Motoport Dictionary

Aero-Tex

A thin, light weight membrane, mounted between the face fabric and the lining. It is Waterproof, Windproof, and Breathable. This membrane has nine billion microscopic pores per square inch.  These pores are much smaller than a droplet of liquid water, but much larger than a molecule of water vapor.  Water in a liquid form cannot penetrate the membrane, but both moisture vapor from perspiration and heat can easily escape.  The membrane works when the outside temperature is colder than your body temperature.  The membrane actually sucks the heat out of the apparel as long as the outside temperature is lower than 98f.. (Average body temperature.)  Cycle port has been manufacturing garments with this membrane for over 27 years.

With most Waterproof/Windproof/Breathable membranes, riders start to sweat when the outside temperatures go over 75f.  When outside temperatures go over 85f., most of these membranes breathe as well as a plastic bag.  We tell our customers that if the outside temperatures are 85f or lower and you are sweating when wearing our Aero-Tex Liners of Rain Suits, the membrane is dirty and plugged up.  With nine billion pours per square inch, these pours will be plugged up from, oils in sweat, pollution and dirt in the air.

All the newer gear made with Aero-Tex has no Polyurethane coating inside the face fabric.  Gore-Tex and other companies that make similar products have a minimum of 20% or more Polyurethane coated fabric.  This Polyurethane makes the material stiffer, heavier, bulky and reduces the breathable properties of the membrane.  The material also looses up to 20% or more of the tear/abrasions strength with the Polyurethane coating.

Ballistic Nylon

A specific nylon developed by Dupont for the U.S. Department of Defense for use in flak jackets.  Later it was replaced by Kevlar®.  The basket-weave construction helps add abrasion resistance as opposed to a plain weave.  The name is used as a marketing tools with ballistic sounding like something “bulletproof” therefore really tough.  Many motorcycle apparel companies us the word “Ballistic” when describing material.  In many cases the materials tear and abrasion strength does not meet a minimum standard for motorcycle apparel and the word is used only as a sales gimmick.

Breath-ability

Humans control body warmth by perspiring and thus prevent the body from overheating.  When riding it is necessary to transport  up to at least two pints of perspiration (water vapor) through clothes every hour.  When apparel does not breathe, water vapor turns into sweat and in cold weather wet heat loss is 23 times greater than dry heat loss.  Suits that do not breathe and use vents will only be somewhat comfortable in perfect weather.

 

Cordura

A high tenacity, air textured nylon fiber, made exclusively by Invista.  Superior abrasion resistance over any other fabric in a head to head comparison. Hundreds of nylon materials exist but 1000 Denier Cordura is the  minimum standard for apparel material abrasion and tear strength. (Currently 500 Denier Cordura is used only by a select few companies. 500 Denier Cordura tears at 21lbs..  21 pound tear strength is not even close to adequate protection. 500 Denier cordura has been the best material  we have seen, used by other companies.)


Denier –

a unit of measurement used to describe the size of the thread used in the weave.  Simply – the bigger the number the bigger the thread.

Insulation

The other Motorcycle apparel companies usually don’t tell you what the insulation is or they make up a name.  A few of the more expensive jackets use Thinsulate.  Thinsulate was an improvement over Down insulation because it performed two times better and it didn’t separate and breakdown as easily.  Thinsulate can lose up to 20% of its insulation capability with each wash.  Motoport uses either Thermolite or Thermoloft.  Thermolite performs four times better than Thinsulate and can only loose up to 2% when washed.  Thermoloft performs two times better than Thermolite, six times better than Thinsulate and no breakdown of insulation occurs when washed.

Kevlar ®

Kevlar® is the strongest fiber known to man.  Kevlar® is made by Dupontand for apparel use comes in a thread form.  In a pure weave Kevlar® does not stretch and is not suitable for use in motorcycle apparel where abrasion is important.  Motoport makes suits from a Kevlar® /Dynatec/Lycra weave.  this specially blended Kevlar® material meets and surpasses all requirements for motorcycle apparel.  Motoport’s suits Made with Dupont™ Kevlar® Fiber are the only synthetic apparel approved by the F.I.M., the A.M.A., the W.E.R.A. and many other racing organizations.  All of the Mesh Gear provides the ultimate in protection and versatility.

Polyurethane

Polyurethane is a coating that has a rubber texture.  This is applied to the inside shell of most nylon.  It is used primarily to seal nylon threads when woven into fabric. This keeps the nylon from fraying.  Polyurethane doesn’t make the material waterproof. The majority of all nylon motorcycle apparel is 100% polyurethane-coated and does not breathe properly.  Polyurethane can also melt into your skin during abrasion in a tumble.  Polyurethane can also trap water and stay wet for hours after the rain has stopped..  Even the most expensive apparel has 20% or more Polyurethane coating.  If you are looking for greater performance avoid apparel that has any polyurethane coating.   All of Motoport’s jackets/pants have no polyurethane coating.

PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride)

Nylon alone is not waterproof.  In rain suit and waterproof garment descriptions you will notice the acronym PVC.  This is a rubberized coating that is laminated, in most cases to the outside of the nylon, to make it waterproof. PVC breaks down rapidly when exposed to UV rays.  PVC will also have a short life span when used in motorcycle apparel.

Quad-Armor

 Quad-Armor is a new body-protective covering available as an upgrade option from Tri-Armor that is standard in all of Motoport’s motorcycle apparel. The new Quad-Armor provides close to 50% more impact protection compared to the standard Tri-Armor. Click here to read more about Quad Armor.

Safety Lock Stitching

Motoport uses a sewing machine that weaves five threads on the inside seam of a garment. Each thread has over 100 pound tear strength.  We then sew a triple needle thread over the outside top of the inner Safety Lock Seam.  The result is a seam 17 times stronger than a single needle stitched seam. All construction seams in our jackets and pants are sewn this way.  In a tumble the outer two double needle stitched threads can instantly abraded or tear.  The suit can then come apart with no seam strength.  With 5 threads woven on the inside, the outer two threads can tear and the seam will not separate. When we use the Synthetic blended materials for suit construction the seams have over a 2000 pound tear strength.  Motoport has been making all our Synthetic blended apparel with all construction seams Safety Lock Stitched since 1989.  After thousands of crashed suits not one seam failure has ever been seen.

Scotchlite Reflective Material

Used to help avoid an accident in low visibility or nighttime situations. When light from an approaching headlight hits the Reflective Material, the material reflects back to the oncoming vehicle a brilliant light which is more than 300 times brighter than white fabric.  Scotchlite material is more wash durable and substantially brighter than other reflective materials.

Seam Sealed

When garments are sewn the needle creates holes that will allow water to pass through. Seam sealing tape is applied to a stitched seam using heat to bond the tape to the material making the seam waterproof. All of Motoport’s Waterproof/Windproof/Breathable gear is seam sealed and tested to hold 4 pounds of pressure for a minimum of 4 minutes.  When Motoport says “Waterproof” it means that you can ride 150 mph in pouring rain and not water will enter our apparel.

Taffeta

Taffeta is a strong lightweight, breathable nylon that is used primarily for suit linings.  Taffeta linings offer the wearer a greater level of comfort.  Taffeta also allows the suit to be put on and then off with greater ease.

Taslan

Taslan is another Dupont invention.  A means of bulking the fiber to give it better abrasion resistance.  Taslan that is blended for Motoport is lighter than Cordura yet strong and thin. Taslan will also breathe better than other fabrics when waterproof/breathable/windproof membranes are used.

Tri-Armor

Is armor comprised of a thin dense Closed Cell EVA Foam, sandwiched between thicker Closed Cell EVA Memory Foam.  Tri-Armor was developed from the results of a four year crash study in Germany.  The goal of this study was to develop the most protective motorcycle suit.  Construction and placement of the Tri-Armor was designed to provide the best impact and abrasion resistance.   See more on Tri-Armor in Quad-Armor Breakdown.

 

Ultra Cordura 1000 Denier

Ultra Cordura 1000 Denier is the strongest nylon material ever used in a motorcycle suit. With Motoport’s special weave it has greater abrasion and tear strength than 1050 Ballistic Cordura. Made by Dupont™ this is the first nylon material used in motorcycle apparel made without a polyurethane coating. (see polyurethane above) Without the coating the Ultra II series breathes better than any other motorcycle nylon or leather suit ever made.

 

 

Waterproof

When Motoport makes the claim 100% waterproof – it is guaranteed! We have been making waterproof gear for motorcyclists in Northern Europe for more than three decades. Northern Europe is a very wet part of the world, where riders require 100% function and reliability. Our suits must withstand speeds up to 150 mph in pouring rain. Rain Suits designed in the USA would never meet that requirement

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