| Author |
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Hexangler
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 12:15 pm: | 
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Arai XD.
BMW Tourgard 2-piece (Textile with back, shoulder, elbow, hip and knee internal padding and Kevlar weave, waterproof.
AeroStich combat touring boots.
Many different pair of gloves from light weight dirtbike to leather BMW to heavy weight gortex.
Hex |
Ulynut
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 02:10 pm: |
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Froggy, the dealer I went to was Libbys Motoworld in New Haven, CT.. Kind of a haul from Mahopac. But if you decide to check it out, give me a call. Theres some pretty cool roads around there. Some good pizza in New Haven too. |
Ulynut
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 02:22 pm: |
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Nobody mentioned Rukka. I was curious about their gear. Anyone using it? |
Froggy
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 02:37 pm: |
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Ulynut, ouch New Haven, that’s a good 1.5hrs from home or 1 hr from Danbury HD. I will let you know. 
Hexangler, what do you think of the Arai XD, anything I should know?
Etennuly, the Adventure suit I had was great, it crashed well too. Just looking to try something different. One of the things I liked about the 1 piece Roadcrafter is like others have said, you’re in and out of it in seconds, vs. a day and half with my Adventure suit. |
Hexangler
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 02:54 pm: |
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Arai XD,
I got mine in medium and used the minimal padding included (even though I have a "large" head). It was tight, but has formed to my head with use, and now I even use a balaclava, no problem, very comfortable. I say this because it has a sun visor, and I wanted it tight to stop high speed wind torque on the helmet. I have had no problem with wind torque on my neck or helmet (no slip or spin) up to 120 mph. I use forehead attitude positioning for high speed.
Another great thing about this helmet is that it has a removable liner, so you can wash the helmet spunk away. I will definitely get another one, GREAT HELMET.
Hex |
Froggy
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 07:38 pm: |
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Thank you again guys, you are the best. It looks like I’m going to order my Stitch tonight with the back and hip protectors. I got another stupid question. They sell water replants to help keep the rain out. Will I need any for the suit? If so, which one? They got a large selection:
http://www.aerostich.com/home.php?cat=398
I will order the rest of my gear, whatever it is, over the next few days. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 08:27 pm: |
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Froggy, LOTS of good, meaty info on this page
http://www.aerostich.com/pages.php?pageid=27
including links to several articles related to your question.
when new your suit will be just fine in the rain, but over time it'll need a tune-up with some sort of water repellent.
they recommend the "wash in" stuff, but i used the "spray on" type on mine, and other than stinking up the house something awful (sprayed outside, but brought inside to dry), the stuff did its job.
congrats!
FB |
Dutchboy
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 08:36 pm: |
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I have a one-piece RoadCrafter and three pieces of Olympia gear (Airglide pants, Recon transformer jacket and AST 3/4 length jacket).
The RoadCrafter is a great piece of gear, with a gazillion pockets and zippers, big reflective areas for night riding in traffic, an easy quick way to put on and take off, and with one major flaw. When it rains, water seeps in around the crotch, so when you get where you're going, you look like you had a bladder control incident on the way. Since I commute in all kinds of weather, this is not good. But in dry weather, you can use this from 20 degrees (with some layering underneath) up to 90 degrees or more (depending on your tolerance for heat - I switch to mesh when it stays over the upper 80s myself).
The Olympia gear is a bit of a mixed bag. Great look, nice features and functionality, but a few glitches.
The Airglide pants are nice. Well made, and highly functional. With the liner, I can (and do) wear them year round. I use the liner for an extra layer of insulation under my RoadCrafter on really cold days. The knee armor is situated a bit too far to the inside of the knee for my liking, and can't be adjusted laterally to fix, but I end up wearing these a lot. You can easily get these on and off without having to remove your riding boots, which is handy if your riding boots are your work shoes also (FXRG by the way - keep my feet warm and dry). I see Olympia now has a version 2 of these pants. I wonder if they fixed the knee armor placement?
The Transformer jacket flows air well, but has zip-off sleeves. The problem is there are no snaps to help secure the sleeves, and it takes very little pressure against the zippers for them to start undoing themselves. I ended up zip tying the zippers, but I have little faith the arms won't come loose in a get off, so I don't wear the jacket much, even though it looks nice. I notice they now list the Recon 2 jacket on the Olympia site - I wonder if they fixed the sleeve zipper design?
I just got the AST for those wet days - but haven't gotten to verify they'll keep my crotch dry in the rain yet. The AST has nice features and looks good. Real good. I feel like an adventure tourer when I put it on  . It does have a bit of a wide neck opening, like they mention in the Web Bike World review of the AST http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/olympia-ast/.
I can't speak to Olympia Customer service, but twice the right leg bottom snap on my RoadCrafter has come apart, and both times Aerostich fixed and sent back to me quickly. One of the zipper pullers broke but I just used a paper clip and some duck tape to replace the puller, since I didn't feel like sending the suit back a third time over a cosmetic issue. They also did a great job of 'fitting' me over the phone when I first ordered the suit. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 09:00 pm: |
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i've never a wet crotch issue on my Roadcrafter, and i'm betting a little touch-up per the recommendations listed on the page i linked above for Froggy would take care of your issue.
solving your zipper issue also seem to be just a mouse-click away:
http://www.aerostich.com/home.php?cat=400 |
Froggy
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 09:07 pm: |
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Thanks Jerry (or is it Ferris?). Rain isn't an issue for you because your Harley has a fairing the size of my car. My Lightning isn't as gifted in that department (yet). |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 09:26 pm: |
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...Jerry (or is it Ferris?)
yes!
Rain isn't an issue for you because your Harley has a fairing the size of my car.
no!
photo by Bartimus
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M2nc
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 09:38 pm: |
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So how many Harley riders where full gear? Around here Webethumpin would wear at least an armoured jacket and full face helmet and most HD riders would look at him like he was weird just because he was on his Super Glide Custom. I just wondering how many of the crowd actually wear gear. |
Nevrenuf
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 10:03 pm: |
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pretty much only during the colder days carlos. although i wear a 3/4 helmet now i've always wore boots, jeans gloves and some times a jacket. of course the older i get, the more gear i'm using. and after everything i've heard about aerostitch(here and before) i'll be looking at them in the not so distant future. wish i had something a little warmer yesterday when me and the wife rode down to charleston. need some better gloves mainly. |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 07:21 am: |
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So how many Harley riders where full gear?
Carlos, i think the biggest difference i see between Harley riders and "others" is in helmet choice.
Denise and i were having lunch in Mt. Airy a while back, and had our Arai and Shoei sitting next to us on the table. our waiter asked what we were riding, even tho i also had my leather jacket sitting there with "Harley-Davidson" emblazoned all over it, and the RK was parked just outside the door.
at first he didn't believe me. he admitted that he thought we were "wannabe's" as he'd never seen Harley riders before wearing full-coverage helmets.
FB |
Chrisb
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 07:47 am: |
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FXRG Jacket or Teknic Monsoon
First Gear HT overpants
So how many Harley riders where full gear?
+1
I really dont give a crap what all the other Harley riders think. The DC metro area traffic is not to be played with. I ride almost every day to work. The law of averages is working against me and I need every bit of protection I can get. The "boss" at work is a Harley nut. He tried to go off one day about my full face. I got up and went to the window and asked him where was his bike. "Its at home". My reply: "You dont need a helmet if you only have a garage trophy".
(Message edited by Chrisb on February 12, 2008) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 07:56 am: |
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frikkin' Harley riders.
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Froggy
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 - 09:06 pm: |
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Good news, I placed my Roadcrafter order, the bad news, it has a 4 week delay. 
I called up seeing if possible I can get a suit in a different color to try, that way I can make sure it fits, but they had nothing in my size.
Looks like I might be wearing an "experienced" suit for MBV. Now for me to helmet, I am almost completely sold on the Arai XD3, which isn’t even out yet. |
M2nc
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 12:21 am: |
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I remember a ride home from work one day. It was raining and I saw another bike in front of me. I was surprised to find that it was a Harley out in the rain. I caught up to him at an intersection of a 4-lane highway. I pulled up beside him as we waited for an open spot and said hello. He turned and looked at me and I started giggling under my helmet. This poor soul was wearing the standard brain bucket and glasses. He was wearing a rain jacket but that was it for gear. Even though his bike had a wind shield, his glasses were dripping wet inside and out. He looked like a cat getting a bath, but he looked cool though! You know there are Harleys I would not mind owning. I just hope the owners do not mind that I will ride it with gear. |
Corporatemonkey
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 03:55 am: |
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the bad news, it has a 4 week delay.
I probably should have warned you about that. When I ordered mine it was later in the season and it was a 7 week wait.
A little story of interest. When I was about to place my order I inquired about the colors. They were completely willing to rush me out a sample pack of colors.
But with a 7 week wait I was running short of time.
I asked one of the reps what his opinion on matching my bike. They had 3 different silver/grays I couldn't tell which one would match my frame.
They took the time to compare buell stock photos to their fabric swatches. A short time later they called me back and I ordered right up.
It turns out it was a close match.
Now how many companies would do that for a customer? |
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