Summer Jacket

[Langers]

Hi folks
I'm after some advice regarding a decent jacket with armour for summer riding. My current jacket is an RJays Leather jacket a few few years old these days but with Sorbel it is in fine and supple form. However, once the temp gets above 30 degrees I'm really starting to feel it.
I'm looking at a textile jacket with lots of mesh for breathing and after the weekend was pretty much sold on the top of the line Dririder Vortex Airflow jacket retailing for around $399 (might take a bit of time to save the pennies) then I wandered into Honda World and they had an RST Ventilator 3 for $299 which looked pretty good (except it's a shorter jacket). Thing is - I like to buy Australian if I can (which Dririder is) and I'm prepared to pay a bit more (not outrageous) to support the local product.
Has anyone got any recommendations for summer jackets that have good vis., good protection against road rash and are cool (more particularly - not a personal sauna)?
Regards ... Mark

[Greyshadow]

Hey Langers: I am bit of a Gear Geak and have put quite a bit of research into replacing my Ixon Mesh Jacket with a High Viz replacement and can offer the following. The mesh summer jacket I would really like if it were in High Viz Neon Yellow would be the RS Taichi Armed High Protection Mesh Jacket at $285.00 this is the best armoured mesh jacket around all CE rated including chest armour. Trouble is its not in High Viz but there are a number of colours. These can be viewed on sportbiketrackgear.com I actually emailed them re requesting this Taichi jacket in High Viz but got no reply.
On the other hand there is another web site which is even better Revzilla.com they have everything under the sun including heaps of High Vis Mesh (textile) Jackets to choose from some that caught my eye were the: Olympia Airglide 3 on Close Out sale for $179.00. The Olympia Switch Back Jacket at $229.00 or the TourMaster Intake Air 3 Jacket $188.00 all the above have good armour. You could also compliment these with chest armour if you chose for example the Dianese Thorax Chest protector for $99.95.
Another thought could be to go for a cheaper high vis textile jacket remove all the armour and replace it with the Forcefield Pro Shirt which has pretty much the best armour all round and it would fit really well. Armour that come with the jackets can move around quite a bit paricularily in the shoulder which could be a issue should you come off.
Any way check the above two sites out.
Best
Greyshadow

[Spider]

Hi there,

I have the RST Ventilator 3 and I can highly recommend it. This is also a good winter jacket, as it has the removable liner. It also has a removable waterproof liner which folds up quite small and is easily stored. You can also get these jackets for less on E-Bay if you know your size.

In summary, it's a great versatile all-year jacket that is excellent in Summer (I bought this jacket due to similar heat issues with my leather Shift jacket).

Steve

[kinghavok]

Mesh jackets might make good all year jackets in the northern states, but I moved to Melb and froze my balls off in a mesh jacket. Ended up with full leather jacket & pants combo.

Yep I'm soft.

[troglett]

I have recently purchased a Dri Rider Air Ride 2 as my Dri Rider Tourer was melting me on the few decent actual Summer days we've had here in the West this year and I have to say it's the best $180.00 I've ever spent ... Had to buy it from a Yamaha shop as the Honda Shop was out of stock , but same jacket - same price.
Admittedly , if I was looking in the bright colour direction I'd probably go down the same as Greyshadow , but I'm more into the Black/Grey thing when it comes to my riding gear.
Trog