[sheepofblue]

Picked up my new Joe Rocket GPX-R suit to replace the crash tested GPX suit. I considered having my GPX repaired (may still for the road) but saw the changes on the GPX-R and decided to go that route.

For those that are width challenged the available choices of suits seem small (dang twig people) with Joe Rocket being one of the best without gettting a custom suit. In the JR brand you have GPX-R and Speedmaster with the GPX-R be the less expensive of the two. If you are looking at a Speedmaster consider the small difference to get a custom from Barnacle Bill.

When I crash tested the GPX it generally did its job with one troubling exception. The right sleeve seperated after the seams were worn away (more on this later) The crash was a basic lowside with a pavement slide of 50-70 feet to the grass. The GPX armor seemed to protect fine and with the one exception the leathers held up to an acceptable level (tore an expansion joint above one knee but that is a low protection panel) with me sustaining zero scrapes.

Now onto the (mostly) improved GPX-R. The elbow that split now has fewer seams and beefier looking seams much improved. The chest and back have less panels and better seams. The general padding and armor seem to have no changes. The styling is a bit more subdued but the return on this is that the effectiveness of the suit should increase. The sleeve cuffs changed but I can see no up or down in the difference. The back of the shoulders now have flex panels, not sure if this useful/good/bad. Finally the collar design changed and I think the new design will be better.

Now to the downs. Less perforation in the chest and legs. The perforation in the back has been removed totally. The shoulder scoops are also gone. This is a bummer as I use it in hot weather most all the time and the suit should be hotter than the previous design.

In general the improvements were good and should make for a better suit with less seams. This while retaining decent protection in an inexpensive suit that fits the 'woolier' crowd.

Here is some pictures of the GPX (old) design

[sheepofblue]

A couple more of the GPX (old) design

[sheepofblue]

Pictures of the GPX-R (new) design

[sheepofblue]

A few more of the GPX-R (new) design

Should anyone want to see some part close up post a request.

[CBR929RE]

looks like a good suit. please don't test this one. I'm sure Joe did his homework.


you can get perforations added (I guess it would actually be subtracted) to the back.

the collar looks a lot lower. I like the low collar on my joe rocket leather and my A* mesh jackets, the mid height collar on my Fieldsheer jacket isn't as comfortable.



can I have the knee pucks from the old one?

[SpikedLemon]

I crashed recently on my DRZ400 (read: I wasn't moving THAT fast) at the track in my Joe Rocket GPX suit. The seams on the arm burst; I picked myself and the bike up after the crash and could see straight to the liner of the suit. The seams are all single stitched save for the elbows and the force from sliding burst the seams on the arm.

It looks like we both had a similar issue with the suit. It's all down to the single stitching on the arms; I looked at the GPX-R suit too and felt that it would ultimately share a similar fate - just fewer pieces would fall apart.


Sorry, but I don't have your optimism for JR gear anymore. My last (read: very last) pair of JR gloves' finger threads fell apart. I replaced them with a pair of Held gloves for the street and a pair of MotoGP (Berik) gloves for the track / cold weather. The MotoGP gloves worked like a charm and are darned comfy to boot.

I'm looking to repair my GPX suit for casual street rides and am looking at Dianese or RSTaichi for the track/spirited rides.
I actually tried on over a dozen different suits over the weekend and felt that the RSTaichi suit was the hands down winner in quality with Dianese falling slightly behind while having a similar price tag.

[ZaskarHoppy]

Hi there (newbie alert),

I was just scootin' around (actually hunting for the best place to buy a new Berik one piece suit as it happens) when I came accross your comments about Joe Rocket gear (which is what I've done a good job of getting rid of by sending it down the track earlier this year).

I actually had TWO (track) offs within 20secs of each other on my 2000mile old K5 Gixxer750 (hmmm a good start to a tale me thinks). The first of which was a simple 80mph low side slide on a right hander with little consiquence. I was quite happy with that one to be honest, the bike took a fair old scratching even tho it was "protected" by R&G frame crash bungs & the foot peg snapped off but on picking it back up again I was back on the gas & back up to pace. A double apex left hander opened out to a lkinked (to the left) straight & at the point of apexing the kink a friend we ride with tried nipping up the inside with the unfortunate result of T-boning me which high sided me off the left side of the bike...this time nearer 120mph(ish). No sliding this time, it was my time to tumble, & tumble I did, for some distance...sky, tarmac, sky, tarmac, sky tarmac etc. etc. The bike slid for a measured 165m & did it's best to deposit the entire contents of its engine oil all over the track (nice). Quite a bit more scratching, worn through engine casing, a few more bent & broken bits later & it was all over.

After all this, the only real physical damage to me was a small hole in my right wrist down to the bone & a severe case of wobbly legs. However, the leathers are a different matter. I seem to have had a very similar experiences to you all with the seams exploding in an alarming manner.

I appreciate that we can't expect leather to perform miracles & each accident is different involving different dynamics (I'm 6ft 4in & 14.5st or 193cm & 92kg so I'll've hit the tarmac reasonably hard) but I was suprised to the extent to which the suit gave up. I thought there would be more wearing of panels & less ripping of seams.

I am now wondering if I should try & persue some sort of compensation from the retailer I bought them from or if I should just be thankful I came away from as bad an off as I ever want to be involved in without worse injuries??? Reading of others having similar experiences makes me wonder if JR would be interested in our best efforts to test his gear in the field???

Any experience of Berik stuff???

[HondaGalToo]

Wow, those seams blowing like that is awful. Sorry, I have no experience with Berik stuff, in fact, I've never heard of them. Brands that seem to be good are Vanson, Taichi, Alpinestars, Z-leathers. Probably some others I'm forgetting. Oh, Kushitani if you have the $$$.

[ZaskarHoppy]

Berik suits are made by arlen Ness (have you heard of them???) so I'm hoping they're gonna be reasonable. There are a few makes you've mentioned that I don't think we get over here in the UK.
You're right about the blown seams...frightening stuff (still...I don't really have much experience of 120mph spills so I don't know what amount of damage to expect). It all happens pretty quickly, I know that much ;o)

[sheepofblue]

Not that a Vanson would not be a lot better but read my whole write up. Yours is obviously a GPX (no longer made) not a GPX-R. If you look at the difference in the pics of the seams you can understand the difference. I did not even repair my GPX but currently use my -R. Much fewer seams and more are rolled. My only gripe is less perforation and for the south that bites.

[ZaskarHoppy]

I hear you about the improvements they've made on the 'R' & I read your write up but I'm thinking my confidence in JR kit has taken as much of a beating as my leathers have.
Not having perforations aint a problem in the North of the UK...it's 7degrees out there today (but sunny) & I wanna be out on the bike but still have parts to find on eBay before it'll be out on its back wheel again ;o) Such a pain in the butt. I'm getting withdrawl symptoms - shakes, twitching etc.

[HondaGalToo]

Yup, heard of Arlen Ness, but don't know much about them. How about Dainese? You can probably get them easier there than we can here? They're excellent. Sorry, wasn't paying attention to your location. That sorta rules out Vanson and Z-leathers.

[BDA116]

Arlen Ness/Berik make the "MotoGP" suits that are the current fad over here.

[sheepofblue]

Originally Posted by ZaskarHoppy

I hear you about the improvements they've made on the 'R' & I read your write up but I'm thinking my confidence in JR kit has taken as much of a beating as my leathers have.
Not having perforations aint a problem in the North of the UK...it's 7degrees out there today (but sunny) & I wanna be out on the bike but still have parts to find on eBay before it'll be out on its back wheel again ;o) Such a pain in the butt. I'm getting withdrawl symptoms - shakes, twitching etc.

I had a day this summer that the lap timer showed a 40 degree C on. And that was in Alabama humidity Even a hot steamy day for us.

[steingar]

I picked up a used Joe Rocket suit off Ebay (as I was thinking about doing a track day until talking about it with my insurer). It had obviously never been crashed, but some of the stitching had given way in the underarm. I doubt I would trust it for much, although it does beat jeans and a t-shirt.

My Joe Rocket gloves also bust a seam with no to-do. In comparison, my old Tourmasters lasted for 15 years of relatively constant use. This all gives me some pause with regards to Joe Rocket gear.

[SpikedLemon]

Originally Posted by ZaskarHoppy

I am now wondering if I should try & persue some sort of compensation from the retailer I bought them from or if I should just be thankful I came away from as bad an off as I ever want to be involved in without worse injuries??? Reading of others having similar experiences makes me wonder if JR would be interested in our best efforts to test his gear in the field???

Any experience of Berik stuff???

Holy crap: deja-vu! That's what happened to the arm on mine!!!!
Phone Joe Rocket and complain. Loudly.

I liked the build of Berik stuff but the fit of Berik and Arlen Ness was odd. I'm 6'3" 210lbs and fit a 54 in most of the European suits except Berik and ArlenNess. MotoGP suits fit differently though.

I replaced my Joe Rocket suit with a RSTaichi Zero suit. After my JR suit blew the seams I hunted for a suit with the fewest seams possible and I found the construction of the RSTaichi suits were best in that regard (And I fit the size 56 perfectly)

[CBR929RE]

if you're over in the UK check out BKS Leather it seems from their site they are really all about safety.