| Author |
Message |
    
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 03:13 pm: | 
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I have a pair of the Vendramini Aero Air-Tex.
They are great to wear in the summer as they are ballistic mesh. Great airflow. They are also comfortable enough to wear around the office. They don't look too terribly bad either.
Your Khakis and overpants both can fit over them fine. |
Diablobrian
| | Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 04:13 pm: |
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Glad you are working out a compromise you can live with.  |
M2nc
| | Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 12:14 pm: |
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Swordsman - I know there are more of us out there that struggle with this too. By the time I gear up for the ride to work, I could have been there already. I live 11 miles from work and it takes 14 minutes to get there. By the time I put on the over pants, jacket, gloves, helmet, I am at work in the van. I enjoy the ride to work , but its the ride home that is fun. I ALWAYS take the straight path hope.  So here I am struggling with what is best for me. I have only ridden on the street with out gear once when I was at Daytona on the M2. I did it because I had no where to put it when we got somewhere, Jose' had already had his tank bag stolen and I thought it would be all slow in town stuff. For the most part I where a full face helmet, jacket, gloves, long pants and boots.
The jackets depend on the weather and they vary in protection. I do not have GP gear, all my stuff is touring. I have a FXRG Leather Jacket, like most Harley Stuff, its more show than go. I have two different textile jackets, one First Gear Kilimanjaro and the other my new Olympia. Out of the two, the Olympia has proven to be better. Being the good crash dummy I am, I have tested both. The First Gear protected me on my Icecapade, a low side at about 25mph. Because it was cold, I was riding in full gear for warmth. The pants and the jacket tore and though you can still wear them for protection the gear is no longer water resistant. For my Dragon adventure I was wearing Tour Master Riding pants and the Olympia jacket. Both pants and jacket have Cordura panels over the normal skid areas. They also both have hard armor. A good thing because when I jumped off the bike I landed on the side of my knee and though it was a little sore, no injuries to speak of. Also the gear was not hurt. The only thing that had to be replaced were the Buell gloves and the visor of the Scorpion Helmet which must stick out on the sides because in both events the visor has been scratched, but the rest of the helmet is untouched.
The last textile jacket I have and the one that has not been tested, is the Joe Rocket Phoenix. The First Gear jacket is unbearable over 80°F. Though I have only ridden the Olympia for a short ride in temperature up to 83°F, I believe its vents are better than the First Gear and should be comfortable to the high-80°F range. During the summer time here in North Carolina we usually have 90°F+ days with a couple of weeks pushing or exceeding 100°F. The other textile jackets are just not comfortable in those temperatures so the Rocket comes out.
As for boots, I have always worn my steel toe work boots. Wolverens or Rockys, they have been my foot gear for many miles. Both have been tested and I learned a bit. The 6" high boot is not high enough. It will protect you against broken bones but soft tissue damage can take longer to heal from than broken bones. My ankle and left foot took a shot on my icecapade. The sole of the boot was cracked and I needed to replace it before I went down. During the get-off the sole tore allowing the toe of the boot to hyperextend my toes and that was not fun. So after much reseach I found that ANSI and DOT do not mix. I could not find a riding boot that was approved for me to wear on the factory floor. So I looked at designs of both and found the closest thing I could find. That was the Rocky 10" high work boot. This boot is water proof and had ankle pading I believe for comfort that was as close as I was going to get. During the dragon adventure the Rockys took a shot. There is a hole in the toe leather of the boot and you can see the steel underneath, but my foot was fine. Why don't magazine editors test riding gear, now that is information we can use! 
As for work, my usual riding gear is Full Face helmet, jacket, gloves, denim pants and boots. I do not wear my over parts unless it is cold or raining. I was wondering if anyone has tried the Dragon Jeans and what do they think of them?
(Message edited by M2nc on April 21, 2007) |
Sparky
| | Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 03:38 pm: |
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Regarding magazine riding gear testing, actually Motorcycle Consumer News conducts various types of destructive testing on all types of riding gear including ordinary clothes from time to time. But they don't volunteer their bods for this, lol. |
65460
| | Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 03:59 pm: |
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I wondered if anyone has tried these:
http://www.bohn-armor-pants.com/ws1/catalog/?prod= BGLA-G#Order
They say you can wear them all day, I would probably just take them off when I got to work. |
Mbsween
| | Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 - 08:19 pm: |
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How do you guys handle the oil leaking onto the pant leg? I showed up for a major presentation not noticing that the catchcan was overflowing onto my leg Minor bit of explaining and back to the preso . My wife was pissed that I trashed yet another pair of dockers.
I haven't used over pants in the summer for awhile. I have a pair from Belstaff, but they lack the side zips so they are a major pain to remove and I tend to travel to various sites where I can't park clothes. I work in computer sales for Sun Micro. Of course living in Rochester, Ny means freezing my rear off without them so sometimes I do the power ranger thing and then find a restroom at the client office to change
I'm thinking the stitch is the way to go at least that comes off quickly at a client site. How does it pack? Would it fit in a backpack? |
M2nc
| | Posted on Sunday, April 22, 2007 - 11:02 am: |
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My catch Bottle is under the seat to the side so it does not get on my leg. If you go that route just make sure its to one side so it does not get on tire if it over fills. Of course if you no longer have the rear fender that will not work.
I find that wearing black jeans or slacks hides the dirt better than Khakis. I also have a ventura pack on the M2 so it can hold most of my gear. All but the helmet. I do the strip tease in the parking lot as long as its not raining. If it is, at least the Ventura pack has a handle on it so it is easy to carry. On the Uly I have the bags so its easy to put away all the gear. |
Sparky
| | Posted on Sunday, April 22, 2007 - 03:45 pm: |
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The Stich is too big for my backpack. What I do with it, if I don't want to wear it inside, is secure it and the helmet to the bike with a long clear-coated cable (Riderwearhouse item) & padlock. |
Tommy_black_shark
| | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 08:15 am: |
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Rather than an expensive pair of motorcycle boots you may want to take a look at Corcoran boots. They make many styles. Can be shined as much as you like. Excellent support and with speed laces faster than a zipper. Once you start wearing Corc's anything else is a flip-flop. At the last resole I went from a para sole to a field sole and the tread helps with my ULY. |
Rasmonis
| | Posted on Monday, April 23, 2007 - 08:28 am: |
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Like 12r, I wear full gear and change when I get to work. I keep an extra pair of shoes to wear at the office.
Sidi Vertigo boots have an adjustable calf which helps with the layers.
PITA, but I'm worth it. |
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