What better way to ring in the next riding season than with some new perfectly fitted Aerostich gear? This year, there will be three Aerostich Pop-Up events in Pleasanton, California, each lasting five days. The first starts Tuesday, March 21, and lasts through Saturday, March 25, open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at 4515 Rosewood Dr. in Pleasanton.
At an Aerostich Pop-Up Event, you’ll be able to test out a wide variety of American-made Aerostich gear. With over 60 men’s and women’s graded sizes and hundreds of models and colors, you’ll have no shortage of options to find the gear that’s just right.
Attendees can browse through the event and try on whatever they see or schedule an appointment with a fitting expert. To schedule a fitting appointment, contact Rod Hafner at (715) 781-0939 or email [email protected].
Aside from high-quality jackets, pants, gloves, and boots, there will also be messenger bags, tank panniers, fleece layers, electric liners, and more motorcycle-related products to see.
Many products will be available for a cash-and-carry sale, in which Aerostich fitting experts will help you find the perfect fit and arrange custom alterations and colors.
There will also be prize drawings and in-store deals.
The next two Aerostich Pop-Up Events take place April 18-22 and May 16-20.
The Cousin Jeremy One Piece Motorcycle Suit from Aerostitch is made of 10-ounce waterproof waxed cotton that is breathable, protective, and comfortable. The fabric requires no break-in and forms to your body from first use.
Removable TF3 or TF6 armor is included in the shoulders, elbows, and knees, with an extra layer of waxed cotton in those areas for abrasion protection. A two-zipper entry system allows you to step into the suit and be ready to ride quickly, and the black nylon inner lining slips easily over your street clothes.
The suit includes 10 pockets (nine outer and one inner), underarm and back vents, an Ultrasuede collar, and adjustable tabs and zippers for a fine-tuned fit.
Available for $1,347 in Black or Brown in men’s sizes 34-54 short, regular, or long and women’s sizes 2-20 short, regular, or long. For more information, visit the Aerostich website.
Aerostich Zovii Alarmed Grip Lock on a BMW R 1200 RT
Previous to hearing about the Zovii Alarmed Grip Lock, I was apparently naive when it came to motorcycle theft. At home, I always lock both my ignition and fork. What I didn’t know is that fork locks are relatively easy to break, albeit noisily. The noisy part is helpful if your bike is parked at your house, but what if you’re not home or you’ve taken it on a ride? Thieves can also lift a bike into a vehicle in a matter of seconds and take it elsewhere to disable security measures.
To address these issues, Aerostich offers the Zovii Alarmed Grip Lock, a waterproof nylon-construction lock with a 10mm carbide-reinforced hardened steel locking pin and a built-in 120dB anti-theft security alarm. For comparison, most emergency responder sirens range from 110-129db.
The lock is lightweight and compact. It weighs 8.7 ounces, about half an ounce heavier than my iPhone and case, and at 6 x 2.25 inches, it fits easily in the interior pockets on my leather jacket.
To activate the alarm, clamp the lock around either grip and front lever on your bike and depress the lock button to arm it. No key is required to activate.
Unfortunately, the width of the stock grips and levers on my Harley Heritage Softail doesn’t allow the device to clamp entirely shut, so I tried it on a friend’s BMW R 1200 RT. The Zovii clicked on his grip and lever easily. However, when we took the bike off the centerstand and rolled it, I was surprised the alarm didn’t make a peep.
Here’s where a slight design flaw exists. The instructions say the unit beeps twice when you unlock it; however, we discovered after tinkering with it that two beeps means the alarm is disabled, even when it’s locked shut. Seems to me when you clamp the unit together and push the lock in, you also want to activate the alarm. However, you must make sure you hear a single beep (followed about five seconds later by a longer tone). If you clamp it together, push the lock in, and get two quick beeps, you must unlock it with the key and push it in again to get the single beep indicating that the alarm is activated. Slightly annoying, but I can see certain circumstances where this might be a good feature, primarily if you’re carrying the Zovii around and have to clamp it shut to do so.
Once we figured out the beeps, a slight jostling of the handlebar was enough to sound the warning tones. If we kept messing with it, we got the whammy 120 decibels, which is disarmed by unlocking the unit. The warning tones are nice in case you accidentally bump the bike or are concerned about how gingerly you have to unlock it when it’s armed.
So besides the minor inconvenience of the single vs. double beep – and the much bigger inconvenience of not fitting my bike – the Zovii is an inexpensive product (just $60) that’s loud enough to send a would-be thief scurrying back to the shadows.
An Aerostich four-day Pop-Up Sale is coming to Pleasanton, California, starting October 20th.
It will be held at 4515 Rosewood Dr, Pleasanton, CA – in the Metro 580 Shopping Center – on Thursday, October 20 through Sunday, October 23 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Riders will be able to experience the incredible fit, feel, and function of American-made Aerostich gear first hand. There are over 60 men’s and women’s graded sizes – not just S, M, L, XL. Hundreds of models, sizes, and colors will be available for testing and fitting, including the Transit Leather jackets and pants. Plus Aerostich Messenger Bags, Tank Panniers, Fleece Layers and Electric Liners.
Try-on new gear whenever, or schedule a fitting appointment by contacting Rod Hafner at (715) 781-0939 or email [email protected].
Riding suits, jackets, pants, and many other Aerostich catalog products will be available for cash-and-carry sale. Aerostich fitting experts will help you get a perfect fit and sort out optional custom alterations and colors. Plus you’ll meet like-minded riders and there will be prize drawings and in-store deals on many items.
If you can’t attend, check out the full range of Aerostich apparel and products at Aerostich.com.
Keep the elements at bay with the highly breathable Light Weight Windproof Waterproof Innershell from Aerostich. The pullover design slides on over your base layer and adds warmth and comfort. The diagonal zipper allows access to a shirt pocket without removal and closes around your neck with a fleece-lined collar.
The Aerostich Innershell is made of three-layer breathable, waterproof, fully seam-sealed ripstop nylon fabric that’s strong yet very lightweight. It’s great as an everyday off-bike layer with a single outer zippered pocket low on the right side that’s perfect for storing keys, a phone, a wallet, or other quick access items. The pocket also doubles as an integrated self-store pouch, allowing the shell to pack down into a compact bundle that is 9 x 6 x 2.5 inches.
Aerostich Innershell in Black.
The Aerostich Innershell is available in Black or Yellow in sizes M–XXL for $127 on the Aerostich website.
The Aerostich factory on 18th Avenue West was originally a candy factory.Today the sweet stuff is created solely for motorcyclists.
To tell the story of the legendary Aerostich riding suit is to tell a story about America. The dream of it, but also the tenacity required to navigate its possibilities. Because running a successful small business in America these days demands more than a clear vision and hard work. It requires staying power.
Native Duluthian Andy Goldfine was committed to the dream of creating a small business long before he knew what product or service he might offer. Separately, the concept of a lightweight, armored, easy-to-use coverall to wear over clothes as one commuted to and from their job was born from a personal wish to own such an item. These two ambitions merged when Goldfine conjured the first Roadcrafter one-piece riding suit back in 1983.
Andy Goldfine’s intention to supply motorcyclists with high-quality, handcrafted apparel and useful kit has never wavered.
What Schott is to leather and Belstaff is to waxed cotton, Aerostich is to synthetic-fiber textiles used to create durable, high-performance motorcycle gear. The world is overflowing with it now, but back in the early ’80s, people weren’t talking about things like breathability or tensile strength or viscoelastic foam armor. Cordura and Gore-Tex were still exotic. And so, without any kind of roadmap, Goldfine created a totally new type of riding gear, and boy, did that suit show us what our leather gear was missing.
The Aerostich building in Duluth is no factory, instead feeling more like an artist’s enclave where the skilled craftspeople combine forces to create exceptionally high-quality riding gear. It’s cool to see, and all visitors who happen by are welcome to a tour. For me, it made my connection to my latest Roadcrafter suit so much more significant, having watched in person the craftspeople who handwrite their signatures inside each suit.
I (literally) stepped into my first Roadcrafter back in 1986 when Goldfine was visiting the Rider offices in California, and I have been living in these suits ever since. Like so many motojournalists of that era, I found the Roadcrafter wasn’t just the gold standard for commuting, it was also magic for sportbike riding and touring. Newer designs (R-3 Darien and AD1) from the Aerostich factory in Duluth might be just as popular these days, but when I last visited the shop I was hunting for a new Roadcrafter Classic two-piece to fit my now middle-aged bod.
The original Roadcrafter Classic, handcrafted in Duluth, has been refined over the years, yet remains totally recognizable.
It was my first time in Goldfine’s very Minnesotan three-story brick building – a former candy factory – and it was obvious right away this is a cool place for bikers to chill. After I was fitted for my new suit, I got a tour of the different floors and stations where skilled craftsmen and craftswomen, a fair number of riders among them, cut and assemble the various fabric into “kits,” which are then handed over to expert sewers and finally seam-taping machine operators before each garment is inspected and prepared to meet its new owner.
The handcrafting of the suits is enjoyable to watch, especially since everyone working here – some who have been with Goldfine for decades – seems to enjoy their craft.
But one of the things I leave most impressed by is how fiercely this operation works to remain “Made in the USA.” For example, Goldfine explains that, due to current trade policies, the tariff on bringing in fabric from Asia is about twice as high as the tariff for bringing in completed riding gear. “It’s as if the USA doesn’t want commercial/industrial sewing activity done in this country,” he told me.
Supply chain issues caused by Covid have only deepened the challenge. Yet Goldfine remains true to his standards, a rare example of an apparel manufacturer uneasy with the lure of inexpensive offshore production, even as many consumers take the bait, sometimes unwittingly trading quality for low prices on everyday goods.
While the riding suits remain the pillar of Aerostich offerings, Goldfine has created and collected a dangerously desirable array of complementary apparel items, accessories, and equipment to make riding “easier, safer, and more comfortable.” It might be a heated mid-layer, a unique tool, perfect-fitting earplugs, stink-resistant socks, or a new tent you didn’t know you needed until you saw it on the website or in that cherished catalog that occasionally shows up in the mail.
And while he finds satisfaction in his artful curation of products and the affirmation of Aerostich loyalists, Goldfine’s core intention isn’t driven by being fashionable or even making money. His deeper motivation is about promoting the physical, psychological, and societal benefits of riding motorcycles every day. It’s why he created Ride to Work Day, to remind us of the Rx effect of being on the motorcycle, even for a short “useful” ride each day. He believes riding makes us “better-functioning, calmer, clearer” people and also brings economic, environmental, and congestion-lessening benefits to our communities.
It’s with these big thoughts in mind that I step into my fresh Roadcrafter a week later. How the heck can a riding suit feel like home? This one does. No matter what newfangled riding apparel comes into my life to be tested, it’s the all-American Aerostich that endures.
Monday, June 21, 2021, is the 30th Annual International Motorcycle and Scooter Ride to Work Day.
Ride to Work is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization that advocates and supports the use of motorcycles and scooters for transportation, and that provides information about everyday utility riding to the public. Every year, it sponsors an official “Ride to Work Day” that aims to bring awareness to the benefits of using a motorcycle or scooter for commuting/general transportation.
Ride your motorcycle or scooter on this day to demonstrate:
The number of motorcyclists to the general public and to politicians.
That motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life.
That motorcyclists can reduce traffic and parking congestion in large cities.
That motorcycles are for transportation as well as recreation.
That motorcycling is a social good.
We fully support Ride to Work’s mission to get more people riding, make our roads safer for riders, and push local governments to add motorcycle parking and other moto-friendly ordinances.
Ride to Work Day was inspired by “Work to Ride, Ride to Work” marketing materials created between 1989 and 1991 by the Aero Design and Manufacturing Company, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of motorcycle riders clothing. In 1992 these items inspired motorcycle magazine editor Fred Rau to write an editorial calling for a national ride to work day.
The first annual Ride to Work Day event was proposed in Road Rider magazine in the May 1992 issue. This is an excerpt from that “Ride to Work” editorial: “You may remember several months ago when Bob Carpenter, commenting in his ‘Two Up’ column, mentioned how neat he thought it would be if there was one day a year when everyone who owned a motorcycle used it to ride to work. That comment was prompted by a T-shirt produced by Aerostich RiderWear that simply said, ‘Work To Ride, Ride To Work.’ Everyone seemed to think that a national ‘Ride To Work’ day was one heck of a good idea.”
The first Ride to Work Day event date was July 22, 1992. For several years various motorcycle businesses informally promoted every third Wednesday in July as Ride To Work Day. These early advocates included Road Rider Magazine, Dunlop Tires, and Aerostich/Riderwearhouse. The event continued to grow as an informal grassroots demonstration every year until 2000. That year a non-profit organization, Ride to Work, was formed to help organize and promote Ride to Work Day.
The first Ride to Work Day event led by this group was the third Wednesday in July of 2001. This day was the annual day until 2008, when it was changed to the Third Monday In June. This change was made to climatically better accommodate riders world-wide, and to give more riders an opportunity to participate.
Ride to Work is a 501(c04 nonprofit, all-volunteer effort. Organizers include Andy Goldfine, Lynn Wisneski, and Christine Holt.
Andy Goldfine, wearing one of his iconic Roadcrafter suits.
Our guest on Episode 14 of the Rider Magazine Insider Podcast is Andy Goldfine, founder of Aerostich and inventor of the iconic Roadcrafter textile motorcycle suit. Andy is also event organizer for the International Motorcycle and Scooter Ride to Work Day, which takes place each year on the third Monday in June. The 30th annual event is scheduled for June 21, 2021. We talk about how Andy became a motorcyclist, what motivated him to invent the Roadcrafter, how products are selected for the Aerostich catalog, why motorcycling is a social good, the advantages of lane splitting/sharing, and other topics.
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