it had been a few years since i had owned a bike and i sold all my gear with it....so recently i bought a new buell and needed new gear.....my previous gear i had owned for many years....i guess i forgot how hard it was to find a decent coat at a good price.....when you ride street u gotta have somethin that stands out.....for safetys sake a lot of people like to wear bright colors so they can be seen better....me i just want to look good first ive taken a hit or two in my time u gotta look pimp street ridin is a lot like the tuner culture....so ya gotta have style reliability safety...thats a lot to ask for a coat.....and the fact that it needs to be warm in the winter and not make u sweat like micheal jackson at a day care center in the summer.....theres a lot of good gear products out there....my best advice is go to a shop near you and try some on first before u ebay it....i was lucky i had a couple of extra bucks so i could get a textile and a leather coat ...sounds easy huh.....thats when the fun started...just finding something that looks good and had all the armour i wanted was hard...then to get something a little different than the alpinestar coat that everybody else has(dont get me wrong they make nice stuff thats why a lot of people own em) but i wanted something different....if ur lookin try tricktape and dennis kirk the motorcycle superstore or motorcycle closeouts or of course ebay..see what u like then go to the manufacturers wb site and find a dealer near u try it on first.....the first coat i ordered from dennis kirk was a closeout agv leather...i didnt pay attention to the sizing it was a great jacket...but a euro size...it fit my kid great....the next one i wanted was a hien gierke (or first gears lux line)....couldnt get a sizing on that one cause nobody in my area carried them so i had to search for it on the internet took a chance and ordered it....got lucky that one fit good i have to say the tex tribal hien gierke is by far the warmest of all my jackets it could use a little better armour but its warm  and cool in the summer without the full liner my next coat was a textile gpstar speed mary....good armour a half liner and every time i wear it someone stops me and asks where i got it def my favorite....my next jacket was a leather icon motorhead i was told icon runs small so i ordered a xx large im 5foot 9 190pounds so basicaly im short and got a gut motorcycle jackets are not made for me the icon is one of the best jackets ive owned but the sleeves were way long the rest was great...it wasnt very warm in the cold weather  either i expected more from a leather jacket with a full liner it has an open neck and is perforated in places so it just wansnt very warm good for spring and early winter...i sold it but il get another one that fits better...the last one for the moment is a rocket its an old rocket i bought off a friend for 30 bucks....i love it....its an old ballistic tex its warm in the winter and cool enough in the summer and good armour.....id like to get a icon timax i like tex jackets and its got great armour and looks....to make a short story long...look around on the internet for a while theres soooo many jackets out there find what siuts u best in looks ,protection,  warmth, and price do the ebay thing see what they go for shop around as much as u can do ur best to try it on if u cant find a msg board usualy theres some good advice on those if u dig enough check the sizing make sure its not euro..and the ncheck their sizing charts and check ur closet to see what size u might be.....if u can afford it get a good textile and a good leather ive found theres nothing wrong with buyin a used coat.. recently i have found that some manufacturers do something called ...american sizing which means its a little bigger...cause basicaly were fat....i tried on a new speedrag leather a little while ago and it ran pretty big so i asked about that on their website and they said they do american sizing...or stunt friendly....still means were fat hahahaha...check them out though they have cool stuff and a nifty closeout section...theres also a company called deathrage that makes cool stuff but i cant find much of it...kneedraggers has a cool site with lots of info to and never be afraid to write a manufacturer to ask questions either...i cant wait for gpstar to come out with something new...one thing i have learned just recently is..if ur going to bid for a  jacket on ebay watch it until the last hour or so if u have a good computer and a broadband connection wait until the last few minutes and try to bid on one that is going to end on a weekday..less people home to outbid u that wayif ur bidding for one that is gonna end on the weekend and its a good deal on a popular jacket u will get stuck in the middle of a bid war if u do like i do and try for the lowest possible price ive gotten jack a few times at the last minute literaly i lost a leather motogp gp jacket that went for a 100$$ i was ready to sream i have a pretty slow computer and a dial up connection he was faster than me it suked....but keep the faith and be diligent u will get a good deal here..good luck.good riding...good luck seeya on the twisties and ride that mother like its stolen............