[bblost]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The Explorer V3 is famous (infamous?) for having sleeves that are really long, to the extent that the elbow armour does sit a bit low. From the pictures that you shared, it does appear that the sleeves are really long for your torso, as well. Hopefully the armour sits perfectly.

With my arms folded while riding and the clasps put correctly, this does not feel like an issue.

The jacket ends inside my gloves. Its quite comfortable and the armour positioning feels correct.

The jacket has softened a bit with use and feels more comfortable now. I wear it on my office commute on an almost daily basis.

[rahulcmoulee]

Has anyone used the Rynox Helium GT2 Jacket? If yes, what is your opinion on it? Is it a good option for a new rider. My dad has started getting back into riding and I wish to gift him a riding jacket before he goes on long rides. So looking for feedback on the Helium GT2. Other suggestions are welcome too.

[neil.jericho]

While at a local Yamaha Blue Square dealership, I noticed the following textile jacket. The price was Rs 8,999 or so. It does look to be rather similar to my Royal Enfield Khardung La jacket. I didnt try it on, or check the armour. I will do so, the next time that I drop in to the dealer.

A TBHPian who is a riding gear connoisseur and a recent Yamaha customer, did tell me that the jacket isnt good. My hopes arent high but more riding gear choices are always welcome for us in the community.

Originally Posted by rahulcmoulee

Has anyone used the Rynox Helium GT2 Jacket? If yes, what is your opinion on it? Is it a good option for a new rider. My dad has started getting back into riding and I wish to gift him a riding jacket before he goes on long rides. So looking for feedback on the Helium GT2. Other suggestions are welcome too.

rahulcmoulee, gifting your Dad a riding jacket is a wonderful gesture! Since you mentioned that he will be doing long rides, you should ideally skip the Rynox Helium GT2 jacket. Its a mesh jacket and isnt the right choice for long rides / touring. Simply put, it will let in too much air flow on long rides.

What your Dad needs is a textile jacket, instead.

Most riding gear companies offer a pure textile jacket and a hybrid of a mesh and textile jacket. My suggestion is to get a pure textile jacket. Right now, the top choices in the market are the Royal Enfield Nirvik and the Khardung La V2, with the former being very popular in many riding circles.

[rahulcmoulee]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

rahulcmoulee, gifting your Dad a riding jacket is a wonderful gesture! Since you mentioned that he will be doing long rides, you should ideally skip the Rynox Helium GT2 jacket. Its a mesh jacket and isnt the right choice for long rides / touring. Simply put, it will let in too much air flow on long rides.

What your Dad needs is a textile jacket, instead.

Most riding gear companies offer a pure textile jacket and a hybrid of a mesh and textile jacket. My suggestion is to get a pure textile jacket. Right now, the top choices in the market are the Royal Enfield Nirvik and the Khardung La V2, with the former being very popular in many riding circles.

Well his long rides are going to be short one day rides in a 100-150km radius. He would prefer something light weight which is why I was considering the Helium GT2. But will look into more textile options now.

[Sebring]

Neil, this jacket is amazing. Complete VFM.
The comfort is good, and multiple pockets are quite handy. Check it out. I'm using for a year now.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

While at a local Yamaha Blue Square dealership, I noticed the following textile jacket. The price was Rs 8,999 or so.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Also, due to the poor design of the Rynox pants, the button on the thigh area scratches the tanks of my motorcycles, when I swing my leg over the bike, especially when there is a tail bag at the back. Ive informed the Rynox team about it. They said that they will look into it and potentially upgrade the design of the future launches.

Here are some pictures of the scratches on my motorcycles, due to the faulty design of the Rynox pants. I spoke to a couple of detailing firms in Cochin, to see if these scratches could be addressed through polishing. They confirmed that the only solution was to repaint the tank

Anyways, as mentioned in my earlier post, I had informed the Rynox team about it. The stitching on the groin area was also giving away, quite soon after they had already fixed the issue under warranty. All things considered, the Rynox pants turned out to be a waste of money and damaged the tanks of my motorcycles.

For the last few months, Ive been trying to find a replacement.

The Royal Enfield store finally got a pair of Tso Kar riding trousers in my size. I would have preferred the all black variant but that wasnt available. One impressive aspect of these pants is that they are made of a waterproof material. This completely eliminates the whole pull over to the side of the road, take you boots off, slide you rain liner on, put your boots back on routine, every time it starts to rain while you are on a ride.

The pants do appear to be a half inch (or maybe even an inch?) longer than some of the other riding pants that Ive tried in the past. It gets Knox armour all around with level 2 armour at the knees. With its MRP of Rs 10,500 and USP of being waterproof, this does appear to be a very good choice for riding enthusiasts. I picked it up from the Royal Enfield company store, without a second thought. Once I complete a few hundred kilometers of riding, I will share some detailed feedback on these pants.

A few months ago, I had posted (The Riding Gear thread) about the Royal Enfield waterproof E-39 short riding boots. I was happy to find the boots in a nice brown colour as well.

Originally Posted by deerhunter

Was always interested in acquiring a leather jacket, but the good leather ones are prohibitively expensive and the cheaper ones have minimal airflow and are uncomfortable to wear here down South. Found out couple of weeks back that Rynox is coming out with special edition leather mesh jackets, and got one last week for 17K.

Congratulations on your purchase deerhunter and thanks for sharing details on this jacket. I was completely unaware of its existence, until I saw your post. Leather with mesh is a very good combination for South Indian conditions. The Royal Enfield leather jackets are much more affordable (~ Rs 12K MRP) but will offer less ventilation than the one you picked up, since there is no mesh section.

Originally Posted by Sebring

Neil, this jacket is amazing. Complete VFM.
The comfort is good, and multiple pockets are quite handy. Check it out. I'm using for a year now.

Thats great to hear, Sebring. Functionality wise, it seems to be exactly the same as my Khardung La jacket. A fellow TBHPian informed me that these are apparently old stocks which are lying in Yamaha dealerships. So if someone is looking to pick it up, do push for a heavy discount.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by bblost

Attachment 2383814

https://store.royalenfield.com/explorer-v3-jacket-black

The jacket passed heavy rain test earlier this week.
The raincoat that came with it managed to keep to fully dry.

[deerhunter]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Congratulations on your purchase deerhunter and thanks for sharing details on this jacket. I was completely unaware of its existence, until I saw your post. Leather with mesh is a very good combination for South Indian conditions. The Royal Enfield leather jackets are much more affordable (~ Rs 12K MRP) but will offer less ventilation than the one you picked up, since there is no mesh section.

Thanks Neil. Your post about Royal Enfield spirit and cafe racer jackets triggered me to get a leather jacket. Btw, cafe racer jacket is available in Amazon for under 6000 rupees now. Getting that itch to order one.

[Weathered]

I'm in search of riding pants and have tried Revit, Alpinestar, Komine etc. All of them are longer in length including Revit "short" sized ones for my height of 5'4". The Bikeratti riding jeans I wear has an inseam length of 30" which fits right lengthwise. Any suggestions for such "short" riding pants would be helpful.

[Axe77]

Been on a shopping spree on bike and self and gotten some new riding gear (pant and jackets), a new helmet (Shoei Hornet), and finally a soft luggage system (SW Motech Sys Bags - size L) for the Multi which I can move easily on to whatever adventure bike I buy next as well when the current crop gets sold. The Helmet and one of the jackets is from recent trips to Tokyo and Frankfurt respectively but the rest via the relevant Indian distributors.

Will focus this post on the riding wear and perhaps put out separate posts for the helmet and saddle bags in the relevant threads to keep discussion on topic for each thread.

My current riding suit goes back to 2017 when I bought my street triple S. Wanted to treat myself to some new gear and finally zeroed in on the Revit Sand 4 set as well as an Eclipse jacket for pure hot weather / short rides as a city suit.

Took some planning to get a decent deal. Got the Sand 4 jacket from Polo Frankfurt at a sweet discount (MRP was 500 Euro but got it for 320 Euro - adding the back protector took the price tag to 360 Euro but the back protector also fits into my Eclipse jacket). Picked it up from the store myself when I was in Frankfurt for a couple of days last month. The matching Revit pants I picked up at regular price (he throws in a 10% discount pretty much by default I think) from High Note Performance Delhi, as well as the Revit Eclipse jacket from there.

The Sand 4 is essentially a 4 seasons suit although personally my preference is to use the suit without its layers. If its cold or rainy, my go to solution is to wear those basic decathlon rain pants on top of the suit so you can keep the pants clean from muck as well. Same for the top - I wear a basic Rynox rain cheater and it keeps both rain (and cold up to a point) at bay.

Haven’t had too many miles on these yet but will be happy to address any questions as best as I can once Ive had a chance to use them a bit more. There’s a long ride to Goa planned early January and that should be informative enough for feedback from first hand use.

Pics below.

The Revit Eclipse jacket. I feel for what it offers this is pretty value for money at about INR 13k give or take.

[2legit2quit]

Originally Posted by Weathered

Any suggestions for such "short" riding pants would be helpful.

I believe Viaterra offers options for shorter riders. Their quality is also very good as experienced from my Spencer pants

[amvj]

Originally Posted by Weathered

I'm in search of riding pants and have tried Revit, Alpinestar, Komine etc. All of them are longer in length including Revit "short" sized ones for my height of 5'4". The Bikeratti riding jeans I wear has an inseam length of 30" which fits right lengthwise. Any suggestions for such "short" riding pants would be helpful.

Someone suggested solace riding pants for shorter riders. I am also same height as you and having difficulty finding riding pants. I got a scott knee protector but riding pants should be more comfortable for longer rides.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Weathered

I'm in search of riding pants and have tried Revit, Alpinestar, Komine etc. All of them are longer in length including Revit "short" sized ones for my height of 5'4". The Bikeratti riding jeans I wear has an inseam length of 30" which fits right lengthwise. Any suggestions for such "short" riding pants would be helpful.

I'm 5'4" and the Revit short series works well for me (as do the Held short pants which I've been wearing for the last 5 years).

Its not going to be perfect length the way regular jeans fit so you need to account for that. Also, the pants usually have a velcro at the bottom that allows you to tighten the fit near the ankle so that the pants fit well.

I'd encourage you to try on the Held short and Revit short with this perspective once.

Do see my post above in which you can see how the M short Revit pants fall for me with the boots. There is a side profile pic for reference. If you think that fit is acceptable then you could give the Revit another try.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Been on a shopping spree on bike and self and gotten some new riding gear (pant and jackets), a new helmet (Shoei Hornet), and finally a soft luggage system (SW Motech Sys Bags - size L) for the Multi which I can move easily on to whatever adventure bike I buy next as well when the current crop gets sold. The Helmet and one of the jackets is from recent trips to Tokyo and Frankfurt respectively but the rest via the relevant Indian distributors.

Will focus this post on the riding wear and perhaps put out separate posts for the helmet and saddle bags in the relevant threads to keep discussion on topic for each thread.

My current riding suit goes back to 2017 when I bought my street triple S. Wanted to treat myself to some new gear and finally zeroed in on the Revit Sand 4 set as well as an Eclipse jacket for pure hot weather / short rides as a city suit.

Axe77, congratulations on the Shoei Hornet, the Revit Eclipse and the Sand 4. My Royal Enfield Khardung La jacket will complete 5 years in 2023 and the upgrade itch has caused me to seriously consider the Sand 4 jacket, as aa logical step up. I love its form factor and the colours, as well. Do keep up updated on your initial impressions and long term feedback, on what is one of the best textile jackets in our market, money no bar, that is.

P.S - is it just me, or does the colour scheme of your new helmet and riding gear, exactly match that of the Pearl Glare White Tricolour paint scheme of the Honda Africa Twin. A little foreshadowing, perhaps?

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Do keep up updated on your initial impressions and long term feedback, on what is one of the best textile jackets in our market, money no bar, that is.

I will definitely do this. Watch this space. Agree with you on the Sand 4 completely - as high quality all season wear goes, it is definitely decent value - in this case it was a no brainer since I managed to knock off a handy 180 Euro from its normal retail price. I was initially interested in the Klim Baja S4 but realised its way too “American” a fit and was floating on shorter chaps like me with its much longer sleeves etc. Same for the pants. European brands it seems are more likely to make for a better fit (in their short length versions) for shorter folks like me.

I think even the Eclipse is actually a fabulous no nonsense ventilated jacket - great for our conditions. Specially if one follows a layering approach, with a suitable rain cheater a summer jacket can also go a long way in touring comfort.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

P.S - is it just me, or does the colour scheme of your new helmet and riding gear, exactly match that of the Pearl Glare White Tricolour paint scheme of the Honda Africa Twin. A little foreshadowing, perhaps?

Hahaha. So here goes. I was really keen on a touring jacket that’s either olive green; brown / sand color or as a last option, this particular scheme. Sand or a nice green would have been my first choice but since it finally came down to this model this tri color choice was my top pick.

On the Shoei, this was the graphic scheme I liked the most and the fact that it matched the jacket helped since I have no idea what kind of paint scheme my next bike may sport. The graphics on the Shoeis are quite limited indeed.

On the bike upgrade - I do indeed have only three bikes as of now with an upgrade lens in mind (in no particular order):
1. The manual Honda AT in tricolor or other similar paint schemes (I’m not at all keen on the all black).
2. The Desert X (if its not too overwhelming on reach to ground)
3. The next gen GS.

That’s it!

Ironically, my only reluctance with this entire gear set up is that it matches TOO well with Tricolor Honda. With the Beemer one can go triple black or similar and the Desert X is only red and white and you can add some black highlights to distinguish.

The AT on the other hand - I simply dont like the all black so the tricolor combo with this outfit is actually ‘well matched overkill’ if you know what I mean. But it is what it is - these are first world problems - and I’m just happy in the current state of our market, I managed to nick some decent gear that fits me, all at a palatable price. Believe me, the Indian retailer had only one piece that came in his current shipment of my size and color in these pants and the Frankfurt store had no pieces in my size - in any color.

In other news, I’m on a short vacay in Rome and while out for a run yesterday I happenchanced on a Dainese store in Central Rome. What a store!!! I am covered on gear etc so nothing really to pick here but the range of jackets, pants and what not is just incredible. I was mid run so didn’t pop in for long but took a quick pic of this jacket (didn’t even see the model name) - it was really stunning. This is the sort of khakee / brown sand color (latter like what the Revit 3 had), which would have been my first choice.

Some pics from the Dainese store below.

Left: Kind of green I love



Some lovely framed suits just inside the main entrance. What a look they lend to the store.