Passes & Canyons Blog

I’ve written before about the Rev’It! Vapor 2 riding pants I bought in November 2018, and I continue to like them a lot.

That said, I need to do an update of that review because there have been problems.

When Bill and Dennis and I met up a few weeks ago to head out on the 2020 OFMC trip we got together, as we often do, at the King Soopers in Conifer. As per usual, I went in the store to use the restroom one last time. As I zipped the pants up, however, the zipper just came right off.

Generally with zippers, there is something at the top that stops the zipper. However, in this case, something somehow got broken so right up at the top of the teeth there is now a gap between two teeth and the piece that joins the two sides of teeth just came right off. You can see this in the photo above, and on the right, two teeth from the top, you can see the gap.

I thought I might be able to get the zipper pull back on the teeth and then seal off the top but that was an exercise in futility. However, it was not all that big a deal because of that flap you see behind the zipper. This is intended to keep water out, I assume, but it also means I was not walking around with my pants open, just with the zipper unzipped. I could still fasten it at the top with that buckle.

So anyway, when I got home I contacted Rev’It! to see if it could be repaired. It’s more than a year since I bought them so I didn’t expect any warranty type of response but I hoped maybe I could send them to them and, for a small fee, they would repair and return.

Nah. All they could offer was a couple shops I can contact, one in California and the other in Washington, that might be able to do the job. I guess if I’m shipping them to one of those places it’s not any different than shipping them to Rev’It!. What I’d really prefer, though, would be if I can find some place locally where I don’t have to ship at all. If anyone has any recommendations I’d be happy to hear them.

Meanwhile, as I say, it’s not that big a deal–the pants still work just fine, and I do still like them a lot. But I did want to pass along this note about the problem in case you’re looking at buying some riding pants.

Update
OK, just since I wrote this earlier today I decided to take the pants to a dry cleaners that advertised repairs and alterations to see if they could fix the zipper. I went to Washington Park Cleaners, at 529 E Ohio Ave., and I want to mention them specifically because the lady who helped me was wonderful, and she seemed embarrassed to charge me the $5 I gave her for her efforts. And we got the zipper fixed! Yahoo! Here’s a photo of the zipper now. That shiny brass piece at the top on the right side makes all the difference.

Biker Quote for Today

Top 10 signs that a computer is owned by a Harley rider: 04. — There is a Skoal can mounted in the CD-ROM drive.

It has gotten fairly cold lately but that doesn’t stop me from riding. Only icy streets and snow stop me from riding. So it makes sense that I have gear to keep my legs warm.

My legs actually get short shrift compared to the rest of my body. I have boots on my feet and electric gloves for my hands. I have an electric vest for my torso, and a helmet for my head. And of all this, the stuff I wear least often is the stuff for my legs. I don’t know why; maybe this year I’ll make more of a point of using these things. Anyway, lately I’ve made a point of wearing everything just to do a comparison.

My earliest acquisition was leather chaps. These don’t have any insulating properties and there is no armor but they stop the wind. Often that’s all you need. But when it’s really cold, your butt is going to get a bit chilly. And your legs, too, after a long enough while. But they’re quick and easy to put on and do offer protection in case you go down.

Later on I got a pair of fleece-lined CORDURA®︎ chaps from Colorado Chaps and these were really meant for colder weather. They stop the wind, and they provide insulation, but there is no armor and they probably offer less protection than the leathers. They are chaps, however, so once again, your butt can feel the cold. And after awhile you’re going to get cold just the same. In fact, that’s the case with all three of these things and the only way to get around that is electrics. That’s something I don’t have yet, electric pants liners. Maybe that’s next on my list.

For overall (non-electric) warmth, my Vapor 2 riding pants by REV’IT! are the winner. They have armor, they cover my butt, and with the liner and long underwear they are the warmest of the three. They’re also the most awkward to get on. (The fleece-lined chaps are the easiest to get on.)

So what’s my preference? I guess for really cold weather I’ll choose the Vapor 2s. When it’s cold but not so much, I think I’ll start wearing the fleece-lined chaps more. And I will probably continue not to wear the leathers very much. I never have worn them much, even though they’re the ones I’ve had the longest.

On the other hand, I’m looking forward to the summer now when I’ll be able to really try out the Vapor 2s as summer riding gear. Without the liner and without jeans, and with vents, they should be very cool and comfortable to wear while still offering serious protection. And that will be another update, in maybe six or seven months.

Biker Quote for Today

Try to remember the reason you started riding a motorcycle in the first place. For me, it was a couple of things but mostly rebellion. — Sonny Barger

I mentioned previously that I bought a new pair of riding pants and now I’ve had more chance to try them out. This is an update.

As you may recall, the pants I bought were the REV’IT! Vapor 2s. Fact is, my primary interest was for some summertime pants that would offer protection and make packing easier because I would only need to pack pants to wear in the evening, after wearing the riding pants all day while on the bike. Nevertheless, I also wanted to see how they would do as winter pants, offering both warmth and protection. I actually see protection as a bigger issue in winter than in summer because in winter there is the possibility of ice or else sand laid down to counter the ice.

So it’s winter, or at least late fall if you go by the official season dates, so my testing has been to see how they do on cold days. First I rode with jeans on underneath and no liner, then with both jeans and the liner, and thirdly with the liner but no jeans, along with long underwear.

The first time, with jeans, I was comfortable but noticed some coolness on the backs of my legs. The fronts have armor so that does a great job of stopping the wind.

The second time, with jeans and the liner, my biggest problem was getting them on. It probably took me 10 minutes, and in order to snap the waist I had to remove my belt because the buckle was just too much. You might argue that I should have bought a size larger but if I had gone that route I probably would have needed to go to a different brand of pants. And who knows, maybe I should have. I went with a smaller size because the legs were so long and even then I had to special order the shorter legs option. If I had gone with a larger waist the legs would probably have been just too long. But with what I got, Judy made the very good point that I better not gain weight or the pants won’t fit.

Anyway, riding with both jeans and liner was totally warm. Really nice. Along with my heated gear it was just as comfortable as riding in much warmer weather.

The third time seems to have been the charm, though. Thermal long underwear made up for the lack of jeans and they fit better in the pants with liner.

I’m still getting used to the pants in that they restrict my movement a bit, but I just step onto the peg and raise myself up before swinging my leg over. On the Honda I don’t even need to do that because the seat height on that bike is so low. Once I settle onto the seat all is fine.

Overlooked in all this is the fact that I already had other things to wear on my legs for warmth. For many, many years I have had a pair of leather chaps and for a somewhat shorter period of time I have had some fleece-lined chaps. The leathers are meant for all-year riding while the fleece ones are specifically winter oriented. Just for a comparison I have been wearing them lately, too, and will discuss how they all compare in my next post.

Biker Quote for Today

Animals travel on all fours. Mankind on two. Motorcycling is not a means of transport but an ideology, a nomadic way of life. — Amit Reddy

For quite some time now I have been looking covetously at my friends who have weatherproof, armored riding pants. These are the people who have no reason to stop when the weather turns wet. While the rest of us are making quick stops to suit up, they sit and wait for us.

I decided to become one of them. I went down to Performance Cycle and came home with a pair of REV’IT! Vapor 2 pants.

There are several attractions. First there is the armor. If I go down I like the idea of having armor in the knees and hips. I’ll still need to put on a rain jacket but putting on the rain pants is always the biggest pain.

But another really big thing is the benefit for packing. These are pants you can wear without having to wear other pants beneath. When you’re traveling, you get up, put on the Vapor 2s with just your underwear beneath, and when you get to the day’s destination you change out of them into shorts, light-weight pants, jeans–whatever you want. The point being that you can pack pants that are more compact than jeans and/or you can just pack fewer pants.

What I’m still looking to explore is their winter usefulness. In the summer I can ride with just underwear beneath, or I can wear jeans beneath. All of this with the flannel liner removed. In winter I can ride with jeans beneath and no liner or add in the liner for additional warmth.

So far I’ve only worn them once on a cold day and that was without the liner. I found that in front, primarily due to the armor, they were plenty warm. However, the back sides of my legs felt the relative coolness. I have yet to ride with the liner in.

All that said, wearing them takes some getting used to. They feel a little big and clunky on me and them impede the act of swinging my leg over the saddle. I just have to do it in a more planned, deliberate manner.

Will I really take to them, and make them an everyday part of my riding gear? I’ll let you know.

Biker Quote for Today

Son, someday you will make a girl very happy, for a short period of time. Then she’ll leave you and be with new men who are ten times better than you could ever hope to be. These men are call motocross racers.