Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127783
PRODUCT·EVALUATION Room to breathe I ..... l-< c, < 6 f you're read ing this, it's a saf e bet that you really love to ride motorcycles. So, an ything that might be able to increa se the li m e you can spend doing what yo u love is a good th ing, no? If yo u're a street rider, the Difi Ultra Trek Cordu ra rid ing suit from Motospo rt with its optional waterproof GoreTex Th ermo lite li ne r is one of those things. The outer layer of the Ultra Trek suit is constructed of Dupont 1000denier ballistic Cordura nylon, a mat erial with a high resistance to abra sion. Ind eed, Motoport cla im s th e " ne w weave" 1000denier fabric is stronger in both abrasion and tear resistance than either th e 1050-d enier or 500d enier ur ethan e-coated Cordura fabrics commonly used in other riding apparel. The Ultra Trek is "Safe ty Lock" stitched together with seven of the strongest nylon threads available, lending what Motoport claims to be a 14-stitch strengt h. At key po ints in the su it are p iece s of Motop ort's TriArmor bod y armor system . Th e three-la ye r foa m-a n d- pla s ti c armor is held in place by breathable nylon mesh an d covers th e knees, elbows, sho ulders, back , hip s and the ribcage/ ches t area. For visibility, Scotchlite reflective strips are sewn on the legs, shoulder s and neck. A total of 10 pockets of various sizes are incorpo rated in to the su it . Frequen tly used zi p pe rs (all YKK) have cords wit h tabs attached to make us ing the m with gloved hands easier. The end s of th e sleeves are closed wi th suc h zi p pers, w ith - tw o-posit ion snaps that provide the onl y mean s for adjusting the fit in this area . lf you wear gloves with any kind of ga u n tlet, the lack of adjustment is no prob lem. Where the snap closure is a problem is at the neck - w hen u sing th e tall, co rdu roy-lined, hookand-loop-attached "weather collar" the snaps make the neck too tigh t for me. Hook-and -loop closure or so me o ther m ea ns fo r adjusting th e fit at the neck would be an advantage. Wh er e hook-and-loop adjustmen t is used it is very effective. Both the leg cuffs and waist are adjus ted this way . Getting in and out of the suit is easy, eve n with boots on. The left leg unzips to above the knee, w hile the m a in zi pper th at ext ends fro m the ne ck to the right-leg cuff un zips fro m both ends. The Ultra Trek is machine w ashable (no need to remove th e armor) and dries ver y qu ickly. Aft er a few washes th e Cordura so ftens considerably. Motoport considers one of the suit's selling points to be it s ability to fit a wide variet y of riders without cus tom fitting . To that end, stretch Kevlar is used at the rear of the shoulders and in the arms and crotch. I've got an off-theshelf kind of body, so overall fit was good, and desp ite the suit' s impressive bulk (11 pounds w ith the waterproof liner ) it was comfortabl e and allowed reasonable freedom of movement. The only snug ar eas wer e in the forearms and, as mentioned , the neck. For those individ ua ls with a more rad ical mix of proportions, custom fitting is available at ad ditio nal cost. The Ultra Trek sui t looks to provide a for mi dable level o f p rotectio n in the event of a crash, but the thing that really expands its utility is the $169, optional Gore-Tex /Thermol it e liner, th ough I was actually quite disappointed with it at first. After 100 miles in the pourin g rain, my lap was soaking wet. I called th e man from Mot op ort who sent th e suit to me, Wayn e Boyer. "Wayne, I'm soake d. I had the liner zipped into the suit, I wore shorts an d a T-shirt underneath like yo u sai d, and here I am - miserable." "That shouldn't have happened," he rep lied . He's tellin' me. Boyer expl ain ed how th e lin er had passed Core-Tex' s most severe wat er proofing test and is lOG-percent gua ran teed to be waterproof, windproof and br eathable for the life of th e garme nt. Yeah, well, it hadn't passed my first test. The next rain came soon, with tempera tures th at dropped in to th e mid-30s positively Arctic for us local folk. After more than BOO mile s of rid ing in rain and cold I di scovered that my fir st soa king was the result of a misclosed sealing flap that let the offending liquid penetrate. Closed properl y, the liner was an ab solute barri er to wet , NEW PRODUCTS wind and cold. Motoport claims to have tested it down to zero degrees with positive resul ts - thanks, but no than ks. So, keeping you warm and dry the suit does very well - all while remaining b reathab le whe n the m e r cury rises. Wh at doesn' t it do well? Conven ien ce suffers while using the liner . According to Motoport, a proper fit when using the slee ping-bag-like line r is a sn ug one, and th at leaves little roo m for clothing undern eath . In fact, th ey say that you sho ul d wear a pair of sho rts and a Tshi rt (at the most ) for th e best performance an d comfort . So, for commu ting in fo u l w eath e r yo u 'll need to have cloth es waitin g at your destination, or p ack what yo u need o n th e bike. Also; since the wat erproof liner zips inside the suit there is no d ry storage for th in gs like your wa llet. The close fit of the liner also m ade it nearly impo ssib le to put the suit on w hi le wearing boots. With out the liner, the su it is comfortable WIth norm al clothes u nd ern eath, a nd zi p pers on either hip allow entry into you r regul ar cloth es' pockets. Venting and the inhe rent breathabilit y of the u n coa ted Cord ura made tli.e suit comfortable in the hottest weather I encountered, roughly BO degrees. Like the suit , the Thermolite liner is m achine washable. In fact, to keep the Gore-Tex mem brane breathable - its main touted ad vantage over other waterp roo f m a te r ial s - freq uent w ashing is reco m men ded . Unlike the suit, the liner can be d ried in a drie r. As a n endu ra nce test for the liner insulation, which Motoport says doesn ' t b reak down a fte r repeated washings, I ran the liner through 15 wash-and-dry cycles. There was no perceptible difference in either insu lation or w a te rp r oof pe rf orm ance . In stall in g a nd rem ov in g the liner in the suit takes about five minutes and it doesn' t take u p too mu ch space wh en packed . While I ha ven 't ha d the misfortune of crashing while wearing the Ultra Trek, the test d ata Motoport cites in its catalog is ind eed impressive. I have crashed wearing si mila r synthetic materials, and the results were good. We'll have to trust Motoport's test da ta in this case. Themain advantage to the sui t/liner combo is versatility . lf I set ou t on a motorcycle trip of any length, this is my suit of choice. Using the liner you'll stay warm an d dry in the worst weather, while remaining comfortab le up to about 65 deg rees. If the te mperature rises, p ull over, re move th e line r, and in a few minutes you' ll be back on the road riding in comfo rt. Used together, its a doall protective garme nt that lets you ride, short of an ice storm, when you want to. The one-piece Difi Ultra Trek Cordu- . ra suit retails for $599 and is available in red , blu e or black, in sizes XXS to XXXL. The Gore-Te x /Thermolite liner cos ts $169. Prices for the two-piece version are $3 99 for the jacke t, $99 for the accompanyin g liner, and $229 for pants and $79 for its liner . For more information, see yo u r local dealer, or contact Motoport, Dept. CN, 6110 Yarrow Driv e, Carlsbad, California 92009, 800/777 -6499, 619/929-4880, FAX 61 9 /929~. £N OIL'S WELL You just spe nt $10,000 on a new motorcycle. What do you pu t in its crank case? Your life sa vings? No, it s al re ady in there. Crisco? Maybe, but it sure would take a lon g time stuffing 3 or 4 qu arts th rough the filler hole. Leftover coffee from work? I mea n, it's black, right? As far as Tri u mp h Moto rcy cles America is concerne d, there is only one answer: Mobil 1 Racing 4T, a 100-percent syn the tic oil featu ring a carefu lly co ns truc te d additive package th a t is said to provide the road rider and racer with the ultimate performance an d protectio n for his motorcycle. Claimed benefits include the ability to flow at minus 51 Celsius and remain stable to over 300, very low wear rates and class- leading protection from engine deposits, elimina tion of oil -i nduced seizures, and re d uced oil con sump tion even when used in race conditions. In addition, Triump h says it has used the 15W-50 oil in the test ing of prototypes an d fou nd that Mobil 1 Racing 4T " far outperformed" all of the other tested oils in terms of engine wear and wetclutch performance. Triumph Motorcycles America Ltd. is the sole u.s, distributor of Mobil 1 Racing 4T. Availa ble in four-liter containers for a suggested retail price of $39, Mobil 1 Racin g 4T can be found at you r local Triumph dealer. Call 800/ RIDE-TRI for more information. FOR SHOPPING ATSTORZ Sto n Performance Inc. has released its 1996 pe rformance accessories cata log . Th is 13th edition contains a considerab le sel ection of special parts for HarleyDavidsons and sp o rtbi kes as well as many race items for dirt tracker s and road racers, su ch as d irt or road race "conversio n kits" for the 883 Sportster. Storz is also the exclus ive importer of Ceriani forks for H-Ds, and GCB steering dampeners. Suggested retail price is $4. For more information, contact Storz Performance Inc., Dept. CN, 239 S. Olive St., Ventura. CA 93001, B05/ 64 1-954{). 0