touring gear thoughts? - Page 3

derf · 10-02-2010, 10:29 PM

This is what i wound up with. I prolly could have got medium pants, the large are a little long for me but all the online reviews said to get it one size large. The pants arent too bad, just really baggy. Jacket is perfect size, plenty of pockets, very warm with the liner in, still very warm without it, once I opened the shoulder vents at speed the air flows into the shoulders and down my back, this jacket is definately not a summer jacket, fall winter and spring it will definately work great for, and maybe cooler summer days, my bet is that 80 really is the max for this jacket.

Also wearing the new HJC helmet in this picture

Mr Lefty · 10-02-2010, 10:53 PM

nice!

Trip · 10-02-2010, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derf

this jacket is definately not a summer jacket

Pretty much all gear this type is this way, you really need a mesh setup for summer.

derf · 10-02-2010, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trip

Pretty much all gear this type is this way, you really need a mesh setup for summer.

I got a Joe rocket mesh jacket. I'm not really a fan of mesh, I had one tear off my body when I went down a while back.

Mr Lefty · 10-02-2010, 11:02 PM

my gear isn't all that hot for me... I wear it day in and out in MS

Trip · 10-02-2010, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derf

I got a Joe rocket mesh jacket. I'm not really a fan of mesh, I had one tear off my body when I went down a while back.

There are some quality pants jackets that hold up decently when you aren't running sportbike speeds and playing on/off pavement.

Mr Lefty · 10-02-2010, 11:03 PM

the pants could use some venting... but the ones I have are the winter ones

Trip · 10-02-2010, 11:10 PM

Thick jacket/pants would suck ass on a goat path ride on a 95+ degree day. I rode in my dirt pants a lot this summer with my mesh jacket. It wouldn't of done much on asphalt, but it was sure as hell nice once I got to the trails. The BMW shit is too hot in those temps.

Mr Lefty · 10-02-2010, 11:18 PM

yeah I mean if you were doing heavy trail riding you'd cook... but touring... you'll be warm but hydrate and you'll be fine.

I've got dirt gear I wear for the trail riding...

derf · 10-06-2010, 03:24 AM

I took it on a ride this past sunday, which was in the upper 50's in the morning and upper 40's and raining in the evening. The combo did great! the jacket and pants didnt let any water in (well teh jacket did a little, more on that later). Wearing just a T-shirt and jeansd I was comfortable at highway speeds with no chills or cold feeling at all, and thats without the liners in. On the way home the weather took a turn for the worse, heavy rain and 40's. i wound up putting on a fleece shirt I had brought with me and was still comfortable at highway speed, at least until my wrists and neck started to get damp. I'll take the blame for that as my gloves were to blame for my wrists, the water just saoked right through them and made the fleece sleeves damp. I'm pretty confident that if I had the removable neck thingy attached my neck would have been 100% dry too. In total I did almost 200 miles in heavy rain (north jersey to south of baltimore, took me 5 hours and I started to get a cold feeling in my wrists about 20 miles north of baltimore, 4 hours after I started to ride.

The jacket fits perfect, and has plenty of adjustments on it to fit correctly around the waist and the very bottom of the jacket. There are 7 exterior pockets (almost too many, I lost my money at one toll because I forgot which pocket it was in), and the interior has another 3 pockets. All of the jacket pockets are waterproof too with teh waist pokets having a fold over portion below the velcro so water would have to get inside a zipper, go up inside the pocket almost an inch before the inside gets wet. the two large chest pockets are just fold over velcro. With that, none of my pockets even got damp. There are more pockets on the liner too. The jacket could use some more external vents, which would probably sacrifice its waterproof abilities, and the ones it does have do 'OK'. They don't actually let air hit you directly just circulate inside the jacket, but there is still a waterproof liner between you and fresh air. I say OK because you can feel the air blowing, but it does minimal cooling at best. I would say that this is definately a 3 season jacket, and summer is not one of those seasons. But for the price? The jacket is 100% waterproof, the only reason my wrists got wet is because my waterprrof gloves aren't nearly as waterproof as they used to be. My hand became soak by hour 2 and the moisture started working its way up my fleece shirt around hour 4, and the neck thing attachment would have prevented any water from dripping off my helmet into the collar.

The pants are slightly large for me and without the liners in them they are too big, with the liners in them they are the right size. I could probably have easily gotten away with a medium even though every review says buy a size larger than you would normally. The full length zippers on the pants didnt let any water in them at all, and even the pockets are water proof. There are 2 vents on the pants, one on each thigh that let air in, same as the jacket, and if you really want to let fresh air in it would probably be more beneficial to open the side zippers from the top and expose your pants to the air rather than the vents.

The only real negative I could find (other than the vents) is that the pants and jacket dont have a full zipper around them, just an 8" zipper in back. I am not a fan of those at all, the only thing they do is make it a chore to take a shit. A full length zipper would have been much better to justifiy removing the whole suit to go to the crapper, I don't think I will ever zip them together.

Overall I would highly recommend this combo. For the price you get many features of much more expensive and high end suits. It definately is not an areostich or a bmw set, but at 1/4 the price would you really expect it to be? From the feel and look of the material I would expect this set to last me 5 years of fairly heavy riding, not saying that its cheap, but that would be a reasonable happy point to replace it. Expect this combo to only be good for the cooler months between september and may (in the northeast).

10-02-2010, 10:29 PM	#21
derf token jewboy Join Date: Nov 2008 Moto: CBR 900, KLR ugly ass duckling, Gas Man Posts: 10,799	This is what i wound up with. I prolly could have got medium pants, the large are a little long for me but all the online reviews said to get it one size large. The pants arent too bad, just really baggy. Jacket is perfect size, plenty of pockets, very warm with the liner in, still very warm without it, once I opened the shoulder vents at speed the air flows into the shoulders and down my back, this jacket is definately not a summer jacket, fall winter and spring it will definately work great for, and maybe cooler summer days, my bet is that 80 really is the max for this jacket. Also wearing the new HJC helmet in this picture __________________

10-06-2010, 03:24 AM	#30
derf token jewboy Join Date: Nov 2008 Moto: CBR 900, KLR ugly ass duckling, Gas Man Posts: 10,799	I took it on a ride this past sunday, which was in the upper 50's in the morning and upper 40's and raining in the evening. The combo did great! the jacket and pants didnt let any water in (well teh jacket did a little, more on that later). Wearing just a T-shirt and jeansd I was comfortable at highway speeds with no chills or cold feeling at all, and thats without the liners in. On the way home the weather took a turn for the worse, heavy rain and 40's. i wound up putting on a fleece shirt I had brought with me and was still comfortable at highway speed, at least until my wrists and neck started to get damp. I'll take the blame for that as my gloves were to blame for my wrists, the water just saoked right through them and made the fleece sleeves damp. I'm pretty confident that if I had the removable neck thingy attached my neck would have been 100% dry too. In total I did almost 200 miles in heavy rain (north jersey to south of baltimore, took me 5 hours and I started to get a cold feeling in my wrists about 20 miles north of baltimore, 4 hours after I started to ride. The jacket fits perfect, and has plenty of adjustments on it to fit correctly around the waist and the very bottom of the jacket. There are 7 exterior pockets (almost too many, I lost my money at one toll because I forgot which pocket it was in), and the interior has another 3 pockets. All of the jacket pockets are waterproof too with teh waist pokets having a fold over portion below the velcro so water would have to get inside a zipper, go up inside the pocket almost an inch before the inside gets wet. the two large chest pockets are just fold over velcro. With that, none of my pockets even got damp. There are more pockets on the liner too. The jacket could use some more external vents, which would probably sacrifice its waterproof abilities, and the ones it does have do 'OK'. They don't actually let air hit you directly just circulate inside the jacket, but there is still a waterproof liner between you and fresh air. I say OK because you can feel the air blowing, but it does minimal cooling at best. I would say that this is definately a 3 season jacket, and summer is not one of those seasons. But for the price? The jacket is 100% waterproof, the only reason my wrists got wet is because my waterprrof gloves aren't nearly as waterproof as they used to be. My hand became soak by hour 2 and the moisture started working its way up my fleece shirt around hour 4, and the neck thing attachment would have prevented any water from dripping off my helmet into the collar. The pants are slightly large for me and without the liners in them they are too big, with the liners in them they are the right size. I could probably have easily gotten away with a medium even though every review says buy a size larger than you would normally. The full length zippers on the pants didnt let any water in them at all, and even the pockets are water proof. There are 2 vents on the pants, one on each thigh that let air in, same as the jacket, and if you really want to let fresh air in it would probably be more beneficial to open the side zippers from the top and expose your pants to the air rather than the vents. The only real negative I could find (other than the vents) is that the pants and jacket dont have a full zipper around them, just an 8" zipper in back. I am not a fan of those at all, the only thing they do is make it a chore to take a shit. A full length zipper would have been much better to justifiy removing the whole suit to go to the crapper, I don't think I will ever zip them together. Overall I would highly recommend this combo. For the price you get many features of much more expensive and high end suits. It definately is not an areostich or a bmw set, but at 1/4 the price would you really expect it to be? From the feel and look of the material I would expect this set to last me 5 years of fairly heavy riding, not saying that its cheap, but that would be a reasonable happy point to replace it. Expect this combo to only be good for the cooler months between september and may (in the northeast). __________________

10-02-2010, 10:53 PM	#22
Mr Lefty TWFix Legend Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Denver CO Moto: 01 BMW F650GS Dakar Posts: 15,677	nice!

10-02-2010, 11:02 PM	#25
Mr Lefty TWFix Legend Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Denver CO Moto: 01 BMW F650GS Dakar Posts: 15,677	my gear isn't all that hot for me... I wear it day in and out in MS

10-02-2010, 11:03 PM	#27
Mr Lefty TWFix Legend Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Denver CO Moto: 01 BMW F650GS Dakar Posts: 15,677	the pants could use some venting... but the ones I have are the winter ones

10-02-2010, 11:18 PM	#29
Mr Lefty TWFix Legend Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Denver CO Moto: 01 BMW F650GS Dakar Posts: 15,677	yeah I mean if you were doing heavy trail riding you'd cook... but touring... you'll be warm but hydrate and you'll be fine. I've got dirt gear I wear for the trail riding...