NEON DEON
Race Dog
Not sure if I am alone in the quest of getting that Tshirt :imaposer:, When it came to buying leathers it was quite and easy job , I new what the kit was going to be used for and the decision was easy . Now I am not so sure anymore , You need to make and educated guess and still try to stick to a budget . But the problem is what seems to fit in the budget turns into a disappointment and a shout at the person staring into the mirror .
Kitting one self out with adventure gear is a minefield , the equipment has to be multi-functional , First and most important , keep you safe in a fall , then keep you cool when its hot , dry in the rain and warm in the winter , That is asking a lot , and the price can increase substantially with brand-names and so called quality .
My first adventure jacket I bought was a SPIDI H2OUT , like it a lot , but the inner is a pain in the butt and it feels like it bunches up not a lot of freedom of movement , feels a little small , and the outer does not keep the rain out . Then for out CAPE Tour I bought a LSM Airflow jacket , a orange one , thought now we are cooking , cant put my finger ion it but not 100% satisfied , just full of crap , Passed by FAST in March , got a good deal on a ORANGE METALIZE Adventure jacket . this looked like it had all the bells and whistles , lots of venting , rain-liner , and a thermal lining , in the colder temps it worked awesome and I thought I made a good buy . BUT .... Easter Monday , on our return ride home found out that it was not waterproof at all. got so wet , needless to say my SO had a rain-suit on and was just as wet , so a rain-suit did not work as well .
Over the past weekend I had a chance to go past MOTOMATE , Had another look at kit , Yes I know I dont need more , but want to possibly make a last ditch effort to kit myself out with the right stuff .But this time I will do lots of homework and then decide to buy or not to buy .
Had a look at a ALPINESTAR jacket , label says waterproof , with a rain cloud on it , but size is no good , L to small and XL to big , Then I tried on a RST jacket , the fit was just right , But a concern was still that it had the rain liner on the inside of the jacket , this seems dumb to me , as the outer layer of the jacket will still get soaked and be uncomfortable , some more wandering around the shop got me to a rack with some plastic see thru rain over jacket , pricing was cheap ,R399.00 , and I think this could also be a option .
At home I did some product reviews on the internet and must admit that the RST had a good review , but so did the SPIDI & ALPINESTARS kit . Then their is one other thing that I find hard to understand , Adventure kit with lots of pockets , Why? yes a pocket is handy , need place for a cell phone and a pocket for wallet or money , but what else would you want to put in all the pockets ? And then the pants comes with more pockets , I would like A pair of pocket less
riding pants , Bulges on riding gear was always seen as possible objects that could cause injuries , But in the adventure world , more pockets seem to be the thing . the bulkier the kit the cooler it seems to be , Or have I got it wrong ?
Finally , is budget buy just going to bite you in the ass ? As in buying on the cheap turns out expensive? This seems to be my case, but to have the 10k to buy top of the range , budget does not always alow , but in the last year I have spent close to the price of a top range jacket , toying with the idea to take a small knock on my existing kit and buy one good set . Problem is I would like something Orange , RST does not come in orange , leaves KTM by ALPINESTARS .
or SCOTT .
PS I nearly forgot , I thought I was clever and logged onto a German site , Prices looked good , thought that since its a European shop , the stuff would be more suited to their conditions , Needles to say it was a disaster , jacket just to small ,and pants 2 sizes to big , My Son received the jacket as a Xmas present , pants I took to a tailor and he F@&^%&% it up , useless to man or beast . lesson learnt . Dont try and be clever and buy online .
Maybe its just me , looking for something that I already have , My SO says she does not know why I am not satisfied with my riding gear , and I dont have an answer for her . Maybe it was just the day getting soaked that mite not happen soon again that has me concerned , But I would hate to be wrong after buying new kit and finding out that its the same boat just more expensive .
This said and done , another friend of mine that I discussed this situation with was of the opinion that non of the so called waterproof kit will keep one dry in 600 kilos of riding in the rain . HE also suggested that I should waterproof my jacket with tent waterproofing spray .
HE said ; wash the jacket to make sure their are no dirt stains on it , once dry use a canvas/ nylon tents and spray the jacket and pants with it , he says it will waterproof it , not sure how tru but seems worth a try , this just needs to be done on a regular basis I think . Anybody tried this ? does it work?
Maybe I am just a bit paranoid and looking for a excuse to have more nice stuff
ot:
Kitting one self out with adventure gear is a minefield , the equipment has to be multi-functional , First and most important , keep you safe in a fall , then keep you cool when its hot , dry in the rain and warm in the winter , That is asking a lot , and the price can increase substantially with brand-names and so called quality .
My first adventure jacket I bought was a SPIDI H2OUT , like it a lot , but the inner is a pain in the butt and it feels like it bunches up not a lot of freedom of movement , feels a little small , and the outer does not keep the rain out . Then for out CAPE Tour I bought a LSM Airflow jacket , a orange one , thought now we are cooking , cant put my finger ion it but not 100% satisfied , just full of crap , Passed by FAST in March , got a good deal on a ORANGE METALIZE Adventure jacket . this looked like it had all the bells and whistles , lots of venting , rain-liner , and a thermal lining , in the colder temps it worked awesome and I thought I made a good buy . BUT .... Easter Monday , on our return ride home found out that it was not waterproof at all. got so wet , needless to say my SO had a rain-suit on and was just as wet , so a rain-suit did not work as well .
Over the past weekend I had a chance to go past MOTOMATE , Had another look at kit , Yes I know I dont need more , but want to possibly make a last ditch effort to kit myself out with the right stuff .But this time I will do lots of homework and then decide to buy or not to buy .
Had a look at a ALPINESTAR jacket , label says waterproof , with a rain cloud on it , but size is no good , L to small and XL to big , Then I tried on a RST jacket , the fit was just right , But a concern was still that it had the rain liner on the inside of the jacket , this seems dumb to me , as the outer layer of the jacket will still get soaked and be uncomfortable , some more wandering around the shop got me to a rack with some plastic see thru rain over jacket , pricing was cheap ,R399.00 , and I think this could also be a option .
At home I did some product reviews on the internet and must admit that the RST had a good review , but so did the SPIDI & ALPINESTARS kit . Then their is one other thing that I find hard to understand , Adventure kit with lots of pockets , Why? yes a pocket is handy , need place for a cell phone and a pocket for wallet or money , but what else would you want to put in all the pockets ? And then the pants comes with more pockets , I would like A pair of pocket less
riding pants , Bulges on riding gear was always seen as possible objects that could cause injuries , But in the adventure world , more pockets seem to be the thing . the bulkier the kit the cooler it seems to be , Or have I got it wrong ?
Finally , is budget buy just going to bite you in the ass ? As in buying on the cheap turns out expensive? This seems to be my case, but to have the 10k to buy top of the range , budget does not always alow , but in the last year I have spent close to the price of a top range jacket , toying with the idea to take a small knock on my existing kit and buy one good set . Problem is I would like something Orange , RST does not come in orange , leaves KTM by ALPINESTARS .
or SCOTT .
PS I nearly forgot , I thought I was clever and logged onto a German site , Prices looked good , thought that since its a European shop , the stuff would be more suited to their conditions , Needles to say it was a disaster , jacket just to small ,and pants 2 sizes to big , My Son received the jacket as a Xmas present , pants I took to a tailor and he F@&^%&% it up , useless to man or beast . lesson learnt . Dont try and be clever and buy online .
Maybe its just me , looking for something that I already have , My SO says she does not know why I am not satisfied with my riding gear , and I dont have an answer for her . Maybe it was just the day getting soaked that mite not happen soon again that has me concerned , But I would hate to be wrong after buying new kit and finding out that its the same boat just more expensive .
This said and done , another friend of mine that I discussed this situation with was of the opinion that non of the so called waterproof kit will keep one dry in 600 kilos of riding in the rain . HE also suggested that I should waterproof my jacket with tent waterproofing spray .
HE said ; wash the jacket to make sure their are no dirt stains on it , once dry use a canvas/ nylon tents and spray the jacket and pants with it , he says it will waterproof it , not sure how tru but seems worth a try , this just needs to be done on a regular basis I think . Anybody tried this ? does it work?
Maybe I am just a bit paranoid and looking for a excuse to have more nice stuff
ot:
