Hi Dasmoetorhead.
There was a lot of good opions and information added in the posts above. Seems like a lot of Spyder riders have top shelf riding gear, some of which, is from their earlier days riding on two wheels.
Somewhere in the 2010 timeframe, I made a trip to Duluth, MN to visit Aerostich to select a riding suit and get custom measured by the Aerostich staff right there in the store. This is a great opportunity to check out the various suits and pant they offer and to actually try them on from the large size inventory they have in stock. Note at this time, I barely knew that CanAm Spyders existed as I had a pair of air cooled Ducati Multistradas.
At the time I selected a High Viz two piece Roadcrafter and don't regret that choice at all. Note though that the one piece Roadcrafter was really tempting as it was soooo easy and quick to get into and out of...
At that time, Aerostich also offered a 10% discount, if I remember correctly, if you were fitted at the store as the chance of getting it right first time go way up. Yes, other than being stiff as a shooting jacket and pants, until broken in, the suit when delivered fit perfectly. Once broken it, it softens up and is comfortable as easy to wear. Plus the High Viz suit does stand out and hopefully is noticed more quickly by our inattentive, cell phone addicted drivers on the road.
Several mentions of the Aerostich Darian jacket/pants have been made. It is unlined, unlike the Roadcrafter, and may be cooler in hot weather for that reason. However, per Aerostich, the Darian is basically a "standard sized", off the shelf suit wheras the Roadcrafter is a tighter and custom fit suit if ordered new. It is made to order for fit, so if you fall outside of the "norm", the Roadcrafter ordered new would be made to fit you rather than the "average"person. This is something to keep in mind.
I really liked the 2 piece Roadcrafter until the temp, along with high humidity in NE KS got to the mid 90s. Then it got hot, especially stopped. I ALWAYS wore the Roadcrafter jacket, SHoei full face helmet, the Aeostich Elkskin Roper gloves (these are GREAT!!!) and either my high top riding boots or at minimum, a set of 9 inch lace up RedWings. Didn't always wear the Roadcrafter pants on short trips though...but instead, I purchased several pairs of the Carhartt Double Fronted Logger pants, in both heavy weight denim and also heavy weight duck fabric. Not as good as the Roadcrafter pants, but much better than standard denim jeans...plus a knee pad can be slipped in between the layers on the front.
In the 2014 timeframe, I purchased 2009 Spyder GS/RS from my son. The above gear worked great, again unitl the mid 90s in the high humidity, then it was hot.
In 2021, I purchased a 21 Spyrder RTL. Very comfortable, with a large pocket of still air behind the stock windscreen. Note this 21 RTL has MUCH better windprotection than the Ducatis did, or than the 2009 Spyder, even with the Madstad windscreen (another superb item), so riding with the Roadcrafter on the RTL became even hotter since the wind protection was so much better. Below 90 degrees, the Roadcrafter, with vents open, was fine even on the 21 RTL.
Two years ago, as luck would have it, I found a forum member here selling a full 2 piece MotoPort (
https://www.motoport.com/) Air Mesh Jacket and Air Mesh Pants with suspenders. After some back and forth communications and measurements, it seemed that his suit would fit me nearly perfectly...and it did. He sold the suit as he had to give up riding due to some spinal issues, but had bought it new and had it fitted at MotoPort. His bad luck turned out to be good luck for me. Like the Aerostich Roadcrafter, the MotoPort Air Mesh is also built to fit from measurements provided to them.
The Kevlar mesh, especially on the jacket, breathes much better in the high heat and humidity days here in NE KS and for those conditions, is much more comfortable to me in the heat. Cold and wet, the Roadcrafter would be my choice, and, as mentioned earlier it does not need a rain liner, or over coat like the Kevlar Mesh Motoport does. I am extremely fortunate to have two top shelf suits that both fit well but serve different needs, temperature wise, while riding.
Note, if I were to go sliding down the road in one of these suits, I would pick the Motoport Air Mesh every time. Luckily I have not had to test this, but the MotoPort is built like a tank. And, this is not putting the Roadcrafter down in any way. Both are great riding suits with somewhat different features.
Hope this is of some benefit. Thanks Rod
Yes, my MotoPort Air Mesh jacket is also the High Viz version. It is towards the yellow-green side, vs the High Viz yellow of the Roadcrafter jacket, but both do stand out, which is my intent.
