Anyone tried BMW tourshell vs comfortshell?

Thanks for all the info. My comfortshell pants have been good in all conditions and weather (except really hot sun, not enough air), but the fabric is wearing through on the inner knees and delaminating where it is always flexed. Looking forward to finding a pair of tourshells to replace them after reading all the comment.

I can't speak for the jacket, but the Tourshell pants are extremely nice pants, and I can wear them around the office all day without feeling hot or clammy. The waist is fairly high, more so than the Santiagos or even the Streetguard pants. But, I like that, especially in cold weather. I would consider the Tourshell jacket if it came in a color besides run-me-over black, or at least had some high-viz accents. But, I like to ride my motorcycle, not be buried with it.

Trying to revive an old thread here...

I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on a tour shell jacket, and this thread seems to be the only one with reviews of this jacket.

Anyone else out there riding with a tour shell and have good/bad experience with it?

Thanks

Hello there,

I have this suit, and think the previous comments by chewnaut and komakon, and accurate and helpful. I like the suit a lot, here are some comments:

1. It has excellent armor protection, with respect to the areas of coverage, the size of the pads, and the composition/density of the armor padding. I assume the abrasion resistence is good, because it's a BMW touring product.

2. The material is uniform (unlike the Comfort Shell suit, which had sections of kevlar and sections of nylon), and it has a sheen to it.

The suit is very 'sexed up' in the regards to the cut of the jacket, the casual fit, the subtlty of the padding, and the gloss of the material. This suit does not fit like the comfort shell, but has a much more subtle look (the jacket is cut somewhat like a sport coat, and it's not obvious the wearer has knee pads, etc). Also, the way the reflective material is applied more subtle than on the Comfort Shell; in the Comformt Shell there is a plastic-like surface over the reflective sections.

In regards to look and materials, this suit is 'next generation.'

3. The waterproofing is excellent, and I have gone for three hours/200 miles of rainy rides. On at least one occassion, the crotch leaked, but this was in atypically heavy rain, and while backed up in a near standstil for about one hour (out of a total ride time of four rainy hours). -That was an extreme example, and does not reflect my usual experience with the suit water resiliance. (Also, BMW sells a textile water proofing kit if you ever need to retreat your garments, but I haven't needed this).

4. As previously mentioned, the pants sit high on my waist. (I got the long size pants, though).

5. As previous user noted, I had problems with the velcro collar and the velcro piece at the bottom of the zipper. -Specifically, the male components in thse areas were too shallow to be able to hook with the female component.

I showed this to the dealer, and when we went to compare the suits in stock, he saw that some had this problem, and some did not. The dealer considered this a warranty issue and had the velcro sections replaced for me.

Now on the lower of the velcro sections, the female patch has become pulled up from the jacket (I think this is due to the replaced make side being so strong). I am just going to go to the dry cleaner and have them resew this for maybe $10.

Also, on the right hand cuff, a tiny bit of the nylon which covers the elastic material has begun to fray. I will also ask the dry cleaner tailor about this, but that will probably be more than $10. I don't know what caused that.

6. The jacket and pants connect together via a connecting zipper.

7. The jacket includes a removable (buttoned-in) synthetic liner, which is very warm. I usually use a heated liner, instead, but this liner is nice.

8. The interior mesh liner of the jacket is of nicer quality (and seems sturdier) than the Comfort Shell. Also, unlike the Comfort Shell, the interior mesh between you and the back armor is padded, which is a nice touch.

9. You get two interior pockets on the jacket, one is labeled something like 'media player/phone' and has a transparent window, and a pass through hole for the headphones.

Except for th main jacket zipper, the external zippers (two jacket pockets, two pants pockets, and four jacket vents), all have a gripping botton, attached by string to the zipper handle. This makes it easy to open the pockets.

10. As mentioned, the jacket has a built in scarf (I've never used it).

11. Unlike the Comfort Shell, there is only one main zipper for the jacket. The Comfort SHell had two, and they made it so the interior pucket was accessible between the two zippers (so you opened the outer zipper and could access the inner pocket, without opening the inner zipper) -that does not exist here.

12. For men, the pants are in black only, and the jacket can be either black or grey. For men, the lineris either grey or blue. The women's version has different colors, and the zipper on the fron is diagonal, instead of going straight down.

13. As noted, the reflective sections on this jacket are limited -there is no reflective section across the back).

I like the suit a lot, and have experience using it in hot, wet, and cold weather conditions. Please let us know if you have additional questions, or want to see photos, etc.

Lining of my CS has some holes.

Dear All

how about the behavior of the jacket, especially, in cold weather. I'm talking about the range 0-10 C (or 30-50F). Is the included liner enough or one would need extra/other liners?

thanks!

I've had the Comfortshell jacket for about a year and a half now but have never tried the Tourshell. I've had CS in rain, sleet, 32 degrees and 108 degrees all in one day in CO and NM. I can't imagine any single jacket working better. It is waterproof, except for collar and if you don't get vintage zips all the way up. You can feel it breath in hot and reasonably comfortable in cold. I use the City 2 denim pants with a rain she'll over pant when necessary. I'd buy again.

Hello there,

I have not used my TourShell since summer, but here is what I remember:

1. The liner that comes with the jacket is very warm.
2. Usually I use a Gebrings heated liner, but on a few occasions, I would use the jacket's liner.
3. When the weather is 0-5C I typically use my heated liner along with a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt and a sweat shirt. There were some times when I would go with both the jacket liner and the heated liner.
4. The liner that comes with tr jacket is warm, but not adequate for 0-5C; it must be supplemented.

I can not remeber for sure, but maybe around 12C (daytime), their liner is good on its own. I can't honestky remember, though.

I am sure if you ask the apparel salesman at a dealership, they can tell you the appropriate temperature range for that liner.

The other point I rememebr about this jacket in cooler weather is that it may not have been entirely wind proof. -I think it has three small vents under the arm where you can feel cool air unless you wear their liner or the Gebrings liner, both of which are windproof. Please let someone else comment on this, because its been nearly a year since I've worn it in cold weather: this point may be negligible or even totally wrong.

Also, for me at least, when the weather is 0-8C, I use long johns under the pants.

The waterproofing on the suit is excellent, and aside from the Velcro, the fit, armor, and quality of the suit are excellent. The CS is nice because with its two front zippers, you can access the inner pocket without having to open the jacket; with the TS, they changed that, unfortunately.

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful answers! It seems like a pretty solid piece of equipment, almost self contained. From the answers above I understand that one would probably need a base and/or mid layer below, but that should be enough!

thanks again

yannis

Hello Yannis,

Yes, this is a great suit. Please note the following points:

1. Before purchasing, examine the Velcro pieces and make sure they secure well. For me, the Velcro at the collar and the front waist did not close well. The ankle Velcro is a bit weak, but not a problem for me.

In te store, I have noticed some jackets with weak Velcro, some with strong (this was maybe 1-2 years ago, maybe things have improved). The dealer had my Velcro collar replaced with warrant, but the best thing would have been to get a good model from the store, to begin with).

2. Suit is excellent, but at low temperatures, needs additional layers under jacket (heated liner, long sleeve shirt, etc). For me, I get cold easily, and love my a Gebrings heated liner.

3. Suit is of excellent quality and appearance. They have released a slightly updated version for 2015 I believe. Please check out the 2015 catalog and see what it says -it may be they change the armor padding from the thick orange one to the thinner new one, and maybe some other changes. You can ask dealer if this is correct or not.

4. Best wishes, you will enjoy suit.

I have been wearing mine for the last few weeks, about 5-10C here. Still haven't put the liner in, but I have a big gas tank and windshield to hide behind. One thing I don't believe I have heard mentioned is that there is a built in windproof, waterproof(?) scarf built in just below the back collar. It works VERY well!!!
I used to not like the elastic wrist closures, now after a year I really like them.....
When it gets cold enough to need the liner, I usually don't zip it in, just wear it as a jacket, or a sweatshirt works well too. Or in a pinch the liner from my Columbia ski jacket works as a comfy liner too....

After some more research on the tourshell, I have to admit I am a bit confused. In particular, I don't understand (from the bmw site) whether the waterproofing is laminated to the outer shell, or if its laminated inside, OR if it's a removable liner (the thermal liner is removable for sure). Any help would be greatly appreciated (again!).

-yannis

I have the suit (amongst many pieces of BMW and others gear) the liner is laminated to the inside of the shell fabric. It is not removable. I like laminated membranes because when the outer fabric gets wet it dries quicker as the lamination of the waterproof material decreases the amount of water the suit absorbs.

Hello and thank you for the response. I have the suit, and honestly, I did not realize there was a waterproof liner, I thought the suit was waterproof due to a chemical treatment. I don't have the suit with me, but I don't remeber there being any Gore-Tex logos in it, but perhaps it uses another brand of material.

To the original poster, the lremovable iner that comes with this suit is purely a heat insulator. It is like a very thin nylon she'll with a synthetic material in it. It is warm, but not at all relaed to te waterproofing. Vermocity, if you are unable to visit the dealer to examine one, we can post pictures for you, etc.

THanks to both.

The bmw tourshell uses another membrane (C.A.R.E), not gore-tex. From the previous comments, reviews and so on, it seems that this membrane is quite effective in terms of waterproofing. However, since I now understand that it is laminated from the inside, I'm a bit afraid of how heavy the outer shell gets with rain (albeit not too much according to the previous comment, but certainly it can't be as efficient as a membrane laminated to outer shell). This is now a weird combination in my opinion. If you choose to waterproof with a membrane, at least make it removable for true 4 season use. If you choose to laminate it, do it on the outer shell! I guess the reason for the tourshell being as it is is to keep the cost relatively low (!!!!!), compared to the the streetguard for example, or other pro shell jackets.

I'm sceptical

Thank you for clarification about this CARE membrane. This whole time I assumed it was jus a chemical treatment which made the jacket waterproof.

I used to ride with the suit in rain and never remeber that the suit became heavier when wet. Not all of that was heavy soaking rain, but some of it was.

Also, I am not sure how one can tell if the CARE membrane is not laminated to the (inner side of the) outer shell of the jacket or pants. There is a nice fabric liner on the inside of the jacket and pants which prevents one from seeing the internals of the clothing.

This is pretty common for rain jackets. The outside is protected by a DWR treatment and the membrane is laminated to the inside. If your jacket starts to absorb water you can re-treat it with a membrane friendly DWR product such as Nikwax TX.Direct

I've had my TourShell jacket for about three years now (the ladies version, but all the technical specs should be the same) and I found out a few days ago that it's not waterproof anymore .

I've only ever washed it once, at the end of last summer, per the instructions on the label. I know I've ridden in the rain a fair amount this summer; and this past week was the first time I've noticed water seeping all the way through the shell. (The paper in my inside pocket was a soppy mess.)

I'm trying to email BMW for advice (via my local dealer, joy) and I'm giving it another wash right now with NikWax Tech Wash; but has anyone here had this problem, and if you did, were you able to do anything about it?

If I don't hear anything back from BMW I'll probably try the NikWax wash-in waterproofing (NikWax TX?), but with my luck, that will somehow magically dissolve the whole jacket or something.

I had that problem happen with my Comfort Shell suit. It wasn't due to washing, just stopped being waterproof after about two years of heavy use use. I tried the Niki Wax, but didn't first thiroughly clean jacket.


Dealer also sells BMW detergent rand waterproof spray