Perforated leather is nice but it isn't nearly as comfortable as mesh. I have a Technic mesh jacket that I wear when it is over 90 degrees. It is very comfortable and has good armor in the elbows, shoulder, and back. The idea is that the armor will keep the mesh from coming in contact with your skin in the event of a crash. I'm sold on the mesh jackets for hot weather.

 

For city and very slow speed, i would go with padded mesh. You have more chance to hit a car in a city than in a highway. Thus you need protection for elbow and shoulder...

For highspeed interstate and stuff like that, i would go with leather. At high speed those pads wont protect you in a impact anyway, even a bomb squad suit wont.

So the only protection left at high speed is the abrasion resistance, so leather at high speed.

 

I agree with Coolchrome. I wear a silver mesh here in Florida because no amount of air is gonna cool black leather down to anything tolarable.

That stuff about mesh melting into your skin during a slide is a lot of urban myth BS. We had a thread about this on another site and nobody could find an instance where it actually happned. The mesh would get worn away before any skin touched the road. The only time you might see it happen is if there is a fire involved.

 

Just a point of clarification for this post and please excuse the length but I did do some research before these purchases. What some of you are refering to as nylon or also polyester is correct however don't confuse it with the same material as liesure suits. These are kind of generic names for synthetic fabrics, the synthetics used in these jackets are abrassion resistant materials that while won't match leather (some are cominh close) they will certianly take more abuse than t-shirts and jeans. As for the padding it is to lessen the blow and won't help if you run into a car and it certianly won't add abrasion resistantance it is foam. I have a Firstgear MeshTex pull over with armour that looks like a sweatshirt and is made of a polyester they call Hypertex™ and this is the definition of it:
High-performance textile riding garments that use any number of technical abrasion-resistant synthetic materials such as Koslan, CorduraÂŽ and Dynax.
I also have a jacket that is mostly mesh with armour made by Olympia motosports that I believe is nylon under the name Codura (suitcases) which is also abrasion resistant. When the temps drop down I also have a very thick leather jacket that once again is abrassion resistant, point being nothing is abrassion proof and you need to meausre protection versus comfort.
I do still use jeans to ride but I am planning on purchasing a couple of pairs of Draggin Jeans which have kevlar in strategic places.
I will share for those that care 2 experiances that make me seek abrassion resistance; 1 - I was 12 years old at summer camp and decided what fun it would be to jump on the back of the milk truck and ride it down the dirt road, well as it got up around 30 mph I could keep my grip so I jump rather than fall. Guess how much road rash you get on a dirt road with jeand and a t shirt on. When I was helped up i was wearing the collar and one sleeve from the tshirt and the left leg of my jeans was worn in half. I let you figure out what the skin looked like.
2- now I am the ripe old age of 15 and riding my 10 speed bicycle and the bike gets hit, thankfully not my body, by a car and I am airborne. I slid about 100 ft wearing jeans and a tshirt accross a concrete sidewalk with almost the same results as the milk truck get off with 2 differences, I now had a broken wrist from using it to protect my face and the road rash went from my shulder balde down to behind my knee. The only place I had no rash was where my leather belt was on my waist and it was only worn on the surface.

For what its worth take a look at the materials they use and look them up on the internet, there are some real good sythetics out there coming from the sport bike market. See there is someting good from those smart ***, snot nosed, young trick riding, in better shape with quicker reflex and think they are indestructable kids..........................

 

It's a matter of friction and heat and can definitely happen; however, you can also get leather ground into the wounds as well. Either way it's not gonna be good. I'd definitely go with the leather though cause it'll hold up better.

 

Again I say 'Find a HD Switchback" it's the cats. A buddy of mine is telling me He scored a new Joe Rocket three peice mesh/perforated leather jacket that he says I'll be jealous over but he also paid another HD for it, we'll see!

 

Buy aftermarket armor.
The HD stuff is just rubber and is more of a cushion than anything.

I bought some nice armor for very cheap ($20) from CycleGear. It is dual density with a hard plastic? (some kind of plastic like material) on the outside. I am confident that i can slide much farther on this armor than I could on my fxrg leather and armor together. I will be replacing the leathers armor as the weather cools as well.

I love the mesh. If it weren't for it, I probably wouldn't ride as much. Leather is just too hot once it reaches 90* and really becomes uncomfortable for me around 80*

 

The ideal is perforated leather with armor, I went down wearing a Joe Rocket Ballistic jacket last summer on the freeway. The Jacket protected my elbows, shoulders and back while I was flip-flopping down the highway. It did abrade through on the forearm but didn't melt into my skin. For abrasion leather is the best but shoulder, spine and elbow armor is a big help too.

 

the 'nylon' you shouldn't wear is like a windbreaker idea. THATs the stuff that can melt, etc.
Proper riding jackets are made of a special polyamide which is either solid or a mesh form. Not only abraision resistant, but has a very high melting point to deal with the friction of a slide.