Smallish birthday presents for a biker

My brother used to ride a CB125 many moons ago and has finally gotten around to doing his DAS. He is looking to buy an semi-faired SV/Bandit/Fazer or similar (quite possibly an SV- he really liked mine after riding it) in the next month or so. It's coming up to his birthday and I thought it'd be good to get him several smaller things that are easy to overlook, but which make biking much easier/more enjoyable. His motivation for wanting to ride is primarily quick transport for commuting on the jammed roads near portsmouth/plymouth (all year round) and has expressed that he has no intention of becoming "a leather-clad weekend warrior on an R1" and that he is more interested in "riding well, rather than fast". He is naturally very good at driving/riding most sort of vehicles (drives ships for a living and passed his car driving test after only 8 lessons) and I imagine within a few months of experience, he'll probably be a better motorcyclist than me. Even so (and whilst he has shown little/no interest in attending an advanced riding course) I was thinking of getting him the Police Rider's handbook, as that is my favourite advanced riding manual I've seen and also it won't look like I'm trying to steer him towards signing up for IAM.

He isn't a complete mechanical numpty, but he has little/no interest in servicing the bike himself for the first couple of years (watch this change as he starts putting the miles on and gets fed up of being stung £160 for an oil, filter and plugs change ) so tools probably aren't ideal, although he did get a free torque wrench with the ride subscription I got him for Christmas.Upper limit for any one thing of about £80, but several cheaper things would be better. I've gotten him HG vouchers before, so don't really want to cop out and do that again.

I considered getting him a tankbag, but until he has decided on a bike, I would be reluctant to do so in case the one he settles on has a plastic tank.
I'll probably get him a load of different earplugs (so he can find out which suit him best). Is there anything else people can suggest?

How about a buff or some cold killers base layer type things for the cold weather.
Alternatively, an Optimate or similar to keep the battery up to scratch.

[jambo]

One / combination of:

Good quality chain & lock that doubles as a disc lock?
scottoiler?
Thermal base layer & neck tube?
IOU for crash bungs?
Good tyre pressure gauge?
Bungee nets?
Puncture repair kits & small roadside toolkit?

These are the sort of things people put off buying because they're "non essential" and kitting yourself out with new bike and gear becomes expensive, but every one of those things is bloody useful.

Originally Posted by jambo

One / combination of:

Good quality chain & lock that doubles as a disc lock?
scottoiler?
Thermal base layer & neck tube?
IOU for crash bungs?
Good tyre pressure gauge?
Bungee nets?
Puncture repair kits & small roadside toolkit?

These are the sort of things people put off buying because they're "non essential" and kitting yourself out with new bike and gear becomes expensive, but every one of those things is bloody useful.

Ta, exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of; as you say, he'll put off buying those as they're not essential, but all are ideal. I think I've already talked him into a scottoiler and bungs (and as he's going to buy a 2nd hand bike, it may have either/both fitted), but bungee net and puncture repair kit sound ideal.

Im a commuter, things i've found I have to have that make life that bit easier.

Gay Muffs (the handlbar covers). Good for wind chill off the fingers in the mornings in winter.
Floresent Vest. Makes a lot of difference commuting, for their safety.
Some RainX
A balaclava or similar.
Can of tyre weld.
Chain Lube.
Some cleaning stuff to get rid of the salt and grim collected whilst commuting.
Bungey Straps if no topbox?
A decent waterproof rucksack
Front Mudguard extension
Crash Bungs
Rear Mudguard

Twist of the wrist book or audio tapes??

My Mum bought me the supidest but possibly the most affective piece of bike clothing i have ever had for xmas

Big thick thermal socks they are awesome lol.

Things like, foggy mask, neck warmer, spare pare of them 2 finger thingys only a few quid, nickwax visor stuff, maybe a sun visor.

[STRAMASHER]

The entire "Bike Wars" back catalogue, so he can watch it before he goes out on a ride...............


.......or a neck tube?

If his gloves haven't got an finger visor wiper, get him a few of the visor wiper things you can put over your finger. I used one for a while, when theres no rain and all the salt/dirt sticks to your visor so badly you cannot see anything, they really help.

How about a good set of waterproofs?