Textile, Leather or BOTH?

Sactown2008

Sactown2008

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Do you have BOTH?

I just bought a blue S&S Moment of Truth Mesh Textile jacket on line for only $99. It has all the protective devices inserted inside the lining, plus the rain/wind lining zips out. I also have a new $299 Alpinestars Stunter Leather jacket with all the same inside hard/padding and removable cold weather lining. My "neighbor" might sell me his First Gear Kilimenjaro Textile coat. It is very warm. Remove the lining and it's also very cool.

Should I return the $300 leather Alpinestars(I could use the $$), live with the new $99 S&S as my main Summer jacket and hope the neighbor sells me this "very warm" First Gear for the Winter?

In the Central CA Valley, the Summers can hit 100+ degress. That leather jacket is VERY HOT at stop lights, even at 75 degrees.

Some of you have said "Leather is it' for hitting the pavement, but is that always true? Does every accident involve some long slide? I am sorry if this is answered elsewere. I am just wondering if the new Mesh should be my CA Summer jacket and one of the others for next Winter. :unworthy:
 
Sactown2008 said:
Do you have BOTH?

I just bought a blue S&S Moment of Truth Mesh Textile jacket on line for only $99. It has all the protective devices inserted inside the lining, plus the rain/wind lining zips out. I also have a new $299 Alpinestars Stunter Leather jacket with all the same inside hard/padding and removable cold weather lining. My "neighbor" might sell me his First Gear Kilimenjaro Textile coat. It is very warm. Remove the lining and it's also very cool.

Should I return the $300 leather Alpinestars(I could use the $$), live with the new $99 S&S as my main Summer jacket and hope the neighbor sells me this "very warm" First Gear for the Winter?

In the Central CA Valley, the Summers can hit 100+ degress. That leather jacket is VERY HOT at stop lights, even at 75 degrees.

Some of you have said "Leather is it' for hitting the pavement, but is that always true? Does every accident involve some long slide? I am sorry if this is answered elsewere. I am just wondering if the new Mesh should be my CA Summer jacket and one of the others for next Winter. :unworthy:
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Textile no matter what fancy names they give it is all nylon. When nylon gets hot enough it melts. Some military gear (jungle boots) are made from the same material. The military advises against wearing them on aircraft becouse they will melt to your skin if there is a fire.
A lot of heat is generated sliding across the pavement.
30mph or less and you will probably be fine. I own a textile jacket, but only wear leather, even over 100 degrees and South Carolina humidity. I say get rid of both and find a perferated leather jacket with good armor.
 
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Black section is vented

FZ1yb said:
Leather is the best, IMO. Is that a perforated leather Alpinestars jacket?
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Thank you yb. Yes all the black is venting. Sitting at a red light on a 75 degree day, after I removed the liner, I was a sweating mess. When the fans went on the bike at 214 degrees, that air started coming up to me. Can't imagine a 105 degree Central Valley Summer day at 5pm, stuck in traffic.:drools:
 
I have both. I have a two-piece leather suit and an Aerostich Roadcrafter.

I used to commute in my leathers (go to work, school, shopping, etc) but man that was a hassle. It also sucked to have to put on a stupid rain suit every time it rained and needing to bring a change of clothes everywhere you go.

Now, I use my Roadcrafter for the day-to-day stuff. I can wear street clothes underneath, it's great for winter and waterproof for our crappy weather. Best thing I ever did for myself. Now, I show up somewhere and just step out of the suit and into my street clothes easy as that.

My leathers have been relegated to spirited rides and trackdays and whatnot. Anything but commuting duty I suppose

Buy the right gear to suit your needs.
 
Leather VS Textile in CA Summers

stretch said:
Textile no matter what fancy names they give it is all nylon. When nylon gets hot enough it melts.
30mph or less and you will probably be fine. I own a textile jacket, but only wear leather, even over 100 degrees and South Carolina humidity. I say get rid of both and find a perferated leather jacket with good armor.
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Thanks STRETCH. I forgot about textile melting. I have been through the South and East coasts in May thru July. OMG. That humidity is insane.
 
Sactown2008 said:
Thank you yb. Yes all the black is venting. Sitting at a red light on a 75 degree day, after I removed the liner, I was a sweating mess. When the fans went on the bike at 214 degrees, that air started coming up to me. Can't imagine a 105 degree Central Valley Summer day at 5pm, stuck in traffic.:drools:
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Well, some perforated leather vents better than others. But still, unless you are moving, air won't really flow in. The key is to have something that flows in air real well when you are on the throttle.

I had textile, but also I upgraded to leather and have 2 jackets. One leather that is more of a thicker, colder weather jacket and then my main one that is perforated leather. All with body armor. And then leather pants too. The pant and jacket zip together to make a suit, if necessary.
 
Hi,

there was a test on motorradonline.de (german) together with the ADAC (something like AAA in Germany) and they made very extensive tests at 70 km/h (about 40 mph) and the result was that even the cheapest leather was better than the 2000 Euro Textile combo.

I use only leather even for the commuting and yes in winter during the night and during rain I need to put on an extra rainsuite. My leather jacket is cool leather (optically black but reflects infrared light) and that is much better compared to usual leather. I have openings on the jacket which help a lot circulating the air which I think is better compare to perforated because you can close the slits when it gets cool.

The key on hot days is to wear long underwear under the leather. Today there are a lot of brands offering sport undewear which cools you perfectly and does not stink. I use something from craft, which is not cheap but works during almost all temperatures (warms when cold and cools when hot).
 
stretch said:
Textile no matter what fancy names they give it is all nylon.
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An interesting point. I don't know a lot about it, so I looked it up.

Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres.
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So is Kevlar just another form of nylon? It has to be if it is made of interlaced fibers.

Does anyone know what the melt point is on that? Is it the same as all other nylon products?
 
i have three jackets as well, one mesh, one textile and one leather. i actually have the s&s mesh jacket and love it. i wear the mesh in the summer and the leather in the winter. the textile jacket is nice but just doesnt inspire the confidence the leather does, and doesnt breathe like the mesh so it will be on craigslist soon. also my leather jacket has a liner that makes it very comfortable from around 40 with liner to 75 without, so is very versatile. i wouldnt get rid of that nice leather, but that is just me. hope that helps?
 
Living with two for now

returnrider said:
i have three jackets as well, one mesh, one textile and one leather. i actually have the s&s mesh jacket and love it. i wear the mesh in the summer and the leather in the winter. the textile jacket is nice but just doesnt inspire the confidence the leather does, and doesnt breathe like the mesh so it will be on craigslist soon. also my leather jacket has a liner that makes it very comfortable from around 40 with liner to 75 without, so is very versatile. i wouldnt get rid of that nice leather, but that is just me. hope that helps?
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Thanks. It helped. I am keeping the Alpinestars "Stunt" and using the loaner Firstgear "Kilimanjaro" for the Summer. I returned the S&S "Moment of Truth" mesh to CG.
 
I don't have it, but the only thing about Joe Rocket gear from what I've put my hands on in stores is the protection is soft and spongy (probably is not CE 2).......just not enough of what I want in the elbow and shoulder.
 
I prefer to wear leather. I have an Alpinestars "Stage" perforated leather jacket and zip those to the Alpinestars BAT leather pants and I'm good to go have fun. The jacket flows well at any speed above 10MPH. The pants are warm, but not really hot IMHO. However, I have several textile jackets and pants as well that I use for different situations. Super hot weather causes me to break put the full mesh jacket. Possible rain, commute, two up or tour trip and the Textile comes out.
 
Now that I've been down hard in leather, I know I wouldn't want to slide any distance in textile. Also, wear leather gloves, or kevlar palm gloves, only reason my hands survived. Love leather! But the kili air jacket is great for heat, wore it across Colorado, Utah, super hot zones.
 
Leather, Textile, Just Armor

I have both the Alpinstar RC-1 2 piece leather. The suit has excellent thick leather, great armor and decent venting with a very open neck which helps with air flow. The pants are the same but have some areas on the inner thigh that are Kevlar strechy material. They help with fit and venting. The Jacket is heavy, as are the pants. I would not worry about going down wearing this suit. Very warm when it gets hot and humid. Bugs clean off fairly easily and the use of "dubbin" keeps it soft, supple and waterproof. You can not wash out the suit though so over time leather can get funky in a hot humid climate.

I also have a Revit Textile 2 piece "Cayenne" suit for dual sport touring. Very high tech and with the SAS-Tech upgraded armor almost as good as the leather. It's downfall in a crash (where you might be sliding down the pavement) is I am not sure the suit would keep the armor where it needs to be as it doesn't fit as tightly. It vents far better than the leather, has both rain liner and thermal liner (you can use both together, and I have). It is tough as I have crash tested this one several times and once was on a gravel road at 70 kph. Not so much as a rip (on the suit) and I didn't have any bruises or abrasions on me. The best thing is I have machine washed it 4 times now and it smells like new (maybe better). Washing it is a pain as you have to remove all the armor and hang it to dry, but the payoff is great.

Recently I have purchaesd a "Pressure suit" for off road, and hot weather riding. For those that don't already know what that is, it is a mesh shirt with all the armour attached to it. They flow LOTS of air and have as much or more protection than a jacket does (for impact protection). A jacket will still out perform a pressure suit for abrasion and laceration protection. Leather is still the best (so far) in this regard as well.

They make ones that are more street oriented as well as off-road ones. Like jackets they come in many levels of protection, from "just for looks" to high level protection. How much protection depends mostly on what you want to spend (with a few exceptions).

One thing that should be said; Being comfortable while riding is important. Being too hot or too cold/wet is distracting. Any distraction while riding is potentialy dangerous as it draws your attention away from the job at hand. That said, what you wear, be it leather, textile or other should be protective and comfortable for you.
 
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I took the liner out of this loaner Kilimanjaro...

fazernoob66 said:
Now that I've been down hard in leather, I know I wouldn't want to slide any distance in textile. Also, wear leather gloves, or kevlar palm gloves, only reason my hands survived. Love leather! But the kili air jacket is great for heat, wore it across Colorado, Utah, super hot zones.
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It was cool on an 80 degree day. This would be great at rush hour on a Central CA 105 degree Summer day.

Its several years old, but in great shape. I see this Firstgear model on sale for $269. I'll offer my neighbor's dirt bike buddy $125 for it. I have BiLT textile Winter gloves ($19). I am shopping for gloves.

Thanks for all the great comments.
 
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