Rallye jackets - recommendations
 

I am looking for a new 4 season off-road rallye / enduro jacket, although it is most likely to be used in hot desert climates, so effective ventilation is very important.

I have tried out the BMW Rallye 2 Pro jacket and it looks and feels good, but is rather expensive - does anyone have any thoughts on how much abrasion protection there is in the event of a crash?

I have also checked out the Hein Gerike and Rukka jackets online, but these seem more touring orientated, rather than enduro or rallye based.

Recommendations please!

cheers

KTM do a couple of Rallye style suits along similar lines to the BMW. I've got one and find it's very flexible - removable thermal and waterproof linings, loads of zipped vents and leather reinforcements on high wear/impact areas. Cost was £260 for the jacket £200 for the trousers. The only downside is the colour scheme - bright blue and orange, with big KTM logos - may be a bit too much for some. They also do a grey/black variation which is a bit cheaper, but is more touring than rally style.

http://www.dirtbikebook.com/acatalog/EnduroRoad.html

I would recomend the BMW Savanna II, in grey. It's a bit heavier than the RalleyII and very well vented, keeps you nice ad cool in the heat. They can be had on E-bay for a good price and are always available, if your patient. I've been told that abrasion resistance is second only to leather.

Thanks all.

Mark - I was looking at the KTM Rallye jacket, but saw some negative feedback on Adv Rider about the quality of the construction - just little things like seams / zips etc. Have you had any problems?

I would also be interested to see if any KTM factory riders actually wear their own kit, as most of the rallye privateers seem to wear the BMW suits.

But at least, since I ride a KTM, buying KTM kit will mean i don't have to remove the BMW label!!

I've owned a lot of different jackets and got a few free ones to test

I totally reccomend the BMW rallye 2 suit - i bought mine second hand (it had only done a few thousand miles).

Since then i have ridden 35,000 miles (in 16 months)....the last 200 miles were in lashing rain and i arrived at my destination dry. If i need a new suit, i will look to buy another.

Only down point is no waterproof pockets.

....and the temptation to fill all the pockets and make the jacket very heavy!!!

Mark
www.etribes.com/markstowe

Aerostich jackets
 

Aerostich make's a few jackets designed for all riding conditions. They have different types of removable protection. They also have different denier's of nylon used to make the Roadcrafter, Darien and Darien Light jackets. They have pants as well. They all come with Pit Zips, adjustable waist and cuffs. They can be custom taylored for an additional price.

www.aerostich.com

Aerostitch makes good gear but doesn't vent very well. The darien is cooler then my Roadcrafter but still too warm for hot weather. The BMW Rallye suit is well worth the money it vents so well I didn't need my mesh jacket anymore and very durable. If I had to pay full price I probally would've bought the Rev'it Cayenne jacket instead. It is very similar to the BMW jacket but much cheaper and comes with a insulator liner too.
http://www.revitusa.net/acatalog/Tex...ollection.html

Wonder if the Rev 'it is any better than this?

Another vote for the Rallye 2. I thought i'll never buy a BMW kit for myself, but after a huge deliberate search and research about the suits, this one was the only one to "dead end" with.

And now i have no question why it's the most used suite in the Dakar rallye by privateers.

It's the best clothing i've ever owned so far. I got it with 40% discount since R2 was updated with R2 Pro with few minor modifications only, so it easily beat out others with the price as well. Worth a check, some of BM dealers still have the "older" R2s in the stock with 30-40% discounts.

Rev'It is a copycat from BMW Rallye suite, year ago i was about to check it out too, but it was too new in the market back then and not much feedback. So maybe now it's time to check it out, MAYBE they've done a worthwhile copy from R2, don't know myself...

Also, if you aren't that critically minded about the protective clothing you wear, then HG Tuareg Rallye (the expensive version of Tuareg that is) is seriously worth a check.

Happy cloth hunting! :)

I'm pretty happy with the Rallye 2, but one grievance is that the zips connecting the sleave to the shoulder tend to leak in rain that isn't particularly heavy. I'm not to sure why BMW has removable sleeves on these jackets. If you're prepared to remove the sleeves on a jacket that's well ventilated to begin with you might as well ride with it off. And that defeats the purpose!

Rev'it Cayenne
 

I saw these for sale a few weeks ago at £260:

http://www.revitusa.net/acatalog/Tex...ollection.html

It seemed extremely well made, had loads of vents, removable sleeves, removable waterproof layer, thermal liner and loads of pockets.
If I didn't already have my KTM kit then this is the one I'd go for. It's got everything the BMW stuff's got and is a lot cheaper, and the quality of construction seemed just as good as the BMW.
They also do matching trousers, and a cheaper version without some of the features.

Better than anything else? NO, not from what I've seen.
If you want status and cache', then the BMW or KTM products are for you,
but keep in mind....you don't alsways Get What you Pay for! :nono:

I don't know about prices in the US, but in the UK the Rev'it jacket sells for £260, which is the same as the KTM, and a lot less than the BMW at £400, so I certainly wouldn't descibe it as overpriced.
You're right in that there's cheaper stuff out there, and some of it's pretty good - I've got a Spyke winter jacket which cost me £115 and is excellent quality, but is far too hot in the summer.
The Tourmaster jacket you recomend isn't available in the UK, and from what I can see in the specs the waterproof liner isn't removable.
It's OK taking the thermal liner out, but unless you can take the waterproof liner out as well then the jacket still gets far too hot for summer use. I once made the mistake of going to France wearing a Dainese textile jacket. It was fine on the way down, but even with the liner removed it was pretty awful when the weather got hot.

My KTM jacket has been excellent in all conditions. It's pretty warm with the thermal liner in place, waterproof, and with the liners out and all the vents opened up it's the coolest jacket I've worn in hot conditions.

No Such Thing: With Qualifications
 

In my experience there really is no such thing as an all season jacket. If you try sooner or later you are going to find yourself either too hot or too cold. It really all depends of the temperture conditions you mean with you say all four seasons.

The closest I have come is an armored mesh jacket. I use a Joe Rocket Phoniex 3. I then wear a Gerbing electric jacket liner underneath. I managed to stay warm down into the high 30s (f) this way. If it gets too cold for you add a good wind block layer either over the mesh or between the mesh and the electric liner. As the temps rise; turn off then take off the Gerbing and you are OK to the 90s. Wet your shirt or get a cooling vest and you will be fine even above that.

In my opinion when it gets really hot, vents just dont do the trick. You really need that all over mesh.

Yankee Dog

Jackets and others
 

Maybe you want to check out this site:

http://www.biker-land.de/

They got pretty good deals and a reliable service! Ordered a Schuberth Concept helmet there a couple of weeks ago, was delivered to Japan without any problems!! And the price was great (compared of what I would have had to pay over here). I am NOT coonected to that company, get no benefits!!

Another place might be Louis Motorrad in Germany. Lots of discounted stuff, but you have to check more or less daily/weekly:

www.louis.de

Well, hope this will help you. Take care and safe riding!

I replaced (on a whim) a 100k+ mile Darien with an on-sale First gear Kili 4 jacket...at 1/2 of the Darien's cost. I was a hardcore Darien guy and had planned to get another one.

The Kili 4 jacket has worked well and I'll probably wear it out before getting another jacket.

My girlfriend had $2k worth of Rukka jacket and pants. Nice stuff, but really not what I'd want for myself. She sold the Rukka stuff....that she 'had' to have.

Most all mfgrs now are into the hi-tech (relative term) textiles and make stuff that works, really works. The term 'get what you pay for' is no longer applicable.

If I didn't already have my First Gear gear, I'd try out that Tour Master that Patrick mentioned.

BTW, I've found www.newenough.com to be a good source for stuff and they do know the lingo if you call them.

With so many mainstream companies now making good stuff, there's pressure on the 'brands' to be different...and better. Might have been millimeters in the past...now it's down to squeezing microns..:)

I do the same when wearing dirt bike pants. Rain pants over warm you
right up.

jackets
 

I'll give my 2 peneth

I have Rukka gear for the UK but if i were to go anywhere hot 'd buy a sinsalo enduro jacket & pants or something simular. Rukka and the like is made for europe (north) and N America. It is great stuff and far out lasts anything else like the BMW stuff (then again it is more expensive).

Only other oprion is to look at hein gerrik stuff, they now (just) have a good range of hot weather gear. with a rain coat on top this would be good. Expensive again so i would just go for enduro stuff and put a jumper on when cold.

I'd like to hear from someone about all riding condition boots, altbegs look good but no shin protection - any ideas?

I needlessly carried two jackets last March on a trip from Canada to Mexico. My "northern" jacket was a Belstaff Trekker which (with a liner and electric vest) carried me nicely through the high passes in Oregon (it snowed). I lugged along a Joe Rocket Phoenix 3 mesh jacket on the assumption that I would truly need a "southern" jacket in the heat of Mexico. In fact, I never wore the mesh jacket once and it continued to greedily gobble up space in my luggage all the way back to B.C.

Although the Belstaff looked as though it would be stifling in a hot climate, with the vents open it was just fine as long as I was moving. If I stopped for more than a few minutes I just took it off, something I probably would have done with a mesh jacket anyway.

As far as boots were concerned I wore a pair of stout (as the British say) ankle high hiking boots and hard shin and knee protectors under non armoured loose fitting abrasion resistant pants. With this combination I could walk around very comfortably while the leg gear gave me a real sense of lower limb bash proofing (and really did work when I managed to give my leg a serious whack).

Norm

I've recently got a pair of Oxtar Infinity's. They're advertised as a 'dual-sport' boot, meaning they're midway between a road boot and a MX boot. They're very well made and seem to offer a decent level of protection, though not to the same level as a plastic MX boot. They're made form leather throughout with a Gore-Tex lining, so are 100% waterproof, and with a thick pair of hiking socks they're pretty warm. They'll probably be a bit warm in very hot conditions, but probably no more than any other full motorcycle boot. I've been using them for the last month and I'm very happy with them.

RRP in the UK is £170. BMW also sell a near identical boot for £200 (probably from the same factory!), and Hein Gericke do a similar pair for £140.

http://www.moto-oferta.com/images/IN...RETEX1-big.jpg

are even close then you've got a winner IMO.

Very painful to continue your journey once
you've broken a few. YMMV.

Leather option
 

My wife has a really well designed Heine Gericke Killimanjaro black leather jacket. It has some good vents on the chest and sleeves with the "exhaust" across the shoulders at the back. There is a clever pop out reflective strip for safety at night if required. The pockets are accessible with gloves and it has an incredibly warm removeable thermal liner. It's 3/4 length which I've noticed is in the minority for leather but strangely the majority of touring/enduro in synthetics are this length. It seems to serve it's purpose well enough while being reasonably smart off the bike without looking like someone from Mars. I have a very similar HG "Dakar" jacket which I just love. It's reasonably rain resistant but obviously requires a rain suit for heavy or extended exposure. It's the sort of garment you can curl up in a ditch in or wear to a restaurant. For really hot weather travel I guess some mesh armour would be the go instead of a jacket. Is leather not so popular? I gave up on a synthetic jacket because it was awful sticky in the summer, especially with the liner out. If I buy another jacket the wife will kill me. Is perfection so difficult?

PS: The wife's just sold her bike so the jacket's for sale on ebay Oz.

I disagree with your views on removable sleeves. When I first got the Rallye 2 I thought the removable sleeves were a gimick but after riding through Egypt earlier this year I found them to be a godsend. With the sleeves off you get as much cooling as you would without a jacket, but you get to keep your armour....a good combination.

Decisions decisions
 

I got a pair of the Oxtar Infinities over 18 months ago - they're great!!
Very supportive around the ankle, and excellent shin protection, but also comfy to walk about in for ages. Very happy, dry and warm little toes in these babies :) They stand up to a fair amount of abuse too and still look good.

The jacket search is a little tougher though.
I wear body armour whenever I ride - I got into the habit when I first started riding and now just don't feel right without it on. It's great in hot weather because the jacket can just be bungeed on the back of the bike. When it's raining or cold, that's when it get's tricky.

Anyone got any ladies jacket recommendations? (waterproof please)

For the desert you cant beat a MX shirt with body armour underneath for ventilation! A rucksag with a 3L camelbag and voila u are ready....

For a proper jacket have a look at Hein Gericke, good quality reasonable price...

Interesting but
 

IMVHO ....the Rallye 2 Pro. is good- the vents work well and will cool you in towns etc but when in extreme heat such as the desert etc..... vents have to be all closed to maintain your sweat INSIDE to effectively create a mini 'air-conditioning' effect which keeps you cool-er. This can be helped by wetting your T-shirt then closing yourself off in the jacket all vents closed. Unless, off course, you have a support vehicle carrying lots of water.....

Armour works well- tested at 60mph! and jacket still intact-ish.
And as for the removeable sleeves idea...:confused1: .......:rolleyes3: ......twattish:biggrin: but you can't have it all! Rallye 2 Pro- it's a good as can be.

I keep looking at the Rallye 2 whenever I got into the dealer. The more I look at them the more I like it, and you only have to look at the number of Dakar boys who are using it to see that it works - but £680 is hell of a lot of money to lay out. It's also worth mentioning the pro-riders bin the BMW armour and wear MX gear underneath.
My KTM Rallye kit works well, but is starting to look a bit second hand - I'll probably go with the Rev'It kit next time round, as it seems to offer the best compromise between cost and quality.

That's how the Rallye 2 concept works. For serious pro (rallye) riding you always need to wear full body armor beneth the thicker well ventilated robust textile (that's rallye style, the MX guys on the motocross-track can ride naked too or with regular cloth above the body armor :)) and that's why the stock protection is in 1 piece and very easily removable. BMW sells full body armor separately and you also can fit in any MX-style armor you like for pro rallye riding.

The stock protection is rather for more "medium" offroad riding making the use of suit much more comfortible for daily use, it stays in one piece to take it off or to put it on.

Main reason why i bought it was that easily usable protective kit having very advanced ventilation and non sun-sucking light colours that are also well visible in the traffic. Removable GoreTEX inner layer is nice thing to have for the cold conditions. It's the only jacket i know that works comfortably from -10C (with inserts and just waring a fleece under it) to +40C (w/o inserts vents fully open), without getting cold or starting to wet, very good temperature latitude.

Before buying I compared it with very expensive Rukkas and none of them comed close in the advanced ventilation the R2 has while the R2 is cheaper. Not talking about the colours where Rukka mostly makes relatively ugly black "sun suckers" that most of other makers also do. Couple of them were in lighter colours in their collection, but most of it's products are "funeral" deep black. Lighter colours are better for traffic visibility and i rate lighter coloured clothing much higher, i hate to be in a black clothing somewhere like in Iran in july when the Sun's hitting you almost 90 degree angle and outside shadow temperatures reach over +35C. I honestly don't know what they designers are thinking in the factory (or they drink woodshine wodka too much?), and that goes to most of motorcycle clothing manufacturers. HG, Rev'it, BMW and very few others have the colour advantage.

Things to avoid doing in heat:


Drink water early and often.

have had my rallye 2 for 2 years, it's been in daily use the whole time. i find it great and would buy it again - from footpeg riding in central australian summer to rainy commutes in the city, it does the trick. it's what i'm taking trans africa too.
only drawbacks, apart from price:
- like any goretex, it doesn't let moisture out if it's humid weather.
- no water proof pockets, but for those wet commutes i wear a rainsuit over it anyhow.

i would not buy the goretex liner again though. it works fine but was expensive and i've since figured out that my goretex shell jacket works well under it. this allows me to avoid doubling up on gear too.
cheers,
andy.