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GNCharlie
21st September 2005, 22:22
I'm just a newbie just wondering what is better leather jackets and pants, or the jacket type clothing with kelvar in it ??

SuperDave
21st September 2005, 22:27
My vote is for leather. Had two bins thus far and my leather jacket did a hell of a lot better job than my now sold Cordura jacket. My current leather jacket has no armour whatsover whereas the old cordura one had soft armour in the elbows and shoulders.

cowpoos
21st September 2005, 22:32
racers only wear leathers....there is a reason for that...I use both...but always have leathers on...and put the condure jacket over top for cold or rainy days...

madboy
21st September 2005, 22:45
Depends what type of riding your doing IMHO.

I wear cordura on the road, commuting etc. They've survived a minor bin. It's waterproof, has plenty of pockets for wallet, phone, etc and it's warm. Warm and dry are two factors I like. IMO just cos it's raining doesn't mean to say I have to get wet.

I've got leathers on their way for the track and quick weekend rides, since I figure if I put it down at track speeds my cordura will probably do the job, but it'll be written off.

I'm guessing with a GN125 you might be doing mainly road/commuting work? These are just my opinions.

Big Dave
21st September 2005, 22:47
I'm just a newbie just wondering what is better leather jackets and pants, or the jacket type clothing with kelvar in it ??

Have a bit of a search through the archives - there has been much debate on this topic in the past.

There isn't a right answer. Both have advantages.

I recommend initially getting leather and a cheap waterproof 'spray suit' for over it, then get a good gore-tex number later on - for the winter.

Go to a reputable shop, compare the specifications and the price for what is in your budget.

cowpoos
21st September 2005, 23:09
you know dave....your always giving the most logical...best thought out advice....sorta reminds me of the all wise trash heap off fraggle rock....Hmmm

avgas
21st September 2005, 23:32
I was given a leather jacket when i was youngin by my old man......and it is basically the same age as me. Now my Girlfriend wears that.
How many years do you think my plastic fantastic weather proof job lasted.....3 years, 2 offs.
20+years for leather.....versus 3 years for an armoured weatherproof suit.
But then again, if anything lasts 2 months with me it must be bulletproof.
If your still growing, get any armoured jacket.....if not, leathers arent that expensive in comparison to top of the line armoured jackets.

parsley
21st September 2005, 23:42
Leather smells nicer. :devil2:

cowpoos
21st September 2005, 23:56
Leather smells nicer. :devil2:

Hmmm....this is oddly true....thanks parsley

texmo
22nd September 2005, 00:01
Your on a gn125 anything under 250 and you aint going at huge speeds so get a jacket with solid armour and kevlar, they are better for when it rains as you have to dry leather and water makes it weaker.

Big Dave
22nd September 2005, 00:01
you know dave....your always giving the most logical...best thought out advice....sorta reminds me of the all wise trash heap off fraggle rock....Hmmm

Experience is a good school, but the fees are high.
Bet I smell worse.

cowpoos
22nd September 2005, 00:19
Bet I smell worse.

that is debatable....what are your creadentials?
(excuse speeling)

Gremlin
22nd September 2005, 00:48
yeah, the leather v cordura has been debated many times in the past. Do a search and you should get some excellent threads. One to get you started (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=7550), and here's another (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=6463).

as Dave has said, depends on what you are doing. Since you have a GN125, I'm guessing that you won't be doing track work, high speeds or quick country rides???

If commuting, then I reckon armoured cordura is the better bet. Dries reasonably easily, I have found mine to be very waterproof, and still has protection for shoulders, elbows and back.

Impact wise, leathers will definitely be better, after all, racers use them. You wouldn't see them using cordura on the track. Leathers can be used for multiple off depending on the damage and can be repaired. Cordura is usually written off after one good off.

Sniper
22nd September 2005, 07:50
Your on a gn125 anything under 250 and you aint going at huge speeds so get a jacket with solid armour and kevlar, they are better for when it rains as you have to dry leather and water makes it weaker.


Thats a bad judgement call, any motorcycle is capable of speed and you can just as easily damage yourself at 30kms than 100kms. Justified that the damage may not be so great but still. Leather and cordura have the same purpouse, to keep the skin attached to your body!

My opinion, just go with what suits you mate.

SPman
22nd September 2005, 08:34
Cordura is also cooler in summer!

Sniper
22nd September 2005, 08:46
Cordura is also cooler in summer!

Nothing is as cool as a man dressed up in leather on a bike

That sounds so wrong

dawnrazor
22nd September 2005, 08:52
I'm just a newbie just wondering what is better leather jackets and pants, or the jacket type clothing with kelvar in it ??
During my trawling of the web for jackets recently, i'll noticed a couple of brands are bringing out leather and cordura combo jackets, so leather in the high impact zones and cordura in the parts that need to breath which are usually different areas, all they have to do is make it close to 100% water proof with removable liners and vents and you have a jacket for all seasons, rather then the i'm too cold i'm to hot, i'm too wet nonsense i'm currently going through.

Lou Girardin
22nd September 2005, 08:56
If you can only afford one set of gear and you commute, get textile.

Pwalo
22nd September 2005, 09:30
If you can only afford one set of gear and you commute, get textile.

I'm with Lou on this. I've had both leather and textile gear. For commuting textile gear is the way to go.

Protects pretty well in an off as well.

bear
22nd September 2005, 09:38
...good off.

Bit of an oxymoron I reckon.

dawnrazor
22nd September 2005, 09:40
Bit of an oxymoron I reckon.

or is it a non-sequitur ?

texmo
22nd September 2005, 10:06
Thats a bad judgement call, any motorcycle is capable of speed and you can just as easily damage yourself at 30kms than 100kms. Justified that the damage may not be so great but still. Leather and cordura have the same purpouse, to keep the skin attached to your body!

My opinion, just go with what suits you mate.
I just think when you are going around town which is what you do on a gn125 the most damage come from impact not from sliding so some deicent armour should take care of that I have come off at around 50k's on a cheep r-jays jacket and I was fine jacket wasnt even a write off..

avgas
22nd September 2005, 10:55
I have come off at around 50k's on a cheep r-jays jacket and I was fine jacket wasnt even a write off..
Lucky - my mate killed his RJAYs jacket in a 20k slide down the road.
But back on topic, go buy that motoline job at Motomail when they have theyre sale......its an ok jack, only cost $150, and has armour. And if it wrecks u can always ductape it back up.

Brett
22nd September 2005, 11:41
In regard to this thread and the others of the same nature, i am pretty sure that if you bin, and ruin your gear, that if you have contents insurance, that you can claim it under that...correct?

parsley
22nd September 2005, 11:44
Lucky - my mate killed his RJAYs jacket in a 20k slide down the road.
Damn, that's a long slide! Lucky it was a straight road.

Sniper
22nd September 2005, 11:46
In regard to this thread and the others of the same nature, i am pretty sure that if you bin, and ruin your gear, that if you have contents insurance, that you can claim it under that...correct?
Depends on how nice your insurance company is.

dawnrazor
22nd September 2005, 12:02
Lucky - my mate killed his RJAYs jacket in a 20k slide down the road.
But back on topic, go buy that motoline job at Motomail when they have theyre sale......its an ok jack, only cost $150, and has armour. And if it wrecks u can always ductape it back up.
hate to say it but you get what you pay for in this game (well in most cases anyways), and in my opinion the above mention brands manage to come out with some very below average gear, even its competitive price is no comfort when it rips its self apart during a slow speed spill. Just imagine what sort of asphalt burns you'll have at higher speeds. Spend the money now, don't get fat and you'll have the same gear in many years, if your lucky you'll never crash test it, but if you do, theres a high chance it'll survive intact.

Smorg
22nd September 2005, 12:19
Damn, that's a long slide! Lucky it was a straight road.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

TwoSeven
22nd September 2005, 12:32
There seems to be a misunderstanding on the effectiveness of leathers.

There are three different levels of protection in the safety standard. You cant just look at the different garments and say one is better because racers wear them.

If you compare garments of the same safety level be they synthetic and/or leather, they will offer the same level of protection, and you will likely find that the synthetic will be more durable - leathers are generally designed to be repaired, synthetics are usally designed to take more of a beating, but they will both offer the same type of protection based on their saftey rating.

My personal preference is for synthetics on the road and leathers on the track, simply because synthetics are slightly more bulky by the time you had added thermal insulation and pockets etc. I have a Frank Thomas jacket I brought nearly 20 years ago, wear it every day and its still in good condition. The only trend I dont like in both leathers and synthetics is the use of these plastic inserts that are so called protection. I prefer the impact resistant foam instead - seem to get less bruises from it).

Lou Girardin
22nd September 2005, 13:57
Lucky - my mate killed his RJAYs jacket in a 20k slide down the road.
But back on topic, go buy that motoline job at Motomail when they have theyre sale......its an ok jack, only cost $150, and has armour. And if it wrecks u can always ductape it back up.

That's where quality matters. All textile isn't the same. My Spidi jacket wasn't even marked from a similar slide and I've seen another Spidi jacket after a 110 km/h 'off', there were two small holes over the elbow armour and scuffing on the back, that was it.
Yet I've seen a Spool jacket that nearly had a sleeve ripped off from a low speed slide.
You get what you pay for.

Motu
22nd September 2005, 14:32
You gotta pay for quality - but...if I got my Spidi jacket half price on sale,is it only half as good as the full price model?

jrandom
22nd September 2005, 14:39
Leather smells nicer. :devil2:

not after a long ride in hot weather with a large fat smelly man sweating into it, it doesnt.

vifferman
22nd September 2005, 14:55
The only trend I dont like in both leathers and synthetics is the use of these plastic inserts that are so called protection. I prefer the impact resistant foam instead - seem to get less bruises from it).
My jacket (Teknic) has padded kevlar pads on the outside of the elbows/shoulders, and underneath those are pockets, which house CE armour. Yes, this is plastic, but it has foam on the inside, so it gives the best of both worlds.

That's where quality matters. All textile isn't the same. My Spidi jacket wasn't even marked from a similar slide and I've seen another Spidi jacket after a 110 km/h 'off', there were two small holes over the elbow armour and scuffing on the back, that was it.
Yet I've seen a Spool jacket that nearly had a sleeve ripped off from a low speed slide.
You get what you pay for.
Agreed.
I really like my Teknic jacket, and I'm wondering what to replace it with, especially now that it's a hybrid of leather, kevlar and Cordura. The Cordura, despite being high thread count (1000 denier, IIRC), wore through very rapidly in the first slide I had, which was only a couple of metres at less than 40km/h. Not impressive, especially given my leather boots and trousers have withstood multiple 'abrasive episodes' with little more than an application of shoe polish being required.

During my trawling of the web for jackets recently, i'll noticed a couple of brands are bringing out leather and cordura combo jackets, so leather in the high impact zones and cordura in the parts that need to breath which are usually different areas, all they have to do is make it close to 100% water proof with removable liners and vents and you have a jacket for all seasons, rather then the i'm too cold i'm to hot, i'm too wet nonsense i'm currently going through.
Yup. That's what my jacket currently is like, but it's getting a little tired: the fabric's very faded (and presumably somewhat degraded by UV); the velcro doesn't work as well as it used to, and it takes frequent applications of Scotchgard to keep the rain out.

dawnrazor
22nd September 2005, 15:02
You gotta pay for quality - but...if I got my Spidi jacket half price on sale,is it only half as good as the full price model?
No thats what is known in the trade as a bargin. Thats like saying if i steal a spidi jacket does that mean i'll never crash.

and other moronic progressions

Lou Girardin
22nd September 2005, 15:10
You gotta pay for quality - but...if I got my Spidi jacket half price on sale,is it only half as good as the full price model?

Yes. It's got the cheap bastard curse on it.

Ixion
22nd September 2005, 15:13
You gotta pay for quality - but...if I got my Spidi jacket half price on sale,is it only half as good as the full price model?

Well sorta. y'see the reason it was half price was cos it's only the *front* of a jacket. Cos they knew you'd spend so much time admiring y'self in the mirror that you wouldn't notice there was no back. So, as long as when you come off you keep face down, it'll be fine.

SlowHand
22nd September 2005, 15:19
Nothing is as cool as a man dressed up in leather on a bike

That sounds so sexy

Damn! why did I get fabric! should've got leathers!! Dont say no yet, here's a preview :moon:

are leathers much of a all rounder tho? I dont see it being too comfortable when wet - hey that should be a road sign! :wari:

Ixion
22nd September 2005, 15:21
Damn! why did I get fabric! should've got leathers!! Dont say no yet, here's a preview :moon:

are leathers much of a all rounder tho? I dont see it being too comfortable when wet - hey that should be a road sign! :wari:

They're usually OK , in so far as it takes a heck of a lot of rain to soak leather through enough to wet you under it. But the problem is (a) wet leather weighs a ton cos it absorbs the water ; and (b) it takes days and days to dry out.

vifferman
22nd September 2005, 15:38
...and (c) it's very cold when wet.

(But you could say that about most garments).

parsley
22nd September 2005, 19:42
not after a long ride in hot weather with a large fat smelly man sweating into it, it doesnt.
I bow to your superior knowledge.