Love my leather (textile) jacket

[texmo]

What is a chamois, where do you find it on the cow?

[Blakamin]

What is a chamois, where do you find it on the cow?

a chamois is a type of antelope i think

[Hitcher]

a chamois is a type of antelope i think

An extremely agile goat antelope (Rupicapra rupicapra)

[Posh Tourer :P]

WTF is up with that why do they call it a chamois then?

Cos slinky was already copyrighted and they couldnt call it new born lamb skin???

That and it may have originally been sourced from chamois, but later changed

[texmo]

Do you guys use chamois on your bikes after you wash them?
Leather or synthetic?

[Posh Tourer :P]

How does The Original Chamois Company make Chamois Leather ?

Chamois leather is made from high quality sheep and lamb skin.
The skin is split into 2 pieces.
The flesh side being used for Chamois and the outer piece for other leather types.
The flesh side is Hot Drum Tanned in Genuine Cod Liver Oil.
Thus Giving the skin it unique character of Chamois Leather.
Chamois leather is then dry-cleaned to remove excess oil.
Final stages include buffing the leather with an abrasive wheel, removing any excess grain and fleshings


Does that explain it? from www.chamois.co.nz/faq/

[Posh Tourer :P]

http://www.kiwisafaris.co.nz/chamois.htm tells you all about the animal that donated it's name, but none of it's skin to the product. It is indeed related to the antelope, and is classed as a pest in NZ, in the alpine areas, perhaps somewhat contentiously...

[jrandom]

classed as a pest

= 'can shoot it'.

Good.

[jrandom]

http://www.kiwisafaris.co.nz/chamois.htm tells you all about the animal that donated it's name

"we also have areas which are only accessible by helicopter..."

"to fat, overly wealthy American tourists who need an M249 to hit anything" remaining unsaid, of course.

[Posh Tourer :P]

= 'can shoot it'.

Good.

That was the original point of it being introduced....

[AMPS]

Sporty '03, the Spidi range tends to get updated every year, so it looks like a lot of models but some are just updates. The GT range is a shorter cut jacket designed to be zipped to the GT pants. Others like the Roadway range are longer, touring style jackets. Go into www.spidi.com and check the features. Barring bins, these things will last for years and are actually waterproof, unlike some.
The new Technic gear is also very good. They've gone to Goretex liners in the higher end models, they're also a bit cheaper than Spidi.
As for waterproof leathers, Harley do the FXRG range which is a water-resistant leather outer with a detachable waterproof liner. Absolutely superb gear, premium price though. And it's understated, not covered in Harley logos for those with other loyalties.
Lou

[sporty03]

Lou,

Thanks for the info and the link. Will be in for a look as soon as the work pressures allow. Probably in 1/2 an hour or so.

Cheers
Graham

[vifferman]

Crikey! I've missed out on a few threads I could've put my oar in on while I was in Orstrylya. Since Lou mentioned my name, I thought I'd better chime in on this.
OK - I used to wear only leather, but got tired of the unpredictable D'Auckland weather, so I invested in a Teknic Hurricane jacket. The comparison is:
Leather jacket: Hot in summer, cold in winter, showerproof at best, good abrasion resistance, poor impact resistance (thin foam 'armour' only).
Tecknic: Cool in summer (zip vents in chest, back, sleeves), warm in winter (thermal liner and detachable neck warmer for those with detachable necks), waterproof (via special breathable fabric, not Goretex), partially abrasion resistant (padded kevlar armour on elbows and shoulders), good impact resistance (hard armour in elbows and shoulders and built-in back protector).

It doesn't flap in the wind, but it can be 'cinched in' on the sleeves, sides and waist via a combination of domes and straps. There is provision (pouch in the lining) for an additional vetebrae style spine protector. It has reflective stripes on the sleeves. The cordura doesn't offer very good protection in a slide, which is why it now has leather covering the lower sleeves and shoulders, which had holes in from a couple of short slides on the tarseal and asphalt. There is a zip on the back which attaches to my (leather) pants. Because of the leather parts, it doesn't breathe as well as it used to and the leather sucks up water, so I now just wash it a couple of times a year in the washing machine (it gets VERY grubby commuting!), and spray the whole thing with masses of silicon.

By the way, whoever asked about synthetic vs. 'natural' chamois - the synthetic ones SUCK. They're practically useless.

[VivaVee]

[QUOTE=firestormer]so I now just wash it a couple of times a year in the washing machine (it gets VERY grubby commuting!), and spray the whole thing with masses of silicon.
QUOTE]

Hi

Do you mean you put the jacket in the washing machine? Gentle or torrid? Do you use a special wash or just regular powder?

In case yopu are wondering I've lost the instructions for my suit but vaguely remember concerns about washing powders attacking (blocking?) the waterproof lining.

[Paul in NZ]

I've owned a Spidi NT Tour for around 6 years and 45,000km.

Generally it is a pretty good bit of kit but I'm not sure the brand is worth the premium charged for it (Spidi).

Leather is great but when you are touring, you cannot beat the textile equipment. Vicki and I road home from raglan on sunday and it rained / drizzled all the way. I had a thin polyprop t shirt and a longsleeve cotton T and was warm as toast all the way and DRY. What's more, the gear dries out in a flash, none of that get wet on the first day and stay wet the whole trip crap you get with leather.

My jacket is a little worse for wear and is starting to leak a little in torrential rain.

Never wash them in ordinary laundry powder. It's mostly phospourous bulking agent and it clogs the gaps between the fibres wrecking the breathability and allows water to wick through (leaks). Use a sports wash obtainable from sports goods stores.

Similarly, don't let them get too dirty!!! Same thing happens.

Basically, there are 2 systems, jackets that use a waterproof outer layer and ones (like Spidi) that use a tough outer layer and a waterproof membrane underneath. The later have a sort of gutter system so don't wear your gloves over the sleeves if it is gunna rain.... Your gloves will fill up with water really fast!

The later Spidi gear is better and better and will last longer (according to an email I got from Spidi) but I'm pretty happy I will keep mine a bit longer yet!

Cheers