Jacket Advice...

Hey,

Santa gave me an Icon Neo Daytona Hero jacket for Christmas.



It is a size 44 and I was swimming in it. So, contacted the dealer where the jacket was bought and they were going to order in another one to be ready to fit when I got to the city.

Last weekend we went to Calgary to try on smaller sizes in this jacket. When we got there the guy said that the jacket has been discontinued and he is not sure if he can get the jacket in, in my size.

So I may be looking for another jacket. One he recommended was FirstGear.



Another one I tried on was a Teknic.



What would you guys recommend? The guy was leaning towards FirstGear saying the venting is amazing, the leather is thicker, and the padding is better than the hardened foam. (He explained the difference) The FirstGear fit nice and long in my long dangley arms. The Teknic was alittle short in the sleeves... I am just making sure these are good brands, I haven't heard of them much... Thanks in advance,

Mitch

To be honest I've not heard of either, but if they are comparable in quality I'd go for the best fitting.

The more comfortable you are in your gear, the more comfortable you are on your bike = smoother riding.

I'd suggest actually trying it one and then sitting on your bike too. Once had a jacket that was really nice and snug, but the minute I got on my 400 it was litrally a pain in the neck.

Teknic are neant to be quite good which is why i got one but i then had to return mine because like the one in the picture mine had a silver front. The problem is they only spray on the silver so after wearing it twice it started to rub off!

Originally Posted by MitchC

And your plans for the above jacket..................

I have teknic 2piece speedstar suit. I would definetly recomend them as the fit is excellent. It's very true about the coloring on the gear though, so that's probably something to consider. Check for CE approved armour and that there are no seams that are not covered.

[what I mean by that is any seam should have leather over it with another seam in a different location. Basically if it tears, you have a 2nd line of defence against rash. Features like that are what separate good leathers (like teknic, dainese, sidi, vanson etc.) from not so good ones (won't bother to knock any other brands. ] HTH

Don't know much about Icon, but at least I've heard of them, First Gear, I've never heard of and the jacket doesn't actually look like it offers much in the way of protection (foam bits in the leather will do naff-all in the event of an 'off') - look for decent, preferably removable CE approved body armour (then if it's not up to the job, you can replace it with something decent like Knox!).

The Teknic stuff is pretty good gear... It's good enough for our reigning British Superbike Champion, John Reynolds to rely on, as well as others, such as Aaron Yates in the AMA Superbike Championship.

There are plenty of other brands that are worth checking out but some may not be normally available in the USA/Canada...

Some other brands to look out for are: Arlen Ness/Berik (Same company, different marketing!), Vanson, Joe Rocket, Furygan, Dainese, Alpinestars, Spyke, Texport, RST, Swift, Spidi, Spada, Fieldsheer... There's loads more but that should keep you going for a while!! I've even tried to list them in likelyhood of sales in the US market!

HTH

Hey,

Thank you for all the help and advice guys! Unfortuneately, I am not near these jackets... they are 5 hours away, so I can't really inspect the stitching and so forth.

The Icon Neo Daytona Hero is not available. I officially have to look for a different jacket.

I am currently looking at a better Teknic jacket.


Teknic Violator

In the black, silver, grey colour scheme of course. I like the look and reputation of the Teknic... FirstGear I have only had one positive comment and Teknic is like 10+... Right now my biggest concern with the Teknic is shorter sleeves and no venting. Is venting a big issue?



Still looking at the FirstGear as the fit was nice. I am very thin so I need a small size, 38/40. But I have longer arms, so with smaller size, smaller arms... etc. The FirstGear didn't have an issue with that.


First Gear Blade

OR


First Gear Speedfreak

More advice would be greatly apprecaited as I need to get back to the dealer in the next couple days,

Mitch

I wouldn't be overly concerned with the sleeve length, as the gloves will overlap anyway. One thing I forgot to tell ya though, is to fit the jacket with a t-shirt on. Alot of people buy jackets a bit bigger and plan to wear sweaters or sweatshirts underneath, but that is not a good idea. The reason is that in the event of a crash, the padding tends to move away from the area it is supposed to protect. Obviously not a good thing. You know it fits properly if it is totally uncomfortable standing around, and feels great on your bike. I got myself a pullover jacket that I wear over my riding jacket on colder days. Good luck, and no matter how sweet the deal NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER BUY FIRST GEAR STUFF. IT IS SH*T SH*T SH*T Did I mention that First Gear is sh*t?

Hey,

Thank you all for the advice. I decided to go with the majority and go Teknic. I got the last one in 'capitivity' in size 40 apparently.



I should have it in about 4-5 days!

Thanks,

Mitch

Excellent!

That looks really nice!!