MotoReview- First MFG Apparel

“If you’re not first, you’re last”  

                            -Ricky Bobby

Product Review- First MFG Co. "Downside Vest"

Greetings MotoReaders and welcome back to another MotoReview! Today, we are talking about the "Downside Men's Motorcycle Vest", SKU FIM693QLT in size Large. 

I bought this vest as an early retirement gift to myself... silly, I know, but it was sort of a symbolic gesture (I'll get into that later, in a separate post). I wasn't really in the market, but I got an email from FMC advertising a whopping 60% off sale, site wide. I was familiar with the brand, as I already have a couple of their lower-end vests for me and my wife, but for 60% off, I figured I could upgrade to a better, newer, one. The MSRP of the Downside is $309.99 (which is still lower priced than another vest I've been eyeing... which is listed for $350), but I'm cheap enough that I'll do without until the right deal comes up... and 60% off looked like the right deal. It shipped for free, so after taxes, my bank account was lighter by a mere $120! So what did I get for my money? 

First Impressions

Supple leather, incredible stitch work and a fit that almost feels custom tailored. This vest is probably one of the finest pieces of leather gear that I own... and I own a few. 

The first thing I noticed when it arrived, was that it was folded up, in a bag... I was more than a little worried that the leather would be creased or worse, be some cheap thin trash, instead. I was pleasantly surprised to open the package to the familiar and delightful odor of real leather. The vest has a nice weight to it, it's thick and the leather is supple... like buttery supple. It feels good to the touch. The satin liner is soft, smooth and seems to be a good weight of fabric.  Some satin liners I've seen are simply too thin and they tear and fray at the seams, but this one feels good. The inside of the vest has a velcro closure pocket that I use for my glasses and it has a snap-closure gun pocket that is accessible only when the zipper and snaps are open. Speaking of the zipper, this vest has a unique design that none of my other leathers have- a zipper closure with a snap-closure wind flap. This feature is great, because in the cooler months, you can zip it closed and then snap the wind flap to keep the cold out, and in warmer weather, you can leave it unzipped and only use the snaps OR... you can get vest extenders and get max airflow. On the outside of the zipper, behind the flap, there is another snap-closure gun pocket. The outside of the vest has two slash pockets and two chest pockets, both with snap closures. I opted for the blue stitching and blue liner and it looks great. The stitching is extremely nice and I can't find any flaws at all.

 The double diamond pattern covers the entire shoulder section- front and back, and the back panel is a solid, single piece of leather- which I prefer for looks and for protection. The vest is also perfectly designed for those who want to add patches to their vest, as the inner liner has several zippered openings to access the outer shell. It also has a well designed pocket for back armor, if that rings your bell. 

The Fit

As I said before, the fit of this vest is perfect. I used the size guide provided on their website, and ordered the recommended size (which is the size I normally wear, so the fit is true). One thing I hate, truly can't stand, is when you are wearing a jacket or vest that doesn't have a two-way zipper and it puffs out at the bottom while sitting on your motorcycle, making it look like you have a big, fat gut. I know, this may seem silly, but it's also uncomfortable, too... as the leather is being pushed up toward your neck. My favorite riding jacket, is the Harley-Davidson Badlander leather 3-in-1 from their 2009 collection, which is just a fancy way of saying that it's old (but I still love it). When sitting on my bike, I can adjust the bottom slide of the zipper to fit my lap so the jacket doesn't "poof" up. The First Downside vest does not have the two way zipper, so I was expecting it to disappoint me while sitting on the bike. As it turns out, FMC has figured out the right combination of zipper length to vest/snap length, because the zipper is shorter than, and offset from, the bottom of the vest by a few inches, which happens to be just enough to let the leather sit comfortably and naturally on the torso when the bottom snap is left unfastened. What's all this mean? It means that while I'm cruising along on the MotoWriter motorscooters, my vest isn't being pushed up into my neck... oh yeah, and I also look gooooood. 

Did I mention the feel? Good grief... this is honestly the best feeling vest I've ever worn. Truly, you've got to feel this leather. The leather is between 1 and 1.1mm thick, which is a nice thickness considering most leather jackets from H-D and other suppliers are between 1.2 and 1.4mm thick. As much as I love my H-D Badlander jacket (which has removable sleeves to make it into a vest), the leather is stiff by comparison to the FMC. That's not a complaint, mind you, just an observation. As seen in the picture, the Downside vest is paired with my Go Fast Don't Die zip hoodie. This has been a perfect combination for the mild Southern weather lately. 

The Cons

This is going to be short. I only started wearing this vest after I actually retired, so it's only been worn for the past 11 days, but... it's been on several rides already and I've put several hundred miles on it since the first of the year. So far, I haven't experienced any issues with quality, fit or comfort. It's still new, so if I do experience any issues in the future, I'll do a follow-up to this review. 

Brand Ambassador Influence?

You may be wondering, since my last post about becoming a brand ambassador for First Mfg. Co, if my review is being influenced by this little detail. Well, in the interest of full disclosure and complete transparency- the answer is a resounding "NO." First Mfg. Co did not reach out to me about becoming an ambassador, I reached out to them. I applied to them, several months after I bought this vest. I didn't get a special ambassador discount and I didn't get the vest for free. 

So why did I do it? Easy- I applied to be a brand ambassador for a couple of reasons- the first, I love this vest- the quality is outstanding and I fully believe in supporting businesses that offer great quality items for reasonable prices; and the second, as a brand ambassador, YOU get a discount using my code, so it's a win-win. This company sells a few extra pieces to help them keep the lights on and my MotoReaders get to save a few bucks off of good, quality, riding gear.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is this- if you're looking for a good quality vest, something that you can get with some customization (the Downside Vest is offered in several color options other than blue), you can't go wrong with First Mfg. Co. After seeing the quality of this vest, I saw that FMC was running another sale, so I recently bought my son a riding jacket since he didn't have any leathers (I'll do a review on that in a few months, after I've gotten some feedback from him). 

Let me be clear, I don't like wasting money. I dislike it so much, that I often won't buy something that I really like, just because I think it costs too much. My H-D jacket is a great example of this frugality. I remember seeing that jacket in 2009, when I bought my very first Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I also remember that it was close to, or over, $550. Yeah, I wanted it, but I didn't "$550 dollars" want it. I literally waited until H-D discontinued it, found one on eBay a few years later and bought it second hand from a good, reputable seller. I paid less than half of what it was new. Like I said, I'm cheap like that. Would I have bought this vest at the MSRP of $309.99? Honestly, probably not, not without knowing the quality first. Now that I have it and have seen it, worn it and ridden with it, I can tell you that I believe it's worth every penny (but if you can get a discount... and you can by clicking here, it's even better). If you don't like the Downside Vest, fret not because they have several other pre-made styles, and if that doesn't suit you, you can even build a custom vest with your choice of materials, custom colors and custom details. 

So go, my fellow MotoRiders... go get yourself something nice to start this new riding season with. Save a few bucks with the code Ride_Write_Repeat or just click here. As the weather warms up, look for me out on the road... I'll be the guy wearing a high quality, great looking, vest.

MotoReview- Unik Leather Gloves

MotoReview- Unik Int'l Full Finger Gloves

Greetings MotoReaders! As promised... I present to you, my review of the Unik International, leather full finger gloves (SKU 8163.00 in size Large). 

Let's get right into it... 

Customer Service

Before I review the gloves themselves, I want to be clear that these are not the gloves that I initially ordered. Shortly after placing my first order, I was contacted by their Sales Executive, Fawad Khilji from Dover, NJ (USA), who informed me that I would be getting a full refund for my order, as the gloves that I ordered had been discontinued and the order could not be fulfilled. But, Fawad was very friendly and helpful (and super fast on refunding my money), and within a few moments, and after a couple of emails, I found another pair of gloves to try. He verified that they had them in stock and in my size, then he had them sent out within an hour of placing the new order. As far as I'm concerned- that is first-rate customer service. 

The Gloves- First Impression

The gloves arrived quickly via UPS and upon my initial inspection, I was impressed. The first thing I noticed was the feel and smell of them. These are real leather, and they smell like it. Leather, coffee and the smell of bacon sizzling in the pan are some of the best odors to grace our nostrils, so it's fair to say that I was pretty happy smelling leather when I opened the bag, instead of the chemical odor that sometimes accompanies new gear. The gloves have a nice weight to them- they aren't cumbersome, but they are just heavy enough that you feel like they are made of good materials. The fingers have small perforations, which I would assume are intended for breathability. The holes are small, inline and don't detract from the look, but I'm not sure how much they will help in keeping your mitts cool in the summer- only time will tell on that one. The palm of the gloves have reinforced areas and the design fits my hands well. The reinforced areas aren't bulky and over padded like you find in some gloves; these feel natural when my hands are on the grips. The backside of the gloves feature 3 knuckle pads, which seem to be effectively placed and some reinforcement stitching across the flat of the hand, which, if I'm being totally honest (and I am), give the gloves a Mickey Mouse kind of look if you think about it too hard. While I don't know why they only put three, instead of four, knuckle pads on these gloves, the design works and I feel like the pads are placed in such a way that my knuckles would be protected in the event of a strike, and the gloves don't look silly or over-designed. 

A quick look inside the cuff and I noticed a label that said "Made in Pakistan" and a very nice, soft lining inside the gloves. The lining, made with DuPont Kevlar fiber was a happy surprise for me, since that wasn't listed in the description. A good weight leather outer shell with palm reinforcements, paired with a Kevlar lining means these gloves should offer pretty good abrasion protection, and the velcro adjustment strap at the wrist should keep the gloves from sliding off your hand, in the event of an unplanned slide. 

First Ride

On the website, one of the features noted is the "touch technology" in the fingertips and, upon initial testing with my phone... it seemed to work pretty well... until the first ride. Now, I don't seek out this feature on gloves since I intentionally try to avoid electronic devices while I ride my motorcycle. Having the ability to navigate a touch screen does help, though... as I just added a Quad Lock to my Road King, and I like to listen to music through my Sena while riding. For other folks, especially those riding the newest Harley-Davidson Touring bikes with giant touchscreen displays, touch tech in gloves would almost be a necessity. 

Donning the gloves for the first time, I noticed that the cuffs were a bit tight for my hand to get into them, but they fit extremely well once on. Getting a larger size might make putting the gloves on a bit easier, but then the glove would be too big, so I'm sure that they will break-in over time and with continued use. The fingers were a bit longer and fatter than I like (see photos below), but the reality is, there is no standard for finger lengths and widths, so in designing a glove, a company has to make the most logical size to accommodate most hands, so I'm not put off by this... I'm simply making an observation. The gloves felt good and I wore them all day, on a ride of just over 250 miles. 

The first thing I noticed when I stopped for gas, which was just a few miles into the ride, was that the "skin" on the index finger and thumb for the touch technology was already coming off (see photos). Again, this isn't a deal breaker for me, but I also don't have a touchscreen display on my dash either. For full transparency- I am currently running Avon Custom Countour grips on my Road King and stock levers. The grips have a textured surface, but the levers are smooth- neither of which should have abraded the tips of these fingers enough to remove this "skin", so I assess this to be a manufacturing flaw. Not great, considering this a featured selling point for these gloves. It didn't take long for the skin to be completely worn off, rendering the touch tech feature completely useless. 

Final Thoughts

For full disclosure- as part of being a newly chosen brand ambassador (which might get revoked after they read this review), I did get these gloves at a pretty decent discount. Not to mention, they were also listed on sale, for 50% off of their list price of $59.99. With tax and shipping, I had less than $30 bucks out of the bank account for these gloves, which is a pretty decent deal for a pair of genuine leather riding gloves. These gloves aren't perfect, and the touch tech was a bit of a disappointment, but I've spent almost as much for a pair of Mechanix brand gloves that don't offer a fraction of the protection as these and are made of synthetic leather-like materials, instead of real leather like the Uniks.

The bottom line? Well, for these, I say... to each their own. I can't in good conscience recommend these gloves to just anyone, but I can recommend them to anyone who doesn't need touch technology in their gloves. The leather itself is worth the price I paid for these gloves. Add in the knuckle protection, the reinforced palms, the quality of the stitching and the overall comfort and wearability of these gloves, $30 is a deal. With that said, my recommendation to Unik, is that they leave these on sale at 50% off until they can get that fingertip issue resolved, as I would be highly agitated if I dropped $60 for a pair of gloves that had touch technology only to see it flake off in the first 15 miles of the first ride with them. My other recommendation for Unik is that they drop the touch technology "feature" on the listing, and list the Kevlar lining as a primary feature, instead.

I'm sure that, with their exceptional customer service, I could have had my money refunded, or had the gloves replaced within a few days, but to be honest, I really don't care that much- I don't need touch tech and I didn't buy these gloves for that feature. I chose to buy gloves as my first purchase for a couple of reasons- first, gloves are relatively inexpensive compared to jackets, vests, chaps, etc. Second, gloves require complex stitching, the right combination of materials and the right design elements to make a quality product. Quite honestly, you can learn a lot about a company's quality control standards, material selections and design priorities based on a pair of their gloves. 

Overall, I give these gloves a thumbs up for quality of stitching, overall design and comfort. I rode all 250+ miles with these gloves on and my hands stayed comfortable all day. For the touch tech feature- if you specifically want, or need, touch technology to control or adjust your digital touch screen display, look for a different pair of gloves, but be prepared to pay significantly more for them. 

As I've said before, I'll never recommend a product or service to my MotoReaders that I wouldn't personally use, so if someone at Unik reads this review and decides that I'm not the best person to have in their brand ambassador program, then so be it. Until then, if you want to snag a pair of gloves, or any other leather gear from them, hit the logo on the right side of this page (or click here) to get 15% off of your order.

Stay tuned for more reviews... until then,

Ride safe and make good choices!

First Mfg

Everybody wants some!

I’ve got some more great news for all my MotoReaders! Apparently, as sang by the one and only Van Halen (in what could arguably be one of the greatest ‘80’s movies of all time- Better Off Dead)… everybody wants some of the MotoWriter! Ok, well… more or less. In all honesty, I actually applied for, and was accepted, to be a brand ambassador for First MFG Co.! You may be asking yourselves why. Well, I’ll be totally honest with you all. 

A while back when I was sent a bag to check out, in exchange for linking the company’s website on mine for a few months, something occurred to me. My little corner of the interweb may be small, hell… maybe so small that it’s totally insignificant to most, but over the past five years, almost 200,000 people worldwide have stopped by to check it out. While that may pale in comparison to most other sites, I’m deeply humbled by it. It also occurred to me that if just one out of a hundred of my visitors reads one of my reviews, then decides to click that link and pick themselves up a piece of gear, that is a lot of potential customers for that company… worldwide. I never thought much about it… until I was asked to be a brand ambassador for the first time a few weeks ago. After contemplating this for a bit, the gears started turning. 

NOT FOR SALE.

As I’ve said before, and I will say again and again…and I stand on this with both boots firmly planted- I will never recommend a product or service to my MotoReaders that I don’t fully stand behind. 

The MotoWriter is not for sale.

With that said, when I know of a product, service, or retailer that I have personally used or bought from and I really like it… I won’t hesitate to share that with you guys so you can get in on the good stuff, too. I’m pretty excited about this collaboration with First Mfg because, as many of my closest riding buddies can attest to recently, I have been recommending the company to them pretty heavy lately. Why, you may ask? Because I’ve had personal experience with their products over the past several years and, I’m not sure but, I think their product quality is actually improving as time goes by. A few months ago, I caught one of their incredible 60% off sales promotions, so I decided to pick up a new custom vest to commemorate my upcoming retirement. I got it for a steal, so I really wasn’t expecting much when it arrived. Wow… was I wrong! I’ll post a full review soon, but let me tell you- the quality is exceptional. The leather is thick and supple, the stitching is flawless, the snaps and zippers are some of the highest quality I’ve seen in a long time. Not to mention, the size and fit are perfect. Last week, they were running an absolutely impossible sale- 80% off site wide! I couldn’t resist, so I picked up a new leather jacket, then I sent all of my riding buddies the link so they could get in on the action. After that, I decided to look into becoming a brand ambassador for them… and today, I got approved!

What’s it mean for you?

This is the part I’m most excited about- my MotoReaders don’t have to wait for the company to run a sale to avoid paying full retail… because as one of their new brand ambassadors- they gave me a discount code to share with all of you! Use the link here and on the FMC logo to the right, or use the special MotoWriter code- RIDE_WRITE_REPEAT at checkout and, get this, you’ll get 25% off your order! 

Get yourself some new gear, by clicking here:

RIDE_WRITE_REPEAT

What’s next

When I applied to First Mfg’s ambassador program, I also looked up another couple of brands that I really like and use, and applied to them as well, so keep an eye out for updates on those in the future. Until then, get yourself some new gear and don’t let the cold stop you from riding over the next few months. 

Ride safe and save some money!

Unik Leather

Brand Ambassador-ing

Hello MotoReaders! I hope you had, or are having, a great Christmas and holiday season!

I just wanted to take a moment to let you all know that Unik International reached out to me a week or so ago and invited me to be a brand ambassador for them. I know the brand well, having seen their products in various stores. While I didn’t have any of their gear, personally, I know several people that do and they are quite pleased with the quality of it, so I decided to take a look and see what was up. After reading “the fine print”, which was pretty straightforward, I decided to do a quality check for myself. 

No matter what, I want my readers to know that they can trust my opinion and referrals, so I will never recommend or endorse a product to you, that I wouldn’t buy, or use, myself. I decided to start small, but strategically, for my initial product test. I figured that the best product to QC was a pair of gloves because I am very hard on gloves. I ordered a pair of their full finger gloves and now I’m just waiting for them to arrive. Since I just ordered them, I obviously can’t do a review of the gloves yet, but I can tell you that their website was easy to navigate and they have a LOT of products to peruse. I will do a full review of the gloves once I get my mitts on, and in, them so be sure to check back soon for that. 

Since I bought them as part of their ambassador program, I got a bit of a discount and in return, the company provided me with a link for my loyal MotoReaders to save some money, too. Even though I haven’t had a chance to try these gloves yet, I do know that the company is well established and that many of you already have their products, so I decided to go ahead and share the link with all of you, here. I also added it to the right sidebar of my page for easy access while you are perusing other posts.

Be on the lookout for a follow-up post after I’ve had a chance to check these things out, but in the meantime, feel free to click the link below for 15% off your order.

Click this link to get the MotoWriter 15 % discount!