Summer Jacket Recommendation?

Daboo

Daboo

Joined
Apr 10, 2018
Messages
811
Location
Lynnwood
Bike
F900 XR
I'm asking the collective brains on the forum for a summer jacket recommendation. My Olympia Dakar jacket is finally needing to be replaced. It has definitely served me well. If Olympia still sold gear, I'd buy another.

So what do you recommend? Why do you recommend it?
If you have something now and found later that you don't like it...what do you recommend not getting. That could be more revealing than you'd think at first.


I'm not sold on the idea that more $$$ equals better value. The top brand names have catchy phrases for their proprietary material...but is it better really? Is polyester still polyester even by another name?

So help me out here please.

Chris
 
I bought Joe's Klim Induction jacket. I love it. It is mesh and I wear it under my Turtle 2. No idea how it will perform in an @Uncle Phil get off, and I'm not planning to test it. I can feel air flowing thru the jacket at only a few mph.
 
I found olympia moto gear fairly easy. My jackets are old and no longer made...joe rocket has been a great jacket....trying to find something balanced between airfow and skid protection....without being black....no luck here so far.....my pet peave is jacket color. I will never understand black summer gear...jmo
Report what you decide on.....
 
I bought Tourmaster Ridgecrest mesh jackets after my crash.
I was wearing a Tourmaster Sonora Air in my get off but they don't make those anymore and the Ridgecrest was the closest to it.
The jack held up fine with very few 'burn throughs' considering the speed and distance I body surfed.
Mainly at the elbows but I got no upper body road rash at all.
Since I had 'tested' their jacket I felt comfortable going with them again.
Also it is very difficult for me to find jackets that fit because I need a 4XL to fit my shoulder width.
 
As a bit of an addendum to the CDN sourced Olympia gear......I bought a pair of their Airglide 7 pants last year and find their quality equal to the "higher end" brands. Bonus is the adjustable leg length.
 
I just shake my head on why Motovan bought out Olympia riding gear and then through some bad business decisions, almost drove it in the ground. What they have now, has a very limited market. From what I can tell, they only ship to Canada. I can see them being upset with the USA perhaps, but not to offer shipping to Europe or Australia?

And then there's the price/brand conundrum to solve. Most if not all of the high end brands have their proprietary name brands with claims of how abrasion resistant they are. In the end, I wonder if it is all polyester? And the only way to test it is to do an Uncle Phil on the road.

Then there is the price/origin conundrum. By that I mean that probably all the gear (except Aerostitch) is made in China or other parts of Southeast Asia. Klim has an office in the USA, but their products are made in China, Vietnam, etc. So how much of a premium to do I pay for their office location versus something similar without the USA office? :unsure:


I looked at some jackets on Amazon for part of my research. I was astonished.

The Zyxformis jacket was an eye-opener. I mistakenly bought their waterproof jacket, not their mesh jacket. But if I needed a Fall/Winter/Spring jacket, I'd give this one serious consideration. Everything about it seemed top-quality. It was $93 on sale. I may order their mesh jacket instead.

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This one from Cuber seems top-notch too, with one exception. The heavier impact material over the collarbone doesn't extend over the shoulder. The shoulder pad is there, but will it stay in place? Price = $70.

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This one from HWK is nice except for the one thing some of you mentioned. It is black. Why anyone makes a "summer" "hot weather" jacket in black is beyond me. At least make it grey. Price = $64. I have their pants. The company is based somewhere around Georgia and run by motorcyclists. Gear is made probably in China.

1782767127878.png


I don't mind paying a premium price for gear. One trip to the emergency room and the months of healing are enough to pay for the priciest gear. But I'd like to not feel like I'm being taken for a fool.

Chris
 
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