Motorcycle clothing

[rayburn600]

I know its been done in the past but can anyone recommend anything new.
A Touring type Jacket & Trouser. 3 seasons type.
Must be waterproof, good Protection etc.
Not after spending silly money but a reasonable good quality, and good looking like me..
Have been looking at...RST Raptor, Tourmaster, Revit safari.
Budget somewhere near £300 for Jacket & trouser?? Is that reasonable?

[Hedgetrimmer]

Not necessarily a recommendation (the company I work for is the importer, just in case I'm accused of favouritism), but I would be interested to know if anyone has tried Ixon gear - may be a little bit extra help to answer your Q if you have another brand to consider/avoid Rayburn.

[rustyrider]

I looked at the RST but wasn't impressed and ended up getting a Richa Hatchet jacket.  Seems pretty good although the sizes are a little on the small side.  My previous Lewis jacket was a medium (as I'm only a skinny bastard) and the medium Richa was way too small and I had to go for a large. Even that is smaller that the Lewis medium which always felt a bit on the large side.

[Punkstig]

Not after spending silly money

No point in me mentioning Rukka then (although quality of the product aside you pay for the after service, 5 years worth, any problems and they give you loan clothing whilst yours is fixed/ replaced) RST do that?

[nsr500v4]

I have been wearing Wolf textile stuff and find them a good fit, reasonably comfy waterproof and well made, not that expensive either compared to some

[marksfazer]

Another vote for Richa. I've got the airvent jacket which comes with water proof membrane and quilted liner. Yet with both of these removed its a nice vented jacket for the summer.
Also got the trousers which just have a quilted liner inside but are water proof.


I think the jacket was about £150ish and the trousers about £120.


Mark

[Hedgetrimmer]

As with tyre brands, you will probably hear many conflicting opinions on bike gear. All makes will have the odd few failures, but out of quantities actually sold, the better known names are probably the ones to be trusted most. I also would endorse Richa. Alpinestars if you have an extra few quid to spare. Spada in my experience if cash flow is a little stickier (although I wouldn't touch their boots at the moment - they haven't been in that field for long, and the last ones I saw were very poor). I've just been ok'd to do some kit testing for Oxford Products in the coming months, and will try to keep this forum posted on what I find works, and what doesn't. I will try to be objective! I'm currently using a cheap end Oxford jacket, which in an hour of heavy rain kept me dry ok, but it's yet to have a real test. Also, I had to go 2 sizes up on this to get a fit over a med. weight pullover, but is way too big now for summer use with liner removed - another thing to bear in mind when you try clothing on.

[Gingernutz]

Heine Gericke has a decent range to suit that budget

[Hedgetrimmer]

I had some Hein Gericke boots that seemed ok, but I lost one in Scotland (don't ask!). So if anyone finds a Hein Gericke boot probably lying around on the Ben Lawers circuit somewhere, you know who left it there!

[rayburn600]

Is this it...........

[Hedgetrimmer]

Errrr.....no.
Why do I get the feeling something just flew straight over my head then? Must be forum-induced paranoia

[ghostbiker]

Just been given JTS jacket and trousers for work, we have a 110 cc Honda moped LOL.
Jacket leaked in 10 mins heavy rain on the inside by the elbows and along the zip after about 30 mins

Got myself a bargin oxford dry bone jacket at Weston bike night meet for 35 notes.
Only been in rain once for 20 mins but stayed dry.
Would love the matching trousers but they don't go anywhere near the same size as the jacket Grrr

Had racer gear before and again, only shower proof.
So now I tend to just throw on a set of over jacket and trousers from held. Never leaked yet. And the trousers pack  down tight. Jacket not so much.

[mickvp]

Ive got 2 sets at the minute - an RST "tractech" leather jacket and trousers - really cheap zips (I had the tractech boots too, but burst the zips the second time i wore them), not a good fit for me, and not waterproof (although the tractech is marketed as a summer jacket and not marketed as waterproof so i wouldnt expect it to be).

Also got a Richa "Challenger" textile/(cordura?) jacket and trousers set. much better quality for a budget brand, the only gripe I have with it is the zip which fastens the trousers to the jacket is rubbish! nothing a set of draper braces couldnt sort out though. been in a shower for about an hour and havent got wet, so its waterproof enough for me

[AdieR]

I got a pair of all-weather Ixon gloves ages ago (£25) - cosy in winter, dry, cool in summer, and thin enough to allow feel.
Next item of kit I buy will be Ixon too.

[Chris]

I've got the Weise Psycho jacket, it's great. They have matching trousers but I didn't need them as I have a pair of spada trousers.
 
The trousers and jacket weren't too expensive together, think it was less than £300 for the set and they've got good reviews, I can certainly testify that the jacket is waterproof in heavy rain!
 
Chris

[Yellowwolf]

Weise stuff has never let me down waterproof and comfort wise. I never trust Alpinestars to be properly waterproof apart from their gloves

[Hedgetrimmer]

Alpinestars are generally a very high quality make, their kit sells like hot cakes all round the world. Working at the UK distributor in the returns dept., I see very few A* items come back due to leaking/not waterproof. If you have a failure on a particular brand once, I would suggest that is not a good reason to then avoid that make like the plague. If you constantly have problems, or hear of other people having problems with a particular brand (and remember there are a lot of bull*****rs out there), then you may have reason to avoid that brand. Also bear in mind that like many things these days, you will probably avoid one make only to buy another that is actually made in the same country, with the same materials, and to the same standards - quite possibly even in the same factory!
I have also worked in several different bike shops, each time selling different brands, and I don't remember any particular brand being returned in large quantities over any other. Yes, occasionally a manufacturer introduces a model that hasn't been well designed/put together, but on the whole this is rare. I have mentioned elsewhere that I don't really like Spada boots. This is because Spada were at the time quite new to this area of clothing (talking about 2008 here), and had entered the market at the budget end. However, I have no doubt that if they stick with this line, they will improve given time, may even be a whole lot better by now - I just haven't seen any since then. They used to do a cracking pair of winter gloves back then, couldn't get enough of them in the shop. And much cheaper than any of the premium brands.
So, having said all of that, why exactly don't you trust A* gear to be waterproof? Have you had many bad experiences to this effect?

[Grahamm]

I have been wearing Wolf textile stuff and find them a good fit, reasonably comfy waterproof and well made, not that expensive either compared to some

Yep, I've got Wolf textile stuff too and it's good for keeping me dry and warm in the winter

The jacket has vents under the arms for warmer weather, but you really need a proper air jacket for weather like we've had this summer.

[justafaze]

I have a RST pro series Adventure textile jacket and trousers and they are really good comes with a waterproof removable lining and a further thermal lining for the winter all of which can be used together at the same time.

[Jacko]

I'm pondering this.
Sound jacket, great price, shit colour

http://www.hein-gericke.co.uk/clothing/motorcyle-clothing/jackets/hein-gericke-vista-sheltexr-jacke-neongelb.html

[R1FSR]

I have this kit ..
Frank Thomas Raptor textiles
http://www.frank-thomas.co.uk/index.php/ftw282-raptor-jacket-black.html
http://www.frank-thomas.co.uk/index.php/ftw283-raptor-pant-black.html

used them for a charity bike ride last year couldnt see more than 50 yards 'cos of the bad rain
from Manchester -  to the lakes (eventualy) and back ..kept me dry as a bone all day.

been more than happy with them throughout the winter rain etc 

[fazed600]

Halvarssons make some good kit a bit pricier than some but with a 2 year warranty. Bearing in mind its made in Sweden and they also make kit for snow mobilers they know about keeping warm dry, with good ventilation. 2 year warranty as well which is better than most, not as long as the 5 year Rukka warranty, but it isn't priced at Rukka levels.

I've had a budget jacket and trousers and well recommend it. Esp if you need trousers with a long leg - they sell their textiles in 3 leg lengths which is great for me.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Used to sell some interesting Halvarssons kit. It used tiny balls of some sort of paraffin-like substance as the thermal insulation, which changed it's state depending on ambient temperature. I can't remember the exact details now, but you could wear just a jacket over a t-shirt in freezing cold weather and you'd just feel cool, not cold. I tried one once, and it really worked. Apparently it was developed from some kit used by astronauts, so they claimed. Funny tho', haven't seen any since...
 
The thermal system described above is called Outlast, and I've since seen it in some Wolf textile trousers. (24/8/13)

[lds1973]

oxford bone dry boots.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350693568949?lpid=54&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=54&ff19=0

you wont find better and they are cheap too.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Just bought an Ixon Titanium VX jacket (textile). I hardly ever see Ixon jackets and trousers come back faulty through our returns area, and I like the look of a lot of their current range, so I thought I'd give it a go (helps that I got about £80 off full RRP!). First impression riding to work today is that it's very comfortable and fits me very well, curiously both with or without the thermal liner. The liner itself has a very nice silky feel to it and is very easy to fit and remove. It has 2 zip air vents at front and one in the rear, but too early to tell how effective they are. It's a fairly short jacket, but not ridiculously so, and has a short zip to attach to trousers at the rear. I'll see about attaching a photo shortly. I hope it's more waterproof than the Oxford jacket it's replacing!