shyong
01-23-2003, 08:16 PM
Well, where do I start? I’ve been looking at this particular jacket for over 6 months now but I didn’t have the money to blow on a $570 jacket. I read all the literature involving what went into the $570 price tag. I was pretty much sold beyond that point. It also didn’t hurt that the jacket just flat out looked good (in my eyes anyways).
So I was about to drop $570 before Christmas on this jacket. But I held off till January. I visited www.kushitani.com to see the sizing chart to get a glance of what size I needed to get. Surely enough they had their Winter Sale Dec. 24-Jan. 13. The sale consisted of specially selected items. My luck, they had the Dragon jacket for sale at $399. To make a long story short I picked up the jacket and gloves for $605 shipped.
The Dragon Jacket.
The leather has no imperfections that I can see. Very supple to touch…almost like deerskin leather. A lot of the cheaper jackets have really hard leather, which doesn’t conform to the rider very well. Considering Kushitani grows their own cows for the specific purpose of motorcycle leather apparel. You can see why the leather is the way it is, soft and strong.
The leather is race grade thick at 1.5mm. But the bulk is hardly noticeable because of the suppleness. The white leather does not lay on top of the jacket but part of the jacket. This reduces the extra material which greatly lightens up the jacket. The zippers are made of brass so they are pretty durable compared to steel or aluminum. Around the neck collar, back portion of it is integrated with Keprotectic material. It’s an abrasion resistant stretch material so it’s really comfortable when you lean forward on the bike. The waist adjusters have two positions so you really have to fit within the jacket size range. If you have a gut…it will not fit. Trust me.
The inside of the jacket is lined with mesh lining. With the protection pieces held within the liner. There’s a full circumference zipper and a rear zipper. Two zippers in all. The protection pieces used are Kushitani proprietory K-foam. I would have to say I prefer CE type hard armor but from reading their explanation on K-foam…it’s just as good. A bit more comfortable too. However, I’m not impressed with the back pad…it’s a really thin piece of K-foam not like the thick pieces they use on the shoulder. But if I’m riding seriously I’ll invest in a back protection piece you wear separate from the jacket so it’s no big deal. The elbow and forearm armor is a mix of both plastic and K-foam. It feels real solid to say the least.
Overall, the jacket is solidly made with high quality leather. When I say high quality..it’s just that, high quality. I would definitely have to say I feel comfortable with this jacket if I was to get into a asphalt slide. Really worth the price of admission especially at $399. I would even pay full retail for this jacket…it’s that good.
Hyper Racing Gloves
Best gloves I have tried and owned to date. What can I say it fits like a glove, it’s so comfortable! The glove consists of two pieces, the wrist gauntlet and glove. With majority of the padding and protection in the wrist gauntlet the glove has really good feel. When I say ‘feel’ the glove doesn’t numb your hands, reducing the feel of what you are touching.
Majority of the protection comes from K-foam inserted between the leather. The wrist gauntlet is one big piece of K-foam covered by leather. Comparing this glove to hard armored gloves…there is a night and day difference in comfort.
The leather is the most impressive part about this glove. It’s so soft and shiny! The top side of the leather is really slick with a very nice gloss to it. I would say there would be no abrasion if you took a fall. Lol! The leather is 1.1mm thick and it shows. There isn’t much bulk to the gloves which I really like a lot. But I feel safe knowing these are race proven gloves.
With the hefty regular price of $250 I would probably pass on it if Jesus Himself made the gloves. But at $199 I took a gamble and purchased the gloves. I would have to say I am completely satisfied. Now knowing the fit and finish of these gloves I would lean 50/50 if I had to purchase these gloves at full MSRP.
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