Jacket shopping

Well, sold my leather jacket and my motodry jacket. Armed with the cash im going to see what i can get. I see Dririder have 25% off at the moment, might be worth looking at.

I went to 1 of the bike shops here in Coffs yesterday to look at leather jackets, had to look around a bit, turns out they had all of 3 leather jackets in stock! What the? One of those jackets was only a vest as well! Oh well, check out the other bike shops next weekend.

Yeah, really want to give leather a miss this time, coffs motorports is one of the shops im lookin at online down your way

Ive got a Shift leather jacket. Its great, love it. But its perforated and gets very cold even with the liner in. So for winter I got a Strada Textile one.

I bought a jacket from Bikers Gear in Cowes at WSBK in February - $99. I've been using it during our freezing Canberra mornings without complaint. My only complaint would be that I think the pockets are bit on the small size. But it has been great in the rain and the cold and for that money I'd buy another. I also bought one of their summer jackets for $99 so for $200 I got two jackets!! Better still I'm happy with both.

Ewok1958 wrote:I bought a jacket from Bikers Gear in Cowes at WSBK in February - $99. I've been using it during our freezing Canberra mornings without complaint. My only complaint would be that I think the pockets are bit on the small size. But it has been great in the rain and the cold and for that money I'd buy another. I also bought one of their summer jackets for $99 so for $200 I got two jackets!! Better still I'm happy with both.

Are they textile or leather ? ( just tried their site & it's been hacked )

paul wrote:

Ewok1958 wrote:I bought a jacket from Bikers Gear in Cowes at WSBK in February - $99. I've been using it during our freezing Canberra mornings without complaint. My only complaint would be that I think the pockets are bit on the small size. But it has been great in the rain and the cold and for that money I'd buy another. I also bought one of their summer jackets for $99 so for $200 I got two jackets!! Better still I'm happy with both.

Are they textile or leather ? ( just tried their site & it's been hacked )

I have one of their summer jackets and it started to fall to bits after just one summer. I replaced it with a Dryrider Air Rider 2
I also have a pair of Biker Gear leather pants and I pretty sure the leg zip is what has torn the seat in my last 2 bikes.

Definitely textile - of course haven't tried the summer jacket as WSBK was well after our week of Canberra summer.

I was leaning toward the air rider 2. Will check them out today

The Air Ride 2 is a good jacket for summer. The only 2 gripes I have for it is; Even though they say the liner is waterproof I got quite wet in Tassie. The other is, not enough pockets, there is only the two outside pockets when the liner is removed.
On the plus side the Jacket is comfortable and light, and with the liner removed quite cool. I much prefer it to my heavier Dry Rider winter jacket.

+ 1 for the Air Rider 2. Very comfy jacket for the price. Check out Bike Biz. Very warm in summer with the liner in. Have even worn it in winter with the liner in, no worries.

Decided on the air rider 2. Picked it up for $179. Very light comfy and still warm. Needed it by friday so wasnt sure on getting it online

There was a test in AMCN August 2011 edition. 16 jackets were reported on. I'm not sure it was really a test (as I don't think they rode them all under all conditions) - so more of a shop evaluation. They were all textile. The thing I find though with these sorts of 'tests' is that the local shops only seem to have one or two of the models in the report so if you see something in the test that you like, there is a whole drama then of actually finding one to really check out. Maybe Sydney has a better range. Canberra doesn't have too bad a range but nothing like all those reporte don.

Not a great deal to choose from up here, geeze i was lucky to get one in extra large, third bike shop hit the jackpot

so..just curious..if someone already has a jacket,why buy a new one? I can understand the summer winter thing.
I bought my Rjays jacket in 1995,it still fits and has weathered really well. The only thing I had to fix was the pocket lining,as they tore on both pockets,and I had them fixed two years ago with a very heavy material that won`t rip any time soon.

So...why buy a new jacket if you`ve got one?

Bought a leather jacket off ebay and was never really happy with it but you get what you pay for, so the 2 together paid for my new one

Dont buy a Dririder very disappointed with my vortex, its just got shit zippers

My Dririder pants have crap zippers for the liners - I have to permanently use a safety pin. I've gone off Dririders because of their crap zippers for the price they charge. Had the same problem with the liner on my Ixon jacket within 12 months - bloody Chinese crap I suspect.

Jimcoleman wrote:Dont buy a Dririder very disappointed with my vortex, its just got shit zippers

Ewok1958 wrote:My Dririder pants have crap zippers for the liners - I have to permanently use a safety pin. I've gone off Dririders because of their crap zippers for the price they charge. Had the same problem with the liner on my Ixon jacket within 12 months - bloody Chinese crap I suspect.

Both of my Dririders have YKK zips, I've never had any trouble with them. Now the Biker Gear jacket well that's another story

I havent had a issue with Dririder and there customer service is pretty good.

I had my touring panniers on and was going under my house and i collected a post with it and ripped the strap clean off. was talking with my dealer and he told me the dririder rep would be there tomorrow. took them out the following day and showed him. he walked out to his van and threw me a new set no questions asked. shook his hand and said thankyou .

I agree with Jimcoleman

Dont buy a Dririder very disappointed with my vortex, its just got shit zippers

I brought a Dririder Airride jacket and returned it because the main front zipper kept popping open.

mtbeerwah wrote:so..just curious..if someone already has a jacket,why buy a new one? I can understand the summer winter thing.
I bought my Rjays jacket in 1995,it still fits and has weathered really well. The only thing I had to fix was the pocket lining,as they tore on both pockets,and I had them fixed two years ago with a very heavy material that won`t rip any time soon.

So...why buy a new jacket if you`ve got one?

My leather jacket is 30 odd years old & seems it was bought for another person , or maybe I might have grown a bit in that time

I had a dry rider textile jacket but unfortunately I have shrunk in size so it no longer fits not that i am complaining because it had more leaks than a colander. I have since brought an Alpinestar leather summer jacket and a Dianese Winter jacket both of which are fantastic and I have no complaints at all. The only down side to leather is the rain not a leather jackets friend. My wife however has a Rukka jacket which in her words is Bloody Awesome. I am now saving some pennies to get one when I am on our tour to Tassie in November.

I have been in touch with the company and they have been very helpful with advise on sizing etc. They are pricy but again you get what you pay for and if you are riding frequently and getting caught in a lot of rain then it could well be a good investment.

I bought a new leather jacket last year - custom made to sizes I supplied - from a manufacturer I found in Pakistan (which is where nearly all of the shop leather jackets are imported from anyway)... I located this manufacturer on a site called Alibaba.com where there are numerous leather manufactures mentioned and so many jacket designs available that it becomes mind boggling.

I chose one (I can supply it to anyone interested) and it ended up costing me $245 delivered to the door about 3-4 weeks after ordering. Came with what I wanted; zippered vents, pockets etc, a liner, spine/shoulder/elbow protection and quite heavy leather in the design and 3 colours I wanted (white, grey and black). There was a little bit of worry as I had to pay by Western Uniuon funds transfer via the post office as they don't accept Paypal or Credit cards and there were some thoughts that I may have been funding the Taliban! The guy I dealt with via email was very helpful and I'd be happy to buy another jacket or other leather goods through him again.. The largest cost in the total amount was the postage as they would only send the jacket via courier..that I think was about $110 of the total cost..
Anyhow, ridden and used the jacket every day since when I've been out on the bike and the leather is softening up nicely... very happy with the purchase.

Photos available too if anyone would like to see...

I have a dririder Demon jacket I wear in winter and i am very happy with it, except for where the neck velcro tab catches on the textile and has made it fluffy, when not done up. The zips all work fine for me.
I also have a Starider Summer jacket, perforated textile and is very comfy in 42C heat, and a Starider winter jacket which is ok except too short in the body.
Each to their own, but I wouldnt outlay for leather.