Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

G'day All

How many of you out there have this opinion when it comes to your safety gear ? ... You get what you pay for

I wear a Alpinestars leather jacket $600, Dririder Jacket $200, Dainese Boots $350, Draggin Jeans $200 & 5 Gloves $100 & a Arai Vector Helmet $700.
Though I have purchased some of the so called top brands in safety gear, my opinion of You get what you pay for is slowly changing.

I have ordered a pair of kevlar cargos from Bikers Gear Australia, the jeans have more kevlar coverage than my draggins at only a fraction of the cost.

I don't like to scrimp on my kit, but considering that most of the gear is made in China, India, Pakistan and the likes, are we really getting better gear if we pay the top dollar, or are we really only buying a label.

I often wonder why we feel safe when wearing an Australian made product ie Draggin jeans, though at the same time we are wearing other protective gear made in a third world or developing country.

Cheers & Merry Christmas

Hi blu, welcome to KSRC, you are so right about the label & overpricing but talking about scrimping I dont go near kevlar cargos full stop as the protection they offer is pretty minimal at best, sure they may save you from some roadrash but as a mate found out they are not that good even in a light crash, still better than standard jeans anyway. I will stick to the connected two piece leathers for more peace of mind

2 piece Leathers all the way for me too

Picked up an Aldi leather jacket on sale a few weeks ago for $60..

Its no flashy fashion statement, but the quality of leather and stitching is quite good and complies with all the safety standards - unlike a lot of the imported ebay stuff.

Already been down the road and hardly a mark on it... (scooterthon)

MadKaw wrote:Picked up an Aldi leather jacket on sale a few weeks ago for $60..

Its no flashy fashion statement, but the quality of leather and stitching is quite good and complies with all the safety standards - unlike a lot of the imported ebay stuff.

Already been down the road and hardly a mark on it... (scooterthon)

Gotta watch those scooters I hear they can be dangerous!

IMO I think that even though the brand name manufactures are having their gear made in 3rd world back waters, they do put in the time and $$$ into the R&D before making the product. For me this is where the extra money on the retail floor goes.

EG - I bought a set of Under Dog leathers a number of years ago thinking that I was saving a few dollars. After my first track day they where stuffed. The crotch ripped open and the stitching on the right knee busted exposing about 5 inches of skin on the inside of my leg and no I didn't have a tumble. This was from normal track day riding. Long story short (too late), I purchased a brand name set of leathers for a couple of hundred more and have never had an issue with them.

So summing up - brands offer safety R&D into a product and have quality controls in place at the factory to protect their brand = better gear

try being a non-chimp sized person!

my jacket was made for me by bike-leathers maker here in aust, cost significantly less than imported ones (like significantly less than half of a 'mountaintopstar' ones), been down the road several times and apart from a recolour and a zip fix, its gold and more importantly, it actually fits.
likewise for the leather pants; real bike rated leather, fat bastard sized with kevlar inserts and zip sized to fit the jacket i wear. cost $120. Now I'll admit its no fashion item (but thats ok, i'm no model either) but i have a sneaking suspision that we the user are being taken for a ride with the brand names.
Try local, i bet you'll be pleasantly surprised

G'day Mitch

I have no doubt that the larger manufacturers have done the R&D, though the smaller operations are taking the already developed products & improving on them.
ie. Draggin Jeans did not have a CE approved product for quite some time, though the smaller operators could see a need for more kevlar coverage for protection.
Yes, the quality control might be a little better with the name brands, though I bet you any money that the name brands have had a fair share of their products returned
to them due to one defect or another.
Quite often the smaller operators can improve on the bigger, check this out http://www.crash.org.au/ratings.php for helmet comparisons.
I hope that I with my BGA kevlar jeans & anyone else for that matter what ever brand that they are wearing do not have to ever test the QC or R&D.
There are also various manufacturers out there who make items for different companys, ie. for Dririder & for Rjays, a little bit like putting a Toyota motor into a Holden to getting
a Lexcen.
I don't necessarily not believe that the bigger companys have not got the better products, I just think that sometimes paying more will not necessarily get you more than the
the smaller operations has to offer.

Cheers

20 yrs ago I would not have bought a match stick that was made in china or where ever but know days 97% of our stuff is made over seas and has to be made to a certain standard wether it is a top name brand or joe blow down the corner, so even though you can buy gear a lot cheaper from joe blow it should still be made to a certain standard but then comes the debate wether the quality of the material being used is up to scratch, me I usually buy whatever I can get to fit me as I tend to spread around a fair bit as I age

blu-250r wrote:
...I don't necessarily not believe that the bigger companys have not got the better products, I just think that sometimes paying more will not necessarily get you more than the
the smaller operations has to offer.

*head explodes

Re the original post it probably depends on the quality of the Kevlar, not the amount. No point having full leg and hip Kevlar cover if it tears through 5m into a 20m slide.

Fit is a really important contributing factor to safety which obviously varies between manufacturers.

I had a set of Collins two piece leathers that saved me heaps of times at the track, and in particular two high speed offs. Each time they stood the test brilliantly.

Recently I had to replace them so, as you do, I went for what I knew worked and bought a new jacket. Exactly the same jacket but for some reason my helmet kept hitting the back protection hump thingy, I just could turn my head with hitting the fkn thing Really pissed off that I had a new jacket that I couldn't wear or figure why. The only thing I can think of is that they may have changed the jacket design slightly.

This doesn't mean it is a bad brand, just doesn't work for me .. any more

Now I am trying a one piece Joe Rocket. Have seen some good reports and some no so good but only time will tell I guess. There will always be times when are crash test dummies

If I could remember where I read it I could post the link. But my goldfish memory doesn't allow me to so
There was a University study that ended a few weeks back into Kevlar jeans. And Draggins came out on top. Apparently the way the fabric is weaved had more to do with it's protection then the thickness. I'm not a seamstress but I think it was closed loop weaving was the optimal method and Draggins were the only jeans that used that method.
Saying all that I wear the Aldi kevlar jeans cause they're cheap and I won't crash

When it comes to safety gears, I don't take chances because my skin looks good left on my body than left on road! I wear PEKEV jeans and jackets, brought it from Resurgence Gear Australasia. I researched a lot on motorcycle clothing fabrics and found PEKEV is one of the strongest and most stable fabric. Although the product seems a bit expensive, however, it's totally worth of the amount. I use Kabuto Helmets.

Awesome Experience!

I always look for the economical Aldi leather jacket $150, gloves $65, helmet LS2 $200

Sometimes I scored great secondhand stuff like Shoei NXR for $200