Hello there, I've been scoping out both the BMW and Klim jacket and pant combo. Anyone have personal experience with either? I have used klim stuff before and liked it, but I've heard the BMW suits are pretty top notch. Any input? -T
I have the rallye 3 suit. It has been a great suit. Comfortable in all weather conditions with the right layering. The back pad is massive, the knee, elbow and shoulder pads offer good coverage and are comfortable. Only down side is no chest protection. I took a tumble off road a couple of weeks ago and busted my ribs on the mirror. I took a look at the Klim badlands jacket at the store the other day and it has a nifty built in chest protector. Also liked the idea of goretex shell to save the need for liners to keep me dry. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
How do think the badlands would compare in the heat to the R3? My Rallye 2 ( not pro ) is fine in the hot weather when wearing an LD Comfort shirt (soaked in water) is extremely comfortable. Having that extra protection of the Badland is a good comfort factor for an off..
I've had the Rallye 2 Pro and currently use the BMW Trailguard. That being said, I've had the Traverse suit (fantastic suit) and currently own the Latitude. Again, fantastic suit. But... They're all very different and I use them for different purposes. My Latitude is more of a late Fall, Winter, Early Spring suit, while my Trailguard is for everything else.
I agree with this. I don't know what the weather's like in Denver; here in the UK, the Goretex outer is FAR better than the BMW's offering. I've tried on the Rallye 3 and it's a quality bit of kit. I went for the Lattitude as I can't be doing with the faff of waterproof liners. The Lattitude loses out quite badly in the warm weather, but the 'vents' are OK for moderate heat ( it never really gets that warm here! ). Horses for courses.
I have the R3 and was going to sell it for for the badlands but decided against it. It really is a good suit and the liners are no prroblem. When it gets cold enough to worry about it, you are wearing a base layer or heated liner anyways and i love the breathability in the heat. Also, the armour is by far the beefiest out there. I dont think the Badlands would vent as well as the actual fabric on the R3 is flowing air. Both good suits....love my R3.
I had the Klim Rally suit, and sold the jacket (bought the wrong size), but had a chance to ride with it for a week or so. I kept the pants, and now wear them with a BMW Rallye 2 jacket. I think this is, for my weather, the best solution. I find the Klim pants vent well enough that I can wear them in hot conditions, and I don't have to worry about a goretex liner (although I always forget to close the rear thigh vents, and get wet anyway...). The BMW jacket flows WAY more are than the Klim. There is no comparison between them. I find my Rallye 2 jacket the most versatile and comfortable piece of kit I've owned. With all the vents open, I can ride in 100 plus humidity in relative comfort (I think it's better than a fully vented jacket, as I sweat just enough to allow the vented air and the air flowing through the fabric to cool me down). I haven't worn my mesh jacket since buying the Rallye 2. The liner is a bit of an inconvenience when stopping for a rainstorm, but I don't bother zipping it in - I just throw it on like a jacket, and keep riding. In very cold weather, the liner, vents closed, and a warm layer is also very comfortable. The advantage of the liner system is that it really is waterproof. I've never had a gore-tex outer be really completely waterproof (granted I did not get to ride in the rain with the Klim jacket). The BMW system works very, very well to keep you dry, and the jacket dries out quickly when it's wet. I wouldn't want to have to put liners on my bottom half when stopping/starting though. That would be awkward and inconvenient, so I like having the Klim pants with the BMW jacket. If I were mostly in warm dry weather, I'd rather have the BMW pants though. dc
I use badlands KLIM with all pads removed... over my Dainese pressure suit.. (chest, shoulder, elbow, back protection is far the above yellow badlands "magic" pads IMHO). is it a pain? yeah. is it hot? sometimes. but it's peace of mind (for me). I do no kno if BMW suit has built in water? badlands has sweet built in camelback like water system.. that I really like. i do like vents, there are many, and they work well. Also pockets are nicely thought out, and built in kidney belt is great. I'm just saying what works for me... others like BMW, honestly... I did not have oppty to try on that suit.. so interested in how others like it. .. it's about what feels good to you. It took me forever to choose btw XL, and XXL.. must have tried them on five times... but hey... it also took me 6 months to get enough scratch to buy it. XL fits perfect over pressure suit (6'1, 200, 44-46 chest) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I was thinking about making a thread about this same topic as I am stuck between the badlands and r3.
Both are quality gear. I own /owned the RP, RP2, RP3, Klim Lattitude and Mojave. Favorite one for a do it all suit is the RP2. I still grab it, the RP3 is almost unworn. The Gortex liners, while a pain to put in kept me dry thru two solid weeks of freezing rain in Alaska. And while not necessarily the coolest suit, it has seen the heat of Baja and the humidity of Vietnam and Central America. The RP3 liners are not Gortex and the suit doesn't seem to fit me as well. The Klim gear is also good kit. The Latitude pants (Gortex) vent well enough for warm weather riding and are waterproof. The jacket is not as well vented. I have seen but not ridden in the Klim adventure suit so can't comment on that specifically. But Klim is good gear. You could also consider the Touratech Campenero suit in the high end mix. Custom sizes available although you will have to wait for one to come from Germany. I just ordered one for my hard to fit wife.
I just put my R3 jacket up for sale in the FM because it's not waterproof and I'm a little disappointed in the quality of a $700 jacket. I have to carry a waterproof outer jacket for heavy rains since the liner is not gore-tex. It's pretty much waterproof except for the back of the liner. I'm sure it breathes better than a gore-tex jacket, but it's so damn heavy and hot due to the super thick armor that I cannot wear it above 80 degrees. In the winter, i preferred using my REI fleece jacket as a liner since it was warmer than the R3 liner. I just ordered the traverse pants and plan to buy a latitude jacket when the R3 sells.
I use the Trailguard (with the BMW Summer II pants) much more often than the Klim gear. It's, by far one of the most versatile jacket/pants combinations I've ever owned. The Trailguard flows almost as much air as a mesh jacket, but close all the vents, and it'll keep you snug, too. At 90°F+ and 80%+ humidity for the better part of 9 months out of the year, the ATGTATT (All The Gore Tex All The Time) Klim gear is sweltering. You stew in your own juices which I find far more repulsive than getting a little wet in a cloud burst here and there. If I get into some serious rain (which might cause a big temperature drop), I'll break out the Gore-Tex™ KlimaKomfort Suit.
I have no experience with the Ralley 3 jacket. I recently purchased the Klim Adventure Rally jacket/pant combo. LOVE IT!!! I have only had it for a week and have ridden over 1000 miles so far in it. I am heading south out of the country in a few weeks and have looked at different companies for my needs. I ride KTM 990A and plan on hitting a lot of back road riding and want to keep weight off the bike as much as I can. I almost purchased the Rev'it Discovery set, but didn't as there are no companies that in my opinion would fit the needs that I wanted like the Klim Ad Rally set. The dealership I purchased it from carries BMW, Rev'it, and Klim. I checked them all out and went with the Klim. I come from a mountaineering/climbing spectrum and do not like the liner system the others employ. I would much rather prefer to use what I feel works for me instead of company recommendations for their kit. The attention to detail Klim has for this set up is beyond the others!!! I live in northern Colorado and had to run around the other day in 100+ heat. Didn't wear the pants, but wore the jacket. I needed to drop by Boulder on the way to Denver. With a backpack on, the venting was greatly restricted and warmer, as one would expect. I did not wear the pack to Denver and the venting is very adequate in my opinion, even in 100+ heat. It did rain (big heavy forceful drops) on me on the way home; like water on a duck, water beaded up and rolled off. Gotta love that Gore-tex!!! Yeahooooo no liner to have to put on, what a pain to have a water repellent jacket, oh wait, water repellent liner to deal with. Day before yesterday, again 95-100 degrees outside. Decided to go out for a spin out on some trails to see how the whole shebang performed. Again, of course, Awesomely!!! The pants vent well, I loaded the jacket with tire irons, full bladder of water/ice, pump (electric pumps I wont use, thin bicycle pump works better IMHO), which fit well in the main back pocket. All loaded up off I went. When you pick the jacket up seems heavy, but this is where this jacket, again just an opinion, is beyond the others in functionality. Putting it on, the internal harness system distributes the weight so well you don't feel the weight of it. But again, I come from a background that is used to carrying a pack loaded with climbing gear, so weight is less an issue, for me it feels like the weight is hardly there. On the trail I felt unencumbered and never felt that the jacket/pants was causing me to feel off balance. Have not crashed at all, , but I have a feeling the armor and material of the jacket will more than adequately do it's job in keeping me safe. Thank you for reading and I hope it provided some insight to what an Awesome combination this is. I do not have extensive experience with a lot of other jacket/pant combo's, so of course with any opinion should be taken for what it is. But for me, I feel I made the right choice for what I need. Cheers
When I was in the market for a new riding suit a few years ago I really didn't like the idea of the RP2 needing waterproof liners for wet weather wear. A friend convinced me to try it and I haven't regretted the decision. For me the liners have become a non issue. I keep a compact rain overcoat handy that will go over my RP2 jacket, and I can don it quickly. It works great when traveling through intermittent weather. What I really like about the RP2 (not the RP3 the OP asked about, but similar) is that by virtue of the outer jacket not being waterproof it breathes much better than a Gortex outer shell. I wore it last year in some 115deg weather and it was as comfy as any protective outer layer could be in those temps. If I am traveling in winter, or where consistent rain is a likely possibility I zip in the liner. Often times, like a few weeks ago, when I know I won't be hitting cold temps, I don't even take the liner along, just the overcoat and pants. Friends that are really in to snowmobiling wear a lot of Klim gear and speak highly of it. I don't think either is a bad choice, but if hot weather riding is a possibility I think the BMW gear wins.
Wow.... Great replies and thanks for all the input. Looks like I have some thinking to do as it seems both have their strengths. I'm in CA and often times CO so I get both dry 100+ as well as the occasional rip snorting thunder storm. Sounds like the BMW does better with venting but it a pain in the ass with using liners and potentially armor underneath. The Klim sounds like it might sacrifice a little comfort for simplicity with the goretex and better armor? For someone who likes to keep things simple, Klim might be the way to go. Sounds like I need to just go try them on. -T
i sucked it up and got the R3 suit this spring. I've got around 12,000 miles on it, and I freaking love it. I've used it from around 40 degrees up to 112, in blazing sun and pouring rain. I looked really hard at the Badlands suit, but the Gore-Tex is a no-go in high heat/high humidity. The rain liners are a PITA, but that's the tradeoff for how well the suit flows air. In a light rain, I don't bother with them. In a downpour they're absolutely waterproof. My only gripe is that BMW doesn't offer tall sizes in the gray suit. I can live with it, but would prefer a little more sleeve and leg length than what the standard sizes offer.
I have an R2 so my info is a little old, but its a great suit for 90% of my riding. The ONLY problems I have are during wet weather and winter. Its not the warmest suit I've ever owned, but for the other 3 seasons, its the best. Continued wet weather = wear the liner AND an oversuit. Getting that jacket wet = cold = miserable. DAMHIK If you can afford it, buy both a goretex suit AND the R2/3. ...but buy em both used! I got the R2 suit semi-used for what the jacket alone would have cost. M
I've got the black R3 jacket and am extremely happy with it. It vents awesome in 90+ weather and keeps me warm (w/ liner and fleece) down to low thirties. It's a solid jacket. The jacket works very well with Denver weather. I've never worn the jacket in a downpour alone since I carry the Tourmaster Sentinel w/ me as a rain jacket. That being said, I've been considering selling it for a Badlands Pro. I like the ability just to zip up and go when weather turns bad instead of getting off the bike, hunting for rain gear, and putting it on. I also like the waist strap and chest guard on the Badlands. I do think the armor on the R3 is beefier and covers more area (minus chest). Either way I think both jackets are very solid and you can't go wrong with either. I need to research more before deciding whether or not to sell but I do remember coming from the Cayenne Pro to the Rallye 3 I was doing a happy dance it vented so well on that first ride home in 93F.
From what Ive read, the Rallye 3 jacket is good with the exception of the waterproof liner in that the rest of the suit is waterlogged while you stay dry because of the internal liner. How would the Ralley3 go with a rainsuit over the top? Any ideas? Thanks.