[Tango]

So I bought my gear last night so when I get my bike Saturday I will be ready to ride. I have a few questions about gear in general.

I bought a full leather jacket, and one of the tags on it recommended spraying it for weatherproofing and durability, is this something you guys recommend as well?

For gloves, I tried on quite a few and couldn’t find a really good fit. The sleeves on my jacket at quite thick at the very ends as they velcro, which made gauntlet style gloves very uncomfortable. I tried the Scorpion Cool Mesh gloves which are short and they were the most comfortable and hopefully will still be strong enough to protect my hands in a crash. Does anyone have any feedback with regards to these gloves or short gloves in general?

Also I bought a First Gear jacket that has replaceable armor. I was wondering how I am supposed to tell whether I should upgrade the armor or leave the stock armor in it.

Thanks for the help!

[Budd]

I would spray it with the waterproofer unless you like getting wet. With fall and winter coming up. I would go with gauntlet style gloves. I have a pair of short cuffs and it has been around 60 degrees the past couple of mornings. That wind up your sleeves can certainly chill you. I am guessing that the shoulder and elbow pads are CE rated on that jacket and you have a foam backpad. That should be sufficient but if you wanted more protection you could get a CE rated back pad.

You didn’t mention pants or boots. I can’t really talk on boots as I am wearing combat boots when I ride, but they are boots and are not coming off in a ride. Pants are important, or at the very least some knee and shin protectors.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Tango]

I bought some boots 2 weeks ago for my MSF course, Nitro high leather motorcycle boots. I was going to buy pants but they all look so damn baggy and bulky so I decided to wait. Also I was told from the sales girl that pants only with with jackets if they are the same brand : /.

[megaspaz]

Sales girl is wrong. Only if the pants you want is part of a jacket/pants fastening system. If not, you can mix jacket/pants brand. Even if so, you can still mix jacket/pants brands. You won’t get the benefits of a brand’s jacket/pants fastening system, but you can mix and match whatever you want.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Andrew]

If the jacket and pants have fastening systems you will have 2 zipper pairs that don’t match. Someone who sews could easily remove 1 and the attache the other half for you.

[Budd]

I have a pair of feildsheer pants and a Cortech jacket. They zip together perfectly.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Rab]

My Tourmaster Transition jacket attaches to my Olympia Motosports air glide pants as they both use the same YKK zipper.

So it’s not that different jacket/pant combinations won’t pair, it’s just that they might not.

BTW: Jackets and pants typically zip together to prevent the jacket riding-up if you’re sliding along the road after an unscheduled get-off. As many of them only have an 8 inch zip along the back of the waist, it’s probably of limited value anyway (?).

[megaspaz]

you’re right. some manufacturers use standard zippers so you can mix and match different brands jackets and pants. dainese doesn’t though. they use a small teeth zipper while everyone else uses big teeth zippers.

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Author]

Posts