Kevlar, Leathers or Mesh Gear

[sdlnxgk]

Irk showed me this article...

http://www.motoport.com/saveyourhide.pdf?Merchant_ID=ALL&Merchant_Fax=760-752-9317&Merchant_Phone=1-800-777-6499

And we really wanted to know if anyone is using kevlar gear???

Is there anyway we can make a poll too see what everyone is wearing these days??

[TIFOSO]

The only person I know wearing kevlar is Rocko. So would you call them kevlars, instead of leathers:confused:

[Ikazuchi]

99% of the time it's nylon with kevlar patches in "key places"... elbows, sholders....

[slowmike]

I have Kevlars also. They arent' half bad. Machine washable, breathable, cool in the summer. The only downsides are that they are kinda spendy, they have a tendancy to itch and collect in odd places and as Rock can attest to, when you crash they protect you but get messed up (but are cheap to have fixed).

[Irk]

According to them kevlar is far superior in tear and abrasion resistance compared to leather.

They also state the competition grade leather only has a tear resistance of 80-110lbs. I find this a bit hard to believe as I've gone down in my leathers and must have exerted more force than that without tearing.

Also, they claim that this " Tri-Armor " they put in their suites is the best armor out there.

Things just seem a bit to good to be true. We were wondering if anyone can give feedback on the product?

[TIFOSO]

Myself, I would stick with leather. I saw rocko lowside in his kevlar and it just shreaded. He was protected, but the stuff had holes everywhere. Plus, chicks dig leather!;)

[Irk]

There are different kinds of textiles though. Some are mostly made up of nylon as their site explains while others made up of much tougher components are highly abrasion and tear resistant.

It's all hearsay though. So we were just wondering if anyone has any experience with the claimed "good stuff".

Was rockos suite made up of the "good stuff", or was it like cheap mesh?

I've also heard that deer skin is much better than cow skin and there is some kind of conspiracy within the industry.

[T140]

I have the Motoport Kevlar pants. They are excellent. Built well, easy on/off and cool. In the summer, shorts can be worn underneath because the Kevlar will not melt like nylon can in a crash.

The armor does not look that impressive to me. I have the Ultra II overpants which have a loose fit. It could move in a crash. But the pants have armor on the front of the thighs as well as the knees. You have to request hip padding. The Ultra II jacket has chest armor which is nice.

The owner's name is Wayne...good guy. He will probably meet you near Carlsbad / San Marcos to take measurements.

See my review

Review By: Tom from San Diego, CA
Reviewed On: May, 17 2004here:http://www.motorcyclegearreview.com/reviews.php?prodID=688

[TIFOSO]

Kangaroo skin is supposed to be the most abrasion resistant.

[Dante]

Originally posted by Irk
I've also heard that deer skin is much better than cow skin and there is some kind of conspiracy within the industry.

I'd wear bambi's hide. :love:

[Darth Lefty]

Deer hides tend to have holes in inconvenient places.

[Tesa]

Originally posted by TIFOSO
Kangaroo skin is supposed to be the most abrasion resistant.

I've heard that before, but it's too hard to smuggle into the country

[sdlnxgk]

WOW !!! what great responses... I think i'm gonna stick to leather then.. The only issue for me was getting too hot in the summer time since i'm a human butane torch all the time.. In winter i'm riding in summer mesh to keep cool....

I thinking on a set of preforated leathers year round and mesh for running around town will work great....

[Ikazuchi]

Originally posted by Tesa
I've heard that before, but it's too hard to smuggle into the country

Say's who? My A* Gloves are part kangaroo.


And to Alex's point.... Textile gear lasts only one crash... Leaher can take a few falls.... as long as they're not too bad.

[J.Moto]

Originally posted by Ikazuchi


And to Alex's point.... Textile gear lasts only one crash... Leaher can take a few falls.... as long as they're not too bad.

I was wearing Joe Rocket Ballistic 5.0 pants and a Cortech sport jacket when I crashed. Went down somewhere around 20-25 mph. The gear only got dirty with no tears or broken seams or any other hints of being crashed in.

Maybe if I crashed going 50mph or more it would be a different story.

[Rocko]

okay...i have to disagree with slowmike about the itching and collecting in odd places. don't go commando and get some alterations, mang!!!

okay...so far I've worn dainese textiles, motoport kevlars, and perforated leathers. what I've found is that each has it's own strengths and weaknesses so you should buy all three. seriously.

when it's cold, wear textiles. they are usually waterproof, windproof, have an insulated liner, and have a more generous fit so it is easy to wear layers underneath.

when it is F'in hot, wear perforated leathers. if you have perforated leathers with the big ass holes (not the ones that look like someone just stuck a needle through the leather) they will protect you well in a crash and they allow the most air to enter the suit to cool you off. cleaning and caring for leathers is a bitch though...and i don't think it's so easy to repair them..

when you're riding like a mofo (ie track), wear one piece kevlars. The motoport suit is the most protective in my opinion. there is SO much padding in that thing. for example the 'elbow' pads go all the way down to my wrists at the bottom, and at the top, they go all the way up to where the shoulder pads begin. it has chest padding, back padding, thigh padding, hip padding, knee padding...you're covered!!!! the material is lighter than leather so the suit weighs less than a leather one piece even though there is way more padding. it also stretches a bit, i shouldn't have to explain why that is a good thing. my motoport suit is breathable and can get wet, so if you're riding on a hot track day you can wear cotton clothing underneath, douse it with water before getting on the track, and the air flowing through the suit cools you well. There is not quite as much air flow as there is with a perforated leather suit, I think becuase there is so much padding in the suit. on like a december track day the the breathability of the suit is not so good, but i bought some windbreaker pants and a jacket at target for 30 bucks or so and that solved that problem.

as far as durability goes....textile is the worst. what really kills textile is when you have hard plastic armor under it, because when the textile is caught between the hard plastic and the asphault, it doesn't stand a chance...you probably wouldn't get road rash though because you would have to wear through the hard plastic armor first. textiles with soft armor might fare better.

leather all depends on the quality of the leather and the construction. i've seen people go down and their suit looks okay after a crash...and i've seen others that have splitting seams, holes, etc...bottom line buy the most expensive suit you can afford, i think. dainese alpinestars etc....

as far as the motoport durability goes, i don't know what to say. one time i went down and the suit got all tore up. one layer of it. there was still the second layer there and the padding so i was FAR from getting road rash. like mike says, it can be fixed to look good as new easily. another time i went down i saw no visible signs of wear...so i guess it just depends on the crash :confused: