Gear Review: Spidi Supersport Touring 2pc Leathers

With a trip to South Africa to test out the new Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa II tyre, it was time for some new leathers, with Australia’s Spidi distributor, Moto National, generously helping out with a two-piece set of Supersport Touring Leathers.

Now having been using the cheapest full set of leathers I could get my hands on from over five years ago, the difference between that and this two-piece Spidi set is pretty extreme, with the added flexibility and convenience of the two-piece kit really helping get the most use out of this combo.

The Spidi Supersport Touring two-piece leathers are a great option if you want the flexibility of using each separately. Don’t worry I won’t quick my day job to become a model.

The Spidi Supersport Touring suit is extremely supple leather, considerably lighter than my outgoing suit and was also instantly more comfortable, which is pretty impressive when compared to a very well worn-in suit.

Straight after the suit arrived I had the opportunity to take the Spidi Supersport Touring jacket with me to Melbourne for the Royal Enfield Rumbler 350 launch, where I spent most of a day wearing the jacket, with mainly warm weather and great overall comfort.

The Spidi Supersport Touring suit offers all day comfort

The jacket is what you’d expect of any high end leather jacket, where paying more offers a much higher quality leather, with the benefits of being lighter, more supple and obviously quite a bit thinner (less bulky), without trading off safety. The additional bonus is that the gear is normally more stylish and can offer a more tailored fit, where heavier leather adds more design restrictions.

I ended up getting a few more jacket-only uses of the Supersport Touring kit in fact, as breathability is a real strong point, with it standing in for my usual summer jacket, and looking a fair bit cooler to boot. Even in the heat of summer as long as you’re moving there’s great airflow, with vents on the shoulders and back helping in this regard.

The jacket is ideal as a standalone leather jacket

There’s shoulder and elbow armour as you’d expect, and you can get a back protector to match, while I opted for an independent back protector I can wear under anything. There’s no discomfort around the armour either and the inner mesh helps wick/evaporate moisture, especially if you’re wearing skins. You can catch your hands in the mesh in the jacket arms towards the wrist, but that’s just a matter of being careful.

A connector zip around the waist is only needed when you’re wearing the full ensemble, while the main chest zip is a high quality YKK item, making for easy one hand adjustment, or use with heavier gloves. There’s an inner breast pocket that is quite deep and could hold a mobile or wallet for day rides, with no external pockets. A Velcro tab towards the top of the zip also keeps the jacket held closed if you decide to open the zip a bit on the road, and being lower instead of at the collar, doesn’t choke or restrain you.

An easy zip connector makes matching the two together a quick job, with high quality zips throughout

The pants feature a similar sleek design, and while you could wear them without the jacket if you had an actual waist, I don’t and couldn’t tighten the waist adjuster enough. I’m probably closer to a 30 than a 32 at this measurement, so it’s not unusual to have this issue, as any smaller and pants are not long enough. This isn’t really a criticism either, just an observation, I would always be wearing the pants with the jacket, where the connecting zip totally negates this issue.

It’s easy enough to connect the two pieces too, just put both on, get the end of the zip in the right place, and the high quality zip easily comes together without any issues, no help required. This is always a good sign, as if zips aren’t working well when something is new, chances are you’ll face issues later on.

Pants feature hip and knee armour, with stretch panels ensuring a good fit and unrestricted movement

There’s also CE knee and hip protection fitted, with some adjustability allowing placement to be moved up and down, and naturally some snazzy looking knee sliders.

At Kyalami the Spidi Supersport Touring suit offered all day comfort, while also being easy to wear spending half a day at Bike Review HQ, with the other half of the day out riding.

Obviously I’m wearing the right size, but there was no feeling of constraint or constriction while riding wearing the leathers, and they are significantly less intrusive than my outgoing suit. Movement is natural and easy, and even the armour has no effect on overall flexibility.

Having some fun at Kyalami Circuit in South Africa on the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa II launch

Overall looks are also cool if you ask me, if a bit downstated in that dark metallic finish with black Flex Tenax stretch areas, which also offer great breathability.

Comfort is great however, the zips, build and stitching all high quality, and there’s a very obvious difference between my previous, much cheaper, suit, and the new Spidi Supersport Touring two-piece suit. Plus the flexibility of being a two-piece is great, as you end up with a great leather jacket you can use independent of the pants.

The great thing about the Supersport Touring two-piece suit is that you could almost forget you’re wearing it, comfort and movement is that good

Now obviously the Spidi Supersport Touring suit is not cheap at $1,399.95, that’s a fair investment, however keep in mind this is leather, and if you take care of it, depending on how much use they get, and how much you crash, they could well be going strong in a decade. You’re more likely to out-‘grow’ your leathers than anything else. In that context it’s pretty unbeatable value if you ask me!

Supersport Touring two-piece leather suit features

• Italian cowhide 1.2 thickness
• Mesh inner liner
• CE Forcetech protectors on elbows
• CE Biomechanic protectors on shoulders
• CE Multitech protectors on knees and hips (height adjustable)
• YKK zipper on torso, wrists, ankles
• Perimeter zipper for attachment to pants
• Flex Tenax areas for perfect fitting
• Warrior Back protector Level 1 or 2 ready
• Warrior Chest Protector arrangement
• Clarino inserts on neck area Neoprene inserts on neck and wrist area
• High-Flow vents on shoulders and back
• Product weight: 4.4kg
• Colour: Black or Black/Red
•  Size: 46-58
• RRP: $1,399.95
• Website: Spidi.com.au