Divide and conquer: Best two-piece motorcycle touring suits

A two-piece motorcycle touring suit offers great protection, warmth and waterproofing for riding long distances in comfort. You have the option of zipping the two pieces together or you can match the jacket or trousers with other garments, such as a pair of jeans.

When on tour, there are huge demands placed on your clothing and choosing the right textile motorcycle touring suit to cope with that is an important decision. It needs to keep you warm in case you encounter cold conditions; dry in case of the inevitable rainstorms or showers that can affect almost any ride; dry quickly in case you do get rained on so that you don’t start the next section of the ride in wet clothing; allow you to cool down in case the weather takes a turn for the better and, of course, keep you fully protected while you’re on the bike.

A two-piece motorcycle touring suit from the same manufacturer has many benefits; the jacket and trousers are designed to work together and will usually have zips that can join the two to prevent gaping at the back, for example or to increase their security in use. The jacket and trousers will also have similar warmth and dryness characteristics and should offer similar levels of protection top and bottom.

Speaking of which, as with any motorcycle clothing, you should be looking for a CE rating. When it comes to the overall garments, this is specified by a letter; B, A, AA and AAA, the latter being the highest rating for protection.

Similarly, with armour, this can either be CE Level-1 or the better Level-2 – this absorbs more energy in an impact and hence, protects you better. Also look for a back protector with the jacket or at least a pocket for one and similarly, ideally hip protectors on the trousers – if you’re in the saddle for a long time, you need to know you are protected as well as comfortable.

Other features to look in motorcycle touring suits for are a detachable thermal liner – admittedly most will have this – that will keep you warm when it’s chilly but also let remove it when it gets a bit warmer and vents to allow cooling air in, for the same reason.

Pockets are always useful particularly on a large tour, for wallets or cards for tolls, for example. Flexibility in the material is also handy though the higher the CE-rated protection, the stiffer it is likely to be.

The overall construction is important too; if you can afford a proper laminated outfit, then this should help shed water instead of absorbing it and increasing its weight, as well as making it more uncomfortable. The jacket will also be cut longer than say a sports-style version to prevent gaping at the small of the back and offer greater protection from the elements.

Here are some of our favourite two-piece motorcycle touring suits.

The all-rounder

The Budget one

The winter wonder

The adventure-y one

The long-lived one

The high-end one

The highly-specified one

The flexible one

The mesh one

About the author: After qualifying as a mechanical engineer, Jim Blackstock began working on magazines in the early 1990s. He remains passionate about product testing to ensure readers know what products offer good value and why. He relishes torrential rain to see if riding kit keeps water out and an hour or two to tinker on a project bike in his workshop.

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