https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/33158-iYRe Kiwi Biker - New Zealand motorcycle community en Thu, 21 May 2026 09:51:09 GMT vBulletin 20 https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/images/BP-Brown/misc/rss.jpg https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/blog.php/33158-iYRe https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6468-Review-RJAY-s-quot-Stout-quot-touring-jacket Sun, 01 May 2016 02:08:34 GMT Being a larger guy, with a mag wheel and a long torso I find it REALLY hard to find a decent jacket. I had been using a CNELL jacket which fitted, but I "outgrew" it. Then I had a revit, which was WAY too short (no one wants to see my gut hanging out - and it was hellish uncomfortable).

So I went to cycletreads to try on a bunch of jackets and get a better fit. I was looking for a dririder, but there was none. There were ICON and various other jackets in large sizes, which fitted, but were too short.

Eventually tried on this RJAYs stout. Effectively its an XL with a multiple XL ummm... waist. Lets call it a spare tyre warmer. Got the biggest one I could fine, threw it on.. it was a bit "stiff" but had HEAPS of room. Did it all up and did the squat test.. comfy. Got permission from the bank manager and bought it.

Next day I went out for a ride with the boys. It was quite cold, so I left the thermal liner in. Toasty. Comfy. Cuffs big enough to go around the outside of my gauntlets if its raining, small enough to go inside if its not. Long enough so my gut doesnt hang out too much, but small enough so that when I am leaning forward there is no undue pressure.

It rained a bit and the waterproofing worked. Took out the thermal after awhile and was impressed that it was still warm. It has heaps of pockets, including a large zip up on the back (like a bicyclists one). Decent chunky zips.. quite a few zip up pockets with clip down flaps on top.

The huge plus is that it has one zip. Its easy to get on and off. The revit I have has many zips and dangly annoying things. The thermal liner zips in and out and it has the fasteners on the sleeve, unlike the revit which has them in the jacket, so when you remove the liners you still have these dangly fasteners hanging out. Brilliant.

Its super comfy... the armor on the back sticks into you a little when you stand up - not painful, you just notice its there - but it disappears while riding. It has heaps of vents for summer. I now enjoy riding again. My bike handles better and goes faster and no longer tires me out and hurts my back. Thanks RJAYS. ]]> iYRe https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/6468-Review-RJAY-s-quot-Stout-quot-touring-jacket https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2778-A-sort-of-Comparison-1Tonne-Modular-helmet-vs-SHOEI-Raid-II Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:47:50 GMT I call this a "sort of" comparison, because the 2 helmets are quite dissimilar. However, I had my hands on both and thought it an interesting comparison between a $160 helmet and a $500 ish helmet.

The 1Tonne modular helmet is my own, and I have been using it for about 2 years. The Shoei Raid is a friend who was unable to use it, so I thought I would test it out and see if I needed to upgrade. So.. my impressions were these:

1Tonne:
- service is good.
- helmet is fairly decently made
- visor clips for changing visor are a bit fiddly
- visor doesnt go up out of my field of vision.
- visor stays up till about 100kmh then closes (no issues for me actually, I like this "feature")
- vents are not great
- rarely fogs up.
- seems quite noisey
- I like the strap clip
- modular nature means it is good for glasses (even without flipping it up, there is plenty room for glasses)
- replacement visor = $30
- all insides are removable and washable.
- has an awesome internal sunvisor

Shoei:
- seems fairly large
- vents work well
- fogs up easily
- dont like the d-ring
- the visor clicks are stiff and require some force to move but will stay in place at speed.
- the "brow" of the opening seems to be at the top of my vision and is annoying.
- found it annoying getting my glasses in and out.
- replacement visor = $50-70
- insides are removable, washable, and replaceable.
- I found it slightly quieter, in a sort of muffled way, which I didnt actually like much.
- visor change mechanism is easy to use
- no internal sunvisor.

The upshot is, I'd like a better helmet, but I am not sure that something worth $500 gives me much benefit, in fact, unless I could get it in modular form with an internal sun visor, I probably wouldnt bother. The 1tonne helmet it turns out, is great value for money. One of the big differences I have noticed is how they react to airflow. The SHOEI is quite directional. If you turn your head at all, it seems to be noisier and harder to control, where the 1tonne does not change much at all.
If I had less than $500 I think I would buy another 1tonne helmet and use the difference to buy a better jacket/pants/gloves/boots - this is where I think I would notice the real value. I have a NERVE (cnell) jacket which has been good, but when I compared it to a REVIT jacket (same price difference as the helmets) there was no comparison. The revit jacket was lighter, thinner, warmer, better looking and more comfortable (particularly under the dririder rainsuit). HUGE difference.

I'd like to compare now to a helmet in the next range up.. $700 up. ]]> iYRe https://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/entry.php/2778-A-sort-of-Comparison-1Tonne-Modular-helmet-vs-SHOEI-Raid-II