Best all-around, day to day leathers?

[Quigs]

I have a textile jacket/pants, and some Icon reinforced denims right now. I hit up Plaistow Powersports today and ordered a Mesh jacket, but the more I think about it, the more I don't want to wear it. Someone sent me a link to that Ride2Die site earlier and said "Every time I think about putting on jeans, or just need to cool my jets on the road, I look at this site".

So I checked it out (google at your own risk, some graphic shit on there) and there's a ton of road rash pics, and made the decision that I'm going to pass on the mesh jacket, deal with a little heat and get a set of proper two piece leathers.

PP has some nice looking B/W shift leather uppers there, but no pants, and I'd like a set that looks decent but not too racey, since again I ride like an old man with 2" chicken strips anyway. But I definitely want some leathers now, and figure a lot of you might have a separate set for the track and your daily backroad rides.

So what are you wearing?

[Quigs]

This picture makes me feel like an asshole. :\



Yup, that's me ~7 years ago. Jeans, Doc Martens and a nylon jacket, with no gloves.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

I used to wear textile on the street, figuring it should protect me for one crash, even though I know it'll toast them. Knowing more now than I did when I got the stuff, if I get back into riding on the street I'll end up getting something leather. My budy AJ (6 fingered man) has a nice A* leather jacket, it's almost as heavy as my racing leather suit, and pretty well ventilated. I don't believe it was inexpensive, but he loves it, and I've worn it and was very happy with it.

[Wishbone]

This thread makes me happy.

Doc got a boner somewhere for no reason and wasn't sure just why...well yet anyways

[butcher bergs]

Any decent mesh gear will hold its own so long as you're within the limits of the law.

I have an Alpinestars mesh and would have no problem crashing in it because it's fairly heavy-duty and of decent build quality from what I can see.

Regarless, you definitely want some kind of perf-ed leather.

[Quigs]

The textile stuff makes me feel a little better, but you're right - one crash and they're done (big deal, gear is cheap), but one long slide and I have my doubts about how well they'll hold up. And my reinforced denims aren't going to do a damn thing for me if my knee hits the ground hard even at a slow speed.

These are my warm weather pants that I'm talking about:

Icon Recon

My older brother picked up riding last year, and just like Josh did for me all those years ago, I've been teaching him to ride from square 1 and doing my best to stress safety as much as I possibly can. I could never afford good gear, but I did learn a fuckton from him in terms of braking, emergency stops, looking through corners, target-fixation, you name it. The kid schooled the shit out of me in a parking lot and I've been passing that same stuff on to my brother trying to set a good example. He wears a proper leather jacket, but usually wears jeans, so I sent him that same website link as well.

I spend a ton of time going over all of the safety bits in my head when I'm riding with him, but at the same time I spend a bit too much time checking my mirrors to make sure he's still behind me. He's about ~8000mi into his riding "career" now and is a very safe, solid rider, but I can't help but worry about him since, well, he's my brother, ya know?

I figure if I get myself a set of leathers, his birthday is coming up and a set for him as well would probably be a pretty good birthday present.

Pardon the rant, just in one of those moods, and with all the rider down posts on here lately, I have safety on the brain.

[Wishbone]

The one good slide I had was pretty long. I was wearing A* textile jacket regular jeans and high work boots. I slid long enough to consciously think to switch sides in order to have material to slide on. I came out with the only major marks was a burn from the plastic armor getting to hot and burning my shoulder (no wear threw just got that hot) but nothing wore totally threw and rashed me. I was going between 65-80 and was release after xrays with no major problems.

So yes I ride my day to day with textile. Even rode NHMS in the wet with textile, it is 1200 denir though.

[e30addict]

I like ride2die. It's graphic, but I look at it every now and then when I find myself getting a little crazy. It reminds me how easily we can get fucked up.

For the longer rides I wear Moto GP Apex perforated leather jacket and pants from about 65 degrees to 90 or so. Locally, I wear the jacket as much as possible, but usually go with heavier jeans. If it's colder, a textile jacket goes on. If it's in the mid 90's I'll wear a mesh jacket. It greatly sacrifices protection but the leather is too hot; it's still better than nothing.

motorcyclecloseout.com has blowout on the Apex jacket. It's $119. I'm sure there are better jackets out there but for that $ the Moto GP is a great value compared to the leather I found that was normally in the $100 range.

http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/h...eather+jacket#

["Dangerous" Dan K]

You can get the burn through real leathers too. I still have one on my shoulder from a getoff in T3, 2nd gear, no idea the speed, that I was wearing my vanson one piece for.

[MotoFreak]

This thread makes me happy.

Good choice on a 2 Piece. A* has some great deals still I think on the Octane and Stage suits. Joe Rocket stuff is pretty beefy too if you like a more relaxed fit. There new stuff has really soft, supple leather. Its pretty nice.

When I head into town or take a low key ride with the gf, I wear jeans, race boots, my new SP-1 A* jkt, and gauntlet gloves.
But if I head out to rip it with the crew, or any kind of road trip, I toss on my A* one-piece. Its a bit of a pain in the ass when you stop to eat, or head over to a local shop or Bike Night, but its super comfortable, and will save my ass if I crash.
I do have a mesh jkt, but the SP-1 has some very good perf'd sections, so I doubt I'll wear the mesh much this year.
I am planning on grabbing some "riding" jeans too from DTP-they make some bomber fire hose canvas pants that are suppose to be super rugged.

Good luck, and good choice to go with a 2 piece!

[netra709]

Thanks for the Ride2die link. I have never seen that before. I'm looking to buy my first set of road boots and pants this week. This thread has me thinking that I should look into a leather jacket also and save the textile jacket for colder temps. Tim

[beet]

I hope fucking josh gets a bike................

[Doc]

I was wondering why I got wood a couple hours ago... Now I know.

[Doc]

Oh and I need some better pants.

I too have ridden with less gear in my younger years and suffered. I just don't heal as fast anymore.

[Wanderer]

Textile for me has held up pretty (very) well in the times I've had to test it.
Actually, my only leather gear aside from gloves is a mesh/leather rev'it ignition jacket - sturdy

[Quigs]

I hope fucking josh gets a bike................

Paint the TL back it's proper freaking awesomesauce green color that it used to be, and hook the man up.

[breakdirt916]

Regarless, you definitely want some kind of perf-ed leather.

protection, and adequate cooling (unless you're in stationary or stop and go traffic)

[Quigs]

protection, and adequate cooling (unless you're in stationary or stop and go traffic)

That's what I'm looking for. I don't really hit much traffic, avoid the beach/city unless it's late at night or not tourist season. 99% of my riding is just zipping around backroads with friends.

I think this:

http://www.btosports.com/p/SFT70110

Is what Plaistow has, and I'd like to get something there since I made them go through the hassle of ordering the mesh in my size and I plan on cancelling it.

[ZoomSplat]

I wear this set of Fieldsheer leathers. They're perforated, so it gets chilly whenever you ride with the outside temp below 75-80, but they're fairly inexpensive and comfortable once they're broken in. I hate to admit that I've crash tested them, but proud to report that they've held up quite well. They work great for pesky grease burns in the kitchen too. Two piece suits are nice because when you stop for lunch you can take the jacket off, instead of having big bulky heavy tail flopping around behind you.

One way to beat the heat in full leathers on a hot day is to soak your shirt in water before you ride. The evaporating water keeps you cool for 3 hours or so.

http://www.fieldsheer.com/site2009/f...radar2suit.htm

[Quigs]

You must make some seriously dominant pancakes man.

[butcher bergs]

I like this ZoomSplat guy.

[breakdirt916]

They work great for pesky grease burns in the kitchen too. Two piece suits are nice because when you stop for lunch you can take the jacket off, instead of having big bulky heavy tail flopping around behind you.

One way to beat the heat in full leathers on a hot day is to soak your shirt in water before you ride. The evaporating water keeps you cool for 3 hours or so.

http://www.fieldsheer.com/site2009/f...radar2suit.htm

all excellent tips!

you just forgot to add that it's easier to take a dump with 2-piece leathers

[ZoomSplat]

Well, I've got the pics to back that one up too...You ain't seen nuttin yet!

[JettaJayGLS]

motorcyclecloseout.com has blowout on the Apex jacket. It's $119. I'm sure there are better jackets out there but for that $ the Moto GP is a great value compared to the leather I found that was normally in the $100 range.

http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/h...eather+jacket#

Just ordered that, great friggen deal, thanks for the link

[nixoid]

Textile is being mentioned.... Just be sure it is NYLON and NOT Polyester. Ploy cannot withstand heat and the slide down the road is heat enough to make disintegrate rather quickly.