Don't buy mesh jackets!!!!

I had a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh "jacket." Last September I low sided at 45-50MPH. My "jacket tore to shreds, I slid only about 15 feet on asphalt before I hit dirt. I was left with some great road rash on my upper arms, a little on my low back( my back pack held up better than the jacket ), my right glove( also summer weight ) split open at the palm, that was the most painful and deepest rash. Needless to say, I would not recomend buying any summer weight protection, at least anything containing the poly material they use for mesh! :cuss It might be a little cooler in the heat, but I would rather sweat than bleed any time.

That's why i bought a "canvas" jacket (leather cost alot) and i'm looking for some better gloves..

Needless to say, I would not recomend buying any summer weight protection, at least anything containing the poly material they use for mesh! :cuss It might be a little cooler in the heat, but I would rather sweat than bleed any time. My beliefs exactly :cheers I always wear my leather jacket even I need to go ride for a few blocks. But weekend riding, I wear my full leathers.

yep im of the same mind as mikee. the more protected i am the better the ride is for me. :mrgreen:

talking about protection, what type of footwear I should get other then the riding boots. I want to get boots, but I do not think that I will be able to get them before my rider course. So I was looking for some other options.

Ah alas, someone has touched on a subject that I love to talk about. As my father use to say, "There are those that have crashed, and those that are going to." Truer words were never spoken. Two years ago I went down at 40MPH. Aside from some brusing, my worst part of the injuries was that I had to have my toe nail cut off of my right big toe. That was a lot of fun, let me tell you. My son was about 2 years old at the time and use to call me "Daddy boo boo toe." :laugh My toe slammed into the end of my boot when I low sided. The one thing that truly amazed me was how hard I hit my head and remeber, this was a low side not a high side. I was wearing a helmet of course. None the less I was seeing stars. I also had on Draggin jeans that have Kevlar in the ass and knees. I seriously recommend wearing them anytime you ride. Take a look: http://www.dragginjeans.com Gloves are a big deal too. I can't believe it when I see guys ride without them and many do. If you go down, you will put your hands down to try and stop yourself. It's a natural reaction. This is the equivilant of putting the palm of your hand on a belt sander. Just ask Ludi, he knows this better than anyone. Get a good pair of gloves with a Kevlar palm. You'll never regret it. I can get them for you too. I always say that when you are on your way down, it's too late to be putting on the protective gear.

Amen on that Hammy!! I learned the hard way, being naive, underestimating the power of pavement. Even at a relatively low speed( considering the top end of sport bikes ), crappy safety gear works just as well as your skin. Can't imagine if I was in the triple digits, eeewwwwww.........beef jerky [/quote]I want to get boots, but I do not think that I will be able to get them before my rider course. So I was looking for some other options.[/quote] Get something with the best ankle support you can at this time.

Amen on that Hammy!! I learned the hard way, being naive, underestimating the power of pavement. Even at a relatively low speed( considering the top end of sport bikes ), crappy safety gear works just as well as your skin. Can't imagine if I was in the triple digits, eeewwwwww.........beef jerky [/quote]I want to get boots, but I do not think that I will be able to get them before my rider course. So I was looking for some other options.[/quote] Get something with the best ankle support you can at this time.

Any one know a place to get dragginjeans at a better price. i wasnt goin to get any bottom protection just because i ride streets only and i dont like being all decked out in riding gear other than the usual gloves helmet and soon to come jacket, but those look as normal as ever and still will save my :moon

My buddies' got a mesh jacket and the thing looks really really thin, looks like anything will cut through it easily. Not to highjack your thread buddy, but I got a leather one but I need something for really hot days, any suggestions?

I crashed with a yamaha factory mesh jacket at 80mph and didnt get a scratch anywhere. I thought the jacket performed remarkably.

:jester I have a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket. Here in Hawaii you would dehydrate if you wore full leathers for "casual" non-racing driving. Most of the time a long sleeve tee works for me.

I've never used a mesh jacket before, so I can't comment on their durability. If the weather is cold, I go for full leathers. Otherwise, if it's hot, I use my AGV textile jacket and ICON recon jeans. I've done the T-shirt thing, never the shorts, but that was when I was a newbie. Spills have a way of clarifying just how important your skin is. Be safe everyone and wear the GEAR!! :cheers

i wear t-shirt, shorts and some sandals to go stunting, sometimes i just ride with nothing on but a helmet the chicks love it :hump

i wear t-shirt, shorts and some sandals to go stunting, sometimes i just ride with nothing on but a helmet the chicks love it :hump You do have a point there OCBoy! Maybe it's time for me to show the chicken legs again!! :hammer

i wear t-shirt, shorts and some sandals to go stunting, sometimes i just ride with nothing on but a helmet the chicks love it :hump You do have a point there OCBoy! Maybe it's time for me to show the chicken legs again!! :hammer here chicky chicky chicky. :mrgreen:

I have heard that the mesh can accually burn onto your skin and its very painful any responce to that guys???

I don't know exactly what a mesh jacket looks like but I went down at ~50mph wearing a nylon jacket... That sucker melted right to my skin in a number of places and had to be "removed". Let me tell you that was no fun. I'm just getting back into riding (should be picking up my new bike today) and I'm surely going to pick up the right protection!

MESH JACKETS RULE!!!

i dont think the mesh jackets are made of nylon. but ive thought about gettin one for my daily simple rides to and from work :cheers

I personally own a "mesh" jacket and they are not made of nylon. Mostly made of Cordura, which is 100% more wear resistant than nylon. Just take a look at DuPonts website, do a search of Cordura and look at the test results.

I have a mesh jacket and I know it's not the best protection, but it's far better than just a T-shirt or a long sleeved shirt. Mine is a Joe Rocket and I just looked in the label. It's 100% polyester. Not much protection there, but it's loaded with CE armor and is still far better than a cotton T-shirt. I rode about 150 miles today wearing mine and it was 93 degrees out. I wasn't a bit hot, and I didn't get sunburned either. With my pasty white ass, I can do that in about 60 seconds :moon

i own a Icon Ti-Max non-mesh. I was wondering if anyone knows how those will hold up in case of a fall. I dont really want to find out, but i think my mind would be more at ease if i knew whether or not my ass is protected. :poke

i personally wear the sidi vertabra race boots everytime i ride..if you want to get something that looks like a regular boots, try the icons.

damn thats sucks, i also have the joe rocket phenox mesh jacket. think its time to buy a new jacket. tnx for the heads up. Ive always had my doughts about the jacket if it would ever hold up a crash but now i know it wont. AE

I dont use boots, I have these pair of basketball nike's that are all thick leather and the laces are covered by a zipper, not to mention thier very snug. so they actually look like bike boots untill you get close and see the logo on the side. LOL AE

:jester I have a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket. Here in Hawaii you would dehydrate if you wore full leathers for "casual" non-racing driving. Most of the time a long sleeve tee works for me. As far as I know, leathers will actually keep you more hydrated than mesh jackets or t-shirts. The leather traps your perspiration and prevents it from evaporating, therefore you stay more hydrated :drink

Nothing but leather, and it doesn't look half bad on me either. <--- it takes a girl to ruin everything.

ya..i've decided that i want a leather jacket instead of my 1st gear mesh jacket. i also ordered a set of Ti-max riding pants....anyone ever crashed a set of ti-max anything to see how they held up?

i have a a gericke leather jacket that has mesh in the arm pits and underarms, as well as a few places on the back, but its loaded with armer and leather everywhere else. i also have a joe rocket pheonix and to be otaly honest the gericke is as well cooled while riding as the joe rocket i only need the joe rocket on over 100 degree days. ive seen someone go down on a mesh and it wasnt pretty.

I crashed with a yamaha factory mesh jacket at 80mph and didnt get a scratch anywhere. I thought the jacket performed remarkably. Do my eyes decieve me? Did someone have a good experience with a textile jacket? CRAZY. This post shouldn't be in the don't wear mesh jackets topic.

:jester I have a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket. Here in Hawaii you would dehydrate if you wore full leathers for "casual" non-racing driving. Most of the time a long sleeve tee works for me. As far as I know, leathers will actually keep you more hydrated than mesh jackets or t-shirts. The leather traps your perspiration and prevents it from evaporating, therefore you stay more hydrated :drink OK your theory is slightly flawed, hot weather clothing is always breathable, because the evaporation keeps you cool. If that sweat is prevented from evaporating by being trapped by thick leather, you will continue to sweat even more in an attempt to continue cooling. The trapped sweat will not be re-absorbed in any meaningful way to keep you hydrated, so you will dehydrate faster in any clothing that does not allow evaporation. #1 key is evaporation allows your body to cool which means you will sweat less and stay hydrated longer. My crash story:::: Ive gone down at about 40MPH with jeans, combat boots, and mil. issue leather gloves, helmet and long sleeve t shirt, the only item that didnt hold up was the shirt (minor road rash on my shoulder). The gloves and boots all had wear spots but protected me, but I was also a passenger and saw the crash comming so I had time to prepare and when we went down I kept telling my self to keep rolling (vice sliding) saves skin. Still got knowcked silly though when I smashed the side of the visor on the ground but I walked away with only minor rash on shoulder. It is very comforting to walk away from a crash and see your gear tore up knowing wow that could'a been me but I am OK.... :mrgreen:

I crashed with a yamaha factory mesh jacket at 80mph and didnt get a scratch anywhere. I thought the jacket performed remarkably. Do my eyes decieve me? Did someone have a good experience with a textile jacket? CRAZY. This post shouldn't be in the don't wear mesh jackets topic. Why wouldn't this post belong in here? What about all the other posts saying, "I was wearing leather when I went down..."? Do they belong here? The whole point is about not wearing mesh. This guy says that he was wearing a mesh jacket, but then you say it was a textile jacket? What gives?

:jester I have a Joe Rocket Phoenix mesh jacket. Here in Hawaii you would dehydrate if you wore full leathers for "casual" non-racing driving. Most of the time a long sleeve tee works for me. As far as I know, leathers will actually keep you more hydrated than mesh jackets or t-shirts. The leather traps your perspiration and prevents it from evaporating, therefore you stay more hydrated :drink OK your theory is slightly flawed, hot weather clothing is always breathable, because the evaporation keeps you cool. If that sweat is prevented from evaporating by being trapped by thick leather, you will continue to sweat even more in an attempt to continue cooling. The trapped sweat will not be re-absorbed in any meaningful way to keep you hydrated, so you will dehydrate faster in any clothing that does not allow evaporation. #1 key is evaporation allows your body to cool which means you will sweat less and stay hydrated longer. My crash story:::: Ive gone down at about 40MPH with jeans, combat boots, and mil. issue leather gloves, helmet and long sleeve t shirt, the only item that didnt hold up was the shirt (minor road rash on my shoulder). The gloves and boots all had wear spots but protected me, but I was also a passenger and saw the crash comming so I had time to prepare and when we went down I kept telling my self to keep rolling (vice sliding) saves skin. Still got knowcked silly though when I smashed the side of the visor on the ground but I walked away with only minor rash on shoulder. It is very comforting to walk away from a crash and see your gear tore up knowing wow that could'a been me but I am OK.... :mrgreen: Staying hydrated and staying cool are two seperate things. Your body stays cool through the evaporation of your sweat, but it stays hydrated better if the sweat is not allowed to evaporate. Not that a bunch of sweat feels good...

I am no doctor or anything...but I think that staying cool and staying hydrated are related, if your body doesnt cool off you will continue to sweat profusely .....thereby dehydrating....but we can just agree to disagree lumi... P.S. where are you Lumi??? Northeast, southwest???

I have a Fieldsheer Mach 4 mesh jacket and I honestly feel its a strong jacket. It has CE armor in the back shoulders and arms and has leather in all the vunerable places. I needed a jacket to keep me cool in the 90+ degree days with 100% humidity down here and this jacket feels great to me. With the leather and CE armor I feel pretty safe in it and dont die of overheating.

I believe something is better than nothing in almost any instance.

I am in Cali (yay, we finally have MototGP!) I am no doctor or anything...but I think that staying cool and staying hydrated are related, if your body doesnt cool off you will continue to sweat profusely .....thereby dehydrating....but we can just agree to disagree lumi... P.S. where are you Lumi??? Northeast, southwest???

I spared no expense on my saftey. I ordered a yamaha factory racing leater suit. armored gloves and sport boots. i rode in a tee shirt and jeans last year i was on my friends 500cc. it was used and it was the first day he bought it. i layed it down going down hill doing like 30 mph. there was gravel on the road and i tried to turn while hitting the front brake. by the way dont do that. it was the first time i ever really rode a bike. i got tore up pretty bad. road rash on my forearm and hands and knee. this year i bought a r6. i havent gone above 50 mph and mostly i do under 35. hopefully when i get my gear i can go alittle faster. by i am not looking to really at least not this year. i need more expierence. when in dobut slow down..........

Mesh and Gortex and all other non leather jackets are considered Textile. Since he was in a MESH jacket and this post is titled DONT WEAR MESH JACKETS it is discredit to the usual MESH DOESNT HOLD UP IN A CRASH motif. An 80 mph crash in mesh is pretty signficant and he didn't even get a scratch anywhere. It was sarcastic I am sorry you missed the point.

I ride an alpinestars venom jacket... Not the leather one. It feels real sturdy *have yet to lay down with it* and i bet it would take a beating. I would def reccomend it.

hmmm this posting was a bummer to come across but at the same time I'm glad I read it. My only jacket at the moment is a Joe Rocket Textile jacket. I'm picking up my 05R6 in two weeks so now I'm thinkin I got another $800 I wasn't plannin on spending that really needs to be spent.... Maybe the sale of my 89 FZR will pay for leathers :idea: Oh, and I WONT forget the real gloves either! I must say I am a little bothered about everyone confirming going down as a certainty. I haven't even picked up my bike and I'm already worried about the bike more than myself :tongue

yea you'll see alot of riders more about the bike instead of them selves. well i ride in along t-shirt but im planning on getting a leather jacket i'd rather be safe than sorry. imo. -nikon

I got my first bike early this summer, its a 99 r6 custom painted black, a handful of mods. Well before I had the chance to get my leathers, I was cruisin everywhere at around 90-100 and didnt think anything of it, doin wheelies at 80 and bein a retard. Well I got my leathers and then got cut off and hit a curb at 25 and didnt get any scrapes but rashed up the side of my custom painted bike and it didnt wake me up any. So my brother comes home from california and uses my bike and leathers for a day, so my friend tells me to take his bike to work so he can use my car, its a 95 cbr600f3. WEll on the way back from work I hit the pavement at 55 (something was wrong with the master cylinder I hardly touched the front brakes cause I saw a cop up ahead and i was doin 65, figuring i could just ease down no problem) Ive been laid up for 3 weeks, got a bad concussion 3rd degree road rash on my entire right arm, left arm, half my left leg, my entire right side, lower back, lower abdomen, entire ass, shoulder, palms, knuckles, ankle is missing as well etc. I was wearin shorts and a t-shirt. I remember rolling as fast as I could and just feeling my skin rip off, slid a reported and logged 297 feet. My .02 is WEAR YOUR GD LEATHERS FOR CHRISTS SAKE. My buddy went down in a joe rocket mesh at 75, but was in dirt most of it, just suffered a minor rash on his side and a bruised rib. Jacket was fine. Could have been his particular fall that saved it, but I say wear full leathers, boots, gloves etc. Its not your riding that kills you, its the morons around you that do.

OK, Here's what I think I can add to this: Heat: The way your body cools itself is by sweating. You'll notice your head always feels cooler in your helmet if you have a bead of sweat and the air from the vents is flowing across that. Same concept will work with your body inside a jacket, a perforated leather jacket will allow your body to cool itself in its natural way while providing some protection. No jacket will usually only make you actually hotter as you tend not to sweat if you're not wearing a jacket. Protection: Cordura has different ratings. Some jackets are 400 denier Cordura others are up to 1000 denier, Denier means something about the number of threads and blah blah... the bottom line is the higher that number the higher the melting temp. So in theory the higher that number the safer the garment. The bottom line is Nylon melts or tears (Cordura). I think we can all agree that Leather is your best bet for safety, but we all know that some days it's just too damn hot to wear a leather jacket, for those days find yourself a Quality mesh jacket or don't ride. I also hope that everyone knows that all Armor does in a crash is absorb the impacts, it provides NO protection from abrasions. -Chuck

Thats wierd, i will get to the wierd thing in a minute. I never thought they looked very protective. I was the same way when i first started riding i wore my leather jacket everywhere. Then it started to 100+ dergres in the afternoon. After an hour of that my jacket weighed about 3-4lbs. more from sweat. I couldn't take it anymore. The wierd thing was when i went down i was only wearing a helmet and gloves with a t shirt and cargos. only had a small bit of rash on my elbow and the hip. Both about the size of a small closed flip cell phone. I thought i would have had more.

Thats wierd, i will get to the wierd thing in a minute. I never thought they looked very protective. I was the same way when i first started riding i wore my leather jacket everywhere. Then it started to 100+ dergres in the afternoon. After an hour of that my jacket weighed about 3-4lbs. more from sweat. I couldn't take it anymore. The wierd thing was when i went down i was only wearing a helmet and gloves with a t shirt and cargos. only had a small bit of rash on my elbow and the hip. Both about the size of a small closed flip cell phone. I thought i would have had more. you got real lucky - dont give up on gear... next time might not be so minor

oh it wasn't minor, this is my post describing that: http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20723&page=1&pp=10

damn, i remember reading that but didn't realize that was you. Either way - gear has saved a ton of people

Yeah i know, my jacket is a HeinGaricke (or what ever) i keep thinking that would have helped out my chest if i had that on. I am thinking of getting something like this for the summer. You could get away with riding that on the street over a tshirt i bet. http://www.kneedraggers.com/details/Dainese_Safety_Jacket_Wave_V_123--35-DAIN05-7.html

Not all mesh jackets are the same. You can tell those Joe Rocket mesh ones are crap just by touching them. They feel like they'll snag and rip aparts easily. I bought an Icon TiMax mesh jacket, and you don't get the same feeling with those. They actually feel like they will hold up. They have a different material added to the elbows, back, and shoulders, that feel very abrasive resistant, and have the titanium threads going through them, but I don't know if they are just a gimmick or if they will actually help. Either way, I feel very confident with that jacket. I actually sold my mesh one and bought the regular textile version because winter came, and it's the exact same material and that's what I have been wearing all summer. It's nowhere near as cool as the mesh, but it wasn't too bad. The mesh one is awesome at keeping cool. You actually feel a lot cooler with it on than with no jacket. It's like an A/C for your bike. The bottom line is, Joe Rocket is crap. Their gloves fall apart from normal usage and those mesh jackets are horrible. I had a pair of the Phoenix gloves, and the carbon fiber knuckles didn't hold their shape and flattened out, and I got holes in the fingers after about 6 months of using them. You can't expect much from $45 gloves, but they shouldn't fall apart like that. I'd be better off not wearing gloves, and by the way, I don't think everyone will put their hands down to catch themselves either if they are not wearing gloves. People will tend to protect what's vunerable. If you are walking around and you fall, you will most likely put your hands out so you don't hit your face or head. If you are riding without gloves, considering you are wearing a jacket and helmet, your hands are going to feel vunerable. Imagine sitting on a car or something parked on hot asphalt, and you have only one shoe on for some reason and the other foot is bare, and someone pushes you off the car. You will most likely try to catch yourself with the shoed foot only because your other foot feels vunerable. You're not going to have time to think about it, but I'm sure you're not going to forget that you are only wearing one shoe and about to land on hot asphalt. I sure as hell won't be extending my arms OR legs to catch myself when I fall off my bike. That's how you break bones in multiple places. You fall off anything moving faster than you can run, and you better tuck your arms in and let your body fall on its own and absorb the impact. Hitting your bones laterally (from the side) will absorb impact better because of muscle and tissue cushion, and if they break, will probably break in just one spot. Impacts longitudinally on your bones can result in nasty compound fractures involving joints and splintered bone fragments. This is why in drunk driving accidents, the drunk driver is usually the one who survives because his body is more relaxed, allowing his body to spread the energy from the impact better, while the people who anticipate the impact tense up and try to brace for impact, resulting in greater injury. When you hit the ground, you are going to transfer the same amount of energy no matter what. SO would you rather have all the energy transfer through about 1/2 sqft of your two hands and through your elbows and shoulders, or spread that energy into about 3-5 sqft of the rest of your body?

joe rocket jacket are shitty from my friend experiences. My friend had one of the new models and had to replace it twice, for fee of course (dealer hooks him up). It keeped on snaging and ripping. I have the new gpx gaunlet gloves and they are still good so i can't say anything in that area....yet. Also i think is in the right direction with the fall positions. You dont' want to use your arms or legs to catch your fall at those high speeds. try using your whole body (tuck and roll) if possible and tuck in ur arms and close ur legs.