It's insanely pricey, but I don't want to mess with liners. I like the idea of the rain layers being on top of the gear so that when it stops raining and I take the layers off, the mesh suit is dry.

Nothing worse than having to take your pants off on the side of the road while it's raining.

 

Just pony up and buy some Rokker Revolution motorcycle jeans. 100% waterproof, highly abrasion resistant and armoured. Not cheap, but really, really good.

 

While I enjoy my Klim Induction Pro mesh jacket, to be honest when it gets close to 95+, i prefer the Carlsbad. I'd rather take my sweat than furnace air dehydrating me in record time.

I commuted for years in Texas 100F+ summers 30+ miles each way, and found that closing the vents actually worked better for me. That, plus the pool after work

 

HD clothing ADV is manufactured by Revit. In Europe Revit is considered to be one of the best motor clothing manufacturers. Revit is expensive, even though it is not as expensive as the HD ADV clothing line, that's why I have Revit clothing, which will keep my 100% dry, protected from hot, wet and cold. BMW manufactures clothing together with Alpine (amongst others). Too expensive as well....

 

The HD Grit jacket is nice, but it's only waterproof when using the zip out liner. For the same price +/- a few $ you can get a Klim Latitude which is well vented and waterproof.

 

Just did 4 days in the Klim Baja S4. Heat index was over 105 on Friday. I would have melted in the Carlsbad (or anything Gore Tex for that matter) in that heat. As long as I was above 15mph, I was cool and comfortable. Got caught in a pop-up storm, didn't use the overpants or jacket and got soaked quickly. When the rain stopped, I stood on the pegs a bit to air out. Half an hour later I was completely dry. Had off-and-on rain all day today, so I pulled the Forecast pants and Enduro S4 jacket on, as well as my trusty lobster claws. Temperatures were in the high 70s, up to around 80. I stayed completely dry, and didn't cook when the sun came out. I was able to open the pit and back vents on the Enduro while riding, but couldn't manage to close the pit vents when it started raining again. Got the back closed though, and still stayed completely dry.

Hellacious amount of money, but worth it.

 

I've got enough gear that I bought over the years, which is still in great shape, that I think I can outfit everyone in this thread. Don't need to buy any more.

 

So having ridden in the Baja, if you were leaving today and traveling across the US and up to Alaska... would you wear your new Baja set with Enduro/Forecast or the Carlsbad?

 

Today? The Baja. In early spring or late fall, the Carlsbad. I would not want to be in a Gore Tex suit in triple-digit temperatures.

 

I'm looking to replace my well-travelled head-to-toe black leather with an Aerostich R3 Stealth, mainly because I've spent weeks and weeks reading about riding gear and that one so far seems "best". Given I'm used to riding in heavy, thick, multi-layer buffalo leather I can't see how an R3 is going to seem "to hot" for me; on the contrary one of the things people say is how cool it is. But the real reason I want it: Glytr is the first touring bike I've owned and I put 7600 miles on her last season. If I'm going to be doing that much time on the road I think I need to up my protection game to something that's demonstrated to work at 80 mph, and something that allows me to just keep on keeping on if I hit a little inclement weather. When I was just puttering around for 6 to 8 hr day rides on Darum the leather seemed fine. 9-11 hrs/day for six days on the open road ... not so much.

My concern is the R3 won't fit in a 2013 Street Glide's standard hard bag. Does anyone know if it will? Aerostich says the R3 "rolls into" 22" x 14" x 8", and I measured the bag to be 22" x 13" x 7". That seems like it could be crammed in there, but I'd rather not dump that kind of money on a suit to discover I can't stow it. Does anyone know if that fits? I've spent some time searching here (and on the 'net in general), and while I've discovered the hard bag size may have changed after 2014, there's been nothing regarding stowing a riding suit.

I know the hard bag is angled; this is all estimation anyway. But a testimonial or more, now that would take the angle into account. (happy smile) If Duluth wasn't four days ride from here I'd just hop on the bike and check it out personally.

I'm also not averse to opinions from suit owners, regardless of brand. Why I like the R3:
- They seem very well made and do what they say on the tin: protect the rider. Yes it's jaw-droppingly expensive, but having survived one accident because of my gear, protection is much more important than price.
- The latest R3 appears to repel rain very well, yet can vent comfortably, and I expect more comfortably than what I wear now. Well-oiled leather works fine and dandy for what Dad would call a "toad strangler", those NoVA early evening deluges that last about 5-10 minutes. Last summer, after 45 minutes of raining buckets I was absolutely soaked, and given it was late evening, when I arrived hours later I was still soaked. I don't want that any more, and I don't want to stop to don/doff rain gear every time some water falls out of the sky.
- It's almost painfully easy to get in and out of. I don't want to be taking off my boots and doing the "cat's got tape on its paw" dance getting in and out of the thing. I want to slip out of it, stuff it in a saddlebag, and be done.
- They have incredible customer service; I expect to never need this, but if I do...

Things I don't like:
- It doesn't have a hydration pouch/pocket. I've looked at some CE AA rated racing suits that have that, and it seems like a very nice feature, especially given how often I have to stop for water. That can really add to the trip time. I think Klim has one but their web site wouldn't load for me, so I couldn't really find out much about them.

Thanks for your time...
- Rags