Tuareg "Utility" Jkt any good?
 

Has Any one tried the Utility Jkt that Hein-Gericke Makes? I'm Thinking of buying one because of the Goretex but I haven't seen one in the Flesh.If you have I would like to get some idea of what they are like.
TIA
H

Hi Huan,

I have Hein Gericke "Tuareg" jacket and trousers, with removable "Shelltex" linings and body armour in both. I am impressed with the general quality (with one exception **) of the product and the price is acceptable too. Both jacket and trousers come with various ventilation zips, and the jacket especially has numerous very useful pockets (plus an entirely useless "bum bag" that it is impossible to reach without first taking the jacket off!).

My reservation on quality is with the back protector: while there are CE approval standards for elbow, shoulder, knee & hip pads, there is no CE standard for back protector. And it shows with this jacket. In this area the jacket scores poorly as the back protector is both tiny and thin when compared with the one in my BKS road leathers. However, back protectors are readily available on the after-market so you should be able to solve this safety problem without too much trouble.

I like to wear a kidney protector and lower back support when riding offroad, so I bought trousers one size larger than jacket to allow me to do the waist up with it fitted.

I originally bought the Tuareg gear for green-laning in UK, and I shall continue to wear my leathers for pure tarmac road riding as they offer superior protection. However, I am travelling to Morocco at the end of this year, and will be using the Tuareg gear throughout that trip in preference to my leathers. When in Germany last week I noticed several road riders wearing the Tuareg gear too.

As a bonus, when I remove all the armour from the jacket, it acts as a very comfortable (if slightly restrictive) over-jacket for my (close-fitting) leather suit.

The Tuarger jacket and the trousers do not have an all-around zip at the waist to join them and I am getting a local company to add this for me - both to reduce wind penetration in high-speed riding, and to reduce the chance of my body being exposed in high-speed slides.

All in all though I would recommend this jacket and trousers.

Andy

thanks Andy I have bought a pr of "Rallye" pants and was impressed with the build quality.My thoughts on the Spine Guard are similar But I have a UFO combined Kidneybelt/spineguard which I will wear instead regarding the Zip together function I also thought it would be an advantage to have a zip-together setup similar to some other HG clothing.let me know how you get on with the zips.
cheers Huan

I've recently brought H.G Tuareg jacket and trousers in preparation for a R.T.W.
Done 5000km so far bouncing (not literally - yet!)around Europe including a severe prolonged downpour coming back from the Lausitz World Superbikes. Both items of clothing stayed completely dry.
I agree with Andy on the back protector front. Disappointingly the jacket came with just a flimsy piece of polystyrene which slipped into a large zip pouch within the jacket but then proceeded to 'float' around awkwardly as there was no way to fit it in place. I've junked that and brought a proper armidillo type spine protector as these things are vital protection whatever you ride - they do save lives.
The type of jacket I have has perforated leather (with hard plastic underneath) for shoulders and elbows as well as solid leather panels on the bum and hips for the trousers - all the important impact points where leather can't be beat. As an ex road racer I know these are always the first places to hit along with your hands. For off road gear I think the Tuareg range offers good protection and a pretty good price.
Cheers, Graeme

Hey, I am considering the Tuareg Rallye jacket and trousers. Is the sheltex lining only a membrane or is it also also insulated so that the jacket can be used on colder days?

Thanx

The Sheltex lining in the pants is a Zip-out Membrane. With the lining IN the Ventilation don't work so good. other than that I recommend the pants the sizes are small I take 36" waist and the XL just fit.

I have the HG tuareg rally vest and pants. I bought them about year ago and have driven about 30.000km with them by now.
I Have to say that the vest was getting wet in heavy rain from around 20.000km. The pants seem to hold it out.
To solve the problem I bought a light rain-overall.
Also the velcro to close the vest around the neck doesn't hold it anymore. Also this problem can be solved. Lots of stuff in the shops.

For the rest no remarks, real quality I think.
Worth the money