Men's R-3 Tactical One Piece

What is the Difference Between a Roadcrafter Classic and an R‑3?

The RC Classic is the original Aerostich suit, updated and refined. It’s fully lined and was created to be an armored coverall constructed along the lines of a leather rider’s suit but in textiles. For this reason (the ‘leather’s’ way it is put together) it isn’t perfectly waterproof. It is pretty good, using about 30 meters of waterproof seam-sealing tape per garment, and modern waterproof zippers everywhere, but since its original and primary focus was commuting and ease-of-use, RC Classic can leak slightly in areas which are not seam-tapeable.

In most rain situations this suit is good for about 30 minutes on an unfaired bike. Then it may leak a little in the crotch because water pools when sitting (depending on how the fabric folds) and may drip through the zipper-attaching stitch holes. Riders with fairings and windshields often think it is totally waterproof even after all-day rain rides. This suit has been in production for over thirty years, which is fifteen years before the Gore-Tex company introduced waterproofness certification programs, so it’s grandfathered. It’s still great gear, still popular, and works and wears very well in almost all situations.

The R-3 is the third-generation Aerostich one piece coverall. It’s unlined like a lot of today’s most technical and lightweight waterproof outdoor gear, and it does pass the rigorous certification for rainwear. We sometimes think of it as an armored and highly abrasion-resistant rain suit. Its impact armor is attached to the inside with adhesively bonded hook-and-loop. This suit wears slightly cooler in really hot conditions absent a separate inner lining. There are numerous other small refinements the RC Classic does not have.

In summary, the RC Classic has become an actual classic just as ‘Levi’s 501’ denim jeans and many other long-popular products. Many riders like it exactly the way it is. The R-3 waterproof one piece suit is what we make today for the same intended applications, but incorporating the technology and experience we now have.

We Are Not Sure How To Make These Suits Look Cool

“We understand that looking cool is a huge factor in our contentment. You can’t imagine how strongly I wish we knew how to make these suits look cool. They were created to be more equipment than fashion, so they look the way they do because of how we want them to function.

“There are many cultural constructs surrounding riding motorcycles, especially in wealthy and advanced parts of the world, and these suits don’t quite fit into most of them. The core idea is simply to be able to ride more, to more kinds of destinations, wearing more kinds of ‘street’ clothing beneath, in more kinds of ambient weathers. I can tell you from hard experience that wearing an R-3 into a grocery store (or in any other business or public situation) can involve social awkward-ness. After awhile some riders begin to find this experience amusing. Aerostich suit wearers share stories about their encounters with ‘a confederacy of dunces’ when wearing one of these suits.

“That phrase is a fairly well-known Jonathan Swift quote that reads in full: ‘When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in a confederacy against him.’ It’s from Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting.

“Our one-piece riding suits came mostly from a strong desire to be able to ride more. Back in 1980 I was a 28 year old casual recreational motorcyclist, mostly riding trails and a few weekend AMA enduros. I was also coming to the conclusion that I would not be ‘outgrowing’ motorcycling as I had sort of expected would happen. No others in my family were riders.

“Three years later we began working on creating these suits simply to be able to ride to work wearing street clothing with some functional level of protection (weather, impact, abrasion…) in as easy-to-use form as possible. And hoping there were enough others who wanted something like this to be able to make a small business out of it.

“If you have the interest and don’t mind the geeky (and mildly subversive?) aspects of wearing a highly technical coverall, give one a try. You’ll end up riding more.”

– Mr. Subjective

How to Get a Functional, Comfortable One-Piece Suit Fit:

Start with your height and body length…For a person’s given overall height, some will have longer-bodies-with-shorter-legs, and others have shorter-bodies-with-longer-legs. After a suit is sewn and completed there is no simple or cost-effective way to then make the garment’s torso length (the distance from crotch to collar) shorter or longer. A few specialized alterations can help slightly (see 'ellipse' below), but they are imperfect Band-Aids.

Garage mechanics and others who wear coveralls for a living know a lowish crotch and baggy seat means they’ll be able to raise their arms upward fully and comfortably. When one does this arm-raising to horizontal, the entire torso section of a one-piece suit slides upwards about 1.5". The suit’s bulky shoulder impact armor move it that way. And when you lower your arms, the suit body area should slide back downward smoothly.

Aerostich gear is graded by chest size (38, 40, 42, 44, etc) and each is available in short (S), regular (R) and long (L) versions. If you are borderline height-wise, part-way between an ‘S’ and an ‘R’, go with the longer body length of the ‘R’. And if you are somewhere between an ‘R’ and an ‘L’, go with the longer body of the ‘L’. The extra body length in each size is about 1.3" greater. And if you ride a sport bike, or are an especially active rider and want maximum freedom-of-movement, a slightly longer body sometimes works and feels a bit better.

Leg and sleeve lengths should be adjusted as needed after your body/torso length has been determined. For a comfortable and correct fit with your raised arms out to your side horizontally (both at the same time), you should still have very slight room at the crotch.

The suit’s body, sleeve and leg diameters are exactly the same for each ‘S’, ‘R’ and ‘L’ version of a particular size. For example, the dimensions around your body of the 38S, 38L and 38R are identical. The circumferences are exactly the same.

A riding suit’s leg lengths are correct if, when standing normally, the hem breaks (wrinkles) slightly against the front of your riding boot just above the foot’s arch, and the top edge of the TF knee impact armor cup is positioned near the center of your kneecap. Then, as you sit on your bike, the hem will rise about 1.5” and the knee armor cup will slide upward and center itself over your bent knee.

A riding suit’s sleeves are the correct length if, when standing normally with your arms hanging loosely by your sides, they end about mid-way between your knuckles and your wrist, measured at the center back of your hand. The center of the TF impact armor elbow cup should also be centered on, or very slightly below, your elbow.

Specialized Motorcycle Configuration Considerations:

For comfort with low handle bars and higher positioned rear-set footrests, all one-piece riding suits will fit better with the ‘Extra Forward Rotated Sleeve’ alterations, and may also benefit from an ‘ellipse’ added to the center of the back. In addition, an ‘expanded knee’ alteration is available which provides slightly more space for knee armor when knees are bent more sharply.

For active off-road riding requiring maximum freedom-of-movement and upper-arm ease, underarm ‘V’ gussets may be added to increase upper sleeve diameter and provide extra room across upper chest and shoulder areas.

Learning Your New Roadcrafter Classic or R 3 Suit: Tips and Helpful Hints.

Yes, there is a break in period…Your new suit may feel stiff compared to more familiar types of clothing. You’ll experience improvements in comfort, fit and function the more you ride, from first few miles and onward (nearly indefinitely). All Roadcrafter and R-3 suits continue to improve with added wear and miles.

The best way to put on an R-3 or Roadcrafter Classic suit is to hold it in front of you by it’s ‘chest’,one hand on each side of the fully separated main zipper. Then, lower the garment slightly while moving it slightly to the right and raise your right leg and put it into the right leg of the suit. Next, pull the entire garment upward, release your right hand from the front of the suit and put it into the right sleeve, exactly as you would pull on a jacket. Lastly, your left arm goes into the left sleeve (just where you’d expect) and you are ready to start zipping up (…down, actually).

This does take a bit of practice, but it quickly becomes natural, fast and easy. It’s the best way to get into a one-piece coverall with the least amount of bending and contorting, and the garment also spends the least amount of time dragging on the ground. That’s why it’s two main entry zippers are on the 'inside', instead of the outside (as on work coveralls, where the zippers are on the outside of the legs and the front zipper only goes to the crotch). This extra ease is important because your suit's intended purpose is as an ‘all-in-one’ protection and comfort solution for daily commuting and short-hop A-to-B riding. For when you want better protection than your street clothing provides with less rigmarole than changing into conventional gear.

To more quickly learn the suit’s unusual main zipper, which starts nearly under one's chin,practice in front of a mirror a few times to memorize how to hold and engage the two main zipper sliders. These slider ‘handles’ are captured close together between the knuckles of the first three fingers of your right hand. Your opposite (left) hand then slides the other side of the zipper’s end into both sliders. After being fully inserted, release the two slider handles from between your knuckles and grasp only the lower slider’s handle. Then zip it downward to about your knee. At that point either lift and bend your left leg slightly and complete the zip, or bend over slightly and zip to the bottom. Most suit wearers seldom (or never) use the snap at the bottom of the zipper.

The removable collar hold-open magnets make it easier to ventilate the suit in hot conditions and are especially useful if you ride a motorcycle with a fairing or windshield, but they do have limitations. If your local climate isn't always warm, remove and put the magnets on the side of your tool box or refrigerator. Otherwise you might sometimes end up fighting with them as they try to keep the collar open when you wish to keep it closed.

Your new Aerostich suit will wear perfectly when the weather is nice, and will feel even better when the weather is lousy. You may discover that riding places in bad weather, when nobody else is out riding, is fun. It can be a little extra-satisfying to be on two wheels when everyone else on the road has no idea why you are out there in the first place…much less that you are reasonably comfortable. And if you’ve ever thought some non-riders might have considered you slightly ‘off’ because you enjoyed riding in the first place, wait until you walk into a workplace or grocery store wearing your dripping Aerostich suit after riding there thru a severe rainstorm. No amount of nice friendly smiling on your part will be enough. So enjoy the ride.

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Details Make a Difference: Heated Gear Power Cord Port

Photo courtesy of John Blowitz

(Click to enlarge)

This hidden cord port is part of all one piece Roadcrafter Classic's and R-3's. It's a pass-thru for a short wire that connects any electrically heated clothing to the outside of the garment. The other side of this pass-thru is behind the lower flapped pocket that is on the left side.

How it works is you position either a coily power cord (#172) or jumper cord (#162) so the end of the cord that connects to the electric garment is dangling out of this port on the inside of the suit. The other end is 'stored' in the pocket that forms behind the lower left flapped pocket on the outside of the suit.

When you are ready to ride somewhere with an electric garment beneath the suit, you first put on the electric garment. Then you put on the suit. Then you connect the power cord or jumper cord to the electric garment. Then you zip the suit closed around you. Then you get on the motorcycle (or stand close to it) and remove the other end of the cord from behind the flapped pocket and plug it into the power on the motorcycle. Then you ride away warm and comfortable.