Jacket and Trousers

[Stoker]

Hi all
Just a quick question
I am ordering a textile jacket and trousers
Should I order a size bigger or normal
Do you ever wear clothes underneath or is this imprudent in view of safety
Hoping you can advise
Cheers
Stoker’

[surik116]

depends really. I have one size up. use it for riding to work, so works well with work clothes on.

when touring I wear base layers. but my pockets is full of gadgets.

I would say try the clothes you are going to order and assess your needes.

[Stoker]

 Cheers for that I really want to hear informed opinions
 

[wessie]

Textile clothing is designed to be used with layers. Many advertise being "4 season" and come with removable layers. I do not believe such a thing as a 4 season suit exists.

Personally, I prefer to ditch the supplied jacket liner and wear an ordinary fleece in winter and if really cold, a Keis heated vest as well.

The size you need depends on when you wear it. A winter jacket might need to be baggier to take extra layers. A jacket only worn in warmer weather with a T shirt underneath will need a tighter fit.

If you ride all year, you might want more than one jacket. I have 3!

One is used in winter with the fleece and for all year commuting (when I did such a thing). An old Hein Gericke Cruise 3 with Goretex liner.

One is used in warmer weather and has venting zips. A Rukka Chariklo with Goretex liner

The third is a Rukka Air mesh jacket for really hot weather.

I have similar with trousers. Two Rukka pairs, one with liners always in for winter (and wiring for heated insoles). The other is for warmer weather and then for really warm weather BMW Rallye with mesh panels and a zip out waterproof layer (BMW's version of Goretex).

[Stoker]

Thanks again
This is coming from an old guy from the days we stupidly wore jeans and a leather jacket and paid the price
I was wondering if anybody actually wears normalclothes under their textiles or just them
I know i sound daft but what do you think/do?

[Diavel]

Originally Posted by Stoker

Hi all
Just a quick question
I am ordering a textile jacket and trousers
Should I order a size bigger or normal
Do you ever wear clothes underneath or is this imprudent in view of safety
Hoping you can advise
Cheers
Stoker’

I have a number of BMW Rallye suits and I go one size up for the jacket and normal/actual size for the trousers.Having a jacket thats a bit big is useful but for trousers its a nightmare 😁

[bobdave]

I have two, a cold weather jacket and trousers (both Rukka) which I wear with the supplied liners during winter and without the liners in spring and autumn and on wet or colder days and nights in summer. I have a Knox mesh jacket and a pair of Rocker single layer jeans with d30 ghost armour for summer and hot days riding.
I wear layers under the Rukka jacket if it is cold. I never wear layers under the trousers (other than the fitted liner in winter) as I find they are just uncomfortable - they are not cut the same as motorcycle trousers so just won't work as motorcycle clothes. If I am going somewhere where I want to get out of the motorbike gear (eg work) I take a change of clothes with me and change when I get there.

[Winger]

Similar thread running on another site, wife has a Rukka jacket and I have a Klim we both wear Dainese leather trousers and over trousers when it’s raining.

[af1-windy]

You need to try them all on..

I spent a whole day trying jackets on, 16 in all, from £150.00 to £1200.00

All of them, except one, had something that I felt would annoy me over a full day's riding. I eventually chose the HALVARSSONS LUXOR JACKET and I'm very pleased with it.

Did a 2000 mile trip last October in France, got down as far as Castellan, rain, Sun, wind, a bit of everything. Jacket performed first class, comfortable too.. 

Although I do have a pair of textile pants I mostly wear Bike Jeans and waterproof over pants.

  windy

[Antares]

Originally Posted by wessie

Textile clothing is designed to be used with layers. Many advertise being "4 season" and come with removable layers. I do not believe such a thing as a 4 season suit exists.

I might agree for extreme places, but riding generally stops when it's freezing everywhere. My Richa Infinity jacket has the layer system, and it's distributed perfectly. Just the outer jacket is as light as many mesh jackets with plenty of very well functioning vents, I have no problem wearing that over T shirt or sports layer even in 30°C, above that doesn't matter what you wear realistically, I'm just as hot either way.
Then you have the waterproof layer that insulates it enough for anywhere from 20-10°C without the need of a layer underneath, suitable if you're going somewhere dressed up, below that you can manage all the way to 3-4°C with some thermal layers or a thinner jumper.

If that's not comfortable or you're really going to be out in the cold for a long day you can put in the insulating layer along with the waterproof layer and that'll take you well below 0°C if one wishes to ride in that for some reason, or has the bike to do so. I think it'd work well as a snow mobile jacket too.

Alternatively you can swap the WP liner for the insulating liner to achieve similar warmth but a bit less stuffy and more airflow. As I mentioned on other Rukka discussions there is really no reason to pay 2-3x the price for marginal improvement when this jacket does everything perfectly, comes with the same D3O armor all around as much more expensive options. I'm sure there are others like it in this ~200 quid category but this one stood out for me for features and quality. Been rocking it coming up on 3 years and 40k miles now and even after my crash in it a month ago it only scraped the surface and is perfectly fine still. Only weak point is the velcro on the side pockets but they have a lip that stops things from coming out, just a bit annoying it flaps around in the wind, honestly wouldn't be a big job to sew on a button or some extra velcro I've just not bothered to do so.

As for trousers, I can't give any tips but I have no issues riding around in RST blade 2 leather trousers all year.