complete manual usage, so if you’re not a crack shutterbug, the camera can help you until you are.

Givi Gravel-T Backpack

So here’s an item we do sell. I absolutely, unequivocally must have a backpack on a motorcycle review. If the manufacturer has a chase truck, great! I will toss this in there. If not, though… well, you now know I have rain gear with me and a thousand bucks' worth of camera and lens, and though I always try to wheedle my way into the big touring and sport-touring bike reviews, I sometimes pull the short straw and have to review motorcycles with no saddlebags. (Thanks, Lance.) Ergo, I need a backpack.

I don’t know if mine came from Givi as a sample or if RevZilla just bought me one, but it doesn’t matter. This is my idea of how a motorcycle backpack should be put together. It’s effectively a roll-top dry bag with backpack straps attached. It’s one big compartment. It’s simple, tough, easy, and priced right. The only thing that I disliked were the waist straps; I just cut them off.

This bag went missing recently, and Pat, our Product Research and Test Expert, assured me he'd find a suitable replacement, but probably not this exact bag.

I turned RevZilla upside down and found the bag. Took me two days, but it was still worth it.

BMW Motorrad Helmet Bag

The back half of this piece is all bags, really. I have a helmet bag BMW gave to me on some launch. Manufacturers often leave writers with fancy gifts. (Yamaha once proffered a fancy watch. I think Spurg may have gotten a tablet at some point. Most recently, Harley-Davidson gave me a Bluetooth comm unit.) When I first started this gig, I decided I would keep T-shirts. I feel like that’s not unreasonable, because I would take that as a customer, too. Anything better than that either goes to someone at RevZilla or I give it to another rider. (Sometimes strangers, usually friends.) I just thought it seemed shitty to keep something of any value and then try to be objective when assessing a motorcycle.

BMW’s helmet bag is the one exception, on the grounds that this is legitimately a thing I can use for work and to do a better job reviewing motorcycles. It’s a great way to protect a helmet; way better than that stupid stuff sack they all come with. There’s actually padding to protect your helmet on the BMW bag. The other godsend is a strap. Carrying a helmet around an airport is a pain, with or without a stuff sack.

In fact, I finally gave that up, in part due to the next item on my list.

Fox Racing Shuttle Roller

Useless-but-maybe-interesting-factoid: When RevZilla’s video crew shoots remotely we A) bring a ton of gear and B) carry on the really expensive stuff like lenses and C) get charged by the bag. So carrying on my own stuff no longer was able to happen. That means I’d have to carry a lid, jacket, boots, and gloves in addition to street clothes and personal effects one would expect. And ideally that would all fit in one bag.

So I got this neat-o roller bag. (Thanks, RevZilla!) At this point, it’s got something like 50,000 miles on it. It is sturdy and it does roll. I like this because it's huge — I normally flirt with the 50-pound rule most airlines have when I fly with this baby loaded up. I also like it because it is moto-specific. At one end, there is a compartment big enough to hold my lid. (In my helmet bag mentioned earlier. It has additional padding and also holds sunglasses, gloves, and whatever hair-control device I toss in there.)

The center is a huge compartment into which I place my jacket, boots, and gloves, then toss in my backpack of street clothes and toiletries. The “door” for the main compartment is big enough to hold my laptop and charger, and the other end has a similar compartment which stays empty. (The main compartment smushes into it.) As I use clothes and gear, I load them into that empty compartment, because A) it’s vented to atmosphere and allows air to circulate, minimizing stink and B) I can keep clean and dirty clothes separate, which Mrs. Lem likes.

The only thing I don’t dig is the color. I was issued this bag, so I don’t think I had a choice in it, but all those airports have gotten this bag filthy, and short of a pressure washer and a prayer, I see no way to wash the exterior. Happily, the current version is only offered in black.

So there’s a little inside glimpse at some of the gear that’s omnipresent on my bike reviews, but never seen. I recognize most of you probably won’t need all of this gear as my use case is pretty specific, but maybe one or two of these items might help you overcome some niggling problem in your own moto life.