Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Helmets and Gear Armor Inserts - Good? or Gone.....

I have invested in some Power Shift, Firstgear and Tourmaster cold weather riding gear, all of which come with bits of rigid foam or rubber armor in the elbows, hips, knees and shoulders. While not completely annoying, they are a bit stiff and the gear is more comfortable with them removed. My question is: how many ride with them, and how many chuck 'em. Anyone gone down and been saved by them? How much gear is enough? Pretty subjective, but what do you think?

This is a personal choice thing. I have a leather Triumph Highway jacket and I pulled all the padding out. I only wear it when it's cold anyway. Normally ride in jeans and a T shirt and no helmet.

I have them in my mesh jacket and my Fieldsheer jacket. They were awkward at first but I got used to it. I figure if they're not unbearable, even a little bit of extra protection ain't a bad thing.

I left all the armor in my Tourmaster jacket. The added armor doesn't bother me or reduce my riding abilities. I think the question you need to ask is, for the way you ride (whether it's mostly around the block, commute to work or 200+ mile rides), does the armor/padding take away from your skills and senses? If yes, take them out. When I first got my jacket it was stiff and ackward, but I quickly got used to it. Now I'm so comfortable with it. I think I would actually be distracted if I took the armor out.

Sliding on asphalt while wearing a textile jacket without armor will quickly wear/melt holes. Leather is a little tougher but eventually it will tear a hole if the abrasion is long enough. Some bike mag (Cycle World/Motorcyclist) did a short article about this a while back. I'd been riding with my Triumph Retro Paddock textile jacket and armor removed. After reading the article, I put the shoulder and elbow pads back in place.

I'm not your mom, but you'll put it in after the first hard fall. I know.

One other caveat: the effect may be diminished if the armor doesn't line up with the pointy bits on your body that they're supposed to protect. My Fieldsheer Zero Condition fits perfect. My PowerTrip mesh jacket not so much. The elbow protectors have about a 50% chance of actually being on my elbows in a crash. The sleeves are too long/big and don't hold the armor pads in place unless my arm is bent all the way. Still, I'm not taking them out.

I like the armor in my Triumph leather jacket, it makes me feel a "little" bit safer. Like John mentioned, however, the plastic elbow thingees don't always line up with your pointy parts, depending on what position your arm is in. The foam part in the back was stiff at first, but soon conformed to my body shape and now I don't notice it at all. I gotta wonder how much good that foam insert is gonna do in a crash, though.

No way in ****** am I buying a jacket WITH armor, and then taking said armor out. Would that make any sense even to a monkey? Now if you just buy for the 'look', well, you do look like you'll bounce better.

I have a nice Triumph Highway jacket that I love. I didn't buy it for the armor I bought it because I like the style and brass hardware. It just fits and doesn't fit with the armor in. I didn't know that UK sizes run so much smaller.


Plus it was only $89 new with tags.

The pads distribute the force of impact over a wider area. In effect, less damage to that specific part of the body, or could stop a puncture/ laceration. Certainly it would help on elbow or knee where there is no mussel tissue covering bone.
I've been down twice, and both times when I hit the ground I was going less than twenty-five MPH. Both times I didn't have protection on. In fact there wasn't any available back then other than leather and now I don't ride without as much as I can stand to put on. This summer I'll be getting a vented jacket just so I can have something to hold those little pads in place.
PS Even if you ride naked where gloves and boots. Who cares what it looks like, it's your body and you have to live in it when the event is over

A number of folks here will recall watching a rider go over the edge of a bank so steep it was nearly impossible to walk it. The brush there had recently been cleared, resulting in a few hundred chisel pointed brush stumps for his landing zone. The rider was wearing all the gear, and apparently had full padding inserted. Considering the landing zone, it's nothing short of a miracle that he lived. To the best of my knowledge, he avoided being skewered and abraded due to wearing the right stuff, as he got up and was able to walk away from the crash. What others do is their business and I respect their right to choose. In my own little noggin, it was yet another reminder to make the personal choice of ATGATT.

Other than that, I'm too old (and fat) for tight clothes, so all my pads seem pretty comfortable.

I had my armor out at first because it was just a lot easier to stuff into my saddlebag. I can just barely get it in with armor and liner installed (Saddlemen Large Drifters).

Daughter crashed her 500 Ninja this past summer. Her Joe Rocket textile jacket took quite a few hits but she really didn't have any injuries in the jacket area. Unfortunately, she was wearing sneakers which were ripped off both feet. She broke a bone in each foot and suffered a gash just above her ankle. Even a reasonably priced pair of boots would have probably prevented all those injuries.

I almost always wear boots, I will admit to making some local runs with my loafers (leather work shoes but kinda look like loafers) or sneakers on.

Much obliged, Gents, and thanks for sharing some of your knowledge and experience. The armor stays.

Glad you're making the right choice Daniel.

I took a spill a few years ago at about thirty mph, gravel shoulder on asphalt. Tore the pocket off my Draggin' jeans, no butt injury. scuffed the elbow and shoulder of my First Gear Mesh Tex jacket and embedded some gravel in the nylon, not even a bruise on me, and I hit hard.
Injuries suck. Who the He!! wants to be laid up .

All the gear, all the time.

Dress for the crash.

After my little "incident" last April, you could not pay me enough to ever ride without full gear, including lid, boots and leather gloves. If it comes with armor, then I use it. While I busted my left shoulder big time (it's no longer stock) and left ankle (now with plate and several screws), the hospital staff were amazed that I had no skin damage.

Yep, my nice thick Triumph leather jacket got scuffed up a bit (the leather piece on left elbow will need to be sewn back on), my Tourmaster pants also got one little rip in them and the gloves I will replace, but I consider that nothing considering the serious road rash I could have gotten. If anything, they will be my reminders of why I wear the gear. They worked and were worth every penny spent on them. This includes the little armor pieces inserted in the jacket & pants.

So my vote for armor inserts: GOOD!!

Nothing to do with riding gear, but my left Bub got a little scratched up in the laydown as well. I'll keep it as well. Again another reminder of how lucky I was.

Steve

I have 5 Triumph jackets, and 4 of them have all the Armor. The one jacket that doesn't I no longer use when riding. I don't even notice the armor, and never really have. All four jackets fit great and the armor has never limited my movement. So for me it isn't an issue.

The future of Armor in riding equipment might be evolving. A company called d3o Protective Armor has developed s specially engineered material made with "intelligent molecules". These molecules flow with you as you move, but upon shock they lock together to absorb the impact energy. Obviously something like this will have many applications.

Tom

Have to add, I bought a raptor mesh jacket 4-5 years ago and love it. I don't notice the elbow/shoulder armor inserts at all.

This after riding for many years with only a cotton shirt in the warm weather. Now that I have officially become the poster child for "Safety Joe", I always gear up

jh

New bike jackets and the insert are super stiff when new. Some you can probably stand up by itself. They will break in with use, just like a good pair of boots or shoes.