Garments for motorcycling

Abstract

Improved garments for motorcycle riding which include lengthened sleeves to avoid exposing a rider's wrists, pleats in the knees of the pants to insure full ankle coverage, means to avoid wind flap, increased garment storage space and means for flow through body ventilation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to articles of apparel in general and more particularly to improved articles of apparel or garments for use when riding motorcycles.

Different types of motorcycle riding have recently become quite popular. These include what is known as Enduro riding, trail riding and touring riding. Heretofor, most garments worn by cyclists engaging in these different activities have been conventional type garments not specifically designed for motorcycle use.

The definitions of these various types of riding are as follows:

A. Enduro Riding -- Enduros are organized events that have a lot in common with automobile rallies. This is to say that each rider must maintain a pre-determined speed average (usually 24 M.P.H.) over a course that incorporates paved roads, dirt roads, wood trails, power lines, creek or river crossings plus steep hills and other irregular terrain. The rider must maintain the proper schedule exactly on time or lose points for each minute that he is early or late to a series of unknown check points spaced at irregular intervals. The rider who loses the least amount of points is the ultimate winner. The motorcycle used is normally small lightweight and quite maneuverable.

Enduro events are enjoying an increased popularity in all parts of the U.S. and are strictly amateur motorcycling events. These events will host from 100 to 600 riders and vary in length from about 80 miles to 250 miles of rugged and sometimes very difficult terrain.

B. Trail Riding -- Trail riding is not necessarily organized and is usually a leisure time activity of a few riders on any available off-road area. This type of riding can cover most any type of terrain much like an enduro. Trail riding enthusiasts simply enjoy the outdoors, off-road motorcycle riding and taking in the wonders of nature in places unaccessable by auto or too impractical on foot. The motorcycle and apparel requirements are much the same as that for Enduros.

C. Touring -- Touring is a rapidly expanding aspect of motorcycling. The machine used is often a larger, heavier and more comfortable than the motorcycle used by the Enduro Rider. Touring can take a rider into many interesting areas and offers an advantage over an automobile because much more of the country-dide can be seen from a motorcycle than from the restriction of an automobile. This type of riding is normally confined to paved roads, highways and sometimes improved dirt roads but rarely off-road.

The degree of protection required by a touring or road rider is very similar to that of the enduro rider with respect to exposure to the elements and it differs mainly in one area. The touring rider is not exposed to the deep water or deep mud like the enduro trail rider.

The cyclist, however, requires features in his clothing not necessarily found in conventional types of jackets, pants and so on. For example in some cases he requires increased storage space in his garments because unlike the automobile driver he does not have large areas available for storage on his vehicle nor does he even have the small conventional glove compartment. This is particularly true with regard to the touring and trail rider. Because of the manner in which the rider stretches when on his motorcycle, conventional jackets and pants tend to ride up and no longer afford protection to the ankles and wrists and back. As the rider leans over, the back of the jacket tends to climb up exposing the lower lumbar region of his back. The use of long jackets, i.e., those extending below the waist would not be practical for motorcycle use. Thus, there is also need for a garment design which will avoid these problems. Other problems are those associated with portions of the garments flapping in the wind as the cyclist rides, the need for adequate body ventilation while at the same time obtaining protection from a garment among others.

From the above, it can be seen that the requirements for motorcycle garments differ somewhat from those of conventional garments and that to provide the cyclist adequate protection, and to make him as comfortable as possible, special garments are required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides such garments. The garments are designed particularly with the cyclist in mind to meet the types of need noted above. Each of the disclosed garments has as its essential feature, means to allow for the normal stretching of the arms and legs which occurs in motorcycle riding. Specifically disclosed items for use in specific types of riding contain other features.

A first embodiment of the garment in the form of coveralls is disclosed. These coveralls include a special pleat at the knees which permits bending of the rider's knee without the cuffs of the coverall riding up and exposing his ankles. In addition, the sleeves are cut longer than normal to prevent the sleeves from riding up as he stretches forward to place his hands on the handle bars. In this way, the rider's wrists are always covered. In addition, the coveralls include take up snaps at the thigh, calf, ankle and upper arm so that the garments can be tightly cinched to avoid wind flap.

Also disclosed are pants one type of which is specifically designed for Enduro wear and another for touring. Like the coveralls, both of these types of pants have fabric doubled in a pleat at the knee to avoid the cuffs riding up above the ankles. The pants include take up buckles and tabs on the legs much in the same manner as those found on the coveralls. Pants are also provided with full length two way zippers on both legs, with a wind flap and snaps covering the zippers to provide protection in those areas.

A number of different types of jackets are disclosed. These include a touring jacket, an Enduro jacket and a trail jacket. The sleeves of all jackets are cut longer in the manner described above in connection with the coveralls to insure that the rider's wrists are covered as he leans forward. The touring and Enduro jackets have a vent in the back which can be opened for warm weather riding allowing air to circulate freely when the front of the jacket is opened slightly. The touring jacket and trail jacket have a built in storage pack on the back permitting the rider to carry required items with him since storage space is obviously at a premium on motorcycles. The trail jacket has "Velcro" takeup tabs on the back to cinch the garment tightly to avoid wind flap. The back of the touring jacket is cut longer than the front to protect the riders back when he leans forward to the normal riding position avoiding the problem of riding up which occurred in prior art garments. The garments are made of waterproof material as will be described in detail below and contain further features which will also be described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a pair of coveralls according to the present invention.

FIG. 1a is a cross-sectional view of the double pleat of the coveralls of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the coveralls of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective front view of a touring jacket and touring pants according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the touring jacket of FIG. 3 illustrating the air vent and storage pack on the back of the jacket.

FIG. 4a is a side view of the touring jacket of FIG. 3 illustrating the manner in which the back of the jacket is cut longer than the front.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of an Enduro jacket and Enduro pants according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a trail jacket according to the present invention showing the Velcro takeup tabs to prevent wind flap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates a pair of riding coveralls according to the present invention. The coveralls 11 in conventional fashion include a pants portion 13 and an upper or jacket portion 15. At each of the knee areas in the pants portion 13 is a double pleat 15. The double pleat is formed therein so that when the rider is on the cycle and bends his knees, sufficient fabric will be available to prevent the cuffs 17 from riding up and exposing the rider's ankles. A cross-sectional view of the double pleat in the knee area is shown on FIG. 1a. The pleat 17 is stiched with stiches 18 on each side but is free to give in the center knee area 20. At the upper portion of the jacket, it will be evident that the sleeves 19 are cut longer than normal so that as the rider stretches placing his hands on the handle bars, the sleeves will not ride up over his wrists. A further feature of these coveralls is illustrated on FIG. 2. On this figure, a plurality of takeup snaps 21 located at the thigh, calf and ankle are shown. These snaps may be attached to tighten the pants legs to avoid wind flapping. As can be seen from this figure, the coveralls have an elastic waist 23 and a deep bi-swing back. Below the waist, zipper side entrances 25 are provided. Referring again to FIG. 1, it will be noted that a flap 27 with a Velcro closure 29 at the collar covers a two way heavy duty front zipper, which is not visible on the figure, behind the flap 27. All seams in the garment are waterproof and the garment is typically made from 100 waterproof nylon oxford. Takeup tabs 30 are also provided at the wrist. These coveralls are designed primarily for normal riding. For Enduro riding, the same design is provided, except that the material used may be waterproof nylon Enduro cloth. Enduro cloth is a type of cloth developed particularly for use in motorcycle garments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a touring jacket and touring pants. The similarity to the coveralls of FIG. 1 is evident. The touring pants have, in similar fashion to the coveralls, the double pleated knee 15 on each side in addition, for added protection, these pants have a double layer of material in the front extending from the cuff up to the seam 16, i.e. the double layer of material is included in the pleat 15. This provides optimum operation protection. Other features of the pants include full length two way zippers on both legs which zippers are not visible in the view shown being hidden behind a wind flap 35 with snaps 37. These pants are made of Enduro cloth. The same design of pants is illustrated also on FIG. 5 for use with the Enduro jacket. The touring jacket has lengthened sleeves 19 similar to those described in connection with the coveralls. Also in similar fashion, it has a heavy two way front zipper 39 covered by a flap 41 with snaps 43. Again, in a fashion similar to the coveralls, a Velcro fastening means at the collar is provided. Two large pockets 45 are provided in the front of the jacket. Takeup zippers 47 are provided in each sleeve for better fit. The rear of the jacket is illustrated on FIG. 4. Shown is a ventilation flap 51 with snaps 53. These snaps may be undone to expose a ventilating material 55 in the back of the jacket which along with a slight opening of the zipper in front permits a flow of air across the rider's body. Also shown is a back storage pack 57 the opening to which contains a zipper hidden behind the flap 59 which fastens with snaps 61. The jacket here maybe made of Enduro cloth and preferably will be coated with extra heavy polyurethane. The jacket is lined with 70 denier polyurethane coated nylon taffeta. The elbows are reinforced with elbow patches 63. In addition to the flap 41 a further inside flap for wind and water protection is provided on the other side of the zipper 39.

Also note, that as shown on FIG. 4a the back 58 of the jacket shown on FIG. 4 also indicated partically on FIG. 3, is cut longer than the front so that as the cyclist leans over, it continues to protect the rider's back.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the Enduro jacket. This jacket includes a takeup belt 65 around the waist and has two upper pockets 67 and two lower pockets 69. As illustrated, the pockets are provided with snaps 71. The Velcro collar 29 is also provided in this jacket as is the two-way zipper 39 with a flap 41 and fasteners 43. The rear of the jacket can have a design similar to that of FIG. 4 including either or both of the ventilation flap and the storage pack on the back. The jacket is also made of Enduro cloth which is a water-proof nylon or the like and may be lined as described in connection with the touring jacket or may be lined with cotton flannel and cordoroy trim. The pants which are of the same design as those described in connection with FIG. 3 may, if desired, be lined with 100 percent cotton flannel or the like.

A further type of jacket is illustrated by FIG. 6. Although not specifically shown thereon, this jacket can have the back pouch and the ventilation flap in the back as does the jacket of FIG. 4. This jacket which is specifically designed as a trail jacket can be made of denim and nylon, in particular, heavy weight nylon oxford and 14 ounce denim. This jacket is somewhat looser in cut and includes Velcro takeup tabs 75 at the back to avoid wind flapping. In view of its use as a trail jacket, it is provided with Insulite 77 in the elbows and is also provided with removable Insulite pads in the shoulder.

Thus, various embodiments of motorcycle riding garments have been shown. Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A motorcycle jacket, particularly useful for touring on a motorcycle, wherein the improvement comprises:

a. sleeves on said jacket which are of a length longer than a predetermined length corresponding to the wearer's standard suit jacket size to prevent the sleeves from riding up over the wearer's wrist when the wearer extends his arms during riding of a motorcycle;

b. a back which is cut lower than the front of said jacket to prevent the jacket from riding up and exposing the rider's back;

c. a storage pack formed in the back of the jacket having a zipper closure and a flap covering said zipper closure with snaps included for attaching said flap in place;

d. a ventilation flap on the back of said jacket including a flap, means for fastening said flap to the back of said jacket and perforated material underneath said flap; and

e. a two-way zipper closing at the front of said jacket with a protective flap covering said zipper and means for attaching said flap to the front of said jacket.

2. A jacket according to claim 1 and further including take-up tabs attached to the sides of said jacket extending toward the back and means on said tabs and on the back of said jacket for engaging the ends of said tabs with the back of said jacket to take-up slack in said jacket, said engaging means being Velcro engaging means.

3. A jacket according to claim 1 and further including a flap attached to the collar on one side of said jacket and having on its end first fastening means and second fastening means for cooperating with the first fastening means on the other side of said collar and wherein said fastening means comprise Velcro fastening means whereby said collar can be securely taken up and closed.