Motoport Ultra II stretch kevlar jacket and pants

Products including farkle, clothing, helmets, heck even motorcycles that have been purchased and reviewed by bmwbmw.org members.

Motoport Ultra II stretch kevlar jacket and pants

Postby anoop » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:49 am

I've been looking for super-safe, comfy, all weather gear that will last for miles and miles. I wanted gear with good abrasion resistance and impact protection. After a lot of searching and trying on gear, I bought some Motoport jacket and pants.
I first saw Motoport mentioned here:
Motoport Kevlar first impressions (long, many pics...) - ADVrider
It's a huge 6 year old thread over at advrider.

The company was started by Wayne Boyer. I think he's the main person behind the whole operation. It's a small company based in California. They supply gear to motorcyclists like ourselves, as well as the San Diego and Hong Kong police departments.

Motoport uses kevlar, which has advantages over competition grade leather. Competition grade leather (Vanson, spidi, etc...) has great abrasion resistance, but it will break down with sweat and rain. I have some awesome spidi gloves. The leather is very supple and resilient, but it will not last me 100,000 miles, including riding in the rain. The Motoports will last that long and it will be just as safe.

The jacket and pants I bought are made out of a kevlar blend. There are 2 types of kevlar material available: stretch and mesh. The mesh is MUCH more porous than the stretch. Personally, I think the stretch is more versatile, but it's a matter of opinion.

Wayne at Motoport has spent a lot of time developing the armor he puts in his gear. It is referred to as tri-armor and quad-armor. He layers soft armor and puts it all over the jacket and pants. One thing I wanted in my new gear was chest armor, not every manufacturer includes that. The quad-armor is similar to the tri-armor, except there is an extra layer of DOW Deflexion armor. The Deflexion material is now being used in Klim gear. Think about the hard plastic armor found in many jackets. Even if it's "CE level 1" it may not be very safe. Imagine taking a hammer to that armor. The force with disperse and go straight to you. In other words, it's going to hurt! The armor doesn't even absorb the force.

I need gear with a lot of versatility. I want to wear my gear when it's hot, cold and rainy. With Motoports, I am able to do that. Wayne sells rain liners that are very breathable. To be fair, I haven't spent more than 40 minutes in the rain with these on, but they are not clammy and heavy like than my PVC outer liners. For the cold, I just use my Gerbings heated gear. The stretch kevlar material is actually porous. It flows air similar to cotton jeans. Nice for the heat. The Motoports aren't rain proof without the liners. Wayne recommends spraying some Fabricguard 303 on the gear to keep out the rain. This allows the rain to bead up while you pull over and put your rain liners on! You can get Frogg Toggs for outer rain liners if you don't like inner ones. It's a personal choice. The Aerostitch Roadcrafter and Darien gear is rain proof out of the box, but that's because there's a rain liner built into the fabric. Nice, but that's not very breathable when it's hot out. It really depends on how you want to deal with the rain and the different types of weather you encounter as you ride. The Motoports fit with the techniques I've used. One thing is that the armor restricts airflow a bit, so in the summer we'll see if that chest armor starts to heat me up. Another note about the rain liners: they compress pretty well in a compression dry bag. They won't take a lot of space in your panniers.

Motoport gear is proven. The police departments that are Wayne's customers put a lot of miles on the gear. There are some crash reports with favorable results and trip reports of people going all over the world with the gear. The BMW gear is also famous for being used all over the world. When I tried the BMW Rallye gear on, I hated the tight fit. It would drive me crazy on a long ride. It's too bad, because I've heard great things about them. Other manufacturers have a lot of bling, but forget the basics. I've seen pics of gear breaking down after a trip in the washing machine. Motoport (or any other good manufacturer, like Aerostitch) gear won't do that. Just good, basic construction.
Motoport gear comes with this guarantee:
The Best Guarantee Of Any Motorcycle Apparel Company In The World!!!

All Kevlar Jackets/Pants and One Piece Suits are fully guaranteed against any manufacturing defects for 7 years.
If Motoport cannot repair any of the Kevlar Jackets/Pants after a crash we will replace the crashed gear for free.

All Aero-Tex Jackets/Pants and Rain Suits have a Lifetime Warranty against any manufacturing defects. The Lifetime Warranty does not apply to apparel that has been worn out from years of use.


Motoport sells many different products, such as more sporty, tighter fitting jackets. Mine is more for touring. My gear isn't the sexiest out there, but Motoport makes some others that may be more agreeable to the fashion-conscious.

The jacket and pants are semi-custom. You have to give a lot of measurements when you order. Wayne keeps a bunch of sizes in stock and tweaks the sizing to fit you. There are many options to choose from. Some aren't even listed on the site, you just have to call Wayne and talk to him about the riding you want to do.

Some options that I have are:
* reflective stripes in front
* no upper cargo pockets on the jacket
* velcro to hold collar open for more airflow (stop & go traffic)
* double hip armor (not tri- or quad- armor)
* quad armor upgrade EVERYWHERE (except hip armor)
* reflective on calves

I want to be seen on the road, of course.
I don't want to have a totally hi-viz setup, though. ( I have a hi-viz vest I can wear)
I think I have a good compromise between being seen and getting stared at.
Another option I got was velcro to hold the collar open.
If you're interested in Motoport gear, check out the thread I linked to above.
You can also give Wayne a call. He's a nice guy to talk to. You can tell he's really passionate about motosports protection.
Kevlar Motorcycle Apparel - the Best in the World
Last edited by anoop on Sat Feb 11, 2012 8:24 pm, edited 3 times in total.
anoop
 

Re: Motoport Ultra II stretch kevlar jacket and pants

Postby Meza44 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:00 pm

Thanks for the review, I am seriously considering purchasing a pair of pants from them since I am hard to fit.

What model pants did you get?

Chris
Chris Meza
'85 R80/7
'99 Funduro (RIP)
Meza44
Frequent Poster
 
Posts: 177
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:58 pm
Location: Gricignano di Aversa, Italy

Re: Motoport Ultra II stretch kevlar jacket and pants

Postby anoop » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:05 pm

Meza44 wrote:Thanks for the review, I am seriously considering purchasing a pair of pants from them since I am hard to fit.

What model pants did you get?

Chris


Ultra II Kevlar Pant
http://www.motoport.com/_product_106916 ... evlar_Pant
anoop
 


Return to Reviews

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests