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To Aerostich or not to Aerostich, that is the question.


Casper
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I've been debating getting an Aerostich for over a decade. Thinking about finally pulling the trigger. So, to those of you who have one, what are your thoughts and recommendations? I currently have a sport bike, but will probably have something less sporty in the not so distant future (Tiger, Vee, Connie, etc are possibilities). Should I get the forward rotated sleeves or will they cause problems on the more standard style bikes? 

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3 minutes ago, Casper said:

I won't be disappointed in forward rotated sleeves or in Aerostich in general? 

Both...

any of the bikes you mentioned will be fine with the forward sleeves, although the regular cut will work just fine for any type of riding.

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3 minutes ago, whaler said:

Both...

any of the bikes you mentioned will be fine with the forward sleeves, although the regular cut will work just fine for any type of riding.

Good to know. 

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I had a problem pulling the trigger on a pair of pants this winter. My thoughts are there are so many other options out there that are also quality products for a much less price. I'm going on 2 years and 20k miles with my Tourmaster jacket that I paid $99 for on clearance and I love it. And I hope to get at least 3 more seasons out of it unless I lose too much more weight. So when I was able to get a pair of tourmaster touring pants for $129 vs $450 for aerostich I couldn't convince myself there were worth the money. Is it a better product? No doubt about it. But is it 3 or 4 times a better qulity product? I personally don't think so. 

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My next suit will most likely be an Aerostitch, Klim, or Motoport.  Are you exclusively considering Aerostitch, or are you considering all of the premium mc suit manufacturers?  

The Darien Lights look pretty interesting to me.  

Jacob had a Roadcrafter 2 piece at the Epic Ride,  and he was riding a CBR. It would be interesting to hear his opinion. 

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I've been riding for 50+ years and I was never able to convince myself to drop that kind of cash on riding gear.  Until last year when I found a like-new used RC suit for $400 on ADVR.  Looked like it had been hanging in the closet it's whole life, i.e., never been farted in!  I have to say that I'm still on the fence about 'needing' it.  It's great for trips and touring when you're in it the entire day.  Pretty comfortable and surprisingly flexible with respect to temperature extremes--not unbearably hot into the 80s and pretty warm into the 40s (altho you start to need extra inner layers below that).  On the flip side, I never wear it for my day rides of 4-5 hours just because it's not as convenient as a two-piece system for the stop-n-go type of riding.  Plus now that I'm old, fat and crotchety, it's more of struggle to get in and out easily....I usually look like I'm trying to escape from a kidnapping attempt as I try to wiggle out of the thing.  As for fit, if you're buying new, the sizing chart will give you a pretty good idea of where to start and I'd recommend calling and talking with the staff about any custom styling you want done.  Buying used, you're on your own, but if I remember you mentioning you're 6'3"ish and over 200#, make sure that you get the torso length long enough and the chest size right or you'll be uncomfortable.

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One day I'm going to go there for a custom fitting. I'm long in the torso so I always have issues with length from crotch to shoulders in suits. Tried on many and never found one that didn't want to turn me into a soprano when in a riding position. I have similar issues with wet suits so I mostly wear separates but at least they stretch. 

I've always heard good things about Aerostitch. Others may costs less but many times you get what you pay for and you don't want to find out you got what you paid for on the cheapo's when you take a spill. 

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19 minutes ago, ScubaCinci said:

One day I'm going to go there for a custom fitting. I'm long in the torso so I always have issues with length from crotch to shoulders in suits. Tried on many and never found one that didn't want to turn me into a soprano when in a riding position. I have similar issues with wet suits so I mostly wear separates but at least they stretch. 

I've always heard good things about Aerostitch. Others may costs less but many times you get what you pay for and you don't want to find out you got what you paid for on the cheapo's when you take a spill. 

I've been debating a road trip up there. It's a 12-13hr drive each way. Leave on a Friday after work. Take turns driving. Stop in to their shop Saturday morning. Grab a nap, then roll home. Could feasibly be home late Saturday night/Sunday morning. 

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Also, apparently they give a 10% discount for buying in the store. With two people buying suits, that's $240+ in savings. That'd be about the cost of gas in my truck to get up there and back. 

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I purchased the Aerostitch Roadcrafter two piece suit(with bib attachment for the pants) back in 1999, wore it on every ride for four years/53k miles, and sold it for better than half what I paid for it when I moved to Columbus/sold my motorcycle in 2003. It was still in excellent shape! When I started riding again in 2007, I purchased an equally expensive Rev'it suit. The first jacket and pants were falling apart within a year, Rev'it replaced both under warranty, and the second suit didn't last much longer before coming apart at the seams. I sold it for pennies on the dollar.

I would highly recommend an Aerostitch suit, leaning more towards the ones that they make in house. Look for the USA symbol.

 

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9 hours ago, Casper said:

I've been debating a road trip up there. It's a 12-13hr drive each way. Leave on a Friday after work. Take turns driving. Stop in to their shop Saturday morning. Grab a nap, then roll home. Could feasibly be home late Saturday night/Sunday morning. 

Personally, I would make it part of a larger trip to make it more worthwhile. Maybe spend a few days in Minneapolis and do some touristy stuff. My wife has to go to Minneapolis every once and a while so I could piggy back on that. I actually like the top/bottoms I have from FirstGear which weren't cheap either so I'm not in a hurry.

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Directly from Aerostitch:

Crash and Abrasion Considerations?

Compared to leather of the same weight and thickness, Cordura nylon is a stronger material. But hides are thicker and heavier so they offer greater abrasion resistance. We repair about twenty or thirty Aerostich garments a month. About a third of these were in crashes that produced some abrasion damage. Several common themes have emerged. Though Aerostich suits are not as abrasion resistant as racing leathers, they offer significant and useful protection, especially at typical street speeds.

Aerostich wearers often think of their suit as sacrificial in the same way a car's airbag gets used up by its deployment. These garments are lighter, cooler and easier to use in bad weather (etc...), but less crash-durable than leathers. On average, street riders seem to crash only at infrequent intervals. How gear feels and works during the intervening years of use and the tens of thousands of miles of riding is very important. Most street crashes occur between 20 and 50 mph, not between 50 and 100. For each Roadcrafter suit that was in a 100 mph crash, we get dozens that need smaller repairs because the rider fell down at 35 mph . For these kinds of everyday spills, even the fanciest leathers do not offer protective advantages. We make gear to help you use a motorcycle more and be better protected. It has to be safe, easy to use, and comfortable for everyday riding.

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The lighter less abrasion resistant gear you are wearing is better than the full racing leather at home in your closet.  Now if you can wear full racing leather on the street at 90 degree's then by all means wear it, you are better protected.  But if you find yourself leaving it at home.....get something cooler.

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+1

Discomfort leads to distraction and premature fatigue. For normal road speeds (and even a little excessive), textile gear is plenty effective enough and should need the abrasion resistance of leather. Plus the armor tends to be in the most abrasion prone areas giving an extra layer. On a street crash, odds are high that you will slide into something and stop or go off of the pavement onto less abrasive surfaces before you slide a great distance.

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5 hours ago, ScubaCinci said:

Personally, I would make it part of a larger trip to make it more worthwhile. 

That's what I did.I always wanted to cross the Machinaw Bridge and ride "The Tunnel of Trees" road in Northern Michigan so I went up through Michigan then West into Duluth.After getting fitted I went up to Hibbing to check out Bob Dylan's hometown.

If you ride your bike up they will have you try on different size suits while sitting on your bike to make sure of proper fit for you on that bike.The girl that worked with me on my fitting spent close to an hour fitting different suits and showing me possible color combinations.I highly recommend riding up for a personal fitting.Personally,I wasn't going to spend close to $1300 and take a chance on a good fit.

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I bought the Klim Latitude jacket and pants over a year ago and Love it. There was no way I could spend that much $ on gear without trying it on. Its hard to find a Klim dealer in ohio with much selection but I found a BMW dealer up north that has a nice selection. I have had 3 other sets of " water proof " gear and they are a joke. Even the $500 TPG stuff leaks. Rode home from Gettysburg last summer in rain all the way and was dry when I got home. It was raining so hard in Pittsburgh cars were stopping on the highway. My son has the new TPG jacket and last summer we got caught in a down pour he was soaked I was dry. I don't think its any hotter then other good gear if anything it might flow air better or at least it sure feels like it on a cold day.  I still have cheap gear for dry days and local rides so hopefully my Klim investment will last for years. 

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My FirstGear Ranier TPG jacket and pants kept me bone dry on the trip down the gap last year during some epic rain. I would've bet $ that I would've gotten at least a little wet. Having a nice hood that you can wear in your helmet makes all the difference IMO

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I rode in a monsoon of a storm on the way to the gap a few weeks ago. 2 hours strait on the freeway in my cheap $230 tourmaster (pants and jacket) the only thing that was wet was around my collar where I lost too much weight and I can no longer get it closed up tight enough to keep the rain out. I mean it was raining so hard that cars were pulled over with thier flashers on but I just kept truckin on

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