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Over Jacket Options

43883

New member
I ride 90% of the time with a Tourmaster Intake jacket. The jacket is for hot weather but it does include a liner for cold weather and another liner for rain. I think you need to use the rain liner to use the cold weather liner.

I almost never need the rain liner around my part of the world (annual rainfall of less than 20 inches!). In addition, putting the liner in is a pain.

So... is it sacrilegious to carry a packable waterproof wind breaker like a Columbia product that I can get at the local Academy or Cabelas? Seems to be a good solution and simple to use plus it packs super small. Also I could use it when it gets late on me while riding and the temperature starts to drop before I get home. This happened to me last night. I stopped at a store and purchased a sweat shirt just to get home.

I'd appreciate any advise.

tsp
Blog: swriding.blogspot.com
 
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Well, telling us the rain liner is used around "your parts" might have been too much information.

But I have a Frog Togg rainsuit. It works fine when I need just a smidgen more wind protection. Or a fleece under the jacket would probably work better than a windbreaker over.
 
Funny! And corrected. )

Lots of good reviews on the Frog Toggs but I can't buy them locally.

tsp

Well, telling us the rain liner is used around "your parts" might have been too much information.

But I have a Frog Togg rainsuit. It works fine when I need just a smidgen more wind protection. Or a fleece under the jacket would probably work better than a windbreaker over.
 
While I would never discourage an opportunity to increase your supply of 'stuff', I have an Intake jacket and rain liner does need to be installed to use the insulated liner. However, I don't see what a wind breaker will do that the rain liner won't. You might want to think about a light weight fleece vest like this: http://shop.timberland.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4064169&orderSourceCode=0
Packs small. Lasts forever or until you grow out of it, whichever comes first.
 
I have used the Frog Toggs Road Toad two piece suit for two seasons now. It packs well enough to suit me, and if packing is tight, can be fit in around other stuff. I have used it in all day rain and am happy with its performance. I tend to use vented jackets and pants for most of the year and if the temperature drops, the frog toggs jacket quickly slips over the other gear and cuts the wind, usually all I need. It works well for me and I don't have to carry a lot of extra layers.
 
Back in the day, the general train of thought was not to wear anything made of nylon, etc, whilst riding...when you commence to sliding down the tarmac after a getoff, that stuff melts right into yer skin...which is why, today, I wear leather or a natural fabric that tears in these sorts of situations, or, if I do wear a synthetic fabric, it's armored so that it's likely that the armor will insulate me from the cooking, should I be so blessed with that aforesaid getoff...

Something to think about...I don't know what the current train of thought is on this subject, but for me, I'm still good with the old train of thought!!!
 
Short and wide

I was wondering about the frog toggs, the Iron Pony store in Columbus, Ohio is selling a set for 150.00 (Horny Toadz Suit) and I only have as of yet a Tourmaster Intake with a total of three different liners, 3xl. Would the Frogg Toggs still work well with that large of a jacket? I need to purchase some pants also to go with all the upper body armor (feel like I'm back in Iraq) but am not sure what is the more durable purchase.
 
If I recall correctly, my frog toggs were about $75.00 Cdn at Bass Pro Shops in Vaughan. I wear BMW venting machine pants, US size 46R on the tag and either a first gear vented mesh textile jacket with armour, size XXL, or a vented leather jacket with armour, size XXXL. Frog toggs Road Toad set, XXL slips on easily over this gear. Not exactly a fashion statement, but it works well.
 
With a mesh/vented non-waterproof jacket that has a waterproof liner, when the liner is out it is just a non-waterproof jacket. The simple thing is to just get a rain jacket if you don't want to put the liner in.

Every major motorcycle store on the internet sells rain suits - one or two piece. Take your pick.
 
Every manufacturer seems to have their own idea of what works best. I have 3 jackets, all with various liners, etc. All a PITA. I mean, why wear the waterproof part UNDER the main jacket?

I think my next jacket purchase when I wear out my Tourmaster, Olympia & BMW Rally 2 is going to be a 'Stich Darien... Seems so simple, wear the jacket all the time with waterproofing & armor, add insulation as needed with a liner/fleece.
 
I too am having second thoughts about "do it all" riding suits. (Mine is a Rev'it Sand.) The pants, with rain liner in, were comfortable up to about 95 degrees - all good. The jacket, again with rain liner in, was fine up to about 75 degrees - and very comfortable at hotter temps with rain liner out and vents open. BUT one day I found myself by the side of the road several times either installing or removing the rain liner - the only rain protection I had, but too hot for comfort when the showers passed. (Anybody else have trouble telling whether those ominous clouds mean a 10 minute light shower or several hours of drenching rain?)

The other thing I disliked was that in heavy rain the suit absorbed several pounds of water, even though it kept me perfectly dry. Not so bad since we were staying at B & B,s, but I wouldn't want to haul that wet jacket into a tent.

So for touring, I'm thinking of leaving the jacket rain liner home and taking an outer light rain jacket. Much easier on and off in showers and no water absorption.

Finally, I'm not too enamored with the thermal liner. It just doesn't give you the flexibility for varying temps that an electric jacket with controller does. Haven't used the thermal pants liner yet, but that might be very welcome in cold temps. I just haven't found my legs to be that much of a problem.
 
BUT one day I found myself by the side of the road several times either installing or removing the rain liner - the only rain protection I had, but too hot for comfort when the showers passed.

Are you actually installing the liner, zipping it to the jacket and snapping the snaps? If I have to use a liner for a summer squall I'll shed the jacket, put on the liner as if it were a standalone jacket, then put the outer jacket back on. Doesn't take but a minute. Removing it takes another minute. I don't bother zipping and snapping liner to jacket unless I've stopped in a place where I'm going to remove both and it looks like it will still be raining when it comes time to leave.

I've used a Darien in the past and found it too hot for me at temps above about 100 ??F here in the dry west. Before I replaced the Darien I got an evaporative cooling vest which helped a lot. Since replacing the Darien I've not used the cooling vest. However... it is quite possible there will be another Darien in my future. It will depend how I feel when my current jacket (BMW R2P) wears out, something it is doing much faster than I expected, given its cost. The pants started falling apart at 5 years/50,000 ~ 60,000 miles.
 
I carry an inexpensive (under $50) rain suit whenever I am on a trip. It seems like most cross country trips over two days end up with a shower (if not a downpour) somewhere along the way. The two piece suit I have is a rubbery vinyl that does not leak (or breathe), so you only want it on while it is raining. When it stops you want to take it off. I have ridden through rain so hard that all the cars pulled off to the side of the road and still been relatively dry. In a really hard downpour I think they all will leak just a bit between the jacket and the pants (that may be the advantage to a one piece rain suit).

Before I bought my Gerbing gear, I wore the rain suit when it was cold because it completely blocked the wind.

The jacket is pretty quick to put on, but I prefer to put the pants on when I don't have to do it in a hurry. So, in the spring and the fall when I won't get over heated, I put the rain pants on when it even looks like it might rain. When it actually starts raining I can pull over and have the jacket on pretty quickly. My motorcycle jacket is "water resistant" not "waterproof". That means you are fine in a light rain for a short time. That gives me a little time to get to the next exit and pull into a gas station to get my rain suit jacket on.
 
I always wear a vented jkt. here in Az.. The rain/thermal liners I wear unattached. Never could see zipping/snapping them in and out.
Seems to work just as well too.
For added heat or rain protection I carry a pair of BMG Ezeon pants and an old fisherman's rain jkt. for any downpours.
This works for me when using any of the various brand armored jkts that I wear.
 
I use a Tourmaster rain jacket over my high-viz vented/armored jacket. Packs easy and keeps me dry. Easy on / Easy off.
 
The interesting thing about a mesh jacket is that when you cover it with a windproof outer shell the mesh acts like an insulating layer. My summer touring get-up is a mesh jacket with my old Darien, minus the Darien's armor. (hi-vis yellow, of course).

In the chilly morning I start out with the Darien over the mesh - as the morning warms I open the vents on it - by the time the day has reached full heat I stow the 'stitch. It's also great in a warm rain as the vents - and probably the gore tex as well - keep me dry without the clamminess typical to a plastic rain suit.

An Aerostitch is kind of a pricey choice for this sort of usage - I just happened to have it. You could substitute any vented hiking style windbreaker, just buy it a size or two larger to fit over your mesh jacket.
 
Bingo! This is what I did. Already got to try it out yesterday as the day heat in the 90's dropped into the 60's at night. No rain but when the sun set I put on the Columbia rain/wind jacket and it did it's job. I like this option because...
1 - This jacket packs into a space of about 4X6X3. The liners would have filled a major part of one saddle bag.
2 - Went on in seconds (less than a minute). The liners would have taken a lot longer to put on. Btw, I will try not zipping and snapping them in next time.
3 - Did not need a heavy winter suit - just something to block the wind.
4 - Certainly did not need to use my one piece rain suit in this case.
5 - I wanted to buy locally so that I could try the jacket with and without my riding jacket.

Like I stated in the OP, I was looking for something that you can always carry for those times that you don't expect to happen in a daily ride. I was about 85 miles from home and this jacket made that ride perfect. I also plan to use it in summer showers that only last for minutes or perhaps less than an hour and happen when the temperature is in the 80's to 90's. I save the full rain suit for day long rains or winter use.

tsp
PS: The jacket retails for $45 but Academy has them for $30.
Blog: swriding.blogspot.com



The interesting thing about a mesh jacket is that when you cover it with a windproof outer shell the mesh acts like an insulating layer. My summer touring get-up is a mesh jacket with my old Darien, minus the Darien's armor. (hi-vis yellow, of course).

In the chilly morning I start out with the Darien over the mesh - as the morning warms I open the vents on it - by the time the day has reached full heat I stow the 'stitch. It's also great in a warm rain as the vents - and probably the gore tex as well - keep me dry without the clamminess typical to a plastic rain suit.

An Aerostitch is kind of a pricey choice for this sort of usage - I just happened to have it. You could substitute any vented hiking style windbreaker, just buy it a size or two larger to fit over your mesh jacket.
 
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