WINTER MOTORCYCLE KIT – DAINESE HEAD TO HEAD

Clothing designed for all year use handles the greatest demands of all motorcycle kit: it needs to balance keeping you warm, dry and sheltered during the colder months, but it also needs to tip a nod to warmer weather too, with removable layers and venting. Of course, when selecting kit to see you through the year, budget’s going to play an important part in your decision-making process. And that’s why we spoke to iconic Italian manufacturer Dainese to see how they cater for a range of pockets.

Dainese is perhaps best known for its Gore-Tex range (who could forget Valentino Rossi’s amazing Gore-Tex/ leather blend race suit?), but they don’t just make clothing for the very top end. Coming down from the company’s high-spec kit is a midrange Gore-Tex line, then the D-Dry range (featuring proprietary material, passing the saving to the customer), then a more basic textile range. To see what you can get your hands on dependant of budget, Dainese sent us two head-to-toe sets of kit, and let Bob Pickett put it through its paces...

Okay, I recognise that some of you will say that even the ‘lower’ budget set is a pretty pricey – but it’s worth noting that Dainese offers top-end jackets that cost more than both ranges combined. Admittedly, Dainese does offer more budget-oriented kit, shaving around £100 off the cost of the D-Dry range.

The two ranges were tested across autumn, winter and spring. When the temperature drops the rain is always a threat, but on sunny days the challenge was to not overheat. To establish a control, all testing was done wearing the EDZ base layer top and bottom tested previously.

How do both sets of kit feel to ride in? The D-Dry kit shone. Instantly comfortable, it curves where you need curves, every item is a lovely length and gives just where you need it to give. I used it on both my bike and test rides and it felt great on all bikes. In comparison the Gore-Tex range felt made more for adventure bikes than my Vulcan S. It is like the Gore-Tex range was designed by a committee whose core criteria was to ensure it ticks boxes in terms of warmth, protection and versatility, but the D-Dry range was designed by a single biker... a biker who perhaps doesn’t ride in the coldest and wettest parts of the year.

The Tempest D-Dry jacket has a removable zippable thermal liner, the outer jacket fastening by poppers. As I said before the cut is lovely, it just feels great to ride in. For summer months it has twin front and rear zipped vents to allow airflow to keep you cool. Down into autumnal temperatures (10⁰C) it is warm enough, but as the temperature falls it struggles a bit. It is short on pockets (one Napoleon pocket, two external pockets... plus an ‘additional’ pocket when the liner is in place – sorry, to me that is one less when it is removed. Wouldn’t cost much to add an internal pocket to the jacket), and those external pockets are water resistant not water proof. Heavy rain had the contents get damp – not great when your mobile is in there.

The Sandstorm Gore-Tex jacket is a three-layered affair; waterproof outer, thermal midlayer and a microfibre inner that makes a great lightweight jacket when not riding. Like the Tempest, it has twin front and rear venting. This jacket protects against anything nature throws its way – cool in summer through to toasty in quite cold conditions. And wind and rain protection is superb, utilising twin storm flaps both of which fasten with zip and poppers. I love the pockets; another Napoleon, plus two zippable and popper fastened external pockets (for items that need to be secure) with a couple of light pockets for items you need to access easily, even with gloves on I could open them. And the contents stay bone dry in all of them, even in hard rain. Grumps? It just doesn’t feel as instantly comfortable as the Tempest, and the sleeve zip tabs can be a struggle to undo. Oh, and the front vents? When they’re opened (there are small Velcro tucks in the shoulders where the flaps attach), working in conjunction with the rear vents they’re effective. But closed? The bottom of the vent is open, allowing wind to enter… reducing core heat and making the jacket lift! A longer Velcro strip would eradicate this problem.

The Tempest D-Dry pants are great to wear, again beautifully cut with a light curve at the waist. They feature zipped vents on the legs for hot summer days and a removable quilted layer for colder times. A nice touch is the elasticated crotch in the quilting to ensure a flexible riding position... unfortunately the taped seam on the outer failed to hold off all the rain with perhaps a teaspoon getting through. I didn’t find the Galvestone Gore-Tex pants as comfortable. Despite being the same size, the waist popper came undone. With the quilted lining in place they’re not as flexible as the Tempest kit and there are no vents (despite using Gore-Tex, additional venting is useful – what I thought was venting is the knee armour pocket). But they’re warmer and never let a drop of water reach me.

For the boots, I’d say try on the Freeland Gore-Tex boots first. They’re quite contoured; I’m fine in them, but for some people I’d think they will feel tight around the ankles. And the zip placement (on the inside of the boot, Velcro flaps over the top) has me struggling to do them up at times. No such problem with the Tempest D-WP boots; they have a more ‘everyman’ fit (wider at the ankles), zips on the outside allowing them to be done up with foot on the floor (again covered by Velcro flaps), with a nice touch being Velcro flaps on both sides of the calf allowing for a wide range of adjustment. Both boots use the same material on the soles (good grip even in the wet) but the Freeland were warmer and the Gore-Tex will breathe better in summer.

I really like the Tempest gloves; they are immediately comfortable with a nice balance between warmth and feel. They’re really two-season gloves – they will get sweaty in summer and deep winter sees them struggle (see below). And they’re light on finger protection. The X-Travel gloves are toasty warm; the long double cuff covers the wrist area (a lot of heat is lost at the wrist), the thick material keeps the fingers warm and flexible into low temperatures with good protection where it is needed. But they’re more single-season and meant more for long rides. Commuting wasn’t their natural home, the lesser feel was evident and I just wasn’t comfortable in the double cuff. Both gloves have a rubber wiper which is really effective at shifting rain.

The final test was a cold weather head-to-head. It was 6⁰C. First I tested the D-Dry range; at this temperature (especially picking up the pace) shoulders, arms and hands felt chilly. The Gore-Tex range was toasty warm with the third layer created by the microfibre jacket making a real difference. So I went back out with the D-Dry... this time adding my EDZ microfleece mid-layer. And with that added shoulders and arms were fine. Okay, that is another £50 but that combination is still £110 less than the Gore-Tex jacket alone. Adding microfibre liners to the D-Dry gloves helped, but they were no contest for the Gore-Tex gloves.

In many ways, the difference for me was two teaspoons of water. That’s the amount that got past the jacket pockets and crotch seam of the D-Dry trousers. The Gore-Tex kit handled the technical aspect to perfection. The D-Dry range is great until the coldest, wettest times, the Gore-Tex is perhaps a true 12 month set of kit (gloves aside, you’ll want a summer pair no matter what).

For more information on the kit tested, visit: www.dainese.com