Had a similar experience on a “custom” job with a bicycle bag manufacurer in Seattle: R.E. Load bags.

Despite Motoport’s claims that all other gear is inadequate I will take my chances in the retail market and keep searching for off the rack gear that fits. Quality gear is never cheap, some production gear is even more expensive than Motoport, but I doubt that I will be subjected to insults if I have problems with BMW or Rev It.

Regarding the pants(mine were size XS – go figure), I have Alpinestar boots – MXR – so when I tighten the velcro on the bottom of the pant cuff my pants rise about 4″ and the knee pads fit great. So far I’ve worn my outfit about 50 hours and the jacket and pants are beginning to loosen up. I imagine in another few months they should be much less stiff and more form fitting.

I feel very, very confident riding my Honda ST1300 on very long highway rides with this gear. I can’t imagine having any other type of outfit – even a full leather racing suit – that would provide as much protection (I have the upgraded quad armor in mine).

Good luck. You will really love this outfit in time. I can almost guarantee it.

Thanks again for your comments. The way the pants are designed continue to make me happy every time I step in and out of them. The system seemed confusing at first, but it really is great. I’m going to review the pants independently from the jacket at some point, and perhaps shoot a video to better convey how easy they are to get in and out of.

I do use the velcro around the ankles, and it helps. The side stand on my FZ6 is particularly bad about snagging the inside of the pant right where the velcro is, and unhooks the velcro >:( Not a big deal though.

The knee armor doesn’t move up enough to cover my knee cap, even after sitting on the bike. Installing aftermarket CE-certified armor helps quite a bit, and will also be depicted when I write my pant review.

Thanks again for your comments.

Best, Bob

I have Motoport gear. My comment to you is that protective gear is not suppose to fit like a custom business suit. Your jacket looks to me like it fits fine. This jacket is meant to be worn in temps ranging from 30F to 110F with optional layering – I purchased all. My total motoport outfit – that I purchased over the telephone in August 2008 fits great and was the best $1,800 I’ve spent.

Wayne knows what he is doing. Maybe he got a little emotional and unbusinesslike in the letter. In my opinion, from over 30 years of racing and riding motorcycles his gear with the quad pro armor upgrades is the best you can buy in the world – esp. for the broad temperature range it can be used.

Give the jacket a try. Once you begin layering in colder weather it will fit great. Then, when it breaks in, it won’t look or feel as bulky. You made an awesome purchase – you just don’t know it yet. You will by August of next year if you start wearing the jacket now.

I only hope that before August of 2009 you redeem Wayne and Motoport in the same way you made your thoughts known now.

Good luck and good riding!

They definitely should have warned you that carrying out their suggestion would void the warranty.

I agree that a true custom job would involve making the gear from scratch based on the measurements, not alterations to pre-existing components.

Also, re his whining about your atypical chest size, somebody call the waaahmbulance! Seriously, if they can’t handle atyp or online/phone orders, they should turn them down to begin with, not blame the customer.

Hi DrFaulken,

Thanks for posting my comments on advrider. This shows me that you have character. Please also post the following on advrider:

After reading your post on advrider and seeing the other photos on the blog,
it appears to me that the jacket is sized correctly with the body. When the
Mesh Kevlar is new, it is stiff. This stiffness makes it is impossible to
cinch down the Velcro straps under the chest and bottom hem without getting
severe wrinkles in the jacket. As mentioned on the phone this style jacket
is not made to wear in a snug fashion. Wearing the jacket snug only
accomplishes negatives, bad fit, uncomfortable to wear etc… You mentioned
in the thread about the armor moving when falling if the jacket is loose.
Never in our history has the armor moved in a tumble. The type of armor,
construction, materials used, prevent the armor from moving with impact, even
when worn loose.

The sleeve length is another issue. The photos shown appear that your
stretching the arms out fully extended. This is not the position when
riding a bike. Pull the wrinkles out of the sleeves and put the arms in a
riding position. If the sleeves are short, then we need to make them
longer. It is very easy to take perfect fitting apparel and make it appear
to fit terrible in a photo.

Fitting riders has always been our most difficult job. Different types of bikes require
different fitting apparel. Riders like you want snug fitting gear, others
prefer loose fitting. Sizing for regular clothing in pants/jackets has never been consistent and in the majority of cases,
not even close to actual measurements. This confuses people when they wear a pant size of 36
and the measured waist size can be up to 41 or larger. It is very common to get incorrect chest/hip measurements from women. Incorrect waist/chest measurements from men. My company has been manufacturing motorcycle apparel since 1965. In the past we used a very detailed sizing page to fill out. This gave us more problems. The current methods of sizing has been learned over many years of experience. Go on our web site. We do
have a Sizing Guide. Yesterday I also updated all the text on the Kevlar
apparel. (Our sizing now is explained better.) The sizing issue we will continue to improve over the years. It will still be impossible
in some cases to fit every rider perfectly.

Finally, you mention growing up in a small family business and your respect for small companies like mine. Then you go and trash my company with many lies and misinformation.

1. No person in my company would ever tell you to take a deep breath and measure the chest.

2. You state as fact how we make our gear and that it is not custom made. As a new rider you may not realize that we are the only company left in the world making synthetic custom motorcycle apparel. I’m very surprised that some of our custom sized riders didn’t blast you for your comments. When you sent back the first jacket that was custom made to your improper measurements, we loose money from that point on, even if we sell you another jacket. (Note: We didn’t charge you any custom fees.) Just last month my company was blasted by a women on a web site. She gained weight, upset that we made her pay to alter her pant and pay for return shipping!!!!
http://www.pashing.com/forum/show.pup?to=18793

Following was a great response from Tom shown on adviser:

http://www.adviser.com/forums/show.pup?to=378471
We have never made a profit selling complete custom gear. Try to purchase any custom apparel. If we charged an extra $500 for a complete custom jacket and $400 extra for a complete custom pant, on top of the regular price, that would be a break even point. If the gear needed alterations after sending, we loose money again.

Everyone in my company would also tell you that I’m the only one here that wants to keep making custom apparel.

3. The biggest complaint about our company is waiting for our gear after placing the order. If I spent one tenth of the time on each customer that was spent on you, everyone would be waiting even loner.

Customers like you and the women in the above links, make it difficult to continue with anything custom.

Best regards,
Wayne Boyer
President Motoport/Cycleport USA

Okay, there we go. You’ve answered my question from your previous post. I guess this is a lesson learnt: any tailored clothing should be measured by the -tailor- and not by the customer. That way you can guarantee a good fit AND you can hoist the responsibility of any fuckups onto the tailor.

Of course it sucks that it’s a $650 lesson.