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Akito Cobra Maxx
by Hondaman
Having passed my test earlier on in the year, I was looking for a jacket (and the rest of the kit) that offered the best value whilst still being suitable for my purposes. I spent many hours in local dealerships looking at Dainese and Alpinestars kit, all of which were excellent quality but way out of my price range. A ... mate of mine, who is a motorcycle instructor, advised me to spend the most I could afford on the jacket. If I did, he promised, it would last me years and stay waterproof etc..
Good advice indeed, but I was in a position of having to buy the whole kit (helmet, boots, trousers, jacket and gloves) for a total cost of £250 or so - I had pretty much spent up on the bike itself.
The important thing, in my view, is to consider what you're going to be using the jacket for. If you're a full time bike instructor, it makes sense that your kit is the best possible quality as these are the tools of your trade. I, on the other hand, was using my kit to occassionally commute (fair weather biker?) and to have a bit of fun on weekends. I may occassionally get caught in a downpour but this was going to be rare.
So, onto the review (sorry about the build up). I saw the Akito Cobra Maxx jacket in Buster's Accessories catalogue. They were doing a deal whereby you could buy the jacket and matching trousers for £100 or just the jacket for about £70. I have since seen the jacket for sale in my local dealers at £99.99 so this was indeed a good price.
I was a bit sceptical about buying a jacket just from a small photo in a catalogue. But, since I couldn't afford the jackets in the shop I thought "what the hell - I can always send it back".
The jacket arrived a few days later and the first thing I thought was how good it looked "in the flesh". It is reassuringly weighty and feels of good quality. It has lots of pockets, external and internal and a handy one around the back of the jack
et to keep things away from windy rain.
The main zip is strong and protected by a layer of goretex and then poppers. I rode my bike in March when it was quite cold outside and even at speed I was completely comfortable. The jacket has a small zip at the back to allow you to zip it to the trousers.
The built in CE armour is sufficient for my needs and covers elbows, lower arms, shoulders and spine. All of the armour is high density foam type material and can be removed through velcroed pockets. The jacket has a zip out washable, thermal lining which is very warm but when removed exposes the velcro on the pockets. If you're wearing a T-shirt under the jacket it is a bit scratchy.
So far, in my 3 months of owning the jacket I have been very happy with it. It is warm, inspires confidence with the armour, waterproof (so far) and looks good. If I was being picky I would say it is already starting to look a bit frayed at some of the seams and one or two of the poppers are a bit looser than they were. If I were to be starting over again I would still buy this jacket, but I would buy a smaller size as it seems to have grown and is not as snug a fit as it was meaning I get the occassional cold blast down the back of my neck. Mind you I have lost weight recently so this could also be a contributing factor!
Summarising, this is a very good value jacket that has the features of a much pricier item. I can't comment yet on it's durability but, for the money I'm very happy with it. Like I said, I got a good deal through mail order (£70) and have seen it for sale at £100 in my local dealership. Even at this price it is still a good buy, but my advice would be to try it out for size first in the shop, then buy it from somewhere like Buster's Accessories. Alternatively, it may be worth trying to haggle with the shop.
When I saw the jacket up for £100, another biker was trying it on and commenting how good it looked. I to
ld him about the cheaper mail order route, but he was so impressed with the jacket that he paid the extra £30 to get it there and then!!
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Sidi Strada Tepor Boots
by unclefot
I tried several other manufacturers' similarly-styled boots, finding all just too loose around my arch/instep, probably because my feet are narrow for their US-sized 11&1/2 - 12 length. I was shopping for Sidi On-Road Sympatex boots, because of their "The Road Warrior" look, but fit was loose as well. Same story for other ... more race-oriented Sidis. But following a lead from a Texas online dealer newenough.com (for whom I'd like to put in a plug because of their personal service, and the superb quality and detail of their photos-they do their own-and their helpful comparative product descriptions) I thought the Strada might fit better, since they're made to a different "last" than some other Sidis. And fit they did. Not perfect, but just fine. So if your feet are slender, try these. I wear them with nice fuzzy-inside acrylic socks, which add to the wicking properties of the boots. Details: They are waterproof! I've been in downpours, stood in 2-inch deep water chaining the bike afterward, etc. =dry feet. They wick perspiration very nicely. (Dry feet.) I believe the synthetic material they're made from acts as Gore Tex does, because I never have a "clammy", damp feeling with these on.They've been comfortable in rides from the upper 80's Fahrenheit to the lower 50's or even high 40's, probably a combination of breathing, wicking, and sufficient air space around feet that there is useful insulation from heat and cold. They look tres cool. For moderate cost (as far as specialty boots go) they have reasonable protection, lacking only a hard panel over the inner ankle bone. My only complaint is that when I was very newbie, I continually kept snagging the rear edge of the left-foot shift-protection pad area on the underside of the shift lever. (This on a Kawasaki Ninja 500, with rubber-covered shift pad.) Oh, I'd also catch the boot top on the underside of the right pedals, lifting my foot from a stop in m
y early days. Kinda automatically lift my legs out and up now, pulling from a stop, so the "snag" problem is about gone. This may all be a common newbie experience. The boots have a zipper-over a folding waterproof panel fastening, this then covered by a long velcro flap. You can make the top overlap a bit more, to reduce the boot top's flaring out and snagging pedals. Cost everywhere seems stable at $200 US dollars.
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