Spyke Jacket

**James Deuce** · 11th October 2005, 09:57

I bought this in a sale and to be utterly honest, I've been a little disappointed with its wet weather performance. I have NO idea what model it is either, as it doesn't have anything on a label inside except "Spyke: Feel the Speed."

It is brilliant in truly freezing weather though. The zip out thermal liner REALLY works, allowing mid-Winter South Island trips with nothing more than thermal underwear and a long sleeved skivvy of some sort on underneath. I like this because you don't end up "Michelin Man-ised."

Unfortunately it is a discontinued model, so isn't listed on the Spyke website. The jacket has lots of external adjusters to alter the fit to suit, and two zips on the front that can be opened in summer to get some airflow going. It has hard armour at the shoulders and elbows, and a CE foam back protecter. It also has huge "kerprotec(tm)" abrasion pads over the elbows and shoulders.

When I saw it on the rack I thought, "Looks flash."

"Shiny," I thought.

"Buy it," said the gadget bloke at the back of my head, "It's Cheap."

Back to the wet weather perfomance issue. Something "odd" has happened of late. It's been washed a couple of times and re-waterproofed in the time that I've owned it, and that only seemed to moderate the leaking. But now that I have a naked bike, it doesn't leak at all. A normal 20-30 minute trip to work in constant rain would mean I got a bit soaked.

I think I've figured it out. A typical Sports, or Sports Tourer riding position is inclined forward with your arms sloping down to the bars. On the CB my arms are out in front of me parallel to the ground, plus I'm sitting up straight. This means that there are less creases and folds on the front of the jack so the water runs off rather than pooling. I've also noticed that I can wear my gloves on the outside of the jacket and it no longer wicks water into the inside of my gloves.

Weird. Buy a naked bike, get better weather protection than a Sprotsbike or a Sprots Tourer. Not complaining though, as my "Bloody useless piece of over-hyped crap" jacket now, after two years, works as advertised.

**madboy** · 11th October 2005, 11:38

I'm in the market for a new jacket shortly, think mine is a Moto-tech brand. Mine is falling apart at the seams after just over 18 months of use, ironically on the side I didn't slide down. Mum (ya gotta love her) has sewn it up once, and now the novelty is just plain wearing off. So when I change jobs next week, I think I'll be changing jackets too. I'm thinking another cheapie, cos I don't really want to sink $800 into a flash jacket for commuting.

And Jim, know what ya mean about pooling water. Mine is getting less and less waterproof as time goes on, but the worst areas are those that pool around the stomach/waist area from the sportsbike stance. But I'll live with that

**Lou Girardin** · 11th October 2005, 12:57

This is why sports cut jackets are often better for sprotbike riders, they are less prone to bunching up. Jackets with length adjustment on the front work well too.

**SlowHand** · 11th October 2005, 14:14

its not an E-Tapp or something? If it is, you wana get rid of the thermal layer? (joking) lost mine...

**Phurrball** · 11th October 2005, 14:27

Sounds like my Spyke jacket Jim2 - I've been pretty happy with mine in the Auckland downpours of the last couple of weeks.

Mine was super-cheap too (half price cheap!) from Motomail. I too am loving the quilted liner - in for a toasty hideously-early morning commute, and out for the warmer ride home...

I do get dampness issues with the bunched sleeves in the crook of my elbow though. The rest is good.