Wet weather/winter gear

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of buying some wet weather/winter gear, so any suggestions/ recommendations before i spend all my money. Atm i only have a Alpinstars MX-1 jacket which is the most inconvenient thing you can possibly buy and its freezing when i ride in morning/night. Also thinking of buying a pair of Draggin Jeans, but i've heard they are not that good any recommendations will be very useful. Budget is around $1000. ATM i just avoid riding in the rain...which means mums CRV or BUS

Thanks
Kev

Goretex outer wear, including the boots and gloves. Under this wear layers of thinner garments for warmth.

I have the Tiger Angel 'Element' jacket and pants, mine zip together (they don't normally) and are a goretex laminate. Totally waterproof, but expensive ($1100 fitted). Alpinestars Goretex-lined boots, also 100% waterproof. Here's a review I prepared earlier: http://www.ksrc-au.com/index.php?itemid=143

For a 1000 big ones you're probably going to be looking at something on sale, and you've picked the wrong season for winter stuff .

Look for Goretex copies as well, they are cheaper and nearly as good. FWIW the reason Goretex is so expensive is that a company that makes clothing with Goretex also has to buy the machines from DuPont for putting it together so the seams are also waterproof. The machines are hideously expensive, and hence so is the clothing, but to me it's worth the investment if you don't like being cold and wet.

Draggins and rain do not mix, even the 'waterproof' ones aren't. I have been stuck in torrential horizontal rain wearing my Element jacket and Draggins with waterproof boots. The rain was so hard cars were pulling over as their winscreen wipers weren't coping. I made it to a servo and pulled over but the wind was so hard I couldn't get off the bike (I needed both feet on the ground to stop being blown over). Even under the servo canopy I was drenched from the waist down and my boots were full of water. My torso was dry except where a small amount of rain got in-between my helmet and neck, and where the rain blew up my sleeves.

Have a look at the Dri-Rider range, it's cheap and cheerful, but seems not bad value. My winter gloves are Dririder, they seem ok and are nearly 100% waterproof. The leather eventually gets saturated and even though the rain isn't coming through it's cold and damp inside.

An even cheaper alternative if it's only for infrequent use is the plastic/rubberised over-jacket and pants, but these don't breathe and it's like wearing a plastic bag.

Mick

Last edited by Ratmick on Fri May 29, 2009 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Like Mick I have the tiger angel element gear and highly recommend it. I started with the pants as I hate getting waterproof pants on over my boots but could put up with putting a waterproof jacket over a normal jacket. Got the jacket last year. The jacket and pants makes a perfect winter/touring outfit. You could get away with just this outfit pretty much all year round.
(Thermals under it in winter)

Hi Kevin.

I think for pants It depends on what you're gonna do with your gear when you get where you're going. I wear a very large pair of armored pants over my work pants and store them at work. Dry, warm and easy. If you wanna walk around uni or go out socially then draggins with plastic pants over the top will be easier to store under your seat/in your jacket etc, but colder and less protection. Whatever you get if it goes OVER your boots then you'll be dryer in the wet!

Kevlar does stop the cold to a degree!

I'd say get the best winter jacket you can if you plan on riding much this season and for the future. The difference of another $100 could make everything A LOT more comfortable. I got an RST Paragon and it's been great, warm and dry, and the neck-section is GREAT at deflecting the wind, much better than the old dryrider I used when my jacket was exchanged under warranty! Haven't got a drop of water on me yet. Heard good things about newer dryrider too.

I've got short Leather Rossi boots for work days(keep a change of shoes at work if they're feeling too heavy), long racing ones for weekends.

My summer gloves are doing fine so far because my commute is only 30 mins...... think they'll need to be replaced as it gets colder tho.

KSRC neckwarmer is handy

WOW excellent review Mick!! 10/10 Michelin man So much information to take in,there's way too many brands and products!!! Dri rider should make more better looking gear and in more variety of colours.

What about textile jackets will they hold out better in the rain/cold compared to leathers?

for price and absolute comfort I love my dri rider. As Mick said above leather will stop the rain but the stitching on the jacket isnt waterproof so it will eventually leak like a siv!!!!

KSRC neckwarmer is handy

I'm wearing a scarf atm, i keep thinking its going to blow away and get distracted whilst riding guess i better invest in a neck warmer!

what bout these:

https://www.teammoto.com.au/onlineshop/ ... &Itemid=15

is that breathable sections around and under the arms!! if yes then NO

WOW excellent review Mick!! 10/10 Michelin man So much information to take in,there's way too many brands and products!!! Dri rider should make more better looking gear and in more variety of colours.

What about textile jackets will they hold out better in the rain/cold compared to leathers?

Yeah, the dririders jackets can look rather "functional"

I get some "cool jacket" comments from non-riders about mine if you're in it for the style. Maybe they're just humoring me tho



The pants zip with the jacket, and there's concealed zip vents in the front and back you can open/close.

Last edited by tim on Thu May 28, 2009 11:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

What about textile jackets will they hold out better in the rain/cold compared to leathers?

nope they leak unless you have a waterproof lining in them and are cold no matter what!!!!

What about textile jackets will they hold out better in the rain/cold compared to leathers?

Mate unless you buy the oily leather that Tiger Angel sell here in their Guardian suits: http://www.tigerangel.com.au/gore/guardian_1.html which is hydrophobic don't get leather really really wet. Not only does it swell, get waterlogged and it weigh a tonne, it also screws the structure of the leather and eventually it will rot. It also feels clammy and damp to wear and takes weeks to dry properly.

Textile gear is no good unless it has a waterproof lining. If you don't get the lining right at the very least the seams will leak, if they don't leak and the gear isn't breathable you'll end up saturated in sweat instead of rain.

Mick

Last edited by Ratmick on Fri May 29, 2009 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

looks good Tim i had a look its $350+250= 600$ all up for the lot @ Team Moto, it looks very Cozy specially the jacket.

Just read some previous posts on Draggins and watched a few videos guess Its on the list atm wait....unless i can find a good pair of leather, i don't wanna look like a weirdo around uni though.

Blurr- guess those Dri Rider ones i linked b4 are off the list then

You can buy the cheap Dri rider/RST/Motoline etc., stuff if you want to get out of it for 5 or 6 hundred, but if you have a grand to spend, I'd go look for a good Dianese winter Goretex lined jacket. (Not D-Dry) Mick is 100% spot on about Goretex, it's exxie but it keeps you dry inside and out! I'd just buy the Dianese or similiar Goretex jacket and a pair of plastic overpants to go over your jeans. It sounds like your really only using it around town and as such, that would work fine without the added expense of the goretex pants.
WIth gloves and boots, once again Goretex liners are the ducks! I;ve got Alpine Star goretex boot which do what they should do and a pair of Dianese Goretex winter gloves, which work at keeping your hands warm right down into the bottom end of single figure temps!

If you buy the cheap stuff, you'll have it for maybe one or two seasons of regular use, if you lash out on the good stuff it will last eight to ten!

I've been looking at a RST triple jacket
http://www.racewaysuzuki.com.au/motorcy ... jacket.php
to put over my leathers.

Don't know much about the more expensive stuff - I'd bow to Marty and Mick on them.
But I always got away with middle-range stuff on my commute - DriRider gortex jacket with rain and winter liner (~$400 from memory), goretex winter gloves (~$100), rain over-pants ($100, not the $50 rubbish), and goretex boots ($400, brand eludes me at the moment).

At worst I got a few wet spots on the 1.5hr (in the rain) commute in lengthy major downpours - regular rain was normally no issue.
I still have them all - and the dririder jacket has survived 2 major offs with little to show for it.

On the draggins front - I've always used them. Never had the draggin jeans, always used the draggin cargos.
Comfy, survived a couple of offs well, and warmer than the jeans in the winter. But because they're looser they're cooler in the summer too.
You can get a bit of an abrasion from the kevlar in an off (I did on my knee - I wouldn't suggest going commando), you wouldn't get that in leathers.

hth
ty