New Jacket - Frank Thomas Aqua Anti-Freeze
After a small and unplanned body surf up the road on the Europ Touring BMW K1200S in April. I finally got around to replacing the Suzuki jacket that I bought last year only a week or so ago.
I am very disappointed with the quality of the Suzuki's jacket. A small spill at walking pace on a patch of diesel and the shoulder was all burst although not a lot of damage to the rest of the jacket where it had abraded on the road. The shoulder armour may have saved any bone damages but the bruising was across my body from shoulder blade to elbow.
In the end I tried a whole load at Hein Gericke and the ones in my price range were not very nice or not available in XXL! On the way home from HG, we called in at Laguna's new shop in Ashford. There I fell in love with a Halvarsson jacket. Very nice material, soft and waterproof but the XL was simply a little too small and they didn't have an XXL in stock. They did say I could pay for it and they would order it and if it didn't fit, refund me.....
With a trip to Keele planned for the beginning of the following week I needed something and had a look at Frank Thomas. I've not had an FT jacket for quite a few years. This one is part of the anti-freeze range and with the lining in was a snug fit. I don't usually wear the jackets with lining and with it out, the mesh inside is perfect with a shirt and my EDZ windproof underneath. There is plenty of room for my Peter Storm fleece or a sweatshirt if it gets cold.
To help in the summer there are two waterproofed zips front and back to allow air to flow through the jacket. On the run up to Santana at the O2 the day after buying it with the front open it did make the shoulders billow a bit.
The base cost was £99.99 and as they had an open day with 20% of everything the price came down. Of course, you never really know how good it will be in an accident as I found out with the Suzuki branded jacket! I have fitted the Knox back protector that started its working life last year in a succession of Buffalo jackets and then moved to the Suzuki jacket...
I am very disappointed with the quality of the Suzuki's jacket. A small spill at walking pace on a patch of diesel and the shoulder was all burst although not a lot of damage to the rest of the jacket where it had abraded on the road. The shoulder armour may have saved any bone damages but the bruising was across my body from shoulder blade to elbow.
In the end I tried a whole load at Hein Gericke and the ones in my price range were not very nice or not available in XXL! On the way home from HG, we called in at Laguna's new shop in Ashford. There I fell in love with a Halvarsson jacket. Very nice material, soft and waterproof but the XL was simply a little too small and they didn't have an XXL in stock. They did say I could pay for it and they would order it and if it didn't fit, refund me.....
With a trip to Keele planned for the beginning of the following week I needed something and had a look at Frank Thomas. I've not had an FT jacket for quite a few years. This one is part of the anti-freeze range and with the lining in was a snug fit. I don't usually wear the jackets with lining and with it out, the mesh inside is perfect with a shirt and my EDZ windproof underneath. There is plenty of room for my Peter Storm fleece or a sweatshirt if it gets cold.
To help in the summer there are two waterproofed zips front and back to allow air to flow through the jacket. On the run up to Santana at the O2 the day after buying it with the front open it did make the shoulders billow a bit.
The base cost was £99.99 and as they had an open day with 20% of everything the price came down. Of course, you never really know how good it will be in an accident as I found out with the Suzuki branded jacket! I have fitted the Knox back protector that started its working life last year in a succession of Buffalo jackets and then moved to the Suzuki jacket...
I wonder how long this jacket will last?
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