i love my leather in the winter, but in the warmer months, textile is the way to be. lighter, cooler, comfier

 

I've got the Rev'it Sand 2 and really like it. It's far more versatile with the different liners that any leather jacket I've ever owned. Something to consider is that adventure touring style jackets don't pack small. With the armor in the shoulders and elbows I can just stuff my 3x Sand 2 into an empty saddle bag.

 

I wore leather jackets, pants and chaps for years until switching to textile about ten years ago. I still wear the leathers occasionally for around town and day trips but almost always wear textile jacket and pants.

There are some advantages for leather. In the event of a get off, leather is more abrasion resistant and slides better. I have read that as textile slides, the fabric deteriorates and can snag on the pavement causing the wearer to tumble. Also, leather looks cleaner longer and ages well.

Textile jackets are much more versatile than leather. I have a mesh jacket and pants and use them for three seasons - down to the low 40's. The jacket has a waterproof and windproof liner and a quilted zip-in. All three layers can be worn together for warmth. The pants have waterproof and windproof liners and can be worn as over-pants with jeans. The liners take up very little space and with them stored in the tour-pak, I'm set for most any weather. Also, the jacket and pants have armor so I feel I'm pretty well protected.

The only disadvantages for the textile jackets is that they show the dirt a lot quicker than leather and the wind will tend to fray the sleeve fabric over time although I haven't seen that yet with the Olympia Motosports gear.

http://olympiamotosports.com/categor...log/mesh-tech/

 

I have both and almost never wear the textile. When going on a trip I always take the leather. One point most have not addressed is packing. A textile jacket with armor takes up a lot more room than a leather jacket without armor. And there is no reason to have a textile jacket without armor unless it is just a rain jacket.

Leather is much more protective than textile when you eliminate the armor and leather is certainly as warm if you know how to layer.

 

I have both, and the textile stuff just works better. Adventure-style jackets work great, as long as you have enough torso to keep them from bunching up on you.

I wore my textile stuff through a tropical storm for 4 hours and stayed mostly dry.

 

If you're riding in 20-30 degrees F, you need heated gear. That said, my nylon/textile jacket is essentially a heavy ski jacket with armor. It's WAY warmer than my leather and hooded sweatshirt combo but it's damn near as bulky with the armor and liner in it. It's also 3-4 pounds lighter. Either way, I wear leather over pants when it's cold.

 

we have one closet in our house that is just riding jackets - leather and textile. Haven't worn any of the leathers in years.

1) HD "functional" textile jackets, are for the most part, crap. (excluding the fxrg but you get what you pay for). Most of the HD jackets I've tested had enough failures/issues to make it not suitable for its intended purpose. If I had to recommend one, it would be the illumination functional jacket - but not the pants - i've tested both - Jacket is acceptable but pants failed miserably
2) As a result of #1, I've moved away from Harley branded. My daily is an Olympia Motosport Airglide 3 (the 4 is out now). the Airglide 3 is a mesh jacket that comes with a 2 stage liner. Liner #1 is a windproof/waterproof liner. Liner #2 is a full sleeve quilted liner. Jacket can be worn without liners, or with one liner or both liners. and Surprisingly, with both liners it is not that bulky. Jacket also comes with full elbow, shoulder and back armor (love how HD jackets come with pockets for armor but you have to purchase separately in most cases.).
so, to answer you question about wind, the olympia air glide, with the wind/waterproof liner will keep the wind out. however, in mid-summer, i prefer not to keep it out so remove the liner and it is a mesh jacket with armor.

 

I have both and both are armored. The leather is a fieldsheer perforated with zip out full liner. The textile is an icon with a zip out vest only. The leather rarely if ever gets worn.

 

we have both, and the leather sits on the hanger.. for the most part the textile is more then enough for the riding we do, and i think it blocks more wind then the leather

 

I do most of my riding in the South and it is just to hot for a leather jacket, for me anyway. I own one but have only worn it once or twice. I have a light weight HD jacket that I wear most of the time when I wear a jacket. I'm extremely hot natured also.