Boots and Jacket

[UPNOVRIT]

Forma Adventure Low WP Boots. Don’t mess around if you ride Off Road. Get a good pair of boots or you Will end up regretting not listening to yourself. Oh I’ll be fine, I’m not riding in the Dakar. Hold my beer, watch this. Got a one time Smoking Deal on the Mosko Moto FUBAR Jacket. Ya I picked up 2 before they got snatched up. Awesome gear. Needing to replace some old worn out rain pant. But crap. can find Anything I want until suppliers and manufacturers get busy again. Need to replace my road boots as well and holding out until I can get my skinner on a pair of Alpinestars Multiair XRC GoreTex boots. I can get by until fall comes but crap. I need new boots.

 

[Timmy6216]

Good morning so as far as boots and jackets go, I already wear high top steel toe combat boots for work. I'm not driving more than three and a half miles to get to work and I have a belief that these would be sufficient for that need. The jacket on the other hand is a whole other animal. I'm trying to figure out what is the right thing for me to have, because I have to blend safety with North Carolina heat and humidity but also North Carolina Winters that can pretty much stay in the single digits as far as wind chill goes. I would love any recommendations

 

[SneakyDingo]

I tried a bunch and settled on the BMW Motorrad boots. They're really nice. Would buy again.

 

[dmonkey]

Good morning so as far as boots and jackets go, I already wear high top steel toe combat boots for work. I'm not driving more than three and a half miles to get to work and I have a belief that these would be sufficient for that need. The jacket on the other hand is a whole other animal. I'm trying to figure out what is the right thing for me to have, because I have to blend safety with North Carolina heat and humidity but also North Carolina Winters that can pretty much stay in the single digits as far as wind chill goes. I would love any recommendations

I would recommend two jackets, buy one mesh jacket for warm weather, one waterproof breathable for winter. You can get away with just a warm weather jacket and then layering under it, but it can be a pain. Throwing a rain jacket on under it stops the wind, but if you're also getting wet in cold weather then a soggy mesh jacket will eventually soak through the layers under it, even if they're "waterproof breathable".

REAX Alta Mesh, Icon Mesh AF, and REV'IT Eclipse are a few popular mesh jackets. Me and two friends all have the REV'IT Eclipse in brown and are all very happy with it. Whatever you buy, be sure to add a back protector.

 

[Timmy6216]

I would recommend two jackets, buy one mesh jacket for warm weather, one waterproof breathable for winter. You can get away with just a warm weather jacket and then layering under it, but it can be a pain. Throwing a rain jacket on under it stops the wind, but if you're also getting wet in cold weather then a soggy mesh jacket will eventually soak through the layers under it, even if they're "waterproof breathable".

REAX Alta Mesh, Icon Mesh AF, and REV'IT Eclipse are a few popular mesh jackets. Me and two friends all have the REV'IT Eclipse in brown and are all very happy with it. Whatever you buy, be sure to add a back protector.

So Fate has gone weird on me. I ordered two coats as recommended because I understand the logic and wisdom. I ordered a leather jacket that has a thermal liner as well as a textile jacket that was waterproof windproof mesh breathable something or another. Well yesterday my best friend having noticed that I did not have a jacket, had me come over and he handed me a leather jacket. It was his old coat from when he was riding his Honda shadow. The problem is he hadn't ridden his bike in about 7 years and more to the point sold it two years ago. So this biker jacket is now what I'm wearing while I'm riding until my stuff comes in later this month. It is not the correct jacket for the season, but it is riding leather and it is going to keep me safe should I decide to get up close and personal with the asphalt.

It might just be me but having good safety gear makes me feel more confident.

 

[Opfor656]

I use my old Army goretex rain pants and parka (woodland camo) for inclement weather but with a reflective vest I have left over from my LEO days. If cold I plan on wearing an old leather jacket under that, plenty big enough for that and even could put on a polar fleece jacket under that if I have to. I did go buy a mesh summer riding jacket with the "armor" inserts (really like that plastic armor better than the armor I had to wear in military or as a LEO - now that stuff SUCKED). But in these 100 + degree days I understand why some just ride with t-shirts !

 

[George]

I use my old Army goretex rain pants and parka (woodland camo) for inclement weather but with a reflective vest I have left over from my LEO days. If cold I plan on wearing an old leather jacket under that, plenty big enough for that and even could put on a polar fleece jacket under that if I have to. I did go buy a mesh summer riding jacket with the "armor" inserts (really like that plastic armor better than the armor I had to wear in military or as a LEO - now that stuff SUCKED). But in these 100 + degree days I understand why some just ride with t-shirts !

Sedici Cooling WP Vest - RevZilla

Keeping cool and dry has never been easier and staying cool on hot days isn't just about comfort, it's absolutely crucial to your safety. Simple to us…

www.revzilla.com

evaporative vest for summer.

 

[Admangia]

I tried a bunch and settled on the BMW Motorrad boots. They're really nice. Would buy again.

I tried some alpinestars boots but too stiff to shift with. These motor rads flex.

 

[SneakyDingo]

But in these 100 + degree days I understand why some just ride with t-shirts !

Coming from Australia, where I'd regularly have to ride in 110+ weather, to be honest I don't understand why people ride in shirts. I'd get windburned AND sunburned in a single ride when I was doing that on my bicycle, let alone on a moto ride. Lower back sunburns are terrible when you forget about it and lean into your chair, and getting repeatedly burned on the same points of exposure just doesn't seem fun.

There's great gear out now that helps you stay cool AND protects you.

 

[CycleRayInOK]

I absolutely don't understand this trend or feature of riding jackets to be mesh outside and water resistant / repellent inside. I have a mesh jacket with armor that I wear when it's warm enough, and when it's cold I throw on my rain gear OVER the mesh jacket. Now the mesh jacket is acting as insulation, and the waterproof and windproof rain gear is keeping the cold and wet OUT. It works. Not to mention that the rain gear is somewhat Hi-Viz, which isn't the coolest thing if you're riding a Harley (eye roll), but on a slow Trail bike, it's pretty smart.
I used the mesh jacket and rain gear technique on a 2000+ mile, 16 day, trip to South Dakota from Oklahoma. The riding conditions were all over the place, hot, wet, cold, hail, and so on. The two jackets were all I needed. I did use rain pants and leather chaps as required. Different gloves for different situations, of course.

 

[SneakyDingo]

I absolutely don't understand this trend or feature of riding jackets to be mesh outside and water resistant / repellent inside.

It's a cost saving method in at least 2 areas, an aesthetic choice in one, and a performance choice to a lesser extent. For what it's worth, this isn't particularly unique to motorcycling gear either.

Cost: You're putting the hard wearing abrasive exterior on the outside, and the softer, more fragile waterproof liner on the inside. The mesh will also catch some of the moisture and drain it away, even if it's not very effective, but this allows you to use a less durable, fewer layers in the waterproofing layer. Additionally, the waterproof lining needs to attach to the jacket somehow, and using internal loops is generally easier to work with as all the stitching is on the inside of the jacket's outer layer. My waterproof and thermal lining uses a zipper and some loops, and attaching a zipper in the same location would mean adding a seam or button to the mesh exterior at the same location. The attachment process is much simpler by putting things on the inside. By far though, the fragility of waterproof lining is the reasoning I would apply here. I haven't had the greatest success getting waterproof and thermal lining replacements from the manufacturer.

Aesthetics: If you put the lining on the inside, you can make it almost any color, appearance, etc. you want while maintaining the aesthetic looks of the outside. Considering that moto manufacturers don't even really bother to produce large variety in colors in the first place, not having to specifically go make an exterior waterproof liner look good as well saves them money. If looks don't matter, you're back to the Tyvek/Polycro high viz setups that look hideous but generalize the yellow banana Aerostitch that no one buys by accident.

Performance (corollary: fatigue): There's a few materials you can make waterproof gear out of, and the easiest ones to work with tend to catch wind. By sandwiching the waterproof liner between the mesh exterior and the rider, it won't be flapping in the breeze. This applies to sporting gear too, where puffy gear catches the wind. One thing to consider is that performance and fatigue are often hand in hand conversations: The things that make a bike go fast are also the things that will make it go far. By being "slippery" aerodynamically, a bike will go faster, but it'll also use less fuel. By being "slippery", it will also generate less force on the rider, leaving them with less fatigue at the end of the day.

If you look at high end bicycling gear, it follows similar conversations, except an abrasive resistant exterior is not applied. As such you end up with needing to care for the gear a lot more, like applying Nikwax more frequently to waterproof the gear over and over as any abrasion (including wearing a backpack) will make it less waterproof.

I like the "heavy duty waterproofing goes on the outside" for a different reason too though - as you say, the mesh gear adds a layer of air, which is a substantial portion of what makes puffy insulated gear warm. If the price is right, e.g. polycro or Tyvek, and the performance degradation isn't too high, then that's my go-to choice. For low speeds, it works out well, but when we were doing the big CDT ride, I had to move the waterproof lining inside the jacket because I was catching so much wind it was dropping the top speed of the bike down several mph - enough that safety was compromised.