Can't decide on Jacket

toyopl

toyopl

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I'm just getting started with motorcycles and wanted to get myself Leather Jacket.
Don't want to get anything too aggressively cut, I'm not into racing, won't be driving in rain, don't have to commute for work on bike, just casual drive with friends.
Wanted to grab a Perforated jacket to get better airflow and there's two that apparently fall in looser fit style, both couldn't try on in local stores due to no size or stock.

Which would you recommend and is it better to buy a jacket with liner underneath (Dainese) or to buy some thermo liner separate.

A* GP Plus R http://gpbikes.com/alpinestars-gp-plus-r-perforated-leather-jacket.html
Dainese Laguna Evo http://gpbikes.com/dainese-laguna-evo-perforated-leather-jacket.html
Dainese Airfast http://gpbikes.com/dainese-airfast-perforated-leather-jacket.html

I tried A* Jaws and A* GP-R and found both to be a bit too aggressive for my liking.
 
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Whatever fits best.

My experience with perfed leathers is that the inner liners are useless. The perf flows so much air you can be cool to cold on all but the hottest days. Unless you're just putting around the city then you're OK.
Good to see somebody starting out and already looking at decent gear.
 
I've got an A* Jaws perf. I think it's a little more of a relaxed cut than the GP. I find it perfect with the liner in and great air flow with it out. I think I wrote a review on here last year about it if you search.
 
Neither of those are "looser fit". Try the A* Celer for more of a customizable jacket (a real liner, non-perf but has zippered vents).
 
cdav said:
"Won't be riding in the rain..." Think again!
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Well, I'm going on 3 years riding and haven't been caught in the rain. So YOU think again. LOL. :p

There's nothing wrong with enjoying a motorcycle - just as a pleasurable past-time on sunny days. As for jackets, I'm glad the OP is going for leather. Perf would be the way to go and layer up as needed. Get a jacket with a nice collar - that' my only gripe with the ICON Overlord that I have. It has no collar. Otherwise, I'd actually recommend you be sure to try on the jackets and find one that fits well. It may not need to be pre-curved aggressively in the arms, but it should still be quite snug and pre-curved a bit.
 
Bagman said:
Well, I'm going on 3 years riding and haven't been caught in the rain. So YOU think again. LOL. :p
.
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So you're a Garage Queen then? Or what? Ride 10 times a year?? Or ride to your local Timmies ?? lol ;-)
Kinda like people who say "oh yeah man, I've been snowboarding 10yrs.. " but only go out 2 times a season..

The point is, you may be caught out in rain or inclement weather if you go out for a ride, especially this time of year when thunderstorms can come up fast... and you've ridden far past your local timmies.
 
Bagman said:
As for jackets, I'm glad the OP is going for leather. Perf would be the way to go and layer up as needed. Get a jacket with a nice collar - that' my only gripe with the ICON Overlord that I have. It has no collar. Otherwise, I'd actually recommend you be sure to try on the jackets and find one that fits well. It may not need to be pre-curved aggressively in the arms, but it should still be quite snug and pre-curved a bit.
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The Icon Overlord is a great jacket for a good price. I just wish I would have bought the Hi Viz one instead of all black.
 
Let's not focus so much on me riding in a rain :)
I meant that I will try to ride in nice weather only, won't have to commute anywhere even in bad weather, will stay home if there's a chance of rain.
Of course I can be caught by surprise by the weather, just saying that I don't need a jacket that needs to be focused on rain resistance.
 
STARSHIP said:
Textile jackets are very good now. Seldom wear my leather jacket.
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My experience is opposite. Textile cannot match leather. Maybe one day but not yet. People like textile because it's lighter and less bulky. When it comes to sliding along the pavement there is a reason you don't see textile at the track.

Have you actually crashed in any textile gear?
I have. Got rear ended. Thrown from the bike. All at a relatively low speed. Textile melted and provided little protection. If I wasn't layerd up due to the cold would have been rashed up. The textile melted into the layer of clothes underneath, can only imagine how nice it would have been to have that melted into rashed up skin.
Just my experience your mileage may vary.
 
It's been a long time since I've shopped around for a jacket (the last textile jacket I seriously considered was the Scorpion XDR Commander, and that's old news now) but this is what I knew at the time.

The problem with (some) Dainese jackets is that they are not very versatile for the money. An example would be the Airfast jacket you linked - it's listed at $500+ and it does not offer any kind of removable liner. The Laguna Evo *does*, though. Versatility is supremely useful to me in motorcycle gear... but even then there are limits. I have used a perforated JR Speedmaster 5.0 jacket (has a reasonably effective liner) for years, and it does well for brisk to HOT temperatures, as long as you're not stuck in traffic. No jacket will help you in stop-and-go unless it has AC built-in. For very cold rides, I either layer up as much as the jacket will allow, or I revert to my prehistoric JR Meteor something.0, which is respectably warm. It's overdue for replacement though, as the build quality on it is pretty questionable, and I expect combined with its age it will completely disintegrate in a tumble.

It's important to note that not all textile (or leather, for that matter) jackets are made equal. There are some manufacturers in the past that made textile jackets out of material so thin that it bordered on criminally negligent. The worst offenders have been discontinued or gone out of business, but material thickness is still something to consider (and frequently printed in the marketing material anyway). You're not looking at cheap crap, though.

"Aggressive" fit is good, loose fit is bad. If you intentionally buy a loose fitting jacket you are basically pissing your money away and you might as well go buy a "motorcycle" jacket from your favourite fashion outlet downtown. Something that attaches to pants is ideal, because even a tight fitting jacket will still ride up once you start sliding.
 
komodo said:
... Have you actually crashed in any textile gear?
I have. Got rear ended. Thrown from the bike. All at a relatively low speed. Textile melted and provided little protection. If I wasn't layerd up due to the cold would have been rashed up. The textile melted into the layer of clothes underneath, can only imagine how nice it would have been to have that melted into rashed up skin...
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I've been trying to find motorcycle crash examples and photos of people who have crashed in textile and mesh gear, who have had the material melt upon crash, and I've come up with exceptionally few examples. If you have photos and would be willing to document your experience I'd be interested. I post all found cases online. Research in this area of biking is pretty rare and usually on a case by case example. I wish to answer the question "Are textile and mesh gear safe for motorcycle riders"?

Textile and mesh protection work differently than leather. Of course leather is better but is heavy, hot and expensive. Textile and mesh hold your armour in place so for the first couple initial hits the armour stays in place, and you, hopefully don't break as many bones. Textile and mesh certainly shred upon impact, no doubt, so complete rash protection is not guaranteed in a slide. They are one crash use only, so it is a bonus if you can reuse the garment. As for melting, I'm unsure how hard you were hit, but how do you get the textile material to heat up to its melting point (~250C) from a rear end collision that you survived? It is puzzling. I could understand if you slid from a speed of 60kph. Maybe you landed on top of your muffler/engine or some other hot part?

Anyway, leather is better for crash and rash protection, not so good for protecting you from the environment.
 
get the one the fits best. if it's loose or doesn't fit properly, when (not if) you crash, you want the armor to stay in place and not move about.
 
TorontoBoy said:
Anyway, leather is better for crash and rash protection, not so good for protecting you from the environment.
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Rash protection is what you're after, though. The armour inserts in pretty much all street gear is pretty eeehhhhh.... even if it does manage to hold them in approximately the right area, it doesn't do a lot. It certainly does jack **** against rigid pokey objects like other vehicles
 
kiwi said:
So you're a Garage Queen then? Or what? Ride 10 times a year?? Or ride to your local Timmies ?? lol ;-)
Kinda like people who say "oh yeah man, I've been snowboarding 10yrs.. " but only go out 2 times a season..

The point is, you may be caught out in rain or inclement weather if you go out for a ride, especially this time of year when thunderstorms can come up fast... and you've ridden far past your local timmies.
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LOL! It's a valid point, but one that hasn't really happened to me in 3 years. You make it sound like a Garage Queen is a bad thing.
 
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i have the perf A* jaws. the jacket doesnt feel too aggressive for me. I was riding a fz6r which is quite an upright bike and it was perfect. I have since sold the bike and selling the jacket. Shoot me a pm if you're interested.
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