I hate getting too hot on the bike and would not dream of risking the wrath of the forum by riding in T shirt and shorts so to go with my armoured jeans I have been using an RST Ventilator jacket for the last few years but have just bought one of these :- https://www.dainese.com/gb/en/motorbike/jackets/textile/air-frame-d1-tex-jacket-201735196.html It is a definite upgrade in quality and was available at the ridiculously cheap price of £88.97 from Demon Tweeks, Sadly sold out now as I bought the last one but they are available still at around £125 on Ebay. It is very cool to ride in (not in the Steve McQueen sense) with loads of airflow , reasonable elbow & shoulder armour, a pocket for a back protector, a zip connector for your strides and the usual Dainese quality finish and zips etc. It has a removable wind/waterproof liner too so nothing to stop it being used in colder weather although not a winter jacket by any means. Probably not as good as leathers in the event of a spill but for me much safer to ride in as I dont overheat and lose concentration so less likely to crash. Highly recommended so far ......
Had a previous version of this jacket for several years and it has been dragged out of the wardrobe and pressed back in to service this last fortnight. It does however suffer the usual Dainese issue, it shrinks in the wardrobe over winter. Andy
I have only just got mine so no shrinkage yet . I aim to keep using it through to November so with luck I`ll catch any sign of it shrinking early and be able to take action.
I have found that one of these, https://shop.held.de/en/clothes/functional-underwear/465/rainblock-top?c=425&number=006612-00-58-S, as an over jacket extends the season as it is windproof and folds up in to a small pouch. I’ve continued to wear my leather jacket throughout the last two autumns/winters instead of reverting to my very bulky Dainese fabric adventure suit. Andy
I have one of these too. It comes with a wind-proof inner that's handy. Took it on tour once with an unlined waterproof over-jacket as top insulating layer for any night-time or early morning mountain riding. Was very comfortable in the summer heat and might well be on my kit list for my trip to Corsica in September (if that's a goer). As to how it's likely to perform in a crash... I had a similarly specified Dainese DryLine jacket (waterproof but similar weight material) that I crashed whilst wearing back in 2009. Accident was at about 50mph with me low-siding on some gravel. Shoulder was the first bit of me to hit the ground and I sort of slid on that for a short while. The shell didn't do great TBH but the amour stayed in place and did it's job. Not sure that it would fare particularly well at higher speed. The Air Frame jacket is very much a comfort/protection trade off garment.
