How long should a jacket zip last?

[stevedg]

Spoke to Citizens Advice and they had a list of life expectancy of appliances but not much on clothing or zips, although they thought it would be worth following up with the retailer.
I then took the jacket around to an repairer (said retailer recommended I took it there for repair and kindly gave me the address details). She was quite helpful and indicated that yes it could be repaired, but would have to order in the zip from YKK and would not be able to attempt the job till end of January next year - bugga! When I asked about should have I expected the zip to last longer than 15 months she said yes, but not if I had damaged it, fair 'nough. the Zip failed as it had jammed and the teeth came away from the webbing as I was trying to free it, probably, but as I was wearing the jacket when it happened and I could not remove the jacket with it zipped up it was difficult to say what caused the jam. I then proceeded to zip the jacket up and low and behold the lower zip mis-enguaged twice and started coming apart. The fly was fine, she examined that so basically it comes down to the plastic teeth spiral, I expect, not being up to standard use in a bike jacket. She appeared satisfied that I had a point and said go back to the shop and see what could be done. The repair job was going to be around $100, so she suggested maybe the shop might agree to go halves (I had got a years good use out of the zip). That, I think, places the onus on the retailer and not the manufacturer. As far as I am concerned the retailer is not the one at fault with a substandard product, but hopefully they stand by their client (the shopper) to ensure they are looked after, then the client is more than likely to return to said shop where he felt he was valued and not just being a pain in the posterior. But I could have this figured wrong, wouldn't be the first time.

[vifferman]

I've never had any motorcycle gear with zips fail in such a short timespan. My current jacket (which has 7 zips, some of which are very specialised and fine (especially on the cuffs, which zip up to present a smooth, waterproof surface) have stood up to more than 5 years of almost daily use. The last zip failure I had was on some 5-year old Styl Martyn boots - the only part that was worn, and a bit of a bugger because of that.
I'd be VERY pissed off to have a zip fail after only a year.

[wickle]

would seem the teeth on zip were damaged in some way resulting in the jam, balance of damaged caused by trying to remove /fix by yourself

[roogazza]

I went for a little tootle the other day. I'd thought, I know I'll wear my Belstaff Jacket !! (to see if it still fits).
I went to put it on and the tip of the zip fell off as I tried to zip up !
I thought that's a bit rough, I only bought it in 1972 !!
41 years , not bad.

[Arrowolf]

I am still wearing my old Held jacket, bougth in 2005 in Germany. The velcro looks a bit worn, but everything else is still in good shape.
Back at the time,i paid about 450 euro.
You always get what you pay for.
So, when the zip did not last this long, what about the fabric????
I wouldnt trust the cheap sh...t.

[stevedg]

I've never had any motorcycle gear with zips fail in such a short timespan. My current jacket (which has 7 zips, some of which are very specialised and fine (especially on the cuffs, which zip up to present a smooth, waterproof surface) have stood up to more than 5 years of almost daily use. The last zip failure I had was on some 5-year old Styl Martyn boots - the only part that was worn, and a bit of a bugger because of that.
I'd be VERY pissed off to have a zip fail after only a year.

Took the jacket back to the shop on Friday. It will be send away and we'll see what the importer says, the retailer said he would be quite concerned about this line if they don't stand behind their product. Yep, zips will fail but 15 months sounds a bit short. The rest of the fabric is in reasonable state so certainly worth repairing if possible.

Might be after New Year before I hear back though, NZ often closes down this time of year.

[BuzzardNZ]

I bought a decent leather bike jacket second hand about 20 odd years ago.

Leather is looking a bit worse for wear, but the zip is still going strong.

[Taxythingy]

I've got a 12yo Orina textile jacket that's had 2.5 years of daily all-weather commuting. The zip zips. Waterproofing is shot to hell, but everything else is good for another couple of years at least. It wasn't an expensive jacket - I guess around $400 today.

[Oscar]

I took my REV'IT jacket back to Boyd Motorcycles after 11 months as it wasn't keeping the water out as advertised.
I'd been on several hard adv rides and fallen off a couple of times wearing it, and I told them that it had had a tough life - one of the velcro straps had come off and some stitching had come adrift. I wasn't complaining about the stitching etc, just that the wet liner didn't seem to work.


They sent it back to the importer, who authorised a replacement a week later.

[Zedder]

I took my REV'IT jacket back to Boyd Motorcycles after 11 months as it wasn't keeping the water out as advertised.
I'd been on several hard adv rides and fallen off a couple of times wearing it, and I told them that it had had a tough life - one of the velcro straps had come off and some stitching had come adrift. I wasn't complaining about the stitching etc, just that the wet liner didn't seem to work.


They sent it back to the importer, who authorised a replacement a week later.

Good to see that it all went well.

[Berries]

Took the jacket back to the shop on Friday. It will be send away and we'll see what the importer says, the retailer said he would be quite concerned about this line if they don't stand behind their product. Yep, zips will fail but 15 months sounds a bit short. The rest of the fabric is in reasonable state so certainly worth repairing if possible.

Sensible response from the retailer, should have tried them first instead of KB?

Then again, all zips seem to come from YKK so it may be not the jacket manufacturers problem. I have a textile Dianese jacket that I have pretty much worn every day since I got it, must be close to ten years. It is getting close to needing replacement now but the only failure I have had is with the main zipper. Did what yours did so I took it to a local tailor and they put a big chunky two way army zip on it for less than $50. Probably easier than sending it away for six weeks.

[stevedg]

yes, sorry I didn't give all the details initially. When the zip busted I did go into the dealer and he gave me the options of having it fixed locally myself (then I wouldn't be without a jacket for a month, would only a few hours to sew a new zip on - we didn't know at that stage the repairer was booked through to end of January) or sending it away for an unknown amount of time back to the importer. At that stage I thought it fair to gage people's impressions on the life of a zip to see if this failure is expected and I'm being unreasonable expecting a zip to last 3 years or more, thus the post to KB.
I now feel that I should continue and inform you of the final outcome: the report from the importer was that the zip cannot be repaired without affecting it's waterproofness (is there such a thing on a motorbike jacket?). So they offered the local dealer to discount the same model jacket and sell that to me. According to the dealer, he laughed and said that wouldn't cut it as the replacement jacket was not the same - it lacked the hi-viz panelling that sold the jacket to me in the first place. So the dealer offered the latest model jacket with the hi-viz at an amazing discount (actual only cost twice what the repair cost of the zip was going to be), so I grabbed his offer.
I'm still a bit pissed as the dealer has bent over backwards to make sure I'm happy (he didn't have to!), but the importer has not stood by their gear (the cost of the jacket replacement was to the dealer and myself) - either that means that the importer feels their gear is only good for 12-15 months and the consumer guarantees act is no longer relevant, or that the zip failed due to my misuse - which the dealer plainly did not agree with.
I feel that the dealer has been outstanding in sorting this for me but feel that he has also been let down by his supplier, hopefully he will be able to work something out with them later so he's not out of pocket. The dealer still endorses RST and claims most of the guys in the shop have worn the product for many years without problem so must be just my luck. If he had any qualms about the range I'm sure the last thing he would do would be to sell me another RST jacket! And by the way RST uses MAX zips not YKK, but the local repairer claims that YKK also fail so no zip's immune.
I am now very happy with the service I've received from the local dealer and would recommend anybody going to them for gear, like L V Martin used to go on about: 'it's the putting right that counts!' and these guys have proved it for me.

[granstar]

A warning about zips. When they do blow out and they do, while you are are on the road, my experience was for a mate to produce a roll of genuine duck tape, well done old chap.
So all taped up down the front over the lame zipper with some rounds of the grey matter to keep it all in place and we are on our way, as funny as this did look. Wind chill on the tummy and a wet crotch out of the question now...but wait!
When you are on the road for some time we all know nature does call and Iv'e warned you.

Sadistic mates will not help you undo gaffa tape when you are busting for a piss.

[p.dath]

I use my gear in the wet and dry several times a week. I find I have to have the a zip maintained every 2 to 4 years or so. Usually it is the sliders that have the problems and need replacing.

[nzspokes]

that

yes, sorry I didn't give all the details initially. When the zip busted I did go into the dealer and he gave me the options of having it fixed locally myself (then I wouldn't be without a jacket for a month, would only a few hours to sew a new zip on - we didn't know at that stage the repairer was booked through to end of January) or sending it away for an unknown amount of time back to the importer. At that stage I thought it fair to gage people's impressions on the life of a zip to see if this failure is expected and I'm being unreasonable expecting a zip to last 3 years or more, thus the post to KB.
I now feel that I should continue and inform you of the final outcome: the report from the importer was that the zip cannot be repaired without affecting it's waterproofness (is there such a thing on a motorbike jacket?). So they offered the local dealer to discount the same model jacket and sell that to me. According to the dealer, he laughed and said that wouldn't cut it as the replacement jacket was not the same - it lacked the hi-viz panelling that sold the jacket to me in the first place. So the dealer offered the latest model jacket with the hi-viz at an amazing discount (actual only cost twice what the repair cost of the zip was going to be), so I grabbed his offer.
I'm still a bit pissed as the dealer has bent over backwards to make sure I'm happy (he didn't have to!), but the importer has not stood by their gear (the cost of the jacket replacement was to the dealer and myself) - either that means that the importer feels their gear is only good for 12-15 months and the consumer guarantees act is no longer relevant, or that the zip failed due to my misuse - which the dealer plainly did not agree with.
I feel that the dealer has been outstanding in sorting this for me but feel that he has also been let down by his supplier, hopefully he will be able to work something out with them later so he's not out of pocket. The dealer still endorses RST and claims most of the guys in the shop have worn the product for many years without problem so must be just my luck. If he had any qualms about the range I'm sure the last thing he would do would be to sell me another RST jacket! And by the way RST uses MAX zips not YKK, but the local repairer claims that YKK also fail so no zip's immune.
I am now very happy with the service I've received from the local dealer and would recommend anybody going to them for gear, like L V Martin used to go on about: 'it's the putting right that counts!' and these guys have proved it for me.

You warranty is with the party that sold you the item, not the importer. The retailer telling you that the importer is holding it up is not your problem. If the retailer agrees its a warranty they have to rectify the problem. they can take it up with the importer later.