Leather vs Textile Newbie Alert!

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All good thoughts. My riding will be mostly commuting, some dirt roads for exploring, some camping trips but just tooling around. I would love to take a weekend trip from Spokane to the west coast via a northern route. Not too fast but beautiful riding. I am on a KLX 250 so not too much highway. Maybe 1 day a week of 20 miles round trip. I really doubt much in the way of dirt bike type riding. To many hobbies not enough time :)

After reading all of the post and reading the German test I wish there was a Snell or EU type of organization to test fabrics. This would take some of the ambiguity out of what is protective and what is not.

Clearly textile has all kinds of upsides but if it doesn't offer protection it should not be sold to the motorcycle community. Just my $0.02. Please no flame for why its not possible or practical or probable. I am just saying it is needed.

Nothing, as pointed out here, will protect you like a hummer or staying in bed all day but we should be able to make the choice based on real data not just testimony.

I also come from the bicycle world. I go 30-40mph on any given day with nothing but spandex. I understand the risks. I have also crashed in those conditions and I have been to the ER from it. So it IS worth avoiding, My last road rash cost me about $1000 in ER, stitches etc. About what a nice DS textile suit would cost without the hassle of blood and such. But if I pay for the suit and slide on the pavement at 30mph and end up no better than my bike shorts, I would feel scammed.

Well, I suggest you read up on crash reports here and other forums. Should give you a better general idea of what people survive, and in what gear.

As far as I know from just reading forums, the only company that is CE certified for motorcycle protection is this one
http://www.jofama.se/motorcycle_wear/technical_info.php?lang=2

It seems that they not only rate the fabric's abrasion resistance, but thread strength and stitching, to actually get a CE certification on a piece of garment. There was a post somewhere about people ordering their stuff and getting it to USA, with some reviews and impressions. The information is a bit scant, but I guess better than nothing.

There were other good suggestions mentioned here, that you can follow up with your own research.
The few companies that I did a research myself on, were:

Aerosttich
Teiz
Motoport
Jofama

Aerostitch is getting good revues, and they've been in the business for a while. Some tradebacks, with it being hot and some people claiming not 100% waterproof as they advertise.

Teiz is relatively new, taking its cues from Aerostich in the beginning it seems, but right now they have their own following, and there are a number of reviews of their gear. Waiting for a couple of suits myself, so will chime in more as I wear them.

Motoport again has its own following. A lot of people are saying the gear is great and saved their hides. There seem to be some drawbacks as well. Read up on it, as I've never had any contact with them, any information I have about this company is from forums, and people's impressions of them.

Jofama is a very interesting piece of kit, but them being outside of USA and importing it is a bit of a pain, there is very little information on it. I'm a gear whore, and I'm eyeing their product as a potential buy for the future.

Also as somebody else stated, abrasion resistance is obviously important, but impact is usually what does most damage. I wouldn't neglect this aspect of riding gear. Yes, all suits have pads in them, but not all pads are created equal. I would highly recommend getting a chest and a back protector from Forcefield. They have a whole pressure suit, but the minimum thing that I would recommend is their Extreme Harness Flite, which has chest and back protection.

I personally have their back protector and it really is awesome. I used to wear it all the time, until I got the MLV air vest.

I know the topic was about Leather vs. Textile, but if you are starting out with gear, don't get hung up on just one aspect of it.

my wife came off on saturday
low side
slid for a while
leather jacket scuff marks,scrapes
leather pants,big gouges out of knee pads
scrapes etc
leather boots damage
helmet scatched, vosor severelly cannot splk, visor damaged
chin on full face damaged
leather gloves damaged
no loss of skin
no bruises
she is sore all over
she is 53
she is lucky
she will now listen when i won't let her ride without attgatt

cheers

qqqq

Aerostitch does not claim or advertise that it's standard suit the roadcrafter is waterproof.

Safe.

But neither waterproof nor lightsabre resistant. No high-vis option either!

I am glad to hear she is OK

Thank you for the post.

March 2, 2012 I had a 60-65 mph high side getoff. Teknic Stinger jacket, Fieldshere Mercury pants. I slid and tumbled somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-100' down asphalt . My gear protected me very well from road rash.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=769183 More detail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nknhqMLXgc

Roadcrafter Light

I am glad to hear she is OK

My view on this topic:
Buy what you like as long as it is tight. If you fall, twist, roll over the padding should stay were is belongs.

Leather is not perfect when wet or exposed to salty swet.
Textile suits are usely bought a bit to wide compared to leather.

Everybody will grow his own opinion with experience. But after one year of riding in a cheap textile suit, I will go for a top brand myself. My main considerations is keeping dry, warm and have the padding in place when needed.

Good luck with the gear hunt

Totally agree. Whatever you get, make certain it has adjustment straps around the waist, near elbows, etc. It is imperative that the jacket not twist, bunch or ride up out of position in order for it to provide any kind of protection. I have my sleeve and waist adjustments on both my mesh kevlar and perf leather jackets almost uncomfortably tight for this very reason. Let us know what you get and why.

Look at Motoport. Really well made -- that guy knows his stuff. And get 1000 Cordura or Kevlar. Check out the website -- or if you're in So Cal go there. I have two friends who recommended his gear to me -- I'm really happy with mine. No connection just a customer. www.motoport.com/

Thanks for keeping this going.

I have picked up a few used items but will be getting a lot more.

I chose a Joe Rocket Leather jacket that turned out to be a perfect fit. I has straps above and below the elbow that hold the pads nicely. The waist cinches down to even my rather skinny mid section. It worked great with under armor and a sweater even at about freezing and I have been wearing it in the mid 70's this week with a t-shirt and the vents open with no sweating at all and the liner still in. This was a forum purchase and I am very happy with it. With the liner out I bet 80's will be ok too and we only get 90's for a couple of weeks a year.

I picked up a used and pretty cheap pair of Sidi Doha boots which are minimal but allow me to go straight into work.

Outlay for boots and jacket were about $100 total.

I will get some textile gear and I am looking at some Draggin Jeans or perhaps Kevlar liners they sell.

I like the Olympia stuff pretty well for price and may pick up one of them.

Watched a guy crash a few weeks ago wearing a decent jacket, boots, gloves, full face and those sort of kevlar jeans. Yup, jeans withstood the slide alright.

BUT, since they do not attach to the jacket (and likely the jacket was not adjusted tight enough), the jacket slide up and the dude went away on the ambulance with severe road rash all over his back and sides. :eek1

Yeah, so much for protection eh?

Jeans are not for me, I will stick to properly armoured pants that zip tight with a good jacket, (well, along with all the other proper gear) until I can afford a Motoport later this year. Gonna ride down and get fitted, the right way to do it.

OP