Big and Tall clothing

[cpettifer]

At 6'6" tall I have had mixed success with motorbike clothing. I have a 38" - 40" waist (depending on fit), but the real killer is 36" inside leg. The other issue is that I'm not particularly large up top (no working out in the gym for me!), with a 44" - 46" chest, but have long arms. Here's my clothing story...

When I first started biking 4.5 years ago I had a rather large set of trousers that I wore over the top of my regular trousers (all my biking was commuting). I can't remember the size, but they were something like XXXXL. The waist was far too wide and I eventually had to get braces to hold them up. In the summer I found it far too hot and bought some mesh trousers from HG that were "long" leg, but these weren't really long enough. I just put up with it. My jackets was also some mega size just to get a bit more length in the arms. All of this stuff was relatively cheap (i.e. £100-£150).

Eventually I got fed up with the waterproof trousers and found out from forums that Richa sold some Monsoon trousers in Extra Long leg. Brilliant. I bought (and still have) 3XL sized trousers. They fit brilliantly. They are perhaps a touch large in the summer when I have the thermal lining out, but they are brilliant. How annoyed am I now though, as they have stopped selling the extra long leg version.

I bought a Richa jacket too that zipped into the trousers along the back. The zip is on a stretchy bit of fabric so, for the first time ever, I had a jacket and trousers that zip together. I don't think they'd let me on a track day with this jacket / trouser combination (I think they often have rules about fully zipped race suits or all in ones although don't know for certain, possibly leathers too), but for regular riding, stopping the jacket riding up etc, it is great.

The Richa jacket wore out, so I now have an expensive HG GoreTex jacket. The arms are a really good length and because they have these bits of fabric to put your thumbs through it really helps to hold it in place properly. At the same time as getting this there was an offer on half price trousers, so I picked up a pair of leather trousers. They are a bit short when I don't have boots on, but because they tuck into my boots this doesn't matter too much. However, if I try and zip them into the jacket there's just no way they will meet! However, the jacket has a "Safety Belt" which goes between my legs and fastens to stop the jacket riding up etc. Not pretty, but effective. I'd recommend the HG jacket, although it is pricey. I can't remember the model, but it's the dayglo yellow GoreTex one.

At some point I found a Held leather jacket that fitted me quite nicely, so I bought it on a whim. It's a "classic" style jacket that I wear occasionally in the summer if popping into town, that sort of thing. It won't zip into anything though!

Now my waterproof trousers needed replacing, so I was annoyed about Richa stopping extra long legs until I remembered people on here, and other forums, had mentioned JTS Biker Clothing. I looked at their web site and they sell clothing in a HUGE range of sizes. They have a set of waterproof trousers with 5 different leg lengths, including extra long, and a set of leather trousers the same. They also have kevlar jeans the same. They also sell a large number of different waist sizes for their stuff. I also noticed that they did a two piece race suit with a long leg length, which I thought might be worth investigating.

This weekend I was away, but on the way home we passed their factory shop, so I went in and tried on about half a dozen pairs of trousers! All the extra long leg length ones, plus a couple of long versions. Here's the deal:

JTS 744 leather trousers - Extra long leg, 38" waist - brilliant fit. I'd probably buy them if I didn't have the HG leather trousers already. Armour all in the right places and really comfy.

JTS Podium waterproof trousers - Extra long leg, 40" waist - brilliant fit again. With the adjustable waist I can pull them in to fit properly and still have room for thick jumpers in the winter to fit in too (hence 40" waist). I bought these to replace my Richa Monsoons!

JTS Kevlar Jeans - Extra long leg, 38" waist - not so good. Armour in the knees was totally wrong, just too high up. This product needs a redesign for tall people! However, if you have your own strap on armour the trousers themselves are quite nice.

JTS Cobra leather trousers - Long leg, 38" waist - a good fit. Feels a bit tight, but I figure it's a race suit so it should be tight. It would probably give a little after wearing in and fit just great. I then tried:

JTS Cobra leather jacket - 46" chest - again a pretty good fit. Still room for me to fit my back protector. But the best thing of all is that it zipped into the above trousers. So, I think I've found a leather suit I could use on track if I ever wanted to, without having to get a made to measure suit done up.

I didn't buy the leather suit, as I don't currently need one... but now I know it's there.

The folk who work there are lovely (if you want to see what they look like just look at their web site. The staff model for all the product images!). They totally understood where I was coming from trying on all the stuff and were really helpful. They also let my wife try on a load of stuff even though she didn't buy anything. They have a large range of ladies sizes too with different leg lengths. So if you don't fit into "standard" size motorcycle gear do check them out.

I'm not in any way affiliated with JTS - I just had a great experience I wanted to share! :-)

I wore the trousers on the bike this morning for the first time and all seemed good. Mind you, it didn't rain today, so I couldn't comment on their waterproofness yet!

[Boomer]

My jacket, trousers, oversuit, and as soon as I can get there again possibly my boots will all be from JTS.
The boots are due to my large feet (UK 15, US 16) which they have just started carrying.
I bought the 676 trousers and they are indeed very waterproof.
I have had 2 leaks at the crotch but only in torrential rain and very slow traffic when I didn't have time to put the oversuit on.

If you are in any way a weird size or shape, give them a try.
The factory shop is in Coalville.
Prices are pretty good too.

[Gonome]

Agree, I get loads of stuff from there both summer and winter gear and always been happy with it. Prices are reasonable too.