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omg1010 wrote:

angellr wrote:

Xdot wrote:Hmm. Wonder how the full-Kevlar Motoport Stuff would perform in such a test? Kevlar is much more abrasion resistant than leather.

Was also *my* question as well. Kevlar, as I stated above, has tensile strength of over 3200 MPa (Force per Unit Area) while Leather's is roughly between 2,000 and 6,000 pounds per square inch. The problem with leather is that is DOES NOT breathe in really hot weather, while my Motorport does. Seams also seem to be a weak-link regarding leather. Alot of discussion/banter here: http://www.ashonbikes.com/forum/rukka-kit

Bottom line, I see full leather, Rukka and Motoport suits on the racing circuit - they all must be doing something right.

It may well be that the tensile strength of the fiber itself is higher than anything else. So maybe the Armacor fiber which contains Aramid. However this may not apply to the finished fabric. Moreover the seams are usually the weak points. Nothing beats leather when it comes to abrasion resistance.

And some guys wearing Rukka on the race track does not prove the durability of this stuff because I believe none of these riders have ever tested their gear by sliding a few 100 meters over rough tarmac ...

Brgds
Oliver

Oliver, have nothing against leather, except, that it is too hot for summer riding. It may be better on slides, but you also need to consider some of the armor that is also in these jackets. I will take my composite (motoport) over leather any day for protection (although I really like leather), especially against slides, etc. We will have to agree that we disagree on this point.

Warm weather. That's when I take off my thermal underwear. I think we once had a warmer summer (about 10 years ago) and I wore a T shirt under my black leather Triumph jacket. It got up to near 30°C for a couple of weeks and I even removed the thermal lining. Weather soon reverted to the UK norm.
Come to the UK but bring plenty of warm and waterproof clothing. 64°F at present.

Come to the UK but bring plenty of warm and waterproof clothing. 64°F at present.

Same for western Oregon: low 60s (degF) and rain yet again today. Saturday will be only the 7th day of >=70 degF weather thus far in 2011.

I didn't get any responses to my heated seat pad topic a few weeks ago, but that's probably because the rest of the world was already considering Warm Weather Rising gear.

FWIW - another Motoport Air Mesh Kevlar jacket user here.

It's been up around 95F/35C the past few days. 80% humidity. Brutal. Leather is dangerous in these conditions. The only up side is I can ride pretty much year round.

Sounds like one of our lab environmental test chambers.12°C and 49% RH here, 10.10pm.
Rarely gets very humid in the UK and so leather is never sticky for me.

gregor wrote:Sounds like one of our lab environmental test chambers.12°C and 49% RH here, 10.10pm.
Rarely gets very humid in the UK and so leather is never sticky for me.

Try playing soccer in this oven...

Xdot wrote:It's been up around 95F/35C the past few days. 80% humidity. Brutal. Leather is dangerous in these conditions. The only up side is I can ride pretty much year round.

Just curious, what makes leather dangerous in those conditions? I'm in the SE too and going to be taking a tour next week. Not sure whether to take my BMW Airflow 3 (great ventilation but no rain protection), my Joe Rocket Ballistic (with zip-in liner if it gets cool in the mountains) or my black leather Hein Gericke (maybe too hot).

BeemerBen wrote:Just curious, what makes leather dangerous in those conditions? I'm in the SE too and going to be taking a tour next week. Not sure whether to take my BMW Airflow 3 (great ventilation but no rain protection), my Joe Rocket Ballistic (with zip-in liner if it gets cool in the mountains) or my black leather Hein Gericke (maybe too hot).

Heat stroke. I was joking. Partly. You will be miserable in leather. Especially if you get stopped in traffic. As long as you're moving you'll be okay if you're in something that vents. As you know it doesn't rain much this time of year. If it does it will be a thunderstorm. You won't want to ride in than and it'll usually be gone in half an hour.

Xdot wrote:I can't imagine wearing anything other than a very light color in the summer sun. Black. Why does everyone wear black?

Cause my bike is black , and because it passes for a sport jacket from a short distance

I wear a custom made Bates leather jacket (I'm big and I'm fat) when it is the season for temps under 80 deg. F. As it gets warmer, the leather is a little uncomfortable. Next week I'm going to a rally on the central coast of California. I'll be wearing my Joe Rocket mesh jacket, but I'll be carrying the waterproof liner and a thin fleece pullover cause the nights will be in the forties. Mesh back gloves by day, leather by night. I'm still debating whether I'm going to wear my chaps. There is no wetness expected, so I'll probably just go with jeans, but I digress.....

I like the Mesh jacket for a few reasons: First of all it was available in my size, there is a lot of white to better control the absorbed heat, it has elbow, shoulder and back armor, and, at the time I bought it, I think it was around sixty bucks. Check online at Chapparal to see what current pricing might be.

Ralph

I was just looking at revzilla.com, they are selling the Revit mesh jacket for about $189. I thought that was a reasonable price and Revit does have decent armor in it. I have never looked too seriously at mesh or perforated jackets because summers in western Washington are usually pretty mild. I may buy one now because the climate seems to be cycling to warmer here. I nearly burnt to death last year when I got caught in traffic on a 100+ day in my First Gear leather.

Just got a Rev'It Air, myself. I have a full Rev'It Sand suit - jacket & pants - that I wear most of the time. But I was looking for something with more mesh for around-town stop-and-go traffic. I've worn the Sand getup on a couple of all-day rides here in NC, and it does a great job of venting when I'm moving, but it can be a bit toasty when I'm just running errands around town.

For trips and day-long rides with varying weather, I can't say enough about the Rev'It Sand outfit, though. Gonna wear the jacket tomorrow with my Rotor pants up to Montreat, since I'm starting around 7:30 AM and headed up into the mountains.

Best regards,
Andrew