Waterproofs

[fjtwelve]

Well that was a very wet 250 miles this evening. And there were about 150 wet miles on Saturday as well. My Hein Gericke oversuit has started to let the water in on my sleeve after about 70-80 miles, and the Velcro is coming off at the front now, so reckon its about to be demoted to summer standby status. So what does everybody reckon the best HD waterproofs are then? Go for it, recommend some gloves too.

[Duc750]

Never found waterproofs that are any good and fit me but gloves wise I use a pair of Racer gloves year round now and they are excellent - put about 30,000 miles on them in the last 2 years and no problems so far.

[brian63]

Hi fjtwelve
Me I use Halverson 's as they do different 3 different leg lenths for each waist size. on my third jacket
1. Cut off me after an rta
2. After 5 years use serviceable but looking passed its best
3. 4 weeks old and loving it.
I have re proofed the trousers  a couple. Of times looking good after 5 years.
After  seeing me crash testing the first jacket quite a few friends from the local bike
Group started by there kit too.
It's  not cheap but is good. Quality  you get what you pay for I have found over the years

[kennyc]

no point asking me I am still using a 10 year old HG Taureg goretex jacket that has yet to leak despite some Biblical downpours although it would appear to have shrunk some and is extremely fluffy on the arms  sadly I'm unlikely to get another HG jacket over here now.

[raesewell]

Nearest HG shop is in Belgium. We could make a trip out of it

[kennyc]

Nearest HG shop is in Belgium. We could make a trip out of it

now theres an idea for a daytrip 

[Phmode]

Well Martin, waterproofs come in two types, those that are waterproof and those that aren't!

I don't do wet, so I would rather get off and shiver under a bridge than ride and get me or my clothes wet. I guess I have been lucky, every waterproof suit I have ever had has kept the water out for as long as I needed it to; but then, the most I have ever done on a regular basis is about 20 mile daily commutes.

They also come in two styles, one-piece and two-piece. I can't stand one piece as by the time I have ever managed to shimmy into them, I am wet through and the rain has normally stopped. Then I have to find a passing knight in shining armour to get me out the bloody thing. A two piece allows me to sling the jacket round my shoulders to keep me dry while I get into the trousers.

In the winter, I use a Halvarssons flouro waterproof outer over my safety jacket as you saw the other evening. I use a set of BMW Gore-tex liners in my Savanna pants. None of this has ever let water in although I have some criicisms not based on their waterproofness.

My summer suit is a BMW Climat Comfort suit, two-piece with a long jacket with double cuffs and a high storm collar with a balaclava style hood built in so nothing gets down your neck. The pants are split to the hip down the outside leg so getting into them is a doddle even in clumpy boots. The long diver's zips are waterproof and really work well.

The big downside with this otherwise excellent suit is that it is black; as black as a black thing on black night!

For gloves, I have a pair of Knox winter gloves but the big downside with them is that the 'innovative' ratchet mechanism for fastening and releasing them is very difficult to get under the cuffs of any of my jackets. I have recently gone over to a pair of Alpinestars 365 bought at a bargain price at the NEC last year. These are good 3 season gloves and with heated grips might be 4 season too for long rides.

In summer, I always ride with 'racing' style gloves which by definition are never waterproof. I found the excellent solution was to carry a pair of neoprene lobster claw overgloves from Hein Gericke, unfortunately!

In really freezing conditions I resort to my BMW Winter Gloves which would withstand a trek to the south pole they are so toasty and totally waterproof but with no armour or protection.

Brian (who usually believes he gets what he pays for but has found that waterproofs are the exception that proves the rule)

[Timbox]

I have found that generally anything that mentions "Breathable", eventually lets water in. My old HG Goretex jackets outer would get sopping wet and although the water didnt get through to your skin, you would then freeze. I have an oldish 1 piece BMW over suit which is pretty good and warm but the zip on that eventually lets go and your crotch gets damp, ooerr. 10 years ago or so while in France I bought a cheap as chips Icon over jacket which has never let a drop in, the down side is you boil as soon as you stop if the Temp is over 10 degrees. I also have some oldish Dainese over trousers which have zips from the waist line all the way down and are a cinch to get on. I also have BMW Pro Winter gloves which as Brian says are almost too warm in anything above 4 Degrees but also have never let a drop of water in.  The K13GT spoilt me for 3 years as unless I was in a City with stop and go traffic I didnt bother stopping to put waterproofs on as above 30 it pretty much kept me dry.

[bobtail]

Nearest HG shop is in Belgium. We could make a trip out of it

Have all the HG shops gone now? Didn't know that.

Bob

[Duc750]

Those that were remaining are now J&S.

Having said I don't do waterproofs I mean I don't do waterproof oversuits. I have a safety jacket like Brian's and that is absulutely knackered and still doesn't let water in through the fabric.

I have hideout textile trousers and they don't let water in full stop.

Worst ride saw me doing 4 hours in constant rain on a naked bike. Had water coming in down my neck and up my sleeves eventually but that's the problem with any waterproof clothing it has holes in (to get your head and arms through).

[kennyc]

further to my earlier comments, I still have a one piece HG oversuit that I use on rare occasions (for example when I am not using textiles due to heat or some other dodgy excuse) I prefer the one piece to two piece due to ease of getting into it when my back was bad, (a carrier bag makes the world of difference in getting your feet through the legs) and it doesn't seem to sweat over leathers as much as the single trousers did, in fact I gave up on leggings with my RT as I found they weren't any drier than just leathers by the time you took sweat into account!
gloves, I have two pairs of HG gloves (I think I may have an HG fetish  ) one set is their famous Pathan and are superb for long distance in cold weather, the other is a set of touring Goretex,although once you put on the heated grips both suffer the Goretex problem with moisture migrating away from heat (ie they get sodding sodden!) but other than that have managed many a 500 mile day without too much whinging.
I have some race gloves which I picked up for a quid in the great Reading Motorcycle City fire sale (£110 list!) but they don't really look right on a tubby touring Bod  mostly in hot weather I use HG short summer gloves, which with the grip heaters actually cope well into the cooler weather as long as the trip is shortish but are absolutely useless in rain 

[fjtwelve]

Thanks lads, a few ideas there. Going to be expensive by the look of it.
Interesting point about heated grips and Goretex, thinking about the weekend - dry hands on Saturday no heated grips, wet hands last night, had the heat on. My gloves are HG, Thinsulate and Sheltex, no idea what model, but have done at least 20,000 miles now and still warm and generally dry.
On Saturday I was chasing my son on his GSXR 750. He could cruise at ton plus fairly easily in Alpine Star textiles, but was piss wet through, took 36 hours to dry his gear out. The water had got into his gloves then climbed up his arms even though the jacket was new. His old trousers just leaked. I was doing a Michelin man impression at anything much over 85 in the HG oversuit, but almost completely dry except the leaky arm. Anyway average speed over the last 140 miles began with a 9, so not too bad. Those Michelin Pilot 3s are brilliant in the wet.

[richtea]

In summer, I always ride with 'racing' style gloves which by definition are never waterproof. I found the excellent solution was to carry a pair of neoprene lobster claw overgloves from Hein Gericke, unfortunately!

Re: gloves bit from Brian, I'd say these are pretty close to waterproof+racing style:

Dainese Carbon Gore-Tex X-TRAFIT Gloves

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/251925738742?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&rlsatarget=&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0
(eBay link cos they're better photos than the shops.)

[Phmode]

....and a nice price to boot, or glove.

The problem I have in summer is just plain overheating. The Alpinestars are excellent at waterproof, great at warmth, even better at protection. But it is the warmth that is the problem.

I need to have ventilation and have two pairs of summer gloves; Alpinestars GP Pro which are reasonably cool and a vintage pair of Teknic Violators which are even cooler with all the gizmos of the A*s apart from the pinkie anti-roll web.

Brian (who could easily be the Imelda Marcos of the glove world but doesn't have the wardrobe space, thankfully  )

[Costas]

You remember that first lady of Filipino man, we are getting old man.
The Double R gloves made of Kangaroo and Goat skin do the trick for me in the hot summer days, excellent ventilation, excellent grip and absolute protection might take a look next time in BMW.
The price is another subject that will lead to a long discussion (239 e).