BamaRider
Guy
After 15 years of use I decided it was time to retire my 2 piece Aerostitch. The unit had several broken zippers and was just looking bad in general, and figured it was time to replace.
I was taken aback when I shopped the Roadcrafter, pants and jacket sell close to 1500 dollars. Not that I'm cheap or anything, but felt like it might be time to see what else was out there. In 2001 not all that much could compete with the Roadcrafter. Not that many alternatives. But times and technology change so thought I would at least take a look.
For sure the Roadcrafter is a great piece of equipment. Durable and long lasting it wasn't until recently did things start breaking down. I never tested how well it would do in a get off (fortunately).
After several days of internet shopping, I decided to try the Klim, the vendor was motorcycle superstore. Delivery was 3 days.
I was first drawn to Klim by so the ADV riders, many swear by it. I also liked the looks. It just looks like a quality piece of equipment.
I was not disappointed. Easy glide zippers, easy to operate. Pockets in all the right places. Great ventilation. The only problem area was the sleeves. The are long over the glove and don't allow much air to come up the arm the long way.
Ballistics in the shoulder and elbows. A pad in the back. Here's how I look at the Klim vs Roadcrafter in a get off. Both are going to do the job, but I view the Overland as a one and done. Meaning you slide on it, gonna have to be replaced whereas the Roadcrafter can be sent back to Aerostich and repaired.
Keep in mind the Roadcrafter coat is 2x the money. I just don't think it is 2x better.
The Klim fits true to size. You might take a long look at one size up if you ride in cold weather often, to accomdate layering. That ain't me. I don't tour in cold weather (june-oct). I can ride year round in Alabama, and in winter all I need is liner to keep warm. If I need more than that, I ain't riding that day LOL. Fortunately that's not very often in alabama.
On my recent Southwest Tour the jacket was perfect. Had a few warm days and the jacket vented out and open did a good as expected. But yes in very hot weather this jacket will be warm. But cooler than the roadcrafter. In cool weather (50s) I closed the vents and wore a Klim jersey under and was fine.
Only been in the rain with it once (had great weather in the Southwest) and that was on a local ride. Again the Gore Tex overland did the job. I don't know about a all day soaking, but the rubberized zippers did well in the short term.
All in all the Klim Overland is great jacket.
I paired the Overand with Klim Dakar pants. Why? I just felt like for what I do, I liked the Dakar pants better than the Overland pants. On many days I wore the Klim dirt jersey under. You can wear alot of stuff under the coat, but with the coat off it went well with the Dakar pants. If nothing else I was gonna be the most fashionable guy out there. I looked good walking around the cafes. More on the dakar pants in another posts in the pants section.
