How to pick a jacket...
 

Hi everyone,

After the recent purchase of the KTM we need to get the lady friend her kit...

I am confident the shop guys can steer us to the correct Helmet & Gloves... but I want your guys help for the Jacket...

Why is Leather/ Textile better/worse?

Are there brands to stay away from?

What should we be looking for?

The jacket should be warm enough for 8°C use... waterproof is a bonus, but we will try to stay away from riding in the rain...

The jacket will be used mainly for traveling in the Austrian Alps... and then in a year or 2 we will quit the jobs and make a circle around the Black Sea... In the warm months... thus Turkey and Greece can be assumed to get pretty Damn hot...

I have a Daniese Leather jacket that I am pretty happy with... but I've never used it other than for zipping around the Australian Mtns... We will get her the adventurer jacket & I will get one as needed...

Any pointers (no matter how obvious) will be appreciated.

My wife's selling her unused "Rukka Allroad" jacket on Ebay: she's now a mum. It is a hi end jacket and was originally about £600. It has a Gore-Tex removable liner, neck collar and armoured shoulders, elbows and back. My wife's petite, so there's a clue as to size (details on Ebay).
Mike

i cant say what is best, thats your choice and the choice is myriad!! you'll just have to go shopping and one thing to remember is the most expensive may not be the best for you, or even the best period. you can spend £1000 sterling on jackets now, bonkers. fit and comfort are big factors i think, as long as its got some CE/equivelent protection in it.
i have a leather jacket which i love but you cant know in advance what the weathers going to do, so waterproofs ontop means carrying another garment around. i think for practicality is a breathable waterproof textile with a removeable thermal liner, and some opening vents for hot days. i wear my hein gericke all the time now and went to southern spain and through our recent cold winter in it and and it was fine.

oh, and at least one waterproof pocket is a must, designed not to fill with water like some are, and make sure you use it (ive ruined a few banknotes, a ferry ticket and a mobile phone by putting stuff in the wrong pocket in a rush!)

Based on your riding I would go with leather. Make sure the jacket has good venting. Alpinestar are a pretty good brand as are Daniese.

Textile jackets are better for long, multi-week rides as in that case you are basically living in your jacket day in, day out. Textile offer more storage.

For Girls the look and fit are primary. For this, it as to be leather. For your short trips it will be fine. Bring a rain jacket to use in both cold and wet situations.

My leather jacket never gets out of the closet anymore.

Whether I want to avoid riding in the rain or not, it still happens and my leather jacket is worthless for weather protection.

I prefer to wear a goretex jacket that can be vented. If it's cold, put something on underneath it; if it's hot and dry, wet down your shirt a bit and close up the jacket to control evaporation; if it's raining, just ride on.

I've had very good success in the US with Aerostich and First Gear.

............shu

after visiitng all of the major shops here in Vienna (naturally before 12 noon on Saturday becuase otherwise they are closed the entire weekend... :thumbdown:)... She ended up with a waterproof Alpinestars jacket with a removable liner... soft CE pads...

Stella T-Lux Waterproof Jacket - Alpinestars Official Store


The thing that sold her on it is that if she doesn't fall in love with motorbiking she can take out the pads and it is still a good looking winter jacket...

She also liked that she could snap the sides & Arms to make it fit tighter... plus the inner linner is a smart enough looking zip up that you can wear without the jacket.

We liked the daniese jackets... but at thier price it just wasn't an option... this one we picked up for a touch under €190 :thumbup1:

I will post some comments later after she has had a chance to like/dislike it during use.

Personally I am just worried it is too hot in the summer being that it is waterproof with who knows what kind of waterproofer... probably something that doesn't breath.

For me I still have an old Daniese leather that I am going to wear until I find a reason why I "need" a different one... In a light rain it has never been a problem & I used to ride in Australian summers in it, so who knows...