And then there was light...
It's been a long long time since I've reviewed an actual piece of motorcycle gear on this blog, and I apologize. I owe my loyal two visitors a day much more than that. Sometime last fall I got on the trail of a Japanese gear manufacturing company named RS Taichi. They make some really nice stuff. While the graphics on most of their suits and jackets are a little flashier than I'd usually care for on the street they did make one jacket that was very appealing to me: Creatively referred to as the “RSJ815” this jacket is fully perforated, armored, and comes in any color as long as it's black.
While buying this great summer jacket in the middle of fall may have seemed like a waste it was 'now or never' at the time. Although the jacket is still viewable on their website every distributor I found was telling me that they were discontinued. I managed to snag one that was on sale in a size EU52. After discussing with a very nice rep at Motoliberty I was able to glean that these jackets run a little small and that I should consider going a size up over my regular EU50 and it's a good thing I did. The fit of this jacket (on me) is so good it had me wearing it all through the winter with as much clothing on underneath as possible. I ended up paying somewhere in the $300 range for the jacket, but it's been so long it's hard to remember.
Unfortunately this whole review is probably for not as the jacket itself is discontinued. But I'm going to try and use the review as more of a look at an RS Taichi product rather than this specific jacket.
As soon as I picked up the jacket I was a little surprised. Even though it's completely filled with wholes it has quite a bit of heft to it. Although I can't find any specifics as to the actual construction, I would wager that this is at least 1.4mm leather if not 1.6mm. Putting the jacket on and zipping it up the weight disappears due to it's great fit around the chest and shoulders. Immediately I was glad I got the 52 rather than the 50. The next thing I noticed however was that the arms felt baggy. The chest, waist and torso all fit like a fresh spandex unitard, but the the arms had “room to grow.” After the initial feelings of inadequacy subsided I realized that nobody but Popeye himself would fill these sleeves out. The mesh and armor liner inside the jacket fit fine, so the elbow pads didn't move around at all. It just seemed odd that a jacket made for such a small would have so much extra material in the bicep and forearm area. Oh well.
The liner is fully removable and washable and includes one inside vertical drop pocket with a Velcro closure. This is just big enough to put a wallet or phone in, but because of the excellent fit of the jacket, you can tell when something occupies this space. No matter though as the jacket also has two hand warmer pockets that use a zipper and actually have a really nice liner. This jacket came with a large foam back pad but my Dainese back protector fit in here quite nicely so I'm using that. There's also a 360 degree waist zipper for attachment to RS Taichi pants. Without being able to try a pair on I'm reluctant to spend the cash when I've got a perfectly good 2-piece already.
The jacket has pre-curved arms which make it very comfortable to wear while riding, and only slightly awkward when off the bike. It also utilizes according style leather panels behind the arms and around the waist to create a flexible snug fit. There's a really nice supple leather inside the collar and wrists to protect from irritation against the skin. The sleeves also close up via a single longitudinal zipper rather than a zipper/Velcro combo, so there's less to fasten when putting the jacket on.
The jacket also looks great. Black goes good with everything so I don't worry about clashing with whatever bike I'm riding. There's also some silver piping lining the grey chest/back panel, shoulders and sleeves which reflect very noticeably, even in the day.
Most importantly, this jacket is cool! With the shoulders vents, and full perforation on the front of the jacket wind passes through this jacket effortlessly. This has reduced the temperature inside of the jacket significantly and made it much more pleasant to wear leather in even 90 degree heat. There's two zippered vents on the back near the kidneys but I've noticed no difference in feel having these open.
If the other RS Taichi jackets fit and feel anything like this one then they're are definitely some high quality pieces. Considering that on closeout their jackets go for around the $350 range it's an amazing deal. If anything were to ever happen to this jacket, or I won the lottery, I would definitely buy another RS Taichi jacket.
The Good
Excellent venting making this a great jacket for those hot days. Very snug fit, although be warned that I usually wear a 50, and this is a 52. Two outside pockets in addition to a single inside pocket provide decent storage space. Subtle styling with classic stripe around the chest. Reflective piping for more visibility at night. Thick leather construction and full CE approved armor means that if you feel like doing your impression of a break dancing Ninja Turtle while sliding across I5 you've got a chance. The price was great on closeout, and if you watch motoliberty.com for sales they frequently sell RS Taichi jackets for cheap.
The Bad
Excellent venting means you'll either want to leave this at home if it's below 55 or grow yourself a Steve Corel sweater vest. Odd sizing on sleeve diameter makes you want to hit the weights more. That's really about all the bad stuff I have to say about this jacket...
And just to illustrate how good this jacket it is I've found that it improves my lap times on Motogp 06:
Oh yea, and that's my new RF-1000. Exactly the same as my last one, but a more neutral color scheme.
Till next time!
While buying this great summer jacket in the middle of fall may have seemed like a waste it was 'now or never' at the time. Although the jacket is still viewable on their website every distributor I found was telling me that they were discontinued. I managed to snag one that was on sale in a size EU52. After discussing with a very nice rep at Motoliberty I was able to glean that these jackets run a little small and that I should consider going a size up over my regular EU50 and it's a good thing I did. The fit of this jacket (on me) is so good it had me wearing it all through the winter with as much clothing on underneath as possible. I ended up paying somewhere in the $300 range for the jacket, but it's been so long it's hard to remember.
Unfortunately this whole review is probably for not as the jacket itself is discontinued. But I'm going to try and use the review as more of a look at an RS Taichi product rather than this specific jacket.
As soon as I picked up the jacket I was a little surprised. Even though it's completely filled with wholes it has quite a bit of heft to it. Although I can't find any specifics as to the actual construction, I would wager that this is at least 1.4mm leather if not 1.6mm. Putting the jacket on and zipping it up the weight disappears due to it's great fit around the chest and shoulders. Immediately I was glad I got the 52 rather than the 50. The next thing I noticed however was that the arms felt baggy. The chest, waist and torso all fit like a fresh spandex unitard, but the the arms had “room to grow.” After the initial feelings of inadequacy subsided I realized that nobody but Popeye himself would fill these sleeves out. The mesh and armor liner inside the jacket fit fine, so the elbow pads didn't move around at all. It just seemed odd that a jacket made for such a small would have so much extra material in the bicep and forearm area. Oh well.
The liner is fully removable and washable and includes one inside vertical drop pocket with a Velcro closure. This is just big enough to put a wallet or phone in, but because of the excellent fit of the jacket, you can tell when something occupies this space. No matter though as the jacket also has two hand warmer pockets that use a zipper and actually have a really nice liner. This jacket came with a large foam back pad but my Dainese back protector fit in here quite nicely so I'm using that. There's also a 360 degree waist zipper for attachment to RS Taichi pants. Without being able to try a pair on I'm reluctant to spend the cash when I've got a perfectly good 2-piece already.
The jacket has pre-curved arms which make it very comfortable to wear while riding, and only slightly awkward when off the bike. It also utilizes according style leather panels behind the arms and around the waist to create a flexible snug fit. There's a really nice supple leather inside the collar and wrists to protect from irritation against the skin. The sleeves also close up via a single longitudinal zipper rather than a zipper/Velcro combo, so there's less to fasten when putting the jacket on.
The jacket also looks great. Black goes good with everything so I don't worry about clashing with whatever bike I'm riding. There's also some silver piping lining the grey chest/back panel, shoulders and sleeves which reflect very noticeably, even in the day.
Most importantly, this jacket is cool! With the shoulders vents, and full perforation on the front of the jacket wind passes through this jacket effortlessly. This has reduced the temperature inside of the jacket significantly and made it much more pleasant to wear leather in even 90 degree heat. There's two zippered vents on the back near the kidneys but I've noticed no difference in feel having these open.
If the other RS Taichi jackets fit and feel anything like this one then they're are definitely some high quality pieces. Considering that on closeout their jackets go for around the $350 range it's an amazing deal. If anything were to ever happen to this jacket, or I won the lottery, I would definitely buy another RS Taichi jacket.
The Good
Excellent venting making this a great jacket for those hot days. Very snug fit, although be warned that I usually wear a 50, and this is a 52. Two outside pockets in addition to a single inside pocket provide decent storage space. Subtle styling with classic stripe around the chest. Reflective piping for more visibility at night. Thick leather construction and full CE approved armor means that if you feel like doing your impression of a break dancing Ninja Turtle while sliding across I5 you've got a chance. The price was great on closeout, and if you watch motoliberty.com for sales they frequently sell RS Taichi jackets for cheap.
The Bad
Excellent venting means you'll either want to leave this at home if it's below 55 or grow yourself a Steve Corel sweater vest. Odd sizing on sleeve diameter makes you want to hit the weights more. That's really about all the bad stuff I have to say about this jacket...
And just to illustrate how good this jacket it is I've found that it improves my lap times on Motogp 06:
Oh yea, and that's my new RF-1000. Exactly the same as my last one, but a more neutral color scheme.
Till next time!
Labels: leather jackets
posted by Courtney Bodett at 7:29 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, I just stumbled across this site. Add me to your list of "loyal readers."
It's actually hard to find good reviews of gear online. Keep up the good work!
Post a Comment
<< Home