I'm a nube!

I just joined this forum on Saturday and am a new owner of a Swing. Haven't even picked it up yet.

The Swing is a 2005 with 4500 mi. on it. I haven't rode in many years and have to take a course before I can.


Today I woke up to 19 degrees and realized that I need a jacket. I was told that the Olympia is a good one. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

The D (James)

Hey James,

Welcome to the Forum. Yeah, I hear ya about it being cold. Last few days I have not been able to get out into my shop because it's been just to dam cold to work out there.

Hey Dennis,

What's the temp supposed to be up there tonight? We may see 15 or lower!

Any suggestions on jackets?

Tonight will be 7F and it's heating up to 26F tomorrow. As far as what jackets ??????? I just think there is no jacket made that will help at these temps.

Ouch! That's cold. We're lookin to warm up soon. Would love to take the new baby out next week when it's 50 to 60!

Been reading the posts on the forum and looking forward many new friends.

James

Welcome aboard James. I'm close by in Garland. I blame this weather on CathyN. She just couldn't stay in Chicago. I don't have any recomendations on jackets, but you might do a search. It's hard to find anything that hasn't been cussed and discussed on this forum. Enjoy the ride.

Welcome James... you picked a good time of year to begin scooting..NOT!!!!

I have an 05 too. Will be converting to a Trinity Trike Very soon.

Your weather is a lot like ours too. I think it is suppose to get into the low teens here for the next few nights.... sunny days at least .... .

There are a lot of good guys here on this forum. You won't be a newbe long.........

Welcome James.

James (The D),

Welcome to the forum - enjoy the ride.

The olympia jackets are very nice, although can be pricey. They have matching riding pants and they double as rain suits with the proper liners. Good enough to be the uniform of choice for most BMW riders, kind of like their leathers.

Tourmaster and Cortech (a Tourmaster co.) as well as First Gear make good jackets for cold weather - you want to have a textile jacket as opposed to a mesh. Most of these will include a quilted liner. Good place to look is www.newenough.com, although I see they are now called www.motorcyclegear.com. They often have jackets in their closeout section.

I should have included Fieldsheer - they are also a good quality maker of gear. To that end they have a good water resistant jacket on sale: http://www.motorcyclegear.com/street/closeouts/textile_jackets_and_pants/fieldsheer/aqua_tour_2_textile_motorcycle_jacket.html. This is a good buy, you may be able to find cheaper somewhere else, not sure.

DennisB wrote:

Tonight will be 7F and it's heating up to 26F tomorrow.

think yourself lucky there are normal temps here in UK.
oh and welcome to the site.

Thanks for the info on the jackets Dale!! I am not used to this cold stuff. We wear shorts most of the year here.

I have many extended family members in Alabama. My niece is a freshman at Auburn. I was born in Birmingham. Good state to live in!

James

Right now in Birmingham it is :

Partly Cloudy
21°F
Feels Like: 9°

I bet the shorts are getting a rest today.

Good thing about the South, this doesn't last long. It will be back in the 50s in a couple of days. Then get the shorts back out...

Congratulations to the Tigers. Great game. I was pulling for the SEC.

Hi James, welcome to the forum.

Not a lot of point in mentioning the names of manufactures of jackets etc. as most won't mean a thing, perhaps apart from Vanson? - Great gear, at a price!

The main thing is to make sure that the jacket you choose fits well, is comfortable when its both hot and cold (so a removable thermal liner is a bonus). It should be big enough that you can get a jumper/sweatshirt on underneath it without being cramped. Most of all there should be armour in the back, the shoulders and the elbows. Critically the armour should protect the areas its designed too! No point in the elbow armour being half way down you wrists because the sleaves are to long!!! If the armour is in the correct position while you are stood in a normal at rest position then its right.

Welcome James!

You will love your SW and get to ride it much more than many of us that are closer to the north pole!

This morning I woke to thunder snow a rare phenomena that involves thunder/lightning, 35mph sustained winds and snow accumulations of 3-6" per hour! We have about 20" on the ground and 3 more hours of storm to go. On the bright side, I may get to ride by early april

I favor the Firstgear line of products, but the others mentioned are just as good.
The MSF riders course will save your life! Good luck and post some pics when you get a chance.

James:
Welcome to the site and congratulations on your new Swing. You will find that there is a lot of great information and experience on this site. Yes, you will need good gear to allow you to ride safely and in comfort. I see that most of the major manufacturers have already been listed. They each make decent quality stuff with lots of features, so the main thing is to find gear that fits you. I wear an armored FieldSheer jacket with a zip out waterproof liner and find that it does everything I need - hot weather or cold, rain or shine. (even snow a couple of times) Good luck with your new bike. See you around here.
DCC

The D wrote:

Today I woke up to 19 degrees and realized that I need a jacket. I was told that the Olympia is a good one. Any suggestions?

Are you planning on separate winter/summer jacket or will you be trying to get one jacket for both winter and summer??

hi james
welcome to the site i joined recently there a great bunch of lads on here
i have already had some good tips and a lot of help
good luck with the swing you will not look back

Allen

Welcome to the forum James. I did not bring the cold and snow with me from Chicago as "Hi Yo" claims. I'm still in McKinney for a few more days. I guess by the weather report you will be getting into the 60's after I leave on Sunday. Go figure. Enjoy the forum and the ride.

Cathy

Bill,

I'm kinda leaning toward one jacket fits all.

Cathy, I'm glad to know that you didn't bring this weather with you.

Looking forward to riding next week!

James

If leaning towards a one jacket for all seasons - go with a mesh jacket that offers a quilted liner. You will need a rain suit and can use that as an outer layer over the mesh.

From personal experience your hips and hands are more exposed and you need some protection there as well.

Thanks a bunch Dale.

James

The D wrote:

I'm kinda leaning toward one jacket fits all.

I wear a Motoport ( www.motoport.com ) Kevlar Mesh pants and jacket.

For the liner (and raingear) I wear the Motoport Aero-tex pant, jacket and optional jacket liner. On the very cold days, I will add a North Face Polartec 300 jacket underneath the jacket and liner.

So I am able to achieve four season with the one jacket/pants and adding liner/raingear as needed.

Don't know if 'Hein Gericke' is available in the States. I have used their kit for years.

You pay top dollar but you get a top quality product. After you break down the cost vs longevity it works out very economical indeed.

I use a Master IV set of jacket and trousers, (current model is the Master V), loads of useful features such as wafer thin armour, ( Hiprotec), Gore Tex, Cordura for minimising burns in the event of skidding down the road, removable liner with integral temperature sensor to monitor body temperature. Kevlar and Kangaroo leather!!! All in all a very impressive set of riding kit.

Thanks Bill and Doug.

Welcome to the site, James. I found one place that sells leather gear that I have not been able to find any comlaints about and believe me I've looked. It's at www.foxcreekleather.com But their stuff is pricey. All their motorcycle jackets have vents so you can ride in them year round. Very thick leather, but they are in the $400 to $450 range. Not cheap but all made in the USA and from all my research, high quality products. If nothing else, it's something to think about.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

If you ride everyday, MESH is not way to go----think wet, think cold. So I have Olympia Mesh, yellow----gives the idiots in SUV's and pickups target. For short ride to work----maybe 5 miles you can get by, but not for serious riding on trip. I use my Mesh like......trip= use leather (windproof ) as liner, real cold feather jacket underneath, raining big rain jacket over top(Joe Rocket) and feather or leather lining depending on temperature. I forgot original liner on airplane.

For year round, Olympia, same shape as mesh, would be ok. Not too expensive, should be water proof, feather vest or jacket underneath.

For best consider Aerostich in addition to fabric, they now have waterproof leather. Langlitz---Portland Oregon very expensive but last long----I have been thru 2 since 1966----alway can sell for more on ebay than you pay---my last all done, looking like well used, went to Boss Hog guy, who wanted to look the rider part. He complained inside of pockets were dirty----I had to explain, that when you really ride everyday, that is the way it goes.


John Grinsel


By the way mesh can get very uncomfortable,too, in hot summer.

Colors to be seen and reflective for nite, some sort of rated padding for the fall off.


I am considering new Olympia, same shape as my Mesh, yellow, as I like the fit and feel, except for pads.

I've had an Aerostich Roadcrafter two piece suit since 1990, and I have to say personally for use in the UK and Europe it's not the all singing and dancing Swiss Army knife of riding suits it's made out to be. I ended up using the jacket more than I used the full suit. I should have probably gone for the Darian jacket instead.

I'd really like to have the Olympia Bushwacker jacket, and I think it's the Airglide pants but I tried on some Olympia jackets on holiday in Oregon a couple of years ago and found the fit and sizing unlike UK and European stuff. I was ready to giving it another shot with a visit to RevZilla in Philadelphia last November, but there was mix up with our UK flights resulting in a day less in Philly and RevZilla was closed for the rest of our time there.

I ended up buying the Olympia "Viper". I decided on this jacket because it is designed as a four season jacket with two removable liners, padding, and vents. It gets HOT in Texas!

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions.

Good for you, glad you got what you wanted and I hope it wears well on you.

Thanks. I hope so too!

James