I wear the Joe Rocket jackets. I have one for summer and one for winter. Both have body armor as I just don't seem to bounce as well as I did 30 years ago. I have J.R. riding pants with armor but don't often wear them.

 

The leather jacket I wear on the Harley is so stinking thick and heavy who needs it. I do however have 1 Harley Jacket that does have full armor and a spine protector. On the crotch rocket I always have on an armored jacket and pants and because I am generally much more aggressive and going a lot faster too.

 

I wear 2 different summer jackets. One is all leather with perforations and the other is mesh and perforated leather. I ordered them both through the Internet at different times.
Both came with armor. When I got the first jacket and seen it had armor, I thought I would remove the armor, but tried it out with the armor and it didn't bother me, so I left the armor in both jackets.
Tom

 

I have the HD Switchback jacket. It came with elbow and shoulder armor. I left it in when I started wearing it. One day, when I washed the jacket, I took the armor out. Wore it for a few days without the armor, but it just didn't feel "right". Kinda like wearing a seatbelt for many years in a car, and then one day not wearing it...just doesn't quite feel right...

So yes, I wear armor almost everytime I ride. But none in my chaps.

 

I also have the HD Switchback jacket. I always wear it when I ride. I probably should get some kind of protection from the waist down.

 

I was wearing boots, jeans, and tshirt or regular jacket before 'the accident' and have since ordered a new jacket and a pair of draggin jeans.

I've already worn the jacket, it's an HD leather switchback, so it's a light-medium weight jacket w/ the leather on, so far in mid 40s-50s it was ok w/ a windshield, any colder and I'd add a layer or use a different jacket. So it's not warm enough to try the leather in the heat, but when it gets hot, I'll zip off the leather panels front and rear to expose the mesh jacket underneath, but the arms and shoulders will remain leather. There are pockets for the armor in shoulders and elbows, and the jacket itself has some extra padding in these areas. I just received the lightweight armor from HD for the 4 pockets, very thin and plyable. I'm sure some of the racing/sport bike oriented armor may be more heavy duty, but as light as this stuff is I don't even notice it in the jacket, so it's no big deal to keep it in there.

I went w/ this jacket in hopes that I would wear it all the time, and be as comfortable as possible wearing some protective gear, despite the summer heat here. I figured some of the other stuff I looked at that might offer more protection may not be as comfortable, and as someone said be too much like work, so I can deal w/ this, I think. Summer will tell for sure.

I have not tried the draggin jeans yet, got wrong size first time, sent back, trying the other set now. I've heard the kevlar is warm in summer, but I wanted to try something at least, if nothing else it may be an option for certain rides. It has optional armor for knees that seem like a good compromise for lightweight protection, although I wish the knee pad covered more area, since it might move around in the jeans.

I may look at overpants, but haven't tried any on yet.

I did also get some gloves, a winter set and a summer set. The summer set is a full glove from Alpine Stars, it's black w/ a leather inside palm/finger area, and a mesh back for airflow, w/ padding around the knuckles, pretty comfortable so far, but summer will tell. The winter gloves were a discounted set of waterproof gauntlet gloves from CycleGear, can't remember the brand, but for $27.99, they're real nice and have some hardened armor around the knuckles but still are easy to hold a good grip. Although not tried in extreme temps, I could not feel any wind getting in at highway speeds in the mid 40s.

So the only thing I want to experiment more with is the lower body. I'll try the draggin jeans and see how they are, maybe try another brand of a similar product for comparison. Maybe try some overpants (maybe some that dual as rain gear?), and maybe try a kneepad to wear under regular jeans if I can find one that isn't too weird.

I was lucky in the last accident, able to slide it out. Could have been worse if serious impact directly to a knee, and I've had a knee injury before, so it makes me want to look into more protection for the 'just in case'

I feel like if I'm riding around w/ a little more protection than I used to, I won't worry as much about a crash. In other words, I think any near miss or actual wreck makes you think more about certain safety things, and makes you even more aware of the idiots out there. But I don't want to worry about the bad things when I'm out there, so if I'm at least doing a little more in the gear dept, I feel like I can relax and enjoy the ride more. I do owe it to my family to try to remain above ground and in one piece at this point, so an injury sets me back w/ my personal and professional duties, so I want to minimize that risk more than I had in the past.

 

I have two Tourmaster textile jackets. Both have full armor. One is a mesh jacket for HOT weather and the other is a waist length heavy winter jacket for low 30's temps and below.

Other wise I wear my Fox Creek Classic I which is very heavy/supple leather but has no armor. It served me with full honors in my crash in November when I got rear-ended on the freeway. Surfing the pavement on my back at 65 mph i got up and walked away with just one minor spot of road rash cuz of my jacket lifting up at the waist cuz of how I was skidding feet first - not the fault of the jacket. It's a bit scarred-up but I'm still wearing it daily.

 

I never wear any armour. I wear in cold weather my leather jacket and chaps, and in the summer just jeans and a t-shirt. On the other hand one of my friends took a nasty spill and used to be like me. Now he wears full gear all the time including in the summer. It's all personal preference. fyi: he still doesn't wear a dot helmet. go figure.

 

I wear protection all the time, Kevlar linned denims, pads in both my leather and summer mesh Jackets

 

I also have the tourmaster textile set-up.
jacket and pants..both armored
34 degrees..a good gay to ride.
64 degrees..remove the liners and go