My black Chrome VR1 $250 held up good for sliding on the face of it for awhile. (ground the front of it pretty good) Still, no damage to me! cheapo $150 leather jacket was toaste still no damage to me, cheapo $12 leather gloves from Big R, completely shredded and STILL no damage to me at all. $10 pair of work jeans... OW! *%^!!!! bye bye skin that once covered my knee caps!!!

Having the owner of the dog offer you a beer before the cops get there so it looks like you were riding drunk....
PRICELESS!!!!!

He also refused to pay for any damages. What a jerk.

I was wearing an HJC CL-SP helmet, Icon Battlecry jacket, Cortech Accelerator gloves, Icon Hooligan canvas pants (which I wasnt comfortable wearing, they didnt seem like they offered much protection,) and Icon Field Armor Chukka boots when I was hit by a car changing lanes into me. I slid mainly on my back on ashphalt for 40 to 50 feet at around 45 mph.

The HJC did its job, didnt crack at all, just had a few scratches on the face shield and had the finish ground off on the back.

The Cortech gloves didnt rip or tear or anything, just had a little wear on the palm of the right glove and looked like someone had held a belt sander to the carbon knuckles on the left glove.

All of my Icon gear held up well, even the canvas pants (suprisingly.) The jacket just looks a little rougher now looks like its had years of wear and tear instead of being 7 months old. The boots for the most part did well, however I did have some bruising on my right foot, but it did get smashed between the peg / brake pedal and the bike. The hooligan pants did better then I had expected, I had one rip in the corner of the knee that was big enough for me to stick my thumb through, but it only ripped the top layer, the reinforced panel underneath was still fully intact. There was also a few ripped stitches along the butt and right hip, but it didnt look like it was close to wearing through yet.

I just ran across this thread about crashed gear and how it all held up for anyone in that dreaded crash. I have not crashed yet, but everyone I have been around that has been riding for any length of time always says that there are those that have crashed and those that will crash. I anticipate that dreaded day and do not look forward to it. I am in need of some type of pants and had been looking at the ICON jeans as a temporary pair, actually my husband and I both had been looking at them, but by a lot of these postings it looks like they just really don't hold up well at all and they obviously wear into your skin - literally! I am definitely not interested in that, for sure! Thanks for everyone's comments and sharing your comments as well as brand names in particular.

What are some opinions on the combo leather/textile jackets?? We have been wondering if these would provide the same protection as full leather yet be a bit more breathable for the hot summer riding. Although, it is like a friend of ours says, "Sweat dries faster than skin heals." This is definitely true!!

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions! Much appreciated!!

Happy and safe riding to you all!!

I have read in American Motorcyclist that most textile jackets out there now offer as much protection as leather. So go for the mixed jacket if you like. I would probably stay away from the mesh jackets though, havn't delt with them but have heard horror stories.

Crashed my ZR-7 on 2 March (rebuilding now). No major injuries. I was wearing a JR Meteor4 jacket, Shoei RF1000, jeans and boots. Only gear damage was road scrapes on left forearm & elbow that tore thru for a minor rug burn, jeans and boots scuffed. Since my crash in 89, I've always worn steel toes. A broken toe is no fun.

I was rear-ended on what used to be my DR650S, while stopped to make a turn, by a Ford Explorer doing 30 mph. Cortech textile jacket with leather elbows/shoulders, Shark SR1 helmet, Held Steve gloves, Draggin Jeans, Vendramini boots. To be honest I have no idea how I landed, or even whether I slid, but when the action was over I was lying on my back, and remember noticing the back of the helmet smack the road - I flew around 40 feet straight ahead, so I stayed in my lane. In any case, the next day (it was dark when I got hit) I couldn't find a mark on the boots, jeans or jacket, only the helmet was chipped slightly (and replaced by the insurance company). I was really sore (lower back, neck, everywhere actually) for a while, and I had a couple of small abrasions on my right upper shin (just above the top of the high boots), presumably where it struck the handlebar on my way over. So maybe this wasn't really a good test for the gear, since apparently my guardian angel picked me up mid-air and set me down on the ground, just hard enough to get my attention.... which worked, since I added the Hyper-Lites and headlight modulator to the ZR7S after this little incident....

For pants, I do often wear just the Draggin Jeans if I'm not going to be riding outside of 35 mph speed zones (around town). Otherwise it's either leathers or First Gear mesh/armored overpants, and then often a Fieldsheer perforated leather jacket, sometimes also a strap-on back protector. I've got a bright yellow First Gear mesh jacket as well, very comfy and nicely armored, but that's another thing I mainly use on short, low-speed trips.

Last November a deer jumped out in front of me. I was riding a brand new R6 I bought just a month prior. I swerved to miss the deer and lost rear tire traction in a patch of gravel and went into a nasty tankslapper at about 60 mph. I tumbled 20 or 30 yards while the bike catapulted on the pavement behind me. Thankfully, the deer bounded out of my way as I went oscillating towards it.


I was wearing a lot of gear though which is listed below with a brief description of damage, a grade, and pics if available.

1. HJC AC-12 Carbon helmet - no direct hit until the very end of my tumble in the dirt; just a few minor scratches. Grade: A


2. Alpinestars Hero leather coat - several scratches but nothing all the way through. Highly recommended coat! Pic below is right after I first got the coat a 18 months ago while I had my orange Z.Grade: A+


3. Icon Merc leather gloves - Fantastic gloves! I hit my hands first on the pavement as my arms relfexively stretched out and except for a few very minor scratches, you wouldn't know they had been in a crash. Grade: A+

4. Icon Field Armor combination chest and back protector - I landed hard on my lower back a few times while tumbling and this protector did the job and held up perfectly. Also highly recommended. Grade: A+

5. Joe Rocket Atomic jeans - Despite their appearance below, they did their job commendably. The built in knee protector protected my patella but it slid around a bit and some abrasions occurred because of that. Grade: B


6. Alpinestars S-MX boots - I hit the left side of my foot hard and the boots did their job perfectly. Only damage was some bruising to my foot and some slight scratches to the side of the boot. Grade: A+

7. Bohn Adventure Shorts - I saved the best for last. I can't recommend these armored shorts enough. The main initial impact was on my lower back and a55. The armor over my tailbone surely prevented a fractured tailbone. The bruising was very bad in this area and you can see the imprint of the tailbone armor in my butt. Grade A++

Originally Posted by DatSakiBomber

Havn't gone down yet; however, my buddy went down at the track june 16th, he was wearing motogp kangaroo leathers and the stitching came apart and the leather tore...I wouldn't buy motogp ever after seeing that.

I agree to that statement and have first hand expeirence. Had a pair of motogp textile pants. Went down in a 30mph low side with them on. The knee wore right through and the knee pad popped out. Luckily only ended up with some very small rash my knee.

The boot opening zipper broke in short order too. MotoGP=Garbage

first off, it wan't my wreck, but it looks like the equipment did it's job. the jacket was toast, and he has a tore up shoulder. i would say that all of the equipment worked great,

Icon riding boots:







HJC CL-SP





Alpinestars gloves:







First Gear Leather Jacket: (cut off by paramedic)

low sided, was only doing about 15-20 mph. Damn man holes covers..... anyway had a frank thomas jacket on..CRAP!!!!! Stiches in the shoulder completly let go, armor dosent work if you cant keep it in place. minor road rash, glad i wasnt goin faster. had hightop steal toed timb pros on came out ok and nautica jeans on no damage. alpine star mx gloves on fine also.. just couldnt belive a leather jacket failed at such a slow seed.

High Sided at 20 mph after a white station wagon blew a stop sign. Tapped the brakes and hit an oil spot at the corner where the road transitioned from concrete bus stop to asphalt (2 inch rise at the corner from concrete to asphalt)...
Went down On my right side/shoulder pretty hard.
- First Gear Mesh Tech jacket and gloves look almost brand new. A
- Cheap Leather work boots did their job but were done. B
- Shoei F1000 - A+ (didn't hit very hard though)
- Jeans - F No real damage, but did not prevent the hip bruises or something from cutting my left shin from (3 stitches)

I ended up with no upper body injuries what-so-ever. I landed mostly on my right shoulder and hip and somehow ended up with both feet under the bike on my stomach.

Originally Posted by kawigal

What are some opinions on the combo leather/textile jackets?? We have been wondering if these would provide the same protection as full leather yet be a bit more breathable for the hot summer riding. Although, it is like a friend of ours says, "Sweat dries faster than skin heals." This is definitely true!!

I got into what was basically a lowside at 20-30 mph earlier this year, resulting in a 40ft abriviated slide (thanks to the back luggage rack of a van). I was riding my 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 650R and was wearing a Shoei RF-1000 helmet, a Shift Streetfighter Hybrid leather/textile jacket, Wrangler jeans Alpinestar SMX-2 gloves, and Reebok high-top basketball shoes.

Shoei Helmet-N/A
I was wearing it when I went down, but I managed to not touch the pavement with my head, and was on my forearms most of the way.

Shift Jacket-A+
There are only scuff marks on the forearms where I put my arms out in front of me as I was sliding. The leather is marked up, but virtually no real wear. Thank god I was wearing my jacket or I would still have skin graphs healing on my forearms!

Alpinestar Gloves-A
Heres a post I put up under the "gloves" section:
I have Alpinestar SMX-2 gloves...perfect summer gloves because they are well vented, but have great protection. They are leather/textile/carbon fiber gloves, with leather in the palm and up to the bottom of the fingers, then it changes to textile and a chamois-like material with little rubber grip-strips on the pointer and middle fingers. The knuckles are carbon fiber, and they have worked EXCELLENT. I got in what was basically a lowside accident at 20-30 mph, and scraped my right knuckle on the ground, and I put my left palm down on the ground before I stopped moving. The gloves held up great! The carbon fiber was scraped, but did not come anywhere near going all the way through to my hand. The left palm had one of the double stitched seams rip part of the way off, but is fully usable, and now that I have ridden for about a thousand more miles with them you can barly see the rub marks on the palm.

AMAZING gloves, and I wish I could afford their big brother in the gauntlet style...

Jeans-C-
They really didnt do anything other than embed denim in both of my knees. I don't give them a F or a D though because I think jeans are better than shorts, and they did help save my ankle some. Also they did a ok job of protecting my thighs, I think they wore through so bad on the knees because I was trying to get up before I stopped.

Shoes: C+
I was wearing Reebok high-tops that left me with some road rash on my right ankle, but other wise unharmed. They stayed on my feet, and saved me from my exhaust as it layed on top of me, They have since been retired (as have the jeans), but they are sitting in my room as a reminder to always wear my new Shift Fuel Street-Riding shoes!

Over all I was very lucky, and will ALWAYS wear a helmet, jacket, and gloves. I just bought new Shift shoes, and am looking into some Shift Torque jeans.

Ride safe, wear your gear!

I caught a tank slapper at about 60-70 mph. I highsided landing on my left thigh and proceeded to barrel roll down the highway for what seemed like forever. The bike goes down on the left side and flips a few times from what im told. I end up in the left turn lane and the bike in the right turn lane.

Helmet: A HJC CLSP throttle
Has some grinding/scuffing on the left side of the helmet. Face shield is MIA

Jacket: B Cortech Z1R Gp air
Scuffing on back, shoulder area was shredded. I can remove the armor from the outside of the jacket. Rash on lower back (longer jacket should help)

Gloves: A Cortech model?
Held up well, some holes. Rash on forearms (need longer gloves next time)

Jeans: C-
Quite torn up. Rash on right knee

Shoes: C- Dr scholles tennis shoes
The one on my left foot had the laces ground off resulting in the shoe flying off. No damage to my feet or ankles though.

And now the eyecandy.

i have a hjc carbon fiber helmet alpine star gloves and komodo leathers had a hard low slide dented the knuckle on the gloves punched a hole in the knee and shoulder of my leathers with out them i would on been knocked out could broken collar bone shattered knee and prob skin grafts thank god for gear and tracks

My hubby crashed going around a curve at around 100km/hr -hit a surprise pile of gravel spilled across the whole lane.Bike slid straight up the lane a good 75-100 feet, he slid face down (superman style) up the lane and then along the gravel shoulder quite a way.

His head hit the pavement chin/jaw first, palms down, his right arm caught and flipped behind him so his forearm was pavement down. He only had a sprained thumb, some gravel in his right palm, twisted knee, bit his tongue and a stiff neck (funny as he's a Chripractor and I'm a Massage Therapist so easy fix...) Here's the gear and how it fared: (pics below...)

Helmet: HJC-CL15 (inexpensive) totally saved his head & face from injury-just a scuff on the chin area of the helmet and visor scratches. It really performed well - can't imagine what kind of damage would have occurred without a full face helmet (crazy cruiser riders!) Thumbs up for HJC.

Jacket: NEXO leather, full armor. Scuffed up the right arm and stitching failed at seam joining leather and stretchy fabric strip (for better arm flexion I guess). The leather looks pretty good for the abrasion it took. We got the seam re-sewn and is totally wearable. Thumbs up for leather but I'll stay away from fabric inserts in future jackets as the seams fail easily. He had a very small abrasion on his forearm where the fabric/leather seam failed.

Boots: Joe Rocket Meteor. Fantastic! Virtually no wearing, Obviously some scuffed bits, but remarkably undamaged! He had ZERO foot or ankle injury! Two Thumbs up for JR armored boots.

Gloves: Joe Rocket (style?) neoprene back/leather palm. One palm pad wore through to the second layer and small areas right through to skin. Minor abrasions with a bit of gravel imbedded in the right palm. Thumbs down for light weight gloves. All of our gloves are much heavier duty and thicker in the palm padding now. They did their job I guess but a few more bucks for a tougher pair is worth it to save your hands.

Pants: Plain old Hurley jeans. No damage but I think his feet kept his legs off the ground. Lucky. He now has some Icon leg field armor he wears under jeans when it's too hot for his leather riding pants.