[vcs700s]

First Post!



I highly recommend the First Gear Mesh Tex jacket. It is a flow through jacket with padding in the elbows and shoulders. It is very comfortable and costs less than $150. You can probably find it on sale for $120 or so. The new model has a removable liner and there is another model available with leather on the shoulders for a few dollars more.



When it is hot, I also use Olympia fingerless gloves with gel padding in the palms. This combination works well even at 90 degrees. Enjoy those warmer temps. It is 20 degrees in Virginia this morning.

 

[pushrod]

I'm a fan of the Joe Rocket stuff.



You may want to consider the Alter Ego jacket. It has sections that come off that expose vent panels and IIRC, you can buy a thinsulate liner for it.



They make Alter Ego pants, with the same removable panel design.



HTH,



Steve

 

[R1150GS]

I have a Vanson perforated leather jacket, Hurricane I think, and absolutely love it. Granted, when at a stop light, it is warmer than a textile mesh jacket, but I feel the extra protection leather gives is well worth the heat. When moving, it is cooler than having nothing on due to keeping the sun off of you. It is to vented for anything under 70 F. Also have Vanson's Talon gloves. Pretty good, but the velcro on the wrist loop is crap, and they wore out in about 10K miles. My Alpinstars Hero's and Sp3's have lasted much longer. Good luck!

 

[logos1]

I've got two warm weather jackets, and both offer some trade-offs. I have a Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket which is a mesh jacket with large open vents. It is quite comfortable in temperatures up to 80 degrees and higher, but we don't get too many of those kind of days here in TN typically until mid-summer. In traffic, nothing is terrifically comfortable, but it's very good if you keep moving. I've heard this type of jacket is decent protection in a get-off, but probably won't be usable afterwards.



I also have a First Gear Mesh-Tex jacket, sort of an upscale model with leather shoulders, and a finer scale mesh. This is good for better protection I think, but it would get warmer on those high temp days. Nice fit, and you definitely feel like you've got some good abrasion and impact resistance when you wear it.

 

[30874]

Great protection but still has good venting

Ok, saw this jacket at a bike show and tried it on. Didn't have the money at the time as it's $319 but it has leather and lots of armor but also has Free-air™ perforated ventilation system.

Check it out at http://www.newenough.com/joe_rocket_supermoto_jacket_page_private.htm

 

[christian_gates]

While I've seen them crashed, and the SEEM to hold up, I'm still skeptical of mesh jackets.



I usually wear a Joe Rocket Meteor 4, and it's well enough ventilated that it's fine at speed in virtually all temperatures (I live in CO, so I've tested it in everything from 30 or so all the way up to about 95). It's also actually waterproof, with very, very minor leakage in a monsoon-like downpoor that had to be seen to be described. In normal rain, you're dry.



My only complaint is that it's designed for fat people, as near as I can tell - it's not quite snug enough around the belly (note: not that I'm not a little chunky - just not quite fat).



In traffic, you will suffer regardless of what you are wearing, but the 1000RR doesn't seem to like traffic much anyway so you should be incentivized to stay away from it.



cdg

 

[35377]

I’ve got a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket. Cheap, looks good, sturdy-looking armor in all the right places. Very cool when moving and comfortable when stopped. Now offered with a removable liner that can keep you from freezing when the sun goes down.

Can’t speak as to how it performs in a get-off, but I’m guessing a lot better than a T-Shirt.

Here in Connecticut it’s s’posed to get up to 28 degrees today. Keep those SoCal weather reports coming!

Here are some MO reviews of warm-weather jackets:

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcbeware/03_JoeRocket_Phoenix/index.motml

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcyossef/04_Brosh_Jacket/

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcbeware/04_Vanson_Jacket/

 

[39220]

Check out www.newenough.com and look at the Tour Master perforated leathers. I have the Tour Master Coaster Air Perforated Leather Jacket and it starts getting uncomfortable at about 80 - 85 degrees. At 85 I'm cussing stop lights. But, on the road and moving it's great. It has a liner too so when the temps drop you can zip that in. I like the extra protection from leather when I'm touring or on higher speed rides.

Around town any of the good brand tex mesh jackets will be fine I imagine. But, one I like a lot is the Triumph Raptor tex mesh. It only has a small T on the back by the neck denoting it is a Triumph jacket, maybe on the zipper tabs too. My buddy has one and loves it. I'm thinking of getting one myself.

Gloves, perf leather is what I have. Ku****ani Air GPS. Love 'em except they bleed on my hands even after three years use. The dye will wash off after two hand washes. But for comfort and function, they rock. NOT cheap though, $110, but if you're wearing Alpinestar you know how to open the wallet I like their gear.

http://www.newenough.com/tour_master_coaster_air_jacket_page.htm

http://www.ku****ani.com/pro/0htm/glove_htm/k5031.htm

These aren't perf gloves but if you want a good deal on some race style carbon fiber leather gloves this is it:

http://www.newenough.com/tour_master_robomax_carbon_gloves_page.htm

Newenough.com has pretty good deals on all their gear so if you like Vanson, Alpinestar, Joe Rocket, etc. you should take a look.

 

[49424]

I live in South Florida, I wear a Joe Rocket mesh with armour. 10 months of the year. It has the rain jacket liner for winter use. This week I wore my Alpinstar spinner with liner, it was below 70 this morning.

 

[33225]

Or Maybe Not...

I crashed in my First Gear mesh jacket this past summer, and I was not very happy with how it held up. It did, but just barely. The armor over the left shoulder ripped clean away, and there was just athletic mesh liner between me and the pavement. This was at only 30 MPH, any faster and I could have been in real trouble. The leather reinforced version should do better. I'm going to get a fully perfed Vanson for this next summer. Lots more $$, but I've used up my luck with the inexpensive gear.

My joe rocket mesh gloves did hold up well, no damage to my hands. Scraped palms but still useable. My arai did it's job but had to be retired.

 

[Steven_Verschoor]

I have a mesh jacket from Marsee. It has good padding in the elbows, shoulders and spine. Pretty good fit for a guy with an average build, too.



Don't use it very much though. If I wear a t-shirt underneath the jacket, it feels like I'm wearing a plastic bag. Even with the good mesh fabric, the thing doesn't breathe well at a stand still.



When I'm moving it's a different story. The jacket seems to disappear. Which is really nice untill...



The ambient temperature gets really hot. When I ride through hot windblast, I feel like it's burning or cooking my skin. You ever notice that firemen's suits aren't made with mesh? When the temps get really hot, you want some nice sturdy fabric between you and the hot wind. At least I do.



For summer time, I've found that lighter cordura works best for me.

 

[49605]

Re: Or Maybe Not...

What failed on your jacket, did the stitching give way or did the fabric just wear through?

I wonder if we have the same jacket... my FirstGear mesh jacket has some soft pads on the outside and an armor pocket on the inside of the shoulder.

I've upgraded the internal armor with some good dual density CE approved stuff but I guess that armor won't do much good if the whole damn jacket disintegrates.

 

[1747]

hey i can post again! how exciting. i think when you're thinking bike jackets and money it's not a bad idea to bear in mind that a good leather one will last you a lifetime, provided you don't get too fat. Vanson perf gear is very nice stuff and will never go out of fashion if that matters... some that textile stuff is so, so... sears kids section looking.

 

[48337]

pants..

Hey, how about those Alter Ego pants.. I like the idea of the panel, in case you get caught out after dark and the temps drop. Do you have a pair, and if so what do you think? The JR Ballistic 3.0 pants that I have are great in the cold and wet and damn near unbearable in temps above 75F.

The other pants I've seen that claim to be mesh aren't visually meshy like the jackets. (By which I mean a tighter weave.)

 

[seruzawa]

I bought a pair of Tour Master summer gloves that have leather palms and fabric backs. When moving the air flows freely and the glove fully covers your hand and fingers, keeping the sun off. I like them better than perforated leather or fingerless.

 

[Fenton]

I've have a mesh Honda Racing(first gear) with armor. I really like it. However, the fact that you can read the paper through it doesn't inspire crash confidence. I recently bought a perforated Roadgear leather jacket with a liner. I am really impressed with the quality and how warm it is in 40 degree weather with just a T-shirt. I really wanted a Vanson but the cut is too short for my torso. I think the quality of the Roadgear is just as good and the comfort is better than the Vanson, Bates, Alpinestar and Dainsee jackets I tried.

--Good Luck

 

[pushrod]

Re: pants..

I have the 1.0 Ballistic pants, and you're right... they are a tad warm, even with the sides unzipped. My officemate just bought the AE Jacket and pants but has not had the opportunity to try the "vented" configuration yet.

One other consideration for warm weather kit- when the garments get funky, the textile versions are a lot less trouble to clean.

 

[33225]

Re: Or Maybe Not...

The external pads and the abrasion resistant mesh ripped away, exposing just the athletic mesh inner liner. The seams ripped. The annoying thing was the armor pad is not stitched onto a solid backing of the abrasion resistant material, rather there is just a fine denier material under there. I have pics if you are really interested.

 

[Agent0090]

"I just got a new CBR1000RR.... and am loving it. But since we got a swift kick of warm weather here in San Diego again . . . . "











Bite me.

 

[Agent0090]

. . . . 'cause I'm watching snow fall.



(Something to that effect was actually in my first post, but I put it between the "less than" and the "greater than" symbols and it disappeared. Odd. Must be some of that HTML magic about which I know nothing.)