Chaps, jeans, leathers?

hey all,
my last couple posts have dealt with what to buy for riding...jacket, boots, and now i'm asking about pants.
in the past i've just worn levi's but i'm more concious of safety concerns now and am looking at armored pants, leather pants, or chaps.
i have to say chaps just ain't my look if you get my drift although of the 3 options, they may be the most comfortable.
leather pants seem like they'd be hot as heck so i'm leaning toward armored pants.
what are you guys/gals wearing most of the time?
thanks!

 

i like the icon strongarm pant http://www.rideicon.com/product_group.jsp?category=3430 they look like normal jeans but give more protection. i've also been known to ride in my heavy double knee'd carhart work pants too.

 

I just wear good old Levis most of the time; they've held up remarkably well in both of the crashes I've had in my riding career thus far (although I learned it's a bad idea to keep your wallet in your back pocket.)

I have a pair of Blauer motorcycle-cop rain pants that I wear as "overpants" over dressier pants (like Dockers) for riding to work.

All that being said, armored jeans would probably make even more sense and that's what I personally plan to invest in. Leather's day has come and gone, and chaps just plain look silly, IMHO.

 

yeah, can't do the chaps thing. i like some of the icon pants drpainsaw posted and they're not too spendy. kinda surprised though that most of the pants offer no tailbone protection, only knee and hip.
i've worn button-front levi's all my life and kinda hate to wear another brand of jeans but the icons look pretty good and add a bit more protection.

 

In my younger days it was all in jeans, but always a jacket, boots, fullface and gloves, did a lot of miles and had a coupla offs, with a coupla scars as proof.

Now..Armoured jeans, kevlar lined covering my ass, upper legs,knees,hips..feel like a heavy denim to wear, very comfy and i feel a little safer/better protected. Leather gloves, good jacket, armoured, comfy as well and to top it off th hand made nearly knee length bike boots from many moons ago.

Oh ... and a fullface, th reason i still have a full face!! Been sliding down th road, it aint fun.

 

+1 on the armored jacket, my new one (Vulcan) is hanging in the closet waiting for the dang snow to melt! can you provide the brand of jeans you're describing? haven't seen any like that and am interested.
thanks.

 

Something like this, there are many other brands

http://www.dragginjeans.net/product/traffic%20for%20men

 

So far I've always worn leather chaps. They're convenient in they're quick to put on/off over street clothes. You strip them off and all the road dirt goes with them.

What worries me most about them is no knee protection. They also pick up a lot of heat in the sun. I'm looking for a textile pant with armor to replace them.

 

yeah, i figured chaps would make the most sense from a convenience perspective and also provide a layer of leather without the full pant treatment. i just can't walk around looking like a fugtive from "the village people" group
also as you said, chaps offer no knee or butt protection. jeans w/armor or textile w/armor are where i'm leaning....

 

I would doubt that

Between the people I know and the riders I see it'd be close to a 50/50 split leather vs cordura, leather seems to be favoured more with the weekend riders and cordura with tourers

Cordura seems to be more of a one crash and it's rooted material while leathers are easily repaired

I wont use anything but leathers myself but on hotter days they can be uncomfortable once you're stopped, although if I was doing high km or daily use I would probably go for the armoured textile jackets and pants purely for a comfort factor

You may as well ride naked for all the protection normal jeans give you and there's a few people on our local forum who have been pretty disappointed in the armoured jeans crashability

 

well, i made my pants purchase today, not an easy decision for a guy that absolutely over-analyzes everything he buys.
i tried on different make armored textile offerings but just didn't like the feel of the nylon (or whatever it is). after trying a couple pair, i had serious static electricity going on and you could hear me coming a mile away with the "swish-swish" of the pant legs rubbing when i walked. worse than corduroy!
tried on 3 brands of denim jeans (icon, joe rocket, ???). rocket was the only brand with knee protection (hard pads) and also came with a kevlar fabric sewn to the inside of the jean material (abrasion resistant). both the icon and joe rocket pants were comfortable but ultimately i went with rocket 'cause it had the knee protection and kevlar material. the icon jeans were simply lightweight denim with reinforced knee (extra denim) kinda like carpenter jeans.
very happy w/purchase and they don't make my butt look big!
seriously, i'm stoked to have comfortable pants that will also offer some protection should i go down. out the door price was $116.
thanks for all the comments guys!

 

I've got a pair of chaps I wear sometimes, and I found a great use for them. In summer, I wear chaps over khakis and cruise up to Lake Tahoe. The cool air breathes through the khakis, but not the leather chaps, so it makes a draft of cool air right against my legs while also blocking the sun. Feels really good.

 

The interesting thing about leather is that most of the Motorcycle Safety Groups say that 3mm thick cow hide is more resistent to abrasion than man made fibers in the tests they have done. So armoured leathers still give the best protection.
And thats what the race riders wear.

 

I wear brown leather chaps, with a leather vest most of the time. On long trips or cold weather I have a Coretech denim jacket with lots of armor. On extra hot days I can take out teh liner and unzip the vents.

 

http://www.gussetclothing.com/dmk.html This is what I wear and I like them.

 

You might want to check these out. I'm going to. Will let you know how good,bad they are. Unless someone here has more info on them? www.bohn-armor-pants.com/catalog/index

 

wow, neat idea on the bohn armors. they allow you to wear whatever pants you want (as long as they're not a snug fit). i really like the hip and tailbone protection, something i was looking for but couldn't find unless i went textile.
not sure how they "breathe" as i usually don't like nylon/lycra kind of stuff but i'd sure be interested in hearing from those who have tried 'em.

 

I still wear my leathers, gloves, chaps and jacket as does pretty much everyone else around these parts. I know the Village people gave them a bad wrap, but who the hell cares. I like'm. They protect when it gets too cold for just jeans. Leather protects against wind and even rain (although I do carry a rainsuit just incase)
I looked into textile type jackets/pants, but can never find anything that seems to fit right or look good on me like leather does. Call me old school I guess. I just like my leathers, that's all.

 

I'm relatively new to riding in general, so I'm still wondering about some of the "preferred riding gear."

Leather armored jacket and gloves for me, but I recently discovered the awesomeness of chaps. I am a believer...the leather definately makes your legs "more slippery" through the wind, and highway speeds feel easier to ride.

 

I've started with a pair of Duluth fire hose jeans. They are comfortable on the bike, but I had to add long johns when the temp got below 50°F. Reasonable price, but no armor options since they aren't designed to be motorcycle pants.

Haven't had a spill so I can't speak to how rugged they are.

http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/mens ... 86125.aspx

 

What I don't personally like of chaps is that they don't offer any protection for the bo''om, but on cold days i'd combine chaps with riding jeans with reinforced back. On hot days, I wear half mesh riding pants. I owuld like them to be white or pale beige because black is too much of a heat-sucker.

 

Living in Duluth (even tho that place isn't) I recommend the Fire Hose pants rather than blue jeans, they blow denim out of the water, and on Lake Superior that's saying something.

Personally I wear FH or Carharts for short trips, and keep a pair of Xelement armored kevs to go on top for anything over my 3 mile commute to work.

 

if it is about warmth
I still just have my Scooter
and not too look to crazy
I wear neoprene leggings under my jeans
they are good for your legs
and are super warm as well
I will get Chaps next fall when the Xj is ready

Hotcakesman

_____________

2013 Kymco Super 8 150
82 xj650 30k

CoHost and founder Undercover Unitards www.undercoverunitards.com

 

I wear the chaps, leather vest, AND leather coat much of the time.

dave

 

These got my attention... has anyone tried them?

 

Haha, nothing crazy at all there. My old "bikers dark secret" is ladies tights! Seriously though you wouldn't believe how warm they keep you when worn under whatever trousers you choose... I've ridden the 30miles to my old job in -15 to -20c with tights & arrived too hot! :lol:

As for crash protection, I've always worn denim (and cheap plastic overtrousers if it really rains) but I would consider some of the "waterproof" textiles if I could find some that fit comfortably & zip onto either of my textile jackets (one J&S I've had for 14years, the other is RST & a bit "snug" but great quality)... Always a full face lid too, J&S leather gloves (hard armoured) and Frank Thomas boots.

Whatever we wear for crash protection though, we'd all do well to remember that no body armour can protect against wrapping your spine round a post or getting run over by one of the heavies so for all the armour in the world don't let yourself get to feeling too safe because it's only relative :wink:

I was reminded of this just the other day when I saw a guy who lives near my parents out for a roll in his wheelchair. He'd just passed his test last summer & was kitted up with the latest neon trackday warrior garb, but that didn't save his legs when the car hit him head on at 80mph...

 

I haven't, but I would wear these... Kevlar jeans

http://www.motorcyclegear.com/street/pa ... jeans.html

There are some other sites that sell them too.

And bloke, we all have our little secrets, but at least you are connecting yours with motorcycles. Good thinking :wink:

 

Just thinking about this for a moment, I'm not sure it was a great idea to reveal I'm unmarried & have worn tights, in the same week on the same forum haha 8O :lol:

 

Don't get him started or he'll explain why he wears a bra...padded for extra protection!

 

At least I call a spade a spade & not a skirt a kilt :lol: And it's my underpants that needs extra padding if my tank impact was anything to go by! :?

 

Next we'll hear someone else tellzus he even looks good in one. Lol

 

I like the idea of reinforced kevlar jeans, but I just can't stand the style of those. It's kinda ugly.