Armored Motorcycle Duster

ShinySideUpAZ

ShinySideUpAZ

Joined
Oct 7, 2005
Messages
213
Location
Gonzales, Louisiana
Anyone thought of buying a Leather Duster coat and adding CE armor to it. I ride to work everyday, and in the winter my legs get cold and I get wet. I run a factory, and it is a problem to pull on an aerostich to ride to work. My thought was a Duster. See pic below.

A duster is a long overcoat where the bottom half of the coat is split and has leg straps. This allows for you to sit on the bike and have the coat below the waist wrapped around your legs like a pair of chaps. My thought is this would keep the wind and water off my legs, and the cape would also keep me dryer. I have plenty of old jackets I can pull the armor from, and a local shop who is willing to add the pockets for the armor.

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It would be all about getting the armor to stay in the right place as a leather coat would hold up pretty good . You still wouldnt have as good of proctection as a jsacket but ????

Send Pics because it would be interesting
 
sliding feet first down the hiway, would the coat stay in place? That's the big question on this idea.
 
I can't imagine the duster would keep your legs dry once you straddled the bike. And not all leather is created equal. It's abrasion resistance is directly related to it's thickness and how it's tanned and cut. Compare the leather in a high-end motorcycle jacket to a leather "fasion" jacket hanging on the rack at your local department store to see what I mean. I have my doubts that duster is built to motorcycle gear standards (thickness of leather, strength of seams, etc.). And, as someone else mentioned, there's no way you could keep the armor in the right place in an accident. That "dress" would twist and rotate like a belly dancer on steroids.

There's a reason why companies manufacture clothing specific for various uses. You don't see football players wearing motorcycle helmets, and I wouldn't want to ride a bike wearing football padding and helmet. Compare horseback riders' helmets to motorcycle helmets and you should get a pretty good idea of the relative impacts each rider's gear is designed to handle.

I can't imagine anything easier to get in and out of than a 1-piece Roadcrafter. Why do you think that would be a problem? Alternately, there are many two piece options available a lot cheaper than a 'stitch. I currently have a couple of different Cordura jackets (Joe Rocket, First Gear, Road Gear) and a couple of pair of Cordura pants (First Gear vented and waterproof). I can get in and out of the jacket and pants in 60 seconds or so.
 
Personally, I'm not seeing this as a water-proof option, either.

That said, the question was about sewing in some armor:

I'm not a tailor, and the first thing I'd do if I was considering something like this is finding a shop with heavy duty sewing machines that can really sew that armor in. If you go down wearing a home-made, armored leather duster which has armor sewn in with a needle and thread... you may as well be riding in the duster without the armor at all.
 
No amount of armour will help if the seams give way on a jacket or pants. I would never buy leathers that were not double seam stitched. That, 'to quote Blue Streak "DRESS"' wouldnt last two seconds against tarmac. I think it's a bad idea. BTRGATT....B=BUY
Paul
 
I've owned a couple of dusters in my time, and while they are great on horseback or on a tractor, I dont think one would work well on a bike. Aside from the safety issues already mentioned, they arent made to protect from horizontal elements (ie riding through wind and rain). Your best bet is m/c gear. If your concern is being able to wear your dress clothes underneath, with the right gear it can be done quite easily. Or you can keep your dress clothes in the office and change when you get to work. BTW, nice thinking out of the box. :D
 
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