leather & helmet saved my skin-Kevlar better?

[dharnie]

I recently took quite a skid down the ashpalt road with my RSV on me instead of me on it! Ouch!

 

I was wearing riding (hiking) boots and my left ankle is twisted and the foot is broken because the boot came off. Boots in good shape.

 

The jacket was a $250 classic style cycle of good quality leather which has road rash all over it especially at the elbows. Something still penetrated it and into my elbow. The sewn seams were ripped open on one arm. Jacket trashed.

 

The leather gloves were in the box. I wore instead a lighter fabric glove and my hands & fingers took a beating (better than nothing - at least hands were not bare!). Gloves trashed.

 

The helmet was a 1/2 shell. It has road rash on all 4 sides. My face has 1 small scratch (lucky!)

 

Paramedics cut up the long legged pants - what was left of them. Ended up with major road rash on both lower legs and some on the butt.

 

I will be buying a better boot, new jacket, full helmet that opens in front, throw away my open fingered gloves.

 

What I would like to know if you have any experience with the Cordovan and/or the Kevlan systems riding jackets, I would appreciate your opinion. Thinking of them instead of the leather only because it gets hot in FL behind a fairing & especially in traffic!

[Squeeze]

Here are the Draggin Jeans in US...

 

http://www.dragginjeans.com/default.aspx

[Little Bob]

This is my 2 cents worth. About 1month ago my brother hit a deer at 60 mph. Bmw totaled. He slide appox 230 feet on his jacket and pants. He was wearing amored jacket and pants. Broke his right collar bone ,shoulder and numbers 5,6,7,8 ribs in mupitle places. There was not scratch on him. The emt`s and doctor both say that the clothing he was wearing saved his life. Emt`s used all 4 pair of scissors on his jacket to get it off. And someone`s kinfe on his pants. I have now purchased a jacket with amor in it. Also will be buying new full face as well. Haven`t wore a helment in 25 yrs but this was to close to home! If you know what I mean. I would invest in it with out any second thought. Hope this helps.

[Yammer Dan]

When I went down I had very little road rash this time. In fact really none. Face gotbeat up a little inside helmet and had busted nose. Couple of scratches on thigh. except for crushed leg,ribs, shoulder and hip I wasn't too bad. I did get busted a lot but won't catch me without my gear. Good Jacket,Fullfaced Helmet, Gloves and boots. Saved me a lot of skin I think. And if you saw my helmet you would know why I say FullFaced is the only way to go. I do use the Flip-up front.

 

And I bought myself my first set of Chaps Today!! Haven't rode with them yet but spring is a long ways away. Don't think I can wait.

[Stoutman]

Here is a more comfortable kevlar jean than the draggin jean. It is the diamond gusset jean. Built for a real American male, not the young skinny underwear model type biker. I own the draggin jeans and the diamond gusset. The draggin jeans stay in the closet, and the Diamond gusset jeans are worn every week.

 

I don't have any facts about if they are better than leather or not. All I know is if you are not wearing it cause it's to hot, then it isn't protecting you.

 

Best of luck.

Edited November 30, 2008 by Stoutman
spelling

[sarges46]

Well all I can say is that I am glad you are ok. Good gear saves lives for sure. I did with Bigbob too even though it couldnt protect him from getting busted up. But it sure lessoned the effects.

[Squeeze]

Here is a more comfortable kevlar jean than the draggin jean. It is the diamond gusset jean. Built for a real American male, not the young skinny underwear model type biker. I own the draggin jeans and the diamond gusset. The draggin jeans stay in the closet, and the Diamond gusset jeans are worn every week.

 

I don't have any facts about if they are better than leather or not. All I know is if you are not wearing it cause it's to hot, then it isn't protecting you.

 

Best of luck.

 

 

Could you please elaborate in the Differences between those two ??

 

Why do you prefer the Gusset over the Draggin ?

[Albino Rhino]

What I would like to know if you have any experience with the Cordovan and/or the Kevlan systems riding jackets, I would appreciate your opinion. Thinking of them instead of the leather only because it gets hot in FL behind a fairing & especially in traffic!

For warm/hot weather I bought the Joe Rocket Phoenix gear--jacket, pants, gloves--the first year they were available, 2001. I lived in NE FL until August 2007. The Joe Rocket gear is great. Hot is hot, but the air flows well through the fabric. I retired the Joe Rocket gear at the end of this summer and replaced it with some mesh fabric gear from Olympia (bought on sale). I have a Frog Togg rain suit to go over the mesh gear.

 

When the weather is cool/cold I wear a First Gear Kilamanjaro 3/4 jacket, First Gear HT overpant, and gloves to fit the temperature. The First Gear apparel is waterproof as are my cold temp riding gloves. My boots for all seasons are Sidi On-roads, 12" high, and they are waterproof. (Riding in the rain is bad enough without getting clothes wet while doing it.)

 

The First Gear suit, boots, and mid-weight gloves recently were tested in a low-speed crash. I could not find any impact/slide damage. Only the helmet needed to be replaced.

 

Leather may look cool, but it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. And it is not (generally) waterproof. I think all the major motorcycle apparel manufactures make good riding gear; just choose what fits you best and has the features you like.

[Bvinson]

Could you please elaborate in the Differences between those two ??

 

Why do you prefer the Gusset over the Draggin ?

 

 

The Gusset Jeans have Kevlar in them also. The gusset gives the boys a little more breathing room. http://www.gussetjeans.com/defender_inside_out/ And to boot they use a Yammie in their ad.

[ibents]

Sorry to hear about your accident, hope your road rash heals up soon. I use a jacket made by Tecnic which is armored at the elbows and back I believe its made from Cordura as are the pants I use, which are armored at the knee's and thighs. This is similar to the one I have.

 

 

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/39/11152/ITEM/Teknic-Tornado-Jacket.aspx

 

 

Ian

[midnightventure]

In the winter I wear a Aerostich Roadcrafter suit. Very good protection and also very expensive (American Made). In the summer I wear Joe rocket Mesh. I'm sure it isn't as good of protection but I can wear shorts under it and go to work. Aerostich has done testing and according to them leather grabs the pavement and causes more tumbling. With synthetic you will probably go farther but you will start sliding sooner.

[timgray]

Also will be buying new full face as well.

 

Take a look at the composite helmets with the flip up front. They are incredibly comfortable and awesome when you need to flip up for air or to talk to someone. the HJC helmet I got I saw a demo at the local motorcycle rally of what he helmet can take. Dummy wearing the helmet was dropped onto it's face from 2 stories up. the helmet stayed intact and protected the face. it did not spring loose and flatten in the face of the dummy all latches were intact. I love the protection of a full face but hate how it ripps your ears and nose off when you remove them and cant talk to anyone with it on. These composite helmets are awesome and offer that face and chin protection.

[Ponch]

I would like to hear anyone's coments on their Nolan flip front helmet. I know several here use it.

 

I would like to know why they chose Nolan.

Is it fiberglass or Poly?

Is it lighter than other helmets they have used?

Does it come with a superior mic set compared to J&M? etc.

 

I am very impressed with what I have read about the Nolan helmet.

[RoadKill]

I recently took quite a skid down the ashpalt road with my RSV on me instead of me on it! Ouch!

 

I was wearing riding (hiking) boots and my left ankle is twisted and the foot is broken because the boot came off. Boots in good shape.

 

The jacket was a $250 classic style cycle of good quality leather which has road rash all over it especially at the elbows. Something still penetrated it and into my elbow. The sewn seams were ripped open on one arm. Jacket trashed.

 

The leather gloves were in the box. I wore instead a lighter fabric glove and my hands & fingers took a beating (better than nothing - at least hands were not bare!). Gloves trashed.

 

The helmet was a 1/2 shell. It has road rash on all 4 sides. My face has 1 small scratch (lucky!)

 

Paramedics cut up the long legged pants - what was left of them. Ended up with major road rash on both lower legs and some on the butt.

 

I will be buying a better boot, new jacket, full helmet that opens in front, throw away my open fingered gloves.

 

What I would like to know if you have any experience with the Cordovan and/or the Kevlan systems riding jackets, I would appreciate your opinion. Thinking of them instead of the leather only because it gets hot in FL behind a fairing & especially in traffic!

 

See no reason to switch to a full helmet. I totalled a 2005 RSTD with a 1/2 helmet. Broke almost everybone on my right side. Helmet had tons of rash, even cracked, but not a scratch on me. I had full leathers on and they did their job only one 6" strip of road rash. I like a 1/2 helmet: lighter, I see better and it takes up less space. The times I've tried a full or even 3/4 I feel like I might as well just go drive my SUV.

[dharnie]

My 1/2 helmet is so much cooler than the fullface. It saved my head with road rash all around it. It is now retired. While I was on my butt for weeks healing, I spent every day online reading articles & forums and watching videos. No guarantee that a full helmet will save my face, but after seeing the broken & mangled faces of those who chose to NOT protect their faces - I have retired the 1/2 helmet and will wear the full or I will not ride. BTW, as far as I know, there is no FLIP -UP helmet that is SNELL approved. DOT really is a very low standard. If there is a FLIP-UP SNELL approved helmet, I would definately like to know which one it is!

[catang5oh]

I have a joe rocket textile for the summer(with rmovable liner for the hot days), and a tourmaster transition for the winter(also removable cold weather liner). i took a fall on my sportbike last year in tourmaster armored pants and the transition jacket and walked away unhurt, only sore the next morning, without gear on i would have paid a visit to the e-room, i slid probably 50 feet under the bike on concrete, only minimal damage to pants and jacket.

[awsmsrv]

I've got Motoport (Cycleport) Ultra II Air Mesh Jacket & Air Mesh Kevlar Pant.Not cheap, but custom fit rarely is.

 

file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Aynn/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpghttp://www.motoport.com/images/ultra2lge.jpg http://www.motoport.com/images/am-kev-pant-lge.JPG

[Owen]

I was looking around for new riding gear also. I found this. It cleared up some of my questions, maybe it will help.

 

Definitions of Motorcycle Apparel Terms

Provided by http://www.Motorcycle-Intelligence.com

 

Ever wonder what all those different motorcycle textiles are about? What are the

definitions of the myriad terms printed on the tags of motorcycle jackets, pants and

gloves? What’s good? What’s better? Is textile as good as leather? Is there any textile

better than leather? What the heck are you actually paying for!?

 

Here’s a list of some of the more common terms and their definitions, familiar to any

motorcycle rider looking for protective clothing and apparel. (Much of this info is

complements of Cycleport).

 

Aero-Tex: A thin, light weight membrane, mounted between the face fabric and the

lining. It is Waterproof, Windproof, and Breathable.

 

Ballistic Nylon: A specific nylon developed by Dupont for the U.S. Department of

Defense for use in flak jackets. Later it was replaced by Kevlar. The basket-weave

construction helps add abrasion resistance as opposed to a plain weave. The name is

used as a marketing tool with “ballistic” sounding like something “bulletproof” and

therefore really tough. Many motorcycle apparel companies use the word “Ballistic”

when describing material. In many cases the materials tear and abrasion strength does

not meet a minimum standard for motorcycle apparel and the word is used only as a

sales gimmick.

 

Breath-ability: Humans control body warmth by perspiring and thus prevent the body

from overheating. When riding it is necessary to transport at least two pints of

perspiration (water vapor) through clothes every hour. When apparel does not breathe,

water vapor turns into sweat and in cold weather wet heat loss is 23 times greater than

dry heat loss. Suits that do not breathe and use vents will only be somewhat

comfortable in perfect weather.

 

CE Armor: A European system of grading motorcycle protective armor that

encompasses both energy absorption capability as well as pad shape and size. The

armor or pads are designed to offer added protection to a rider going down on a

motorcycle, particularly in the event of sliding or lesser impacts. CE armor is made of

hard foam pieces encapsulated in softer foam which compresses on impact. In other

words, it’s like a helmet: if you land on it, you must replace it.

 

Cordura: A high tenacity, air textured nylon fiber, made exclusively by Dupont. Superior

abrasion resistance over any other fabric in a head to head comparison. Hundreds of

nylon materials exist but 500 Denier Cordura is the industry minimum standard for

apparel material abrasion and tear strength. (Be cautious when motorcycle clothing

manufacturers do not use Cordura in nylon apparel or use less than 500 Denier).

 

Denier: a unit of measurement used to describe the strength of a material like nylon.

Simply speaking, the bigger the number the bigger the thread.

 

Continued, Pg. 2

 

Gore-Tex: Thin, lightweight membrane mounted between the face fabric and the lining.

It is Waterproof, Windproof and Breathable. This membrane has nine billion microscopic

pores per square inch. These pores are much smaller than a droplet of liquid water, but

much larger than a molecule of water vapor. Water in a liquid form cannot penetrate

the membrane, but both moisture vapor from perspiration and heat can easily escape.

The membrane works when the outside temperature is colder than your body

temperature. the membrane actually sucks the heat out of the apparel as long as the

outside temperature is lower than 98F.

 

Insulation: The other Motorcycle apparel companies usually don’t tell you what the

insulation is or they make up a name. A few of the more expensive jackets use

Thinsulate. Thinsulate was an improvement of Down insulation because it performed

two times better and it didn’t separate and breakdown as easily. Thinsulate can lose up

to 20% of its insulation capability with each wash. Cycleport uses either Thermolite or

Thermoloft. Theremolite performs four times better that Thinsulate and can only loose

up to 2% when washed. Thermoloft performs two times better than Thermolite, six times

better than Thinsulate and no breakdown of insulation occurs when washed.

 

Kevlar: The strongest fiber known to man. Kevlar is made by Dupont and for apparel

use comes in a thread form. In a pure weave Kevlar does not stretch and is not suitable

for use in motorcycle apparel where abrasion is important. In order to give it the proper

motorcycle abrasion strength Kevlar must be woven together with Cordura and Lycra.

These are the only suits approved for road racing other than leather. Some

gear manufacturers use small portions of pure Kevlar as a gimmick. Quality full suits of

it can be found. This gear is lighter, offers greater protection and it breathes. It slides on

pavement the same way as leather and dissipates friction heat better than leather. Due

to its innate toughness during construction and the fabrics limited availability it is not

widely marketed so it will take a bit of looking to get one.

 

Leather: Long been a good protective fabric. However, many variables can effect its

quality including, the type, age and diet of the animal it came from. Different methods

used to clean, tan and dye the leather effect it as well. Unfortunately the best way to tell

if the garment is made of good leather is to look at the price tag. Good leather costs

more and that cost is passed on to the consumer. Leather should be worn snug

because when leather folds its tear strength lowers considerably. As an organic material

leather dries out and looses its flexibility over time. In fact each time leather gets wet

and dries it can loose up to 20% of its tear and abrasion strength. If you purchase

leather, get the best you can and care for it habitually, even if it’s just hanging in the

closet.

 

Polyurethane: A coating that has a rubber texture. This is applied to the inside shell of

most nylon. It is used primarily to seal nylon threads when woven into fabric. The

majority of all nylon motorcycle apparel is 100% polyurethane-coated and does not

breathe properly. Polyurethane can also melt into your skin during abrasion.

Polyurethane can also trap water after a rain for hours. Even the most expensive

apparel has 20% or more Polyurethane coating. If you are looking for greater

performance avoid apparel that has more than a 20% polyurethane coating.

 

 

Continued, Pg. 3

 

PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride): Nylon alone is not waterproof. In rain suit and waterproof

garment descriptions you will notice the acronym PVC. This is a rubberized coating that

is laminated to the nylon to make it waterproof.

 

Scotchlite Reflective Material: A thin, light weight membrane, mounted between the

face fabric and the lining. It is Waterproof, Windproof, and Breathable.

 

Seam Sealed: When garments are sewn the needle creates holes that will allow water

to pass through. Seam sealing tape is applied to a stitched seam using heat to bond the

tape to the material making the seam waterproof.

 

Taffeta: Strong, lightweight, breathable nylon that is used primarily for suit linings.

Taffeta linings offer the wearer a greater level of comfort. Taffeta also allows the suit to

be put on and then off with greater ease.

 

Taslan: Another Dupont invention. A means of bulking the fiber to give it better abrasion

resistance.

 

Tri-Armor: Armor comprised of a plastic membrane sandwiched between dual-density,

closed-cell, memory armor. Tri-Armor was developed from the results of a four year

crash study in Germany. The goal of this study was to develop the most protective

motorcycle suit. Construction and placement of the Tri-Armor was designed to provide

the best impact and abrasion resistance. Tri-Armor exceeds the current “CE” approved

standards.

 

Ultra Cordura 1000 Denier: The strongest nylon material ever used in a motorcycle

suit. It has greater abrasion and tear strength than 1050 Ballistic Cordura. Made by

Dupont this is the first nylon material used in motorcycle apparel made without a

polyurethane coating.

 

Shopping Tip: The most versatile motorcycle apparel is made with Nylon or

Nylon/Lycra/Kevlar woven material. The minimum standard for tear and abrasion

strength is 500 Denier Cordura Nylon. Hundreds of nylon materials exist. In a single

layer outer shell, less than 500 Denier Cordura will not offer enough protection in a

tumble. Stay away from apparel where the material is not described.

 

 

Source: http://www.Motorcycle-Intelligence.com

Posted: April 15th, 2007 under “Gear.”