Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Two Great Racing Events at Pomona! ·MARCH 31 thru APRIL mOTORCYCLt 1,1995 Cra htest dummy s I . \ / I -, I TheTop Riders challenge the 1/2 Mile dirt track a Pomona! t POMONA 1/1 MILE SITURDIY NITE ONLY! April 1st, 7:30 p.m. SECOND ANNUAL L.A. SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Every Wee k . 50 issues a year. PRODUCT EVALUATION I PRESENTED B Y \ 1 \ D - -- I F or 30 Years. ~ America's Weekly Motorcycle N ewspaper hen the Marsee Ke v lar rid mg jacket first arrived at the office I had thought about ma king a wry qu ip about no t being ab le to really tes t the black, body-armor-eq u ipped protective gea r. How will it com pa re with the old standby? ..the stuff your fathe r and yo u r grandfa the r wo re before (no t to mention the cows) : leather. That stu ff's go t h istory, and all th e b e st hav e crashed wearing "leathers." There is but one way to test gear like this, and that's to crash . No one her e at the office vo lunteered, oddly enough. But, since myoid jacket was on its last legs, and being the adventuresome so rt (besides, it wa s my s ize) I decided to give the high -tech piece a try. There are three layers that make up the fabric of the garment. The ou ter shell is mad e from stretch Kevlar. Next is the in ner padding, constructed of 1050 denier Ballistics fabric and installed a t strategic points, with an inner lining of nylon mesh. Sandwiched between the nylon mesh and the Ballistics fabric are the vari ous pieces of body armor. All of the arm or is constru cted of 'three layers of closed-cell foam. The only thing better than falling on closed-cell foam is not falli ng a t a ll. For im p ac t protection, ope n-cell foam (th e stuff you r couch cus hions are made of) is basically useless a t so fte ni ng and di st ributin g the impact over a m ore broad area, which is the ma in function o f body armor and , ho w it protects you from injury. The main back plate carries from the base of the neck all the way down to cover the tailbone, while shield ing the rider's shou lders are large ergonomically contoured plates canted toward the front slightly. In the bottom of the slee ves, at the most likely po in t of contact if the unthinkable occurs, single pieces in each arm protect from just above the wrist, all the way past the elbow. After using th e jacke t for a time, it becom es obvious that it was designed with functionality in mind . For insta nce, the three zippers used most , th e ma in clos ure an d side pockets, have leashes attached so tha t gloved hands can eas ily oper ate the m . Once you get inside of those two side pockets, you 'll find that they are fleece lined and very warm, but a bit on the small side. Deeper pockets would be a plu s, becau se it a lw ays seems like you need as much space to put th ings as possible when rid ing. Another n ice feature that gra ces the Marsee jacket is the inside breast pocket; it is located just inside the main zipper and has an angled op ening, making it easy to reach inside for the contents. The neck opening is lined with corduroy and uses a Velcro closure, wh ile the waist has elastic gathers to keep the fit snug so you don't get any air coming in that you don't want. It does an adequate job of keeping the wind out when it is cold , and because of the vents, two small ones on the front of the sleeves above the elbows, and two large on es on either side of the back armor, it is also quite comfortable in the heat, letting the wind fl o w freely abou t yo ur torso . There is a lso a n optional b utton -o u t p olarfleece ves t for extra warmth. One thing you d efinitely wo n't want to do, tho ugh, is to rely upon this ga rme n t for pro tection from the rain. If it's anything more than a light drizzle, you will eventuall y get wet. The fabric does a fair job of repelling water, but the seams allow moisture to ent er . The cut and construction of the Ultra Kevlar Ja cket is a n ice co m p ro m is e between a " no rma l" jacket and some- W thing motorcycle-sp ecific. Your run-ofthe-m ill road race-type leather jacket is per fectl y s uited to a long reach to the handleba rs and the typ ical crouch found on spo rting motorcycles, but when you stand erect, like a norm al Homo sapiens, you loo k like th e hunchb ack of Notre Dame. Wh il e th e Marsee jac ke t has s leeves tha t a re the p rop er length (clos ed snugly at th e w ris ts w ith zippers) to keep you cove red whil e reaching to the bars and a low cu t in the back to cover past your waistlin e so that it fits properly when rid ing, it bunches much less when you' re off the motorcycle, due probably to the pliabl e nature o f the s tre tch Kevlar. You won 't forget tha t you are wearing a motorcycle jacket, you just won't be pu nished for wearing one. Th e jacket felt s tiff and co n fin in g when new , particularly around the neck. After some time wearing in, though, the jacket has proven to be comfortable and ge ts a " memory " of what y o u are sha ped.like. Weighing in a t abo ut four p ounds, it compa red favorably with a trad itional leather jacket we had laying around, coining in rou gh ly one po u nd ligh te r. One rea l adva ntage wi th th e materi al used in the Marsee jacket is that if it gets dirty, just remove the body armor, and you can toss it in the washing ma chine . Try t hat with your leathers. There 's still that nagging question, though, and perhaps the most important one o f all: What happens when y ou crash ? We all know that leather works . In the name of science, and at great personal Sacrifice (not to mention stupidity), I crashed, and I wa s wearing Kev lar. In my 25-mph low-side, the brunt of the fall was on my left elbow and hip. My hip, covered only by Levis, had a bruise about three inches in d iameter, I lost a litt le flesh and the denim .was h~ory. My elbow, protected by the Kevlar and the body armor was unscathed. The Kevlar' s resistance to abrasion was excellent, only wearing through in one spot abou t the s ize of a dime on the sleeve. And tha t was on ly the outermost layer that wa s worn th rou gh, so the re was still the Ballist ics fabric beneath. I wish I'd been wea ri ng the mat ch in g Marsee pants. In all, I was impressed . The Marsee Ultra Stretch Kevlar Jacket is availa ble in black for $494.95, or in black/ gray for 524.95. The optional but ton -out vest is 59.95.' For more information contac t Ma rsee, P.O. Box 2588, Temecula, CA 92590 , 909 /694-9742. Around $500 for a riding jacket seems like a lot money, but when you consider the price of a pound of flesh... Mark Hoyer

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