Are textiles good for anything other than spotting newbies?

Motorcycling
1

Reason I ask is I’m on my 5th leather jacket and my Lewis
Leathers trousers are beginning to wear, it might be time
to PM Wasp!

That’s 7 years per jacket, on average, and 22 yrs for the
trousers.

Only a few track day offs and the odd bit of gardening plus
my daily commute into the city, so not too much wear and tear.

I used to make do wearing multiple pairs of jeans, the outer
layers being weather proofed with grease and engine oil but
I’m getting used to the leather trousers now.

I noticed LL are back but don’t appear to sell such a
good range now and no trousers

http://www.lewisleathers.com/

Cheers Mike

2

Yes, warmth, waterproofing, and being able to wear civvies underneath being but three reasons

3

Not getting wet & cold is my main reason.

Kevlar jeans are good too if you want to be able to go to the pub without looking like a power ranger.

4

I’ve found my textiles really good even when coming off… :smiley:

Ok admittedly all were sub 30mph offs

5

I find textiles to be warmer in winter, plus waterproof and held up well in my accident too :smiley: practical as well as previously mentioned, just remove the lining and wear your jeans underneath :smiley: but I can now feel the chill at minus temperatures so wearing my set of EDZ microlight which I’m soooooo happy I bought :Wow:

6

Quite pleased with my HG trousers in my recent 30mph get off, and my Alpinestars jacket (also textile), has lived to fight another day. (I have also crashed in a Frank Thomas jacket and Triumph trousers and they weren’t bad either, in fact the Frank jacket only got a tiny hole in the shoulder).

7

Price could also be a factor.

I just checked Lewis Leathers and the jackets are around £700 :w00t:

Come to think of it my trousers were £180 in 1989, just as
well that they’ve lasted!

8

Other brands are available!

9

Jeez Dainese aren’t that expensive! That was what I was looking at for a 2-piece suit!

A lot of people I’ve talked to rave about Wolf leathers and given they can be custom made, surely that’s got to be a plus?

10

Unless you are really “going for it” and have an off, I’d say fabrics beat leathers all way round. Except for two things.
1: They look and feel bulky.
2: Even a Cordura/Kevlar combination isn’t going to ultimately match a good set of leathers for abrasion resistance.

“Good” means just that. Even a set of thick kangaroo hide will fail rapidly if the seams fail, but even cheap leathers will fair better than cheap textiles in that department.

11

Ride magazine abrasion test last year:

Hein Gericke Reno leather jeans: 4.74 seconds
Draggin’ Biker kevlar jeans: 3.07 seconds
Hornee kevlar jeans: 1.39 seconds
Rev’it Sand textile trousers: 0.71 seconds
Levi stonewash 501s: 0.56 seconds
Tesco Cherokee jeans: 0.16 seconds

I was very surprised at the textile trousers - they’re not bottom of the range either. Don’t know if that’s typical for the type but it’s pretty poor.

It’s persuaded me that this summer I’ll definitely be getting leathers to wear on any spirited rides.