i've seen too much leg, ankle and foot damage to allow someone to wear only jeans/street shoes if it's anything more than a putt up and down the block. even then, it depends on the person. as a general rule, jacket/helmet/gloves/heavy pants/boots required at all times. no street shoes.

some people are in total denial about the realities of motorcycling. even falling off at a standstill and getting your ankle caught under the bike can be a really bad thing. i dropped my bike on a really weird slope where someone decided there MUST be a stop sign. i picked it up but it started rolling so i ended up dropping it again...on myself. the foot peg pinned me down right on my ankle bone and ground my knee into the pavement. OUCH. if i wasn't wearing fully armored boots (Sidi Vertebrae II Airs) and my Vansons, it would have broken bones, rash and rehab. i walked away from it with no damage. anyone can make a mistake like that - n00b or veteran.

preferably, my GF would have her own damn bike and wouldn't bother me to maintenance it as she'd do it on her own. hell, she can do mine too. ;)

Well, I will tell you first what NOT to buy...do not buy any Harley Davidson brand boots...they look cute but I know of structure problems with both men and women's, specifically the zippers. (I actually wear a pair, but only after taking them to the local show repair to modify them)

I am happiest with a pair of steel toed linemans safety boots that lace up the front. I personally can't wear the pull on type because my arches are too high to get them on. I would actually look for a safety boot store, like Iron Age, the price and quality were better than I could find anywhere else.

I'm so glad to hear that you're hooked, and even more so that you want to get proper gear. Some people might mock me as the kind of person who puts on the heavy gear just to ride down the street to get milk, but 1) you never know when you're going to go down or meet an idiot on the road and 2) most accidents happen within 6 miles of a rider's home. Anyway, about gear:

Basically, if you like a certain body part the way it is now, and want to keep it that way, get gear to protect it. Like your hands functional, intact and attractive? Get good gloves and snug them down tightly on your wrists with the velcro straps or wrist cincers, so that they don't pull off in a crash. Like your feet with all toes and dermis intact? Get good boots with ankle protection, preferably ones designed for motorcycle riders with extra ankle reinforcement, etc. Like your legs smooth instead of the texture of sandpaper? Wear highly abrasion-resistant pants, with armor if you can.Draggin' Jeans: If you're not going to get cordura pants/overpants, or leather pants/chaps, I'd recommend Draggin' Jeans from dragginjeans.com. They are Kevlar-lined at the butt, and all the way around at the knees, where most abrasion happens during an accident. They also have optional, CE approved knee armor. They also have Kevlar shirts and Draggin' Jackets, but I don't have personal experience with those.

If all this gear sounds a bit too expensive for an occasional ride, I'd actually recommend that you stay off bikes until you've thrown together a reasonable set of gear. Some would call me overly cautious, but road rash (the least of your worries in an accident) is terribly painful (even if it's only the size of a quarter), and can leave the affected area permanently disfigured. Good gear can save you lots of time off work healing, pain, and of course, can save your life.
One of my co-workers slid out on the freeway going 70 miles an hour while wearing an Aerostich Roadcrafter suit, full-face helmet, Sidi boots and good quality leather gloves. The bike sustained a lot of damage, as did his gear, but he got up and walked away with nothing more than a few bruises. The gear took the hit for him. If he'd been wearing a leather jacket without armor, jeans and Converse shoes, he'd have ended up in intensive care at the very least.
So: full-face helmet (yes, I mean FULL-face), gloves, jacket, pants/chaps, and boots. Boot recommendations? I have Cruiser Boots, with the zipper up the front. They're great boots, but are not 100% waterproof as guaranteed because water comes in around the seam of the toe. I've heard good things about Sidi, but I don't like how they look.