Its quiet here, I'll bring some life ^.^

[JohnMidnight]

My little story ^.^
Heh... I stumbled upon SeV courtesy of ThinkGeek, who were selling the pullover fleece, and the classic vest, and I fell in love, I wanted one.
I drooled for a year, finally getting a job and getting the Tactical 4.0 System, and man did I love it. During the winter here in Cali when I went to work I'd zip the fleece into the Tactical, get to work, unzip the fleece, all good, going home zip up. It was great, whenever I'd go fix a computer I'd stuff my Tactical with my gadgets from my two flash cards, to my business cards, wallet, keys.

But that wont go anymore... all I have is my Fleece now, my Tactical 4.0, well still wearable, but... torn to pieces, a reminder of what not to wear when riding my motorcycle.
I wonder what SeV has cooked up next ^.^

Oh and Hi ^.^

[SeV_EDC]

Hey John - nice to meet you! Sorry to hear your Tactical got torn up in the spill (but glad you're able to type about it!). We were talking about motorcycle clothing on a post in Scott's blog not too long agohere (http://scottevest.blogspot.com/2008/04/scottevestsev-weekend-blog-post-preview.html). A few people have suggested we get into protective clothing for riding, and it's something we've put some thought into.

This forum was on hiatus for awhile, but we're relaunching it with the new site and will be pushing lots of cool stuff through here. Welcome to the board! There are some active threads around, and new people joining everyday... so don't be shy, guys!

SeV_EDC

[JohnMidnight]

I scream for joy if you guys roll out a motorcycle jacket ^.^ I'd be split between buying the SeV over FirstGears Torrent (I'd probably get both, I got to try the latter... but the former I'd get just cuz SeV stuff is just so cool.)

[SeV_EDC]

It would be cool to have a kevlar weave (either lining or shell) and some proper 'armor' pockets. The functional pockets for stuff would put the SeV jacket head and shoulders over anything else available, since m'cycle jackets aren't particularly functional for carrying stuff. That really doesn't make sense to me at all, b/c... where else are you going to carry stuff on your bike if you don't have saddlebags?

[livesuperman]

I want one!! I don't even own a motorcycle. :)

[rudedog]

Man could I use a type of Heavy Duty (HD) jacket when I'm on the tradeshow floor (about every other week).

I'm always catching a sleeve or shoulder on some type of wooden crate. This type of jacket would make a nice addition to the Scottevest line.

[livesuperman]

I would like one like this!


http://bp0.blogger.com/_DlAgVHEympA/R95lWQgTg0I/AAAAAAAAARc/AR3mup6RklE/s1600-h/belstaffherojacket-motorcycle+jacket.jpg

[SeV_EDC]

That's the Belstaff Hero Jacket worn by Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds. I'm a big fan of Belstaff (to the point that people I know are sick of me referencing them!). Costume National had done a similar jacket to that about 6 years ago (cooler, too, IMHO). The slickest feature on the CN jacket was that the sleeve zippers went all the way from the wrist to the elbow... never seen another similar leather jacket with that feature, ever.

Maybe we should consider a new version of the SeV Milan (http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/scottevest_milan_leather_tec_jacket) and overload the cool while we make it motorcycle-safe?

[JohnMidnight]

That's the Belstaff Hero Jacket worn by Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds. I'm a big fan of Belstaff (to the point that people I know are sick of me referencing them!). Costume National had done a similar jacket to that about 6 years ago (cooler, too, IMHO). The slickest feature on the CN jacket was that the sleeve zippers went all the way from the wrist to the elbow... never seen another similar leather jacket with that feature, ever.

Maybe we should consider a new version of the SeV Milan (http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/scottevest_milan_leather_tec_jacket) and overload the cool while we make it motorcycle-safe?
The Milans great, but I already wear leather ;) and leather is soooo not great in summer... especially when its 100 degrees already, and your riding your bike on brand new black top... man. A SeV that protects, offers ventilation, provides the pockets that are lovable, and even a integratable fleece jacket (or even a liner) for those winter months would be awesomeness.

[SeV_EDC]

The Milans great, but I already wear leather ;) and leather is soooo not great in summer... especially when its 100 degrees already, and your riding your bike on brand new black top... man. A SeV that protects, offers ventilation, provides the pockets that are lovable, and even a integratable fleece jacket (or even a liner) for those winter months would be awesomeness.

True re: the heat. Maybe it's a system that you can wear in three parts:


Leather jacket
Windproof Kevlar shell/liner that is worn under the leather jacket or over the...
Fleece jacket

Any comination of one or two can be worn at a time... could cover a lot of bases.

I saw the pics in your sigline... At least the Naboo fighter shirt survived!

[JohnMidnight]

Hah, yes it did survive, it helped take me away from the hospital. But I wasn't wearing it when I went down, EMTs cut everything off me... the SeV wasn't zipped up, easily removed, it was being held down on my ride by my leather vest which had my ALR (American Legion Rider) patches on it. It was held down by Vest Extenders.


True re: the heat. Maybe it's a system that you can wear in three parts:

* Leather jacket
* Windproof Kevlar shell/liner that is worn under the leather jacket or over the...
* Fleece jacket

1. You can make it out of other materials like Mesh, or Textile.
2. Windproof kevlar... I don't know...
3. Fleece, winters warmer.

On #2... hmmm... windproof kevlar... I don't know, if you made the leather jacket (made of sturdy leather) you already have a windproof barrier there, and the leather itself is already a great abrasion resistant material. Instead of as a liner you could position the kevlar. But I think you should go for another material instead because I don't think Kevlar is a great "shock resistant material" which is what armor for a motorcyclist is supposed to be (I think so, as most armor I've seen is made of foam... and foam--a type of foam--is used in the construction of helmets.......)

The jackets I am looking at to replace my leather FMC really are not leather, but Mesh (http://www.firstgear-usa.com/fgweb2.nsf/Products/B8ABE77EDB973DA38625734500601F61?opendocument) and Textile (http://www.firstgear-usa.com/fgweb2.nsf/Products/BA3B7002681637EE862571E90072ACF8?opendocument) respectively.

I also don't know much about Kevlar....... but then again you did mention it was still on the drawing board, 12 more months to go :P
Plenty of time to finalize the idea, and make it stick. Even if you do what you've mentioned I'll still get the jacket, though I am partial to having armor built into the jacket rather than it being a seperate entity all together >.> Its a mind set really..

[SeV_EDC]

I didn't realize how many cycle jackets are now textile and/or mesh. It's been a few years since I looked at them.

If we market something as a motorcycle jacket it will definitely need proper armor pockets. Kevlar is really for abrasion resistance vs. shock dampening - foam is the way to go. With all these other fancy materials on the market this could be a really interesting thing to think through....

I also like the waist tabs. I don't think SeV has ever done a belted jacket before, but it's a very cool look. A three layer system is probably overthinking the matter....

[JohnMidnight]

Aye. Because when I was riding with my SeV with the Fleece it was... kinda more bulky than I wanted. Heh.

[SeV_EDC]

And proper armor won't make things less bulky....

[JohnMidnight]

Yep which all falls under the key thing you want to aim for when getting on your gear for a motorcycle ride:
Am I going to be comfortable and protected?

[Scott E. Jordan]

I blogged about this before, see here (http://scottevest.blogspot.com/search?q=motorcycle).

We have so many great ideas; just need to pick the best ones and go with it.

Thanks.

Scott

[JohnMidnight]

And commented. I hope it all comes to fruitation. I'd love to have a SeV MC Jacket. I'd probably be doing Three sidded coin toss to see which jacket to wear on my rides >.>

[Scott E. Jordan]

what do you think (http://www.tokbox.com/vm/0lmxqx1cmifb)?

[JohnMidnight]

Great idea. Thoughts:
You can never have enough reflectivity at night. My bike has got great front, but man the only rear light is the tear drop shaped brake light. That goes for a majority of sport bikes, sport touring bikes, and low end cruisers. Touring Cruisers--Harley Davidsons Electra, the Yamaha Venture, Victory Vision--and all out Touring Bikes--Honda GoldWing, BMW K1200LT--are the ones decked out head to toe with enough lights to mimic a semi truck.

Ventilation, love it.

Kevlar Pads, again, great (from my understanding) for abrasion resistance--tear-resistance--but not so great for shock resistance (Referance: Kevlar is a fiber right? So it'd be like a shirt, a shirt with you in it impacting the ground isn't going to stop the shock of that impact from traveling through your bones, correct? Kevlar built into the jacket would work great, I think, if the price doesn't rear is head. Foam on the other hand does do shock resistance.
Good places for that padding: The back, elbows, shoulders. Something to out-right strengthen the Quantum Jacket would also be a good idea, especially if the jacket itself can already tear easily when the wearer slides or impacts into the ground traveling at speeds varrying between 25, to 80 mph.

Anyway, about waterproof at the front. Well, not quite... some guys have short shields, some guys have tall shields, its all about preferance on that. And well theirs also the staying still part at Stop lights, stop signs, yeilds with lots of traffic, train tracks, etc.


Thats my thoughts for now >.> man am I tired...