One Piece Suits.

BMW RT Pilot

Premier Member
#6
Klim is overpriced garbage. A friend of mine, who's in sales at the local BMW shop, gave me a shirt a Klim rep passed out when they were visiting. I tried it on in the store and it was a great fit. I washed it when I got home, according to the label, and it shrank like a discarded foreskin.
 

Philmor

Premier Member
#7
Klim is overpriced garbage. A friend of mine, who's in sales at the local BMW shop, gave me a shirt a Klim rep passed out when they were visiting. I tried it on in the store and it was a great fit. I washed it when I got home, according to the label, and it shrank like a discarded foreskin.

BMW RT Pilot

Interesting comment that “Klim is overpriced garbage” and then you relate that to what appears to be a free promo Klim shirt you were given.
Apologies, if I have misinterpreted your comments.

Have you road tested the Klim Latitude or Badlands gear?

Aerostich, Rukka, Klim and the likes are expensive but most users I have spoken with in Oz & USA are happy with their gear. I have an Aerostich R-3 one piece as well as a pair of Klim Latitude pants.
I am happy with these and would say yes they are pricey, but I do not consider the Klim (or the Aerostich) to be garbage.
My wife wears Rukka gear and is very happy with what she has.

We have not tested the gear sliding down the road - and hope we do not have to. :D

I do recognise that Klim gear is above the budget of many riders and those riders choose suitable riding gear they can buy at a lower cost.
Generally, I think the range of gear on offer these days is fantastic :)
 

Kim Leeson

IBAUK Shopkeeper
Premier Member
IBA Member
#8
I own Klim Badlands and Rukka Armaxion, yes they are expensive, yes they are the quality gear...I've had this discussion on FB, which brought all the trolls out of hibernation...what I learned is, do your research, make a decision...other opinions are always available...get out there and put some miles down...life is short.
 

Gatey

Premier Member
IBA Member
#11
So the vid shows the gear sort of being tacken off like its an oversuit.
My guess is you need your boots off to get the suit off?
Will it keep me dry...proper dry in rain not just a shower.
But most of all how small will this or any other one-piece roll into?
Thanks for the link DrNeo. Interesting detail of what the suit has or has not.
Philmor Im sure Ive seen that R3 on a couple of your rides. How would you feel in +45c? even +41c
I ask this because its the high temps that knock me out. It would be nice to be a little warmer in -5 0r6c but I design my winter rides around most often 03:30 starts so more often than not the day warms up.
Summer however the day is always going to get stupid hot.
My interest is in hot day options with these suits.
Thanks for the replies all.
 

Tele

Premier Member
#12
Klim is overpriced garbage. A friend of mine, who's in sales at the local BMW shop, gave me a shirt a Klim rep passed out when they were visiting. I tried it on in the store and it was a great fit. I washed it when I got home, according to the label, and it shrank like a discarded foreskin.
Interesting that I went to my local BMW dealer to have a look at the BMW "adventure" gear that retails in Australian dollars for somewhere around $1200 for jackets and the same for the pants. The sales guy diverted me away from the BMW branded gear and pointed me toward the HELD brand. I bought the Held jacket for around $AUD800 and thus far, am quite impressed. The Gortex waterproff and windproof liner can be worn inside or outside the jacket. The pants in the same level of fit-out are around AUD$600.
 

BMW RT Pilot

Premier Member
#14
Interesting that I went to my local BMW dealer to have a look at the BMW "adventure" gear that retails in Australian dollars for somewhere around $1200 for jackets and the same for the pants. The sales guy diverted me away from the BMW branded gear and pointed me toward the HELD brand. I bought the Held jacket for around $AUD800 and thus far, am quite impressed. The Gortex waterproff and windproof liner can be worn inside or outside the jacket. The pants in the same level of fit-out are around AUD$600.
I feel for you guys Down Under. I remember reading how it was less expensive to fly to the States to buy some Adobe product than it was to buy it in Australia! I can't even imagine how things like this, which are overpriced to begin with, are priced.

Personally, I am perfectly fine with my Tourmaster Transition 5 jacket and Caliper 2.0 pants, each around $200. I do have a pair of BMW boots, but that's mostly because, despite all of the bike shops in the area, the boot selection is really bad and I don't like buying something like that without getting my hands on it first. Plus the price was very reasonable (no BMW surcharge like on everything else).

Anyhow, the Tourmaster gear "failed" only one time, but as I wrote in another lengthy post, it wasn't really its fault as nothing came back dry- not even the storage compartment on the right side of the bike (full of water).
 

BMW RT Pilot

Premier Member
#15
So the vid shows the gear sort of being tacken off like its an oversuit.
My guess is you need your boots off to get the suit off?
Will it keep me dry...proper dry in rain not just a shower.
But most of all how small will this or any other one-piece roll into?
Thanks for the link DrNeo. Interesting detail of what the suit has or has not.
Philmor Im sure Ive seen that R3 on a couple of your rides. How would you feel in +45c? even +41c
I ask this because its the high temps that knock me out. It would be nice to be a little warmer in -5 0r6c but I design my winter rides around most often 03:30 starts so more often than not the day warms up.
Summer however the day is always going to get stupid hot.
My interest is in hot day options with these suits.
Thanks for the replies all.
When it gets really hot, I would limit how many vents you have opened, since the air is hot, it'll be like being in an oven more than cooling you off.

I've seen ADV riders riding in the desert who do this and also wet their base layers with cool water- the outer garments keep the hot air off while the moisture-wicking base layers, combined with the cool water, will keep you cooler.

Of course, you'd look silly going into work like that, unless you were a lifeguard. LOL.

Hope that helps.
 

BMW RT Pilot

Premier Member
#16
BMW RT Pilot

Interesting comment that “Klim is overpriced garbage” and then you relate that to what appears to be a free promo Klim shirt you were given.
Apologies, if I have misinterpreted your comments.

Have you road tested the Klim Latitude or Badlands gear?

Aerostich, Rukka, Klim and the likes are expensive but most users I have spoken with in Oz & USA are happy with their gear. I have an Aerostich R-3 one piece as well as a pair of Klim Latitude pants.
I am happy with these and would say yes they are pricey, but I do not consider the Klim (or the Aerostich) to be garbage.
My wife wears Rukka gear and is very happy with what she has.

We have not tested the gear sliding down the road - and hope we do not have to. :D

I do recognise that Klim gear is above the budget of many riders and those riders choose suitable riding gear they can buy at a lower cost.
Generally, I think the range of gear on offer these days is fantastic :)
Well I didn't mean to insult garbage with my previous remarks, but what I was getting at is that I was given a Klim shirt (probably would've cost $100) by a friend from the shop and it shrank after one washing and now it's more or less useless. At the same time, I have Walmart Russell shirts and compression pants that are more than 10 years old, have been through tens of thousands of miles, and countless washings, and they cost like $10. I find these to be "better" than spending nearly $300 for a set from LD.

It's like buying UA or Nike athletic shirts for $50 when the Wally World equivalent is, again, $10, and performs EXACTLY THE SAME. And if I damage that $10 shirt, I won't be in tears like I would be if that shirt was 5x the cost. And in the event of a crash, exactly how much would it cost to replace? Insurance would cover the bike, but I am not sure about everything else one carries/wears. You might find yourself having to buy ANOTHER suit.

So dealing with these "premium" brands...really, are they 6x more functional/protective than my Tourmaster jacket or pants? I doubt it. But I do like how Aerostich will make a custom suit to better fit the owner.

Now after saying that, I WOULD spend big $$ for a premium helmet. While all helmets in the US are DOT-certified, there IS a BIG difference between a $150 helmet from Shark and a $700 Arai. Anyone who's been roadracing would agree.

It's not about not having the budget to spend on things, it's using your money wisely. A fool and his money...
 

Gatey

Premier Member
IBA Member
#17
My long game has been played out Summer or winter in a Summit Pro jacket with or without the warm liner. Liners on the bike regardless.
If its a night start I use the DRarmoured pants( some kind of thing called AirFlow then drop them off for bike jeans early to mid morning. It takes no time and is planned to coenside with of bike time . Its most often my chosen long stop. I have another on the edge of dark oclock to re-armour and set up for the night ahead.
This system is flexible and even with minimal vents in the jacket I set it up as a AC. Ive had mesh jackets and they are fine for a short day trip but not 24hr.
I see the argument you present RT Pilot. Best thermals and a mid layer I own come from Aldi. Those are bike specific and first ride out I made the comparisons and no longer by the bike specific brands as standard.

Both helmets mentioned above do come out of the same factory's... Plural because the same plants make other brands and work-ware as well.
The trousers are waterproof and really tested that fact a good few times. The jacket not so these days but thenagain its got like 800,000k on it. Maybe I should send it back to DR for an inspection.

" Well I didn't mean to insult garbage"...you might want to rethink that part of your post. Maybe an edit. You have not insulted anyone but it sort of looks like ...well .

I guess my main thinking is will a one piece be adaptable to stay comfortable across the Summer season day by day or the Winter season day by day.
One thing Ive considered before is getting a suit built here in Australia with just what I want.
 

BMW RT Pilot

Premier Member
#18
...edited for time...
The "garbage" line was used to describe my feelings on overpriced gear and not directed towards anyone or their preference.

When I mentioned the thing about the helmets, I use an experience I had back in '05 when I bought a ZX10R. My SO, my newborn son, and I, were in Alabama, shopping, and I stopped in at a dealership in Pelham. I wasn't looking to buy anything but I wanted to look over things because there wasn't anything in MS where we were living.

Anyhow, they had a special on the 10R because the '06 model was supposed to be a new design. They were selling it for the price of a 600 and I couldn't resist and I bought it. The problem was that I didn't have any proper clothing to wear back home (I only had shorts and sandals). I bought an inexpensive Shark helmet and went to Wally World to get some jeans, a jacket, and some boots (I returned everything once I got home, LOL).

So as you might know, the 10R is an absolute beast; we lived in an area that was open, flat, and mostly devoid of cops and traffic. I would go out and hit 176 mph (indicated), but that helmet was loud, the optics were complete shit, and it was actually trying to come off of my head! My previous helmet, an autographed Scott Russell replica, was never like this when I raced 600s when I was stationed in Italy, so I knew that this Shark was, well, garbage.

I found an Arai dealer and spent about $700 for a Wraith. The optics were crystal clear, the helmet was better-fitting, and I had no issues. So while these helmets may indeed be made in the same factories (like we did with Craftsman, Murray, and Scott riding mowers at a factory I worked at), the design and materials are not the same and there is a clear-cut difference.

Now, while Shark may have a $700 premium helmet that's equivalent to an Arai or Shoei, the $150 model was clearly not in the same timezone as the Arai. So in this case, spending way more $$ was definitely worth it, whereas spending $1,200 on a riding suit probably isn't and I would just flat-out say it's not, unless it was custom fitted and spec'd by the customer (such as what Aerostich does).

For me, I wear my Tourmaster jacket and pants year 'round. The pants are not ventilated (and there are times I wished they had something, especially in the crotch area), and opening and closing the vents is a real bitch (you can't do either while it's on you and you're riding). I have the jacket oversized to allow for more clothing underneath in the winter and extra air pockets when it's warmer. The extra length also helps to keep my backside covered. Both do an excellent job of keeping the wind at bay, they are waterproof, and even without the liners or heated gear, I can ride with them in temps down to the mid-40s with only those aforementioned 10+ year-old WalMart base layers on. In winter, I will have the pant liners in with a lightweight fleece jacket on (instead of the jacket liner), my heated gear, and I have ridden in the low single-digits.

When it's hot outside, as in the mid-90s, I have the vents in the jacket opened and while they aren't the best designed or that efficient, they will let in just enough air to slowly circulate in those air-pockets I mentioned earlier, and that, along with the moisture-wicking cheap-o clothing, keeps me rather comfortable. I just have to make sure I am adequately hydrating.

I was going to mention my crash experiences but this is already wordy enough. :)