Coming Soon: Aerostich Roadcrafter One-piece Riding Suit

I've been wearing an Aerostich Darien jacket for over 60,000 miles now, and if you've read any of my previous blog posts on the topic, you'll quickly learn I value it more than any other single piece of gear I own.

It's that good.

It's about to have company. This morning I ordered a Roadcrafter one-piece suit from Aerostich, to be worn predominately while riding my 2012 Suzuki GSX-R750. The color scheme I chose was a black suit with blue ballistic accents.

A few weeks ago I spoke with a sales rep at Aerostich on the phone. He convinced me to try on a standard off-the-rack sized Roadcrafter first and ship it back before ordering a custom-made version. The idea is, you put on the standard model, get on your bike and see what adjustments would need to be made. It takes a bit more time, but the suit will be custom-made just for me and I plan to put tens-of-thousands of miles on it, so fit matters.

I'm glad I did. Aerostich shipped a Roadcrafter Light with upgraded pads to me. I tried it on, then sat on my Gixxer while it was up on the paddock stand. Once I got into my tucked riding position, I quickly realized the arms need to be rotated forward slightly. All other aspects of the fit were fine.

I called Aerostich and placed my order for the custom Roadcrafter, then I boxed up the Light and dropped it off at UPS on my way into work. Most Roadcrafters take 8-10 weeks to make and ship, but fortunately the wonderful folks at Aerostich back-dated my request to my first call back in May. I should hopefully see my new suit within the next 7-8 weeks. I'll report more when it arrives.

My Aerostich and Me

"You look like you've been someplace interesting," she said. The waitress nodded her head to the side, toward my Darien sitting upright in the chair next to me, crusted with miles of road spray and grime. "Yeah, we've been around." The next words out of my mouth were related to my lunch order but inside I was smiling, remembering the thousands of miles my Aerostich and I had traveled together. Like a faithful buddy, it would have been apropos to buy it a cheeseburger and shake in thanks.

I miss my Aerostich

My Aerostich Darien jacket has been away getting professionally cleaned and refreshed for over a week. I miss it.

I have said before that my 'stich is my favorite piece of gear second only to my bike (2007 Suzuki V-Strom 650). It has been the single best investment I've made since getting into motorcycling, worth twice the price I paid. I love that jacket.

Friday afternoon I went for a short ride, wearing my Joe Rocket Ballistic jacket. It's tighter and isn't as comfortable or as warm as my Darien. The pockets are a pain in the neck to use and I doubt it's even waterproof. It accomplishes the job of protecting me in case of an accident, but it's not even very effective at helping prevent an accident -- there's not a single square inch of retro-reflective material on it anywhere. The fact that it's bright yellow is irrelevant considering I ride to and from work in the dark. It could be flaming pink and still wouldn't make me any more visible to the obliviots on four wheels.

I may ride less often during the winter months, but I still ride. Having my 'stich gone to the cleaners has been driving me nuts.