Fort Worth Motorcycle Riders

I would like yall to tell me what a good textile or mesh jacket in the under $200 range would be. I am mainly looking for something that will be warm in the winter and cool in the summer and as many nice features as possible. Black and red would be great but it dont have to be. What do yall think?

I've found some good stuff at both CycleGear and MotoLiberty. The first one I had was a Fieldsheer and I absolutely loved that jacket. Zipper wore out and I ended up getting my current mesh jacket, which I think is a tourmaster, and I loathe it. Going to be looking soon, weight loss is a good thing, but damn, all my gear is quickly becoming too big on me!!!

Well if you want better protection go with the textile, but i rode in one in the summer for awhile and burned up!!! When i got my mesh it was the best thing in the world! I really suggest you go with the mesh(you can always add more layers and most have a rain liner). And you can find both for under a $100.

Light color, perforated leathers is the only way to go. Only time I ever fell hot in mine is when I'm stuck in stop and go traffic and in texas 110 heat, doesn't matter what you're wearing you're going to be hot. Now the perf doesn't do jack in the cold but most jackets come with, a liner can be bought that will cut the wind and keep you warm in the cooler weather.

Speaking from experience, use caution buying cheap jackets. Poor fit and cheap zippers turned into a big ol' rashed spot on my arm.

DarcShadow wrote:Light color, perforated leathers is the only way to go. Only time I ever fell hot in mine is when I'm stuck in stop and go traffic and in texas 110 heat, doesn't matter what you're wearing you're going to be hot. Now the perf doesn't do jack in the cold but most jackets come with, a liner can be bought that will cut the wind and keep you warm in the cooler weather.

Perforated leathers wouldn't help me much, it'd be like wearing a sweat box in the summer. My track suit is perforated and I would always loose like 5 pounds in water even though I'd be drinking a couple gallons worth of water.

It gets above 75 and I start sweating.

My wife went down clocking 55 - 60 in a cortech jacket, it was mesh, it did its job during a rag doll down the pavement.

Weight loss is part of my problem. I am dropping sizes and even the leather jacket I got a couple of months ago is starting to fit big. Does anyone have any suggestion on specific jackets?

Just to throw in my 2cts...

I have had my ICON Timax2 since 05 or 06. I think I paid 220 for it brand new on ebay and still wear it today. It is the Mesh one because I too had heard that textile is better for further north. I have liked everything of theirs that I have bought and if they had full leathers (1 or 2 piece tracksuits) I would probably be wearing them instead of what I have now. Their quality has been excellent for me to this day.

Now mind you, some folks give me chit cause I wear "stunter" gear but I feel that is more a label by ignorant society. Gear is gear and I am going to wear what I like that fits and does its job!

I have multiple jackets, including perforated leather, textile, and mesh. In July/August, nothing beats a mesh jacket (and even then things can get pretty toasty). In cooler weather, I prefer textile jackets with liner. When things get really frosty, I bundle up with thermal underwear and multiple layers underneath the jacket. I like my perforated leather jacket for Spring and Fall.

As far as brands are concerned, I've tried Cortech, AVG Sport, Alpinestars, Speed and Strength, Fieldsheer, and Scorpion. All of the jackets have performed well, and at least one (Scorpion) was crash-tested at ~55mph. Most of the common brands make good products, just check the reviews whenever selecting a particular model. I routinely check BikeBandit and Motorcycle Superstore for sales, and good deals pop up pretty frequently.

Grinner wrote:Now mind you, some folks give me chit cause I wear "stunter" gear but I feel that is more a label by ignorant society.

I've got a mesh jacket with a outer rain/wind liner; a textile with an inner jacket liner for colder weather, and a perfed leather with an inner winter liner. My mesh with the outer liner is pretty good at blocking wind, and is great for the days that are in the 70s, but cooler in the morning/evening. The leather is also good for those days, but if you need the inner liner in the morn/eve you need someplace to put it. The mesh jacket has a pocket built in to hold the liner. On colder days, the textile is the way to go, and the colder it gets, put the liner in, and layer up accordingly.

One thing to keep in mind is that Nylon is up to 14x stronger than Polyester in terms of tensile strength. Lot's of brands have some tough sounding name for their fabric, like 'Tuff-Tex' or somesuch, these are cheaper polyester alternatives to nylon. Granted, they are much better than nothing. Still, nothing beats actual honest to goodness CORDURA NYLON. Olympia is one brand I can think of off hand that uses Cordura.

I always wear leather, even in 95-100 degree weather. I see sweating as a part of the deal to be safe. If its too hot to wear your leather, its too hot to ride.

Lewi1913 wrote:I always wear leather, even in 95-100 degree weather. I see sweating as a part of the deal to be safe. If its too hot to wear your leather, its too hot to ride.

im starting to like this guy

Lewi1913 wrote:I always wear leather, even in 95-100 degree weather. I see sweating as a part of the deal to be safe. If its too hot to wear your leather, its too hot to ride.

Wait until you live through a Texas summer. It was ungodly hot this summer. BUT I always gear up...never squid it. I would rather be stinky and sweaty, than skinless or dead

Lewi1913 wrote:I always wear leather, even in 95-100 degree weather. I see sweating as a part of the deal to be safe. If its too hot to wear your leather, its too hot to ride.

You may change your mind when you check out our summers, I remember not that long ago when the temp dropped to 95 I was like YES its finally cool enough to enjoy a ride.

On my commute I was seeing temperatures of 117, even with mesh and an evap vest there were times when I was getting dangerously hot to the point of almost passing out, not to mention the dehydration issues even if you decided to "tough it out".

Armored mesh with evap when its hot, leather any other time that I can stand it

Telomere wrote:

Lewi1913 wrote:I always wear leather, even in 95-100 degree weather. I see sweating as a part of the deal to be safe. If its too hot to wear your leather, its too hot to ride.

Wait until you live through a Texas summer. It was ungodly hot this summer. BUT I always gear up...never squid it. I would rather be stinky and sweaty, than skinless or dead

Trust me, I know HOT coming from DC. Plenty of summer days I have ridden here 95 degrees with 95% humidity. Instant sweat.

I have been down once on my bike, but was lucky to crash into grass. I used to squid it sometimes before that, but never again.

Lewi1913 wrote:I always wear leather, even in 95-100 degree weather. I see sweating as a part of the deal to be safe. If its too hot to wear your leather, its too hot to ride.

But if you wear leather during a Texas summer you're going to overheat.
That will affect your ability to make quick decisions when you need it the most.. And there's always the possibility of a heat stroke.
But if you can take the heat by all means wear your leather, I'll stick with my mesh during the summer

Grinner wrote:Just to throw in my 2cts...

I have had my ICON Timax2 since 05 or 06. I think I paid 220 for it brand new on ebay and still wear it today. It is the Mesh one because I too had heard that textile is better for further north. I have liked everything of theirs that I have bought and if they had full leathers (1 or 2 piece tracksuits) I would probably be wearing them instead of what I have now. Their quality has been excellent for me to this day.

Now mind you, some folks give me chit cause I wear "stunter" gear but I feel that is more a label by ignorant society. Gear is gear and I am going to wear what I like that fits and does its job!

Icon is the way to go, back when I wore gear I loved the fit durability/flexibility of them. The daytona collar is the lowest I tried and never got in the way.

NickS wrote:One thing to keep in mind is that Nylon is up to 14x stronger than Polyester in terms of tensile strength. Lot's of brands have some tough sounding name for their fabric, like 'Tuff-Tex' or somesuch, these are cheaper polyester alternatives to nylon. Granted, they are much better than nothing. Still, nothing beats actual honest to goodness CORDURA NYLON. Olympia is one brand I can think of off hand that uses Cordura.

+1 for Olympia

Bailout wrote:Icon is the way to go, back when I wore gear I loved the fit durability/flexibility of them. The daytona collar is the lowest I tried and never got in the way.

I just wish theyd hurry up and start makin track gear!!!!

I have found a brand called Freez-Out that works good under a mesh jacket in the winter time. The zip up jacket is around $40 but worth it. Currently use the face mask, jacket and glove's. Has worked very well for me.. Gloves would give a 6 or 7 out of 10..