SuzukiSavage.com - Leather or Not?

LostArtist

Ex Member

Leather or Not?
02/03/12 at 10:50:55

looking at two jackets, one is just leather, very very little protective padding and no armor

Joe Rocket Leather

the other is textile/leather combo but with lots of armor and padding

Cortech

I like them both, both are affordable for me, I currently have a mesh jacket, just looking for a change up in style and just something different. I am in Texas so I've been kinda shy about getting leather since mesh is much cooler. armor though almost never fits me right, mainly that the elbow pads slip down some. I'm leaning towards the Joe Rocket Old School. . .

how important can armor be anyway right??

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #1 - 02/03/12 at 11:01:12 If the armor isnt locked in place & theres room to raise it to where you want it, you could stitch below it & close the pocket so it would stay up. How important is armor? Ask a tank driver.. Some days, ya dont need it, but when ya do, ya do.,, Leather is great for certain weather conditions,, We arent having them this year,
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Serowbot YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline OK.... so what's the speed of dark? Posts: 28661 Tucson Az Gender:	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #2 - 02/03/12 at 11:11:49 Racers wear leather,... for them it's not if, but when... so I wear leather... ...
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verslagen1 YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline Where there's a will, I want to be in it. Posts: 28886 L.A. California Gender:	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #3 - 02/03/12 at 11:33:49 Leather offers more overall protection. armor will protect your joints from impact. I have a textile tourmaster and a leather cortech jacket. Textile is a lot lighter than leather. Both have armor that fits well. both have liners so are equally warm textile is better if you get wet
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bill67 Serious Thumper Offline old tired Posts: 8517 genoa city wisconsin Gender:	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #4 - 02/03/12 at 12:41:17 If its hot were you are you only need a short sheave shirt.
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bikertrash Full Member Offline another bad example Posts: 171 Ogden, Illinois Gender:	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #5 - 02/03/12 at 13:17:29 Buy 'em both.
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Savage_Rob

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Re: Leather or Not?
Reply #6 - 02/03/12 at 13:38:29

Good points, all. I live in Texas too and I've generally gone with textiles (with as much Kevlar and armor as I can get). Quality leather is excellent abrasion resistance but most of the affordable stuff I've looked into wasn't really as thick as I would have liked and would not outperform the Kevlar I already have. I actually have a Fonzie style jacket from my early 20's purchased in the Navy Exchange at Pearl Harbor but it has no room for armor and I think most of my textiles would outperform it. I still wear it occasionally but my favorite is my Icon Strongarm and it's a combination of both... Kevlar reinforced denim with armor and leather sleeves. An interesting thing I noted about this jacket is that the manufacturer has sewn a St. Christopher medal into the inside of the inside breast pocket. I'm not Catholic but I'll take all the help I can get.

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Jerry Eichenberger Serious Thumper Offline 2006 S40. OEM windshield, saddle bags, Sportster Posts: 2919 Columbus, Ohio Gender:	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #7 - 02/03/12 at 13:39:45 Neither suits me, as the color is wrong. I prefer bright colors so I can be seen. These jackets just blend in with the pavement, and are near invisible at night. My mesh, armored jacket is bumblebee yellow and my helmet is candy apple red.
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LostArtist

Ex Member

Re: Leather or Not?
Reply #8 - 02/03/12 at 13:55:52

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 02/03/12 at 13:39:45:

Neither suits me, as the color is wrong. I prefer bright colors so I can be seen. These jackets just blend in with the pavement, and are near invisible at night. My mesh, armored jacket is bumblebee yellow and my helmet is candy apple red.

they come in different colors, and there are ways to add visibility.

I ordered the Joe Rocket one, I have a white mesh tourmaster one, so for something different I got the leather one.

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Arizuno

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Re: Leather or Not?
Reply #9 - 02/03/12 at 14:22:17

I'll go with Jerry on this one. I have a textile armored jacket w/ zip-out quilted liner for cold weather. It's got some black, but plenty of yellow and white. It's much too warm - liner out, vents open - for summer here, so I also have a red First Gear armored mesh jacket with zip-out windprooof (but not quilted) liner for the remainder (most) of the year. And a hi-viz yellow helmet that can be seen, I believe, from orbit.

I'm guessing it may get just a tad hot & humid around Alvin, TX on occassion. Mesh would help make that bearable. In any case, given the abundance of seemingly blind, definately preoccupied automobile drivers, I believe it behooves one to try to stand out like a turd in a punch bowl whilst operating a motorcycle. Leather has excellent abrasion resistance, of course, but is generally HOT and hard to see (I don't know how 'Bot does it). ATGATT!

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Savage_Rob

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Re: Leather or Not?
Reply #10 - 02/03/12 at 15:00:06

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 02/03/12 at 13:39:45:

Neither suits me, as the color is wrong. I prefer bright colors so I can be seen. These jackets just blend in with the pavement, and are near invisible at night. My mesh, armored jacket is bumblebee yellow and my helmet is candy apple red.

That's the only thing I have against my favorite jacket. My others are silver or red with reflective piping, etc.

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Serowbot

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OK.... so what's the
speed of dark?

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Re: Leather or Not?
Reply #11 - 02/03/12 at 15:34:48

Arizuno wrote on 02/03/12 at 14:22:17:

HOT and hard to see (I don't know how 'Bot does it). ATGATT!

90+ weather I don't... but, I'm not happy about it...
100+... I'm in a T-shirt... (I got hit by a Toyota Tacoma 4x4, 2 years ago, while I was in a T-shirt... It really hurt, but it would have hurt with leather or armored textile, too)...
"Armor" is a bit of a miss-characterization,... "pads" is more realistic...
It ain't "armor"...

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Ludicrous Speed !... ... Huh

...

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SuperSavage Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 341	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #12 - 02/03/12 at 19:47:52 I prefer the Cortech. Why don't you check out Leatherup.com? They have some sweet Vulcan jackets...
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Savage_Rob Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Mechanically Inclined Amateur Posts: 6972 Texas (Dallas area) Gender:	Re: Leather or Not? Reply #13 - 02/03/12 at 22:11:51 I also like MotorcycleGear.com. They used to be NewEnough.com. Most of their stuff is either overstock or last years' model but it's quality stuff at decent prices. They're located in the Texas panhandle.
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LANCER

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Re: Leather or Not?
Reply #14 - 02/04/12 at 03:02:40

I've got mesh for hot, two types of textile for moderate or cold and heavy leather for cold. ALL OF THEM WITH ARMOR TO PROTECT MY BEAUTIFUL BODY.
I was wearing the mesh last year when I was catapulted off the bike and then landing on my back, with the point of impact on the lower right side at just below belt level. The launch did the most critical damage to my L1 vertebra but I fully believe the back armor saved me additional critical damage when slammed to the ground at 50 mph from a 20 ft high ariel arc.
ARMOR WORKS...USE IT !

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