• Welcome to the BMW R18 Forums. Member registration disables ads and allows you to post and share. Register Here.

What's the jacket of choice for your R18?

  • <i class="fa--xf fal fa-check "><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" role="img" aria-hidden="true" ><use href="/data/local/icons/light.svg?v=1789222567#check"></use></svg></i> Discussion starter Discussion starter TodkaVonic
  • Start date Start date
I had an old cheap brand leather jacket but it is a little big on me now. When I got my R18TC, I purchased RST Moto Ventilator CE Jacket. 1768848985286.pngFits well and with the liner it stays dry and warm. It has C2 armor in shoulders and elbows and C1 in back. It was on clearance in this color and my size on cycle gear at the time.
 
I tend to ride in fairly warm to hot conditions quite a bit and my go to jacket is a KLIM Induction Pro Jacket. The Karbonite mesh is very abrasion resistant material especially for a mesh jacket. In colder weather I have had a KLIM Latitude jacket for about 15 years which is a very rugged Goretex shell. I use different base a mid layers as needed for warmth.
1777137562744.png1777137629079.png
 
I just picked up an Induction for really hot days. I have a Marekesh for cooler days and leather for when it's below about 55 degrees F.
 
I have discarded removable protectors in the previous century already.
Abrasion protection has gone down the priority list as the current one progressed.
Open face helmet, reasonably good boots minimal gloves is what I go for nowadays.

The perspective is changed riding. I very rarely go fast and also the safest protection is yoúr driving. In a way it is a bit of an extension of the Peltzman effect.
Also it is relative. I mean on my bicycle I regularly descend 60+ km/h on skinny tyres with skimpy brakes, wearing lycra and a styropor hard top.

Although I still have some véry high quality stuff, I find the lightweight gear só much more comfortable that I will contemplate a plastic bag/newspaper as windstopper on a chilly morning instead of putting up with the much heavier overkill ´proper´ jacket for the rest of the day.
 
I believe in protection. It does not take much of a fall to cause real damage to your body. At my age I don't bounce back like I used to. With a lot of newer gear you can have good protection and not be uncomfortable. Besides my jacket I also wear a KLIM airbag vest. It is very lightweight and provides great neck support plus it does not have any wires or harness attachments. It is well proven technology and I don't even notice it when I'm riding. We have big problems in the US with deer collisions, I am not sure if this is as big a problem on the other side of the pond or not. I have a good friend who is almost 80 years old that had his second deer collision recently. He is a safe and easy rider and always wears ATGATT(all the gear all the time). He came through this collision fairly well and attributes this to his airbag vest and good solid gear. It is not my riding ability or how fast I ride that is the problem, it is the unseen or surprise of a deer or another driver that is the problem, not how safe or easy a rider you are.
 
I am nearing 70 with plenty of experience and several kilos of titanium replacement parts to prove it 🤪
Wildlife is not much of an issue and thus not really a consideration although some 23 years ago I was barrelling down a highway at 03.00 o´clock at 275 km/h when I realised that the weekend before the undercrossing I zapped over was an escape route for the wild boar we hunted... I slowed down considerably 🫣
It was btw the very last time I went real fast*. It also illustrates the very relative safety of gear.

It is all about risk analysis. Risk being the chance of an occurrence x the seriousness of the consequences. I am an ardent advocate of the rider reducing the chance. Yes, including concerning ´others´. In the current age of ´drivers aids´ making motorist feel safe and worse drivers it is more true than when I started over 50 years ago.

In this light I prefer spending money of better tyres than on more protective gear. Mind this as a priority comparison; it is not the issue as I can afford both.

Now please understand that I do NOT dish safety gear. I do like to point at the relativity and the psychological (unsafe) aspects but it still is personal choice.
Also compare with the bicycle riding. It is a sliding scale.

A very good friend of mine potters around over just about all the world on a very vintage motorbike with (bomber fuel tank) sidecar. He has a medical certificate excusing him from wearing a helmet. I get it but would not myself as thát is over mý personal risk threshold.

* on my R18 I very rarely see 120 km/h but I did test the top speed twice. Once with passenger, once without. Now have the sidecar mounted and drive even slower. That sidecar btw is a HUGE risk reducer because the motorists séé me whereas a solo biker is as if invisible.
 
bdalameda said:
I believe in protection. It does not take much of a fall to cause real damage to your body. At my age I don't bounce back like I used to. With a lot of newer gear you can have good protection and not be uncomfortable. Besides my jacket I also wear a KLIM airbag vest. It is very lightweight and provides great neck support plus it does not have any wires or harness attachments. It is well proven technology and I don't even notice it when I'm riding. We have big problems in the US with deer collisions, I am not sure if this is as big a problem on the other side of the pond or not. I have a good friend who is almost 80 years old that had his second deer collision recently. He is a safe and easy rider and always wears ATGATT(all the gear all the time). He came through this collision fairly well and attributes this to his airbag vest and good solid gear. It is not my riding ability or how fast I ride that is the problem, it is the unseen or surprise of a deer or another driver that is the problem, not how safe or easy a rider you are.
Click to expand...
I've hit deer four times and missed a fifth one literally by inches while running about 125MPH on the banking at Pocono International Raceway. The first deer I ever hit (and the most serious) didn't touch the bike as it jumped over me and I put my head into it's gut. Flipped me like a pinwheel and fractured a few ribs. Full faced AGV helmet saved me. I believe that my helmet is my best safety device. My experience I believe is very important and a riding strategy I've developed over the years to lessen my chances of having to deal with any more deer. I've always only used an old school leather jacket or something less protective. Also, understand that until I was 50 I, for the most part, did not own or drive anything with four wheels. Everyone needs to develop their own safety plan that makes them feel comfortable and get out there and ride.
 
St.moritz92 said:
Also, understand that until I was 50 I, for the most part, did not own or drive anything with four wheels. Everyone needs to develop their own safety plan that makes them feel comfortable and get out there and ride.
Click to expand...

Me and my wife both commuted on motorbikes and for decades had such as lifestyle to the point of going to race tracks by sidecar rig while the racing bike was transported by a colegue in the van.

Your choice for full face helmet is a perfect example of where one is on the sliding risk scale.
Yes it protects more than an open face one than a puddin´basin than wind in the hair. No ´opinion´ needed there. It is obvious.
In my racing days they became mandatory after a decade or so. Nowadays in many countries a Hans-device is too.
I personally get borderline claustrophobic because I can not séé enough. Better said, perceive I see less. I even háte a flip down visor and prefer (sun)glasses.

This thread has prompted me to search for a :cool: style Hugo Boss ´kurzmantel´ to go with the boots. I am contemplating to dig a tie* out for driving the rig in style 🫣
The nostalgic (early seventies :oops:) chrome open faced helmet should arrive in a few days.

Now about the ´feel comfortable´ I só agree. I would want to observe that feeling visible or protected is tricky. See Peltzman effect.

I think I have two somewhere. One imo nice looking paisley like design, the other from a posh automative engineering institute I went to.
 
Last edited:
In Australia, it’s not unusual to see some goose on a road trail bike wearing thongs (flip flops for our overseas friends), no gloves, open shirt, shorts and an open face helmet.
We make them tough here…. Or stupid!!! 🤔😉😂
 
HUNTS said:
In Australia, it’s not unusual to see some goose on a road trail bike wearing thongs (flip flops for our overseas friends), no gloves, open shirt, shorts and an open face helmet.
We make them tough here…. Or stupid!!! 🤔😉😂
Click to expand...

Over here during summer on the Vespas for me it is Van´s, linen loose fit both trousers and shirt. Always open faced with sunglasses, nearly always yellow ´gardening´ gloves. For chilly mornings, night riding or longer day trips will don a light jacket (optional plastic bag/newspaper). My favourite is the thin woolen lumber jack one which even has ´protective´ shoulder pads. Albeit not for the protection but because I have an inverted titanium replacement shoulder and the pad makes it sit better.

Not sure about the summer gear for the R18 rig as it will be first summer with that one. On the Nimbus rig though like Vespas. Helmet often a puddin´ basin.

Concerning helmets for the passenger in the rig I am a bit on the fence. On the one hand it is pretty much the same as a cabrio and none such required for that. On the other I do like the passenger to have head protection because rigs are inherently unstable.
For clear communication (monkey instructions!) I would prefer the passenger to wear a puddin´basin but that is splitting nits.

Found some über :cool: Hugo Boss jackets but do not realy need, or more accurately realy do not need, one. But, but, but..i it would befit the boots. Oh wait, leather would be safer too 😇

p.s. bought this set

1777378097494.png
 
Last edited:
Petrus said:
Over here during summer on the Vespas for me it is Van´s, linen loose fit both trousers and shirt. Always open faced with sunglasses, nearly always yellow ´gardening´ gloves. For chilly mornings, night riding or longer day trips will don a light jacket (optional plastic bag/newspaper). My favourite is the thin woolen lumber jack one which even has ´protective´ shoulder pads. Albeit not for the protection but because I have an inverted titanium replacement shoulder and the pad makes it sit better.

Not sure about the summer gear for the R18 rig as it will be first summer with that one. On the Nimbus rig though like Vespas. Helmet often a puddin´ basin.

Concerning helmets for the passenger in the rig I am a bit on the fence. On the one hand it is pretty much the same as a cabrio and none such required for that. On the other I do like the passenger to have head protection because rigs are inherently unstable.
For clear communication (monkey instructions!) I would prefer the passenger to wear a puddin´basin but that is splitting nits.

Found some über :cool: Hugo Boss jackets but do not realy need, or more accurately realy do not need, one. But, but, but.. it would befit the boots. Oh wait, leather would be safer too 😇
Click to expand...
Each to their own as different countries have different rules, as each individual has their own requirements and wants dependent on weather, style of bike and opinions.
As for me, I saw too much peeled skin, permanent injuries, brain trauma and death in my previous vocation. I like the (comfortable) safety gear.
 
HUNTS said:
Each to their own as different countries have different rules, as each individual has their own requirements and wants dependent on weather, style of bike and opinions.
As for me, I saw too much peeled skin, permanent injuries, brain trauma and death in my previous vocation. I like the (comfortable) safety gear.
Click to expand...
And don´t forget culture.
In Denmark per example the ´uniform´ for even a spin on a Nimbus rig is full gear, boots, protective gloves, integral hard top and a dayglow yellow throwover.
But yes also highly personal as the aforementioned Danish friend with bomber tank sidecar in warmer and less safety-ocd regions potters around with a medical exemption for a helmet 🫣

For me personaly it ... depends.
If I would need to tackle the denser and more stressed traffic at the coast I would wear my high tech jacket even with the Vespa. Summer heat or not. This mainly because of the greasy roads and the traffic eliminating freedom of movement to avoid the worst. Full face though remains a NoNo for mé.
In the andalucian interior the summer (over)heat would see me wear the now prohibited literally cool, ventilated (in white!)
1777374770742.png
 
a tongue in cheek interlude.
Past weekend was the MotoGP weekend in Jeréz.
In 2001 went there with the charming company on the back of the VFR800. Full gear and full face helmets because naíling it over the interior provincial roads.
She got pregnant that weekend. Yes... indeed; unprotected. Now that was very much deliberate and the result ever so welcome but the comparison is striking: There is no such thing as safe sex. Neither is there such a thing as safe motorcycle riding. Only choices about risk behaviour and relative protection.
An imo very striking aspect of the two is that when in the seventies I was exploring both sex and motorcycle racing, sex was safe and racing dangerous :ROFLMAO:

p.s. will ask my Danish ´anarchist´ if wearing a dayglo jacket is the politically correct thing with sex too 🫣 😂
 
Petrus said:
a tongue in cheek interlude.
Past weekend was the MotoGP weekend in Jeréz.
In 2001 went there with the charming company on the back of the VFR800. Full gear and full face helmets because naíling it over the interior provincial roads.
She got pregnant that weekend. Yes... indeed; unprotected. Now that was very much deliberate and the result ever so welcome but the comparison is striking: There is no such thing as safe sex. Neither is there such a thing as safe motorcycle riding. Only choices about risk behaviour and relative protection.
An imo very striking aspect of the two is that when in the seventies I was exploring both sex and motorcycle racing, sex was safe and racing dangerous :ROFLMAO:

p.s. will ask my Danish ´anarchist´ if wearing a dayglo jacket is the politically correct thing with sex too 🫣 😂
Click to expand...
I’ve never raced during sex.
 
Back to the R18 jacket, I have the basic retro model. Fitted a sidecar and it looks even retroerder ;)
Lost the sole of my preferred booties and the other set is decomposing. Ergo bought new ones. A midi set BMW Motorrad, a midi and a high Hugo Boss set.
The leather jacket just bought will match the midi ones (y)
The high set is part wool. Looks as retro as the rig. A ´schurwolle´ jacket would be the dogs danglies.
If I succeed all I need is matching pants:

1777396598220.png
 
oh my, that is down a luxury rabbit hole :oops: No not rabbit wool; cashmere goat wool. Apparently the better quality, read higher priced obviously, jackets are upgraded with it to justify the price tag.
So Schurwolle with Kaschmirwolle. Not convinced by the cooler in summer / warmer in winter but the cloth does feel smoother I know but then again that may be the manufacturing process to match the price. 100 sheep is good enough though. I will let design / price lead me. No, safety is in this case not any criterium. It is all about the style matching the R18.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top