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Posts Tagged ‘Roadcrafter’

What color is your motorcycle, car or truck? Your paint is likely a color that is pleasing to the eye. Perhaps it is even your favorite color. Ugly paint jobs don’t sell automobiles.

What color is your riding gear? Perhaps your gear is black from head to toe. Looks cool, right?

Aerostich encourages the use of high-viz colors. This graphic from their site explains the benefits.

Riders need to stand out among the river of pleasing colors used to paint the SUVs, pickups and cars that flood the road everyday. As a motorcyclist, pleasing colors could also be explained as colors that don’t stand out in traffic. Personally, I prefer riding gear that will burn a hole in the eye’s of drivers all around me. Fluorescent colors such as blaze-orange, lime-green or high-viz yellow won’t be splashed on the wall of my house anytime soon. At least that is what my wife tells me. Fluorescent colors aren’t found in nature and really stand out in traffic. That’s exactly why they are perfect for motorcycle riding gear.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nearly 55 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes involve more than one vehicle. The overwhelming majority of those crashes involved a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle, i.e. car or truck. In the battle between motorcycle and car, the riders lose. Yes, there’s a stat to back that up. Approximately, 98 percent of fatal motorcycle versus car crashes results in the death of either the rider or passenger, and not the passenger-vehicle occupants.

A side-by-side comparison of the black and day-glo fluorescent colors for the Firstgear Kilimanjaro jacket.

If you have been involved in a motorcycle crash or heard stories, then you likely heard that the driver “didn’t even see ‘em.” The very characteristics of motorcycles that make them fun and economical lead to them being hard to see. That is exactly where good protective riding gear can come to the rescue.

Riding gear helps to protect you in a crash. For me, the most important part about the gear is its ability to help prevent a crash in the first place. A high-viz yellow jacket or riding suit may be just the ticket to having a driver say, “Phew, that was close, I’m glad that I saw them.”

Patrick Hahn from the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center stated in a June 2010 interview on the SideStandUp podcast that a New Zealand study shows that simply wearing a white helmet instead of a black helmet reduces your chance of a crash by 24 percent. That stunned me when I first heard it. What a simple way to save your life!

If changing the color of your helmet helps that much, just imagine what more real estate could do. The New Zealand study also showed that riders wearing a fluorescent reflective vest were 37 percent less likely to be involved in a multiple-vehicle crash than riders without one. That’s almost the same risk reduction as not drinking and riding. A $25 fluorescent reflective vest isn’t going to get you a date, but it is a very cost-effective way to avoid a crash.

Even hi-viz patches on my Roadcrafter improves visibility.

Of course, there are ways to add conspicuity and remain somewhat fashionable. My Aerostich Roadcrafter riding suit has high-viz patches at the shoulders, elbows, knees and shins. It is an option to have the entire suit in high-viz. At the request of my pillion, I went with the patches because it was easier on her eyes while staring at me lovingly for hours on rides. She can’t get enough! The downside of this is that there are fewer square inches of bright fabric to catch drivers’ eyes.

The main thing is to find a balance. As you’ll hear in MSF courses, manage your personal level of comfort and risk. You may be comfortable in all black or all fluorescent colors. I am comfortable with some retina-burning color on my suit.

The end goal is to avoid being laid out on a stretcher hearing someone in the distance saying, “I didn’t even see ‘em.”

What is your gear comprised of? Do you wear a helmet and jacket? What colors are they? Post your responses in the comments section. I’d love to have a full-blown discussion on this topic and perhaps learn a thing or two from you.

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On a ride with my trusty Roadcrafter

The right gear can reduce the inherent risks involved with riding a motorcycle. The minimum motorcycle protection gear required by many states includes eye protection and a helmet, the latter being optional in some states. Even with both helmet and eye protection you’re still left quite vulnerable in a crash but also in day to day conditions such as cold, heat, rain, sun and wind.

Protection on a motorcycle comes down to barriers between you and the elements, cars around you in traffic and pavement in case of a crash.

A quality riding suit is a must-have barrier between you as a rider and everything above, below and beside you during the entire time that you’re riding. Motorcyclists are the most vulnerable moving objects on the road. It is our responsibility to take precautions to reduce the risks involved with riding. As I like to say, “I plan ahead for the crash and enjoy riding in the moment.”

About two years ago, I hung my old riding suit up in the closet. My previous suit was the “Chevy” of riding suits and was replaced with the Cadillac of suits. That’s the best way to describe the Aerostich Roadcrafter one-piece riding suit. The Roadcrafter has been around in similar shape and form for many years. The crew up in Duluth, Minnesota at the Rider Wearhouse put their personal pride into each stitch of these suits. That American pride shows.

Here you can see the full-length zipper that makes the 'Stich so easy to put on.

The single best feature of the Roadcrafter one-piece is how quick and easy it is to put on and take off. Starting at the neck, a single zipper cinches the suite to your body as you pull it all the way down to your left ankle. That’s right, the zipper goes against the grain and starts at the top and zips down. It makes sense after you do it a few times. A second zipper closes the right leg. Simply step into the suit in your street cloths and within seconds you’re ready to straddle your steed.

My first suit was two pieces. It took a lot of time to put on both the jacket and pants. I found myself skipping the protection of the pants simply because they were too cumbersome and time consuming when you got on and off the bike. The one-piece suit forces me to wear the full protection neck to ankle.

TF3 Pad has a hard shell on the outside with a memory foam type pad on the inside.

The flexible TF3 pads located at the shoulders, elbows and knees provide safety and comfort. The unique TF3 pads are soft and supple to the touch when you’re just wearing the Roadcrafter suit. In an emergency, the pads stiffen up, supporting the joint and absorbing impact. Many products on the market are made of CE-approved pads, which are hard. The hardness wears through and they become uncomfortable in previous suits that I’ve worn. Let’s face it; if it isn’t comfortable you’re not going to wear it.

The 500 Denier Cordura fabric in the main sections of the suit and 1050 Denier Cordura in the shoulders, elbows and knees provide good abrasion resistance for the wearer. Aerostich stands behind their product so much that after a crash you can send the suit in to them to repair the damaged fabric. Try that with your Steven Tyler-like leather pants.

The GORE-TEX lining on the Aerostich Roadcrafter will keep you dry in light to moderate rains, depending on how long you’re riding in it. Hit a heavy storm and you’ll get wet. You’ll especially notice wetness in areas where water pools and along the zippers. I have personally found that the Roadcrafter keeps me dry 95 percent of the time. There were a few mid-west summer storms that soaked through. I doubt any gear outside of a latex applied directly to the skin would have kept me dry in those cases. There are riders that fault Aerostich for rain protection. I ride thousands of miles a year and I’m telling you that you’d be hard pressed to find better protection from the elements than the Roadcrafter or one of Aerostich’s other suits.

The single element that does impact me while wearing the ‘Stich is the sun. When the temperatures climb above 90 degrees Fahrenheit you cook inside the heavy protection of the suit. Any suit with more than a mesh fabric will make you toasty at those temperatures. Open the armpit and back vents, douse your T-shirt with water and voila, motorcycle air conditioning.

Storage is worth a pretty penny on a motorcycle. The Roadcrafter offers ample storage capacity with six closable pockets, two hand pockets (similar to everyday pants pockets) and easy access to your pants pockets. The large zippered pocket on the right side of the torso allows easy access to contents such as a map with your right hand remaining on the throttle the entire time. Beware, this pocket tends to get used the most and you can lose some valuable belongings if it doesn’t get zipped closed.

It seems that Aerostich has recently changed the cut pattern on the suits. The new design has a little extra length in the neck flap that fully closes the smooth ultrasuede collar. This is nice for extra breathing room and also for adding layers when the temperatures begin to dip.

The original classic design of the Aerostich Roadcrafter is like that of the iPhone. Many impersonators, but no real competition. With a list price of $800, it is easier to find a more affordable suit. You’d be hard pressed to find a better suit at twice that amount.

On a final note, I often use Aerostich as an example of a company that really takes care of their customers. The personal customer service that I have received from the Duluth crew is absolutely top notch and quick.