motorcycle touring pants, thoughts and opinions?

[Streak]

I am pondering a set of motorcycle touring pants for added comfort while riding, any thoughts or options to what you use, or are they any good?

What do you expect to pay off a pair? Being in queensland, they are going to need to breath!

[Brock]

nice pic, cant say much else

[Neale]

I use DriRiders in winter for warmth and to stay dry. Make sure you get them at a place where you try them on over jeans. Don't want then too small. Very comfy and great in really cold weather. Dunno how much use you'll get in QLD. Mine are lined, suppose you won't need that.

[gibbo57]

Hi Streak,
   I have had several pair of breathable dririders over the years and can't fault them.   They don't wear out too quickly like some of the other brands I've had.   I would say shop around  and pick what best suits your needs.   Sorry, wasn't much help.
Cheers
Gibbo
 

[sargent]

Mine are also Dri Riders, during summer on long rides I remove the liners and wear footy shorts underneath, whilst your moving there still comfortable in 38 degrees but you have to get them off pretty quick when you stop for any length of time.

[saaz]

I have the Zen pants that go with the Adven jacket. They have not had much of a workout in the rain as yet.  The Aldi ones I previously used were ok, but on one day long pouring rain ride they did eventualy let some water in around the seat area

[ST2UP]

We both on our second set now and only wear our Kevlar jeans for a day ride only, so if we are away overnight or longer distance we wear our textiles.....

Our current pants are the DriRider GS speed although not our first choice they do meet our needs and the requirements we set down (Armour, vents, Waterproof  ) and were VERY well priced    and couldn't be turned down.


So the trip just completed had temps from 28 to 5 degrees with sunshine to constant hours of light rain and a few heavy down pours at times. We remove the bulky winter liner from the pants and leave at home, instead taking compact Icebreaker thermal merino underwear if needed and pvc rain pants, these are waterproof BUT don't breath.

So temps down to 18 in fine or light scattered showers with vents open/closed as required had us comfy and dry. Below 18 or predicted to be well below had us add the far more compact merino thermals.....travelled Vic Highcountry in sub 10 degrees in comfort.

While the DriRider style pants are marketed as waterproof they are really only rain resistant......fine for a few light showers throughout the day, but it will come through eventually, particularly in the groin area.

While adding the plastic type pants over the top will keep the rain out, You will get wet anyway from sweating your  off......

Our general rule of thumb....average temps and light showers = Pants only
                                          Cold temps = Pants and thermals
                                          Warm and wet = Pants and suck it up buttercup for the little water that gets in
                                          Cold and Wet = Pants, Thermals and PVC pants bearing in mind that with the
                                                                  Merino thermals they will wick most of the moisture created by
                                                                  PVC rain pants.

To buy pants that are Warm, Cool, Waterproof and Breath in an armoured motorcycle garment is not an easy task.....Gortex is close but hot and big dollars


 

[tj189]

what ST2UP said  Mine are the Olympia Ranger Pant

[zevk]

RST Pro Series riding pants for me, I paid $145 on specila at peter stevens i think.
They are very well made, good zips and stiching.
 
They have an internal warm liner, extra rain liner and knee CE pads which can all be removed completly.
The pants are ventilated and work well and can be zipped o the RST jacket if you have one.
I would advise to trial in store as well as sitting on your bike, before you purchase

I mostly ride with Shift kevlar lined jeans on dry cool to warm days and the RST textile when very cold and or wet

[Streak]

am pondering a set of these for riding pants, has anyone had the Nordics before?

[Sean]

Streak,
Bought a pair 2 years ago. Wore them to Canberra. Bucketted down going past Armidale and no leaking. However they are fairly hot and not really for QLD. You may have more use up there, but I don't wear them much anymore. Never used the thermal liner.
Sean

[Neale]

A lot of the DriRider gear these days has good venting and fairly effective waterproof zippers. Just pick the ones that suit you best for QLD. Lotso vents and zippers. 

[Roadrunner]

Streak
I have a pair of those Nordic Hybrid Touring. If you want WINTER trousers great. But mine get worn rarely as they are too bloody hot and that is with the liners out. Mine in fact are still like new, great fit and a damn shame they are too hot for all but temps under say 20, 22 degrees.
Hope this helps
Laurie

[johnnyYTED]

 
I've had these DriRider Nordics for at least 9 yrs now, comfy yes, warn in winter yes, dri in rain  yes,
BUT non removable liner so too hot in summer ,non removable knee pads, and 1 pocket,, which has never has let water in...

I always wear em on long diSTance rides and if its really cold wear thermal long john's, they have STood the teST of time ,9 yrs and going STrong ,, prolly should buy a newer pair though...

[twisted 1]

am pondering a set of these for riding pants, has anyone had the Nordics before?

Bought a matching set those jacket and pants 2 years ago, jacket is fantastic but had to return the pants as one of the seams split and was informed that there was a known problem with 1 batch but was now fixed, got a new pair. Earlier this year had cause to wear the new pair again and they had also split in the same place, so back to Peter Stevens again and this time was given the choice of replace with same or different make so went with RST  raptor this time but so far haven't had the need to wear them.

[Down Under]

For touring I think textiles are hard to beat because they're so versatile.  I think the main thing to consider when buying textile is to look for something where the waterproof membrane can be removed. 

A lot of riders complain that they're too hot but it's often the fixed waterproof liner that makes them uncomfortable in the heat, without the liner they breath and they're just as comfortable as any other riding pant IMHO.  Generous zips or mesh panels make them work even better.

I'm a big fan of Rev'it gear.  It's a bit more expensive but the quality is good.  Have a look at Rev'it's Australian website.

[hobs]

Have two pair of 'dragin jeans'. Alternate the wearing when washing. have worn them from '0'deg to 45deg and have not had a problem. They do get wet in the rain, but hold up well on a road slide as history has atested for me.

[Pocket STocker]

I'm on my second pair of Dririder pants Streak and very happy with them, ours are called GS speed I think, we don't use the winter liners as they are bulky, just wear our thermal made by icebreaker. Rode 6 hours from Sydney to home in the rain recently and not a drop came through.


Pockey 

[Streak]

Well i have a pair of the Zen Motorcycle Gear touring pants, i have been walking around the house in them trying to work out if i like them or not

really different to wearing jeans i have to say! need another bike trip to test them out i think....Diesel! where to next?

[Biggles]

You missed your chance last weekend and yesterday.  It probably won't rain for weeks now.

pault is chuffed with his Rjay Vectors:

http://ozstoc.com/index.php?topic=7613.msg87493#msg87493

[ppopeye]

I have RST pro series pants and jacket which zip together and have thermal and waterproof liners. I have not tested the waterproofing as yet.

The jacket was perfect without the liner on the trip to Tungamah and I tend to wear jeans unless its cold or looking like being wet.
I bought these when I bought the ST thinking they looked versatile if you took out the liners. Most motorcycle gear looks bulky and these are too.

Reasonable price and good quality.



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[Abe]

I have RST pro series pants and jacket which zip together and have thermal and waterproof liners. I have not tested the waterproofing as yet.

The jacket was perfect without the liner on the trip to Tungamah and I tend to wear jeans unless its cold or looking like being wet.
I bought these when I bought the ST thinking they looked versatile if you took out the liners. Most motorcycle gear looks bulky and these are too.

Reasonable price and good quality.



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x 2

I wear the RST jacket all the time and wear the RST pants most of the time. (3years old)
Never had them zipped together.
I wear a Rev-it rain jacket over the RST jacket. (increased visibility, warm & dry)
RST pants have never let water in at all, and I've ridden a fair bit in the rain. But,
If raining when I leave I put on Dri rider rain pants over the top, saves stopping later.

[STroppy]

Dririders with removable warm liner, great here down South, a number of Draggin Jeans, but i usually wear my leather pants . . Black Rose brand . . . I wore them around Australia in 2008 and had no problems . . In the North of NT and WA I wore a light pair of shorts under and if we were stopping for more then just a refuel, off came the leathers and sat around in shorts (unless the servo was cool and airconditioned).

In drizzle or even heavy rain that lasts only an hour or so, I just keep riding, the leathers dry out fairly quickly and in the warmer climes actually this keeps you cooler.

If it is going to be raining all day, then I use overpants (rarely need to do this though as most of the time you tend to ride through the rain).

I prefer wearing leathers pants most of the time, if my leather jacket hadn't shrunk in the cupboard, I'd wear that most of the time as well! I have 5 jackets, 2 Motodry, 1 DriRider and 1 RJays and 1 leather - all great jackets and 6 pairs of pants - 2 Draggin Jeans, 2 Neds, 1 Dririder and the Leather - 90% of the time I would wear leather - even if I lived in Qld.