Gore-tex.

Have to agree with this one.
Been through so many waterproof set ups over the years, all in ones, all sorts of makes of riding stuff that is "waterproof" and now use a goretex top and bottoms.
Got then off evilbay, Navy issue so they're blue (Cammo is a bit dodgy in some countrys I've always thought) with reflective strips on the shoulders. A hood folds away into the collar so it's usefull off the bike too.
Folds up a fairly small as well.
Less than £30 for the lot.
Good luck with it anyway.
Dave.

Try an Agricultural merchants
 

And get yourself one of their 'rain suits'. Mine is green and I can put it on over my dry weather gear easily. The trousers are wide enough to slide over armoured wellies, and the jacket part is easy to go over my non waterproof leather jacket. Not elegant but functional and cheap, about £10 the set. I keep my wet weather gear in a waterproof plastic bag. when i have put the gear on, my sheepsking goes into the now empty bag so that stays dry also.

Hu guys I bought a 3/4 length high vis jacket from icu-ucme. It is waterproof and highly viseable but... its bulky does not pack down small and and in any sunshine you turn into a boil in a bag item. It kept me dry in very heavy showers for 270 miles. Great for winter not so good for summer.
The trousers I bought from B+Q, again highly visible but... they let in water somewhere along the line. My crotch was soaking wet. The search continues with results as I find them posted here.

regatta
 

Hi again. After persevering with the ICU UCME jackets I have bought a couple of regatta jackets. They are lightweight, pack down small and I got a couple of bright red ones. I am still trying to find waterproof pants that do no leak at the crotch! The jackets were 19 quid each. I would still prefer some goretex ones but the cost is extremely prohibitive.
More news as it happens.
GM

Fabsil and tent seam sealer have their uses in the crotch department.

Oo-er-missus an all that :rofl:

Andy

I've just bought one like this:

*EX-Police Hi Vis Goretex Jacket - Debadged Large on eBay (end time 21-Jul-09 15:42:30 BST)

Paid £20 delivered, and if they don't see me coming in this they never will. It's also goretex, so I'm hoping properly waterproof. I struck luck too and got a brand new, surplus one.

About a month ago I purchased a bright red The North Face jacket for 150€ as general purpose rain jacket, main purpose being to keep me dry on my daily way to work across town on the bicycle (31km round-trip) . At some point I found out that it actually fits right on top of my motorcycle jacket where it keeps me completely dry and surprisingly windproof.

FYI, I opted for the HyVent instead of the GoreTex membrane because I wanted to see for myself what the buzz is all about. We also bought a GoreTex jacket for my wife for roughly 200€ that same day in an attempt to figure out what could possible work best on a long, long, very very *very* long trip. The biggest advantage of my jacket is that it is not only a rain jacket for wearing on top of your motorcycle gear but can also be worn as everyday jacket, and still looks good. The biggest disadvantage of my wife's jacket is that it's only an everyday jacket and won't fit on top of her motorcycle gear (tight fit). 200 bucks well spent ;)

In France , due to recent changes in the law, car passengers and drivers need to have available High visibility vests. These are now available at 2-5 euros, worth having to wear in low light and other situations.

I believe it is just for the drivers and they are not required for passengers and there's certainly only high vis. vest in our car.