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bear
11th November 2004, 07:19
Wondering if anybody has had off's wearing non-leather gear. Updated my riding gear lately and went for some canvas type jacket and pants with armour inserts. Heaps warmer and waterproof/windproof. Brand is RJays (Aussie).

What are your thoughts, and has anyone had an off wearing this gear (how did it perform)?

Paul in NZ
11th November 2004, 07:25
If I was going to slide a long way down a race track I'd take leather

If I was going to get run over by a car I'll take all the CE approved armour I can fit

If I'm going to ride a long way, I'll take warm and dry thanks...

Paul N

Motu
11th November 2004, 07:44
I've had this desicion too - for the riding I do I went textile...as Paul said,warm and dry goes a long way when you're going a long way.I'm after impact protection more than abrasion protection,so textile and hard armour is the way to go.

Quasievil
11th November 2004, 07:51
I am lucky enough to have both, I wear leather on day rides, if wet with a over rain suit. If Im touring for a distance and its cold ie winter I wear my technic.

Leather is better for comfort if not cold. Tecknic better when cold,but tight around the legs on a sports bike.

in a crash I would think they are much the same?? dont want to find out but I feel just as safe in both sets of gear

Sniper
11th November 2004, 07:52
If I was going to slide a long way down a race track I'd take leather

If I was going to get run over by a car I'll take all the CE approved armour I can fit

If I'm going to ride a long way, I'll take warm and dry thanks...

Paul N

Paul has spoke the words of wisdom. Warm and dry is the way to go if you are into long rides.

But personally, riding hard and sometimes fast, I tend to go towards the leathers more.

But thats only my opinion :gob:

Blakamin
11th November 2004, 07:54
I've got the RJays Voyager gear... nice and warm and waterproof! :2thumbsup

vifferman
11th November 2004, 08:01
We've had this thread a time or two.

I used to wear only leather, but it wasn't waterproof, it was too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and didn't have proper armour.
Once I saw a textile jacket with armour in it, I decided to give it a try, and wore my leather jacket only once after that.

First time I binned wearing my Teknic cordura jacket (low-speed lowside on asphalt), I wore a hole about the size of a 20c nearly right throught the cordura (500 denier weight, I think.) The kevlar patches on the elbows were scuffed but OK. Subsequent similar incidents repeated the damage, as textiles (even kevlar) don't have the abrasion resistance of leather. The man-made fabrics tend to melt or jsut abrade through. So I had the shoulders and lower sleeves overlaid with leather, and crash tested that. Brilliant, if a bit warmer (leather over 2 layers of breathable fabric doesn't breathe). See my profile picture for an idea of how it looks.

The advantage of textiles is they're "all year round" and "all weather" fabrics. Ultimate protection can only be afforded by tight-fitting (tailored) leather gear, with CE-approved armour underneath, double layers of leather in critical slide-prone areas (seat, elbows, knees, etc), and double-stitched seams with kevlar thread.

FWIW, I now wear a Teknic Hurricane jacket, which has 'soft' external armour covered by kevlar, leather here and there, hard CE armour in elbows/forearms, shoulders, and built-in back protector. There's also provision (a pocket) for a proper articulated back protector. The jacket is zipped to leather pants with Knox armour in the knees, and slip-in thick neoprene in the hips.

Wearing leather only or textile only is a compromise between crash protection and weather protection. I can wear the same thing all year round, by removing/adding liners, opening/closing vent zips, etc. I wear waterproof nylon pants over the leather ones if it's wet, and wear water-resistant boots all the time, and waterproof gloves if I have to.

Hope this helps.

Pwalo
11th November 2004, 08:25
We've had this thread a time or two.

I used to wear only leather, but it wasn't waterproof, it was too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and didn't have proper armour.
Once I saw a textile jacket with armour in it, I decided to give it a try, and wore my leather jacket only once after that.

First time I binned wearing my Teknic cordura jacket (low-speed lowside on asphalt), I wore a hole about the size of a 20c nearly right throught the cordura (500 denier weight, I think.) The kevlar patches on the elbows were scuffed but OK. Subsequent similar incidents repeated the damage, as textiles (even kevlar) don't have the abrasion resistance of leather. The man-made fabrics tend to melt or jsut abrade through. So I had the shoulders and lower sleeves overlaid with leather, and crash tested that. Brilliant, if a bit warmer (leather over 2 layers of breathable fabric doesn't breathe). See my profile picture for an idea of how it looks.

The advantage of textiles is they're "all year round" and "all weather" fabrics. Ultimate protection can only be afforded by tight-fitting (tailored) leather gear, with CE-approved armour underneath, double layers of leather in critical slide-prone areas (seat, elbows, knees, etc), and double-stitched seams with kevlar thread.

FWIW, I now wear a Teknic Hurricane jacket, which has 'soft' external armour covered by kevlar, leather here and there, hard CE armour in elbows/forearms, shoulders, and built-in back protector. There's also provision (a pocket) for a proper articulated back protector. The jacket is zipped to leather pants with Knox armour in the knees, and slip-in thick neoprene in the hips.

Wearing leather only or textile only is a compromise between crash protection and weather protection. I can wear the same thing all year round, by removing/adding liners, opening/closing vent zips, etc. I wear waterproof nylon pants over the leather ones if it's wet, and wear water-resistant boots all the time, and waterproof gloves if I have to.

Hope this helps.

That man's right. Started with leather, but yu can't compete with the versatility of modern textile gear (on the road at least).

dhunt
11th November 2004, 09:34
One of my mates says that the teknic stuff is ok for one crash after that it needs some work, Leathers on the other hand handle multiple crashes. When I binned it early this year in leathers I was quite pleased with the results and would highly recommend leathers. Being a bit cold I can get over with, being a bit wet I can get over with, but being a bit broken is a bit harder to get over with and if the leathers are better at that part I'll stick with them.

MOTOXXX
11th November 2004, 09:45
talk to sparky bills, hes crashed in both i thnk.

ive never crashed in the cordura stuff but after that 4wd pulled out on me with my leathers on.

ill take leather and a rain suit any day of the week.
i didnt have one scratch on me and even tho i seperated my shoulder when i hit the power poll, the titanium and shoulder pad took most of the impact , also the knee slider and knee pad on the right side where the initial impact was saved me shattering my knee and ive only hurt the ligament.

was off work for 3 weeks instead of maybe 3 months.
Good gear is the best investment you can make for sure.

But it sure is nice to be warm and dry in the cordura stuff if you can keep the armour snug against your body.

Blakamin
11th November 2004, 10:00
ill take leather and a rain suit any day of the week.
i didnt have one scratch on me and even tho i seperated my shoulder when i hit the power poll, the titanium and shoulder pad took most of the impact , also the knee slider and knee pad on the right side where the initial impact was saved me shattering my knee and ive only hurt the ligament.


Are your leathers farqed, or did they come thru ok?
ps...will edit that vid tonite

vifferman
11th November 2004, 10:10
One of my mates says that the teknic stuff is ok for one crash after that it needs some work, Leathers on the other hand handle multiple crashes. I'm not your mate (?), but I said that too.
All my gear's been crashed in multiple times: the Teknic jacket (pre-leatherising) didn't handle abrasion well, but after the leather bits went on, was only scuffed.

Pants have once required a seam restitched where it abraded through, but otherwise just a bit of shoe polish where the surface was scuffed (as did the leather on my jacket last time).
Oh - and I was very glad I put decent kneepads in my trousers before I wrote my VFR off. My left knee-leg (or is that leg-knee?) got crushed between the bike and the side of the car that U-turned into me, and yes - it was sore, swollen and had some nerve damage for a while, but nothing more, and it's fine now. The boots also helped heaps - they have ankle cups both sides (some don't) and a stiffish heel, and although my heel was pretty damned sore, and still hurts sometimes, I was able to walk on it the same day without passing out or falling over. Just. (Mind you, when Mrs FS arrived home from overseas, there was trouble...:o )

Gloves? Amazingly, I've only ever once touched the road with them, and at the time I was wearing my Orina waterproofs, which ended up with a small hole through the suede pad on the butt of my palm, and into whatever was underneath. Hurt for an hour or two.
The one time I've whacked my head was the same incident; if you're going to do that, try not to hit the road with the temple area - there's less padding there (especially on flip-fronts), and your skull is thinnest there. I had very mild concussion for a few days.

vifferman
11th November 2004, 10:13
But it sure is nice to be warm and dry in the cordura stuff if you can keep the armour snug against your body.Very important point!
If any gear doesn't fit so it doesn't ride up, rotate, etc. in a crash, then it makes it a bit useless, even if it does have armour. Also loose gear can bundle up, grip the road, and instead of sliding you end up 'rag dolling', risking more injury.
When I bought my jacket, I thought the straps, flaps and domes were to cinch it in to stop it flapping in the wind, but it doesn't flap anyway. They're there to make sure the armour stays located over the areas it's supposed to protect.

MOTOXXX
11th November 2004, 10:16
Are your leathers farqed, or did they come thru ok?
ps...will edit that vid tonite

yes. the pants are fine and only have a few little scuffs but because its a part zip together one, its probly gona be all written off. they had to cut me out of the jacket. ill post up some pics at lunch time

Blakamin
11th November 2004, 10:25
yes. the pants are fine and only have a few little scuffs but because its a part zip together one, its probly gona be all written off. they had to cut me out of the jacket. ill post up some pics at lunch time
so when do you get them and your bike back?

MOTOXXX
11th November 2004, 10:48
the bike i dont know if shes coming back and most likley will be written off which breaks my heart. so the insurance company will pay out less the excess and wait for the police report to come through and that will determine wheather i get the rest of the money.



put in a contents claim for the helmet, new visor and leathers but havent heard back from them yet. its around $2.5k worth of gear i think so ill hav to chase them up.

after that crash im kind of reluctant to have a realy nice bike again and maybe just get something middle of the range. ill have to wait and see i guess

Blakamin
11th November 2004, 10:56
the bike i dont know if shes coming back and most likley will be written off which breaks my heart. so the insurance company will pay out less the excess and wait for the police report to come through and that will determine wheather i get the rest of the money.

Bar stards... from what i saw, the only avoidance of the idiot was killin yerself over the road!



put in a contents claim for the helmet, new visor and leathers but havent heard back from them yet. its around $2.5k worth of gear i think so ill hav to chase them up.

Hassle them heaps



after that crash im kind of reluctant to have a realy nice bike again and maybe just get something middle of the range. ill have to wait and see i guess
NOOOOO!... get another primo bike!... you cant ride a shitter when deep down inside you want something nice! you might end up havin it forever!

how are YOU feelin...body healin alright?

Jess
11th November 2004, 11:10
:shit: its not fun to read your guys' horror stories when i ride (even pillion on Ants Bandit) in cotton...i dont think i will be riding my scoot again in a miniskirt... getting canned off by a car in that would be nasty.
i want leathers!!! :crybaby:
whats more i want Ant to wear something better than jeans/cotton dress pants. he rides more than i do.

Mr Skid
11th November 2004, 11:32
:shit: its not fun to read your guys' horror stories when i ride (even pillion on Ants Bandit) in cotton...i dont think i will be riding my scoot again in a miniskirt... getting canned off by a car in that would be nasty.
i want leathers!!! :crybaby:
whats more i want Ant to wear something better than jeans/cotton dress pants. he rides more than i do.

Give him a clip round the ear about jeans/dress pants k?

Stonechucker was kind enough to demonstrate how crap normal jeans are in a bin. I stopped wearing jeans on the bike after seeing his knee.

I wear my cordura pants over jeans or shorts, then just put them into a backpack when I get where I'm going, works for me.

rodgerd
11th November 2004, 11:37
:shit: its not fun to read your guys' horror stories when i ride (even pillion on Ants Bandit) in cotton...i dont think i will be riding my scoot again in a miniskirt... getting canned off by a car in that would be nasty.
i want leathers!!!

Leather miniskirt?

Two Smoker
11th November 2004, 11:43
Ive got both Cordura and Leathers....

My leathers arent too bad in the rain (my upper body generally stays dry....)

I havnt binned in my Cordura yet, but ive heard it is a one bin only item..... it is supposed to have good abrasion resistance because it slides very easily...

Ive hit the tarmac about 5 times in my leathers.... Only wore a hole in them once, and most of the other times i had to get small seams restitched..... thats at speeds from 60-150kmh

Because of my riding* style (*read stupid) i pretty much only wear leathers.....

If your going to be a quick rider/weekend blatter, go for a two piece leather suit.... If your going racing, get a one piece...

If your going touring and long rides or off to work at sensible speeds, go for armoured cordura...

MOTOXXX
11th November 2004, 11:45
NOOOOO!... get another primo bike!... you cant ride a shitter when deep down inside you want something nice! you might end up havin it forever!

how are YOU feelin...body healin alright?[/QUOTE]

feeling better. still not 100% but slowly getting better. i am back at work full time now and although i cant do any of the trade physical work, i can do all the phone related stuff and handling claims and over seeing jobs.

first job when i got back was make the coffee. haha

Jess
11th November 2004, 12:16
ROGERD: Leather miniskirt?
no... :eek5: what good would that be?

JohnBoy
11th November 2004, 13:23
i use to be a great fan of the synthetics but now its leather. came off on the track and the only reason i didnt injur myself was because of my leathers, they were not the best set, hell they were not even zipped together but they did an awsome job. going to buy a new suit when funds allow.

Eamon... you know the rules brother... when ever you write off a bike you just go out and buy a bigger and faster one!! its hard to go from class to arse...

Firefight
11th November 2004, 14:05
I can't belive its takin this long.


Hummmmmmm "Chicks in Leather " :love: :love:


F/F :wacko:

magnum
11th November 2004, 22:35
what do racers wear?and why.think about it. :whistle:

tlronny
12th November 2004, 05:26
Just a thought - Are the "textiles" really waterproof as they say in the ads as I have a relatively expensive one and it aint waterproof at all !
Leather is way "cooler" and I think the newer ones are more for the "born agains" myself ?

:moon: :moon: :moon: :moon: :moon: :moon: :moon: :moon: :moon:

Motu
12th November 2004, 06:24
what do racers wear?and why.think about it. :whistle:

Speedway riders always wore leather,but now I see them wearing purpose built synthetic suits - obviously someones done some reshearch and found what works best in those conditions....and it's not the cost,I see these suits on the guys coming from Europe,the local lads still wear leather.

rodgerd
12th November 2004, 06:30
what do racers wear?and why.think about it. :whistle:

Well, motorcross racers wear plastic armour and precious little leather, don't they?

Bonez
12th November 2004, 06:36
I'm clad I had my leather one suit on when a was ran into by a car at Waipuk many years ago-not bowled just bounced back from the bumper about a metre or so. It kept my lower leg together- both bones where broken and I was wondering why I couldn't support the bike to put my side side down. It's amazing what the body can cope with. Never got around to getting another one. Always wondered if the synthic stuff would have done the same job.

Jess
12th November 2004, 12:08
how much does a new zip together set of leathers cost? size med womens. around about.

AMPS
12th November 2004, 13:00
how much does a new zip together set of leathers cost? size med womens. around about.
Tecnic Thunders are $720.00 on special. But they're not a female cut.
Lou

Jackrat
12th November 2004, 18:16
Leather looks better,after a few years it looks even better.
I've had my current jacket about 12 years,it still looks pretty good,Fits like a glove an warm.My leather pants are my second pair,bought second hand and have no lining,their bloody cold without thermals under them.
My last Jacket and pants went down the road big time,they saved me a heap of skin but got torn to bits.I think Body armour would of saved me a stay in hospital.Something to think about next time I'm shopping.

magnum
13th November 2004, 07:18
Well, motorcross racers wear plastic armour and precious little leather, don't they?
i assumed we were talking road riding? :Pokey:

Motu
13th November 2004, 07:48
i assumed we were talking road riding? :Pokey:

So who brought up the subject of racers?

magnum
13th November 2004, 08:15
So who brought up the subject of racers?
obviosly need to be more specific,road racers :finger:

magnum
13th November 2004, 09:29
btw,used to race karts and one time flipped it landing on my shoulder wearing a cordura suit,tarmac wore thru it and i have the scar to prove it,thus do not trust fabrics.

scroter
13th November 2004, 09:39
btw,used to race karts and one time flipped it landing on my shoulder wearing a cordura suit,tarmac wore thru it and i have the scar to prove it,thus do not trust fabrics.

do you trust fabrics while your becoming the space invader champion when your at work

Motu
13th November 2004, 09:52
obviosly need to be more specific,road racers :finger:


Um...and what's that got to do with riding on the road,with other cars,trucks pedestrians,traffic lights animals,roadworks - the gear required for road racing is not the same as for road riding...or MX,or speedway,or any other motorcycle sport.

magnum
13th November 2004, 10:38
do you trust fabrics while your becoming the space invader champion when your at work
yes yes i do. :ride:

inlinefour
13th November 2004, 11:16
Wondering if anybody has had off's wearing non-leather gear. Updated my riding gear lately and went for some canvas type jacket and pants with armour inserts. Heaps warmer and waterproof/windproof. Brand is RJays (Aussie).

What are your thoughts, and has anyone had an off wearing this gear (how did it perform)?

:argh: crapped off with leathers at 200kph as a teenager, leather was shite! :Oops:
I hace spyke racing gear now and I believe that it will out preform leathers any day :brick: not that I'm going to go that fast anymore on my CB...

bear
17th November 2004, 09:36
Well, don't generally ride that fast, so the non-leather gear should suffice for now, and esp. for the long trips.

Cheers

Sniper
17th November 2004, 09:41
Well, don't generally ride that fast, so the non-leather gear should suffice for now, and esp. for the long trips.

Cheers

I second that, I was going to buy leathers but Ive decided that Im doingmore long trips than worrying about falling off. Are leathers comfy or not really?