Once every year I would go out and spend as little money as possible on the cheapest vinyl pants I could find in some bike shop’s bargain bin.They would then live in the bottom of my bag and if it was really raining and I could be bothered stopping, I’d put them on.At the end of the year, they would be in tatters and I’d throw them into a bin and move on to the next pair.The cheap shit never really worked, never really lasted and I always looked like a homeless metho-fiend when I had them on.I owned a wet-weather top once, but that fell off my bike on the way home from Phillip Island one year, cars ran over it, and I never bothered replacing it. So easy to cart around.Fourthly, do I look fine? No SuperFabric on arms. Apparently, the lower pockets are lined with Gore-Tex to make them waterproof. I chose instead to rely on top-end textile jackets to keep the rain out. All rights reserved. It has a red zipper and a taffeta lining. The model shown wearing the jacket in the photos has a 44″ chest and 35″ waist and is about 178 cm tall (5′ 10″).Ignore some of the retailer sizing charts that list the size large as a Euro size 52 (40″-42″ chest). By creating an account with our store, you will be able to move through the checkout process faster, store multiple shipping addresses, view and track your orders in your account and more. It’s designed to compete with the highest level adventure-touring technical gear currently available from several well-known brands.It has an array of unique features that make it a definite contender and it has excellent ventilation for a jacket of this type.Don’t let our tame all-black Carese II jacket sway your opinions. Dealer Search . By continuing to use this site you agree to these cookies.SAS-TEC 9314 back protector fits the Held Carese II jacket. Helmets. Our technologies. Excellent ventilation. Apparently there’s still a demand for it. Ladies, form a disorderly line over there. The large square front chest vents have covers that fold and hold with a magnet on each side. Do yourself a favor: don’t buy the black.Do manufacturers still make all-black clothing? Always check before purchasing.The Held Carese II jacket may seem expensive, but it actually competes very well with high-end jackets that cost a lot more and it can serve as your only jacket for a wide variety of riding conditions. Reliable and unbiased advice here.In-depth guides to help riders understand what to look for, how to weigh options and make good buying decisions.Shopping For A New (Or Your First) Helmet? Once every year I would go out and spend as little money as possible on the cheapest vinyl pants I could find in some bike shop’s bargain bin. Nicely detailed lining. The zipper has two runners, so it can be opened from either the top or bottom and the opening can be regulated to vary the intake.Unfortunately, the zipper runners for the large arm vents do not have the locking feature, so the runners can’t be secured in a specific location.There’s another 170 mm long zippered vent in the rear of each arm, behind the bicep.In the rear of the jacket is a large horizontal vent along the top of the jacket, plus two 22 cm long vertical zippered vents on either side of the central part of the back.Open all of these vents and you have something approaching the late and lamented.As mentioned above, the Carese II has the unique pockets/vents in front, mid-chest, just below the large main vents.Sharing a pocket and vent is actually a pretty good idea and we discovered that certain items stored in the pocket will actually help venting, because a bulky item keeps the zipper open, forming more of an entry point for air to flow into the jacket.The horizontal waterproof-type zippers on these pockets even have a little zipper garage for the runner. Despite being one of the most respected manufacturers of motorcycle clothing and accessories, Held remains a family business. Non-locking zipper runners. New Customers. It still looks new. This can be used to store the waterproof liner.Attached to that pocket is another pocket with a horizontal zipper on top under a flap. The Carese II goes one better than most however, with “Quattrotempi” design. Does the Rainblock do this? If you live in Seattle, you’ll be looking at a jacket with a full Gore-Tex outer shell anyway.By the way, one other advantage of the windbreaker-like Gore-Tex removable liner in the Carese II is that it’s very thin; it can be removed without affecting the sizing and fit, which remains the same. Bonus!And speaking of curiosities, here’s one more: the Carese II does not include a thermal liner. Somewhere….The Carese II outer shell is made from a relatively flexible (and somewhat pedestrian) Cordura 500, a fairly common shell fabric well known to motorcyclists.In this case, it feels substantial enough to hopefully provide good impact and abrasion protection.But the use of Cordura rather than Gore-Tex is one of the biggest differences between the Carese II and some of the other high-end jackets that use Gore-Tex Pro Shell With Armacor for the jacket exterior.But, apples vs. oranges here maybe. The jacket even includes a magnetic holding system for securing the flaps on either side of the main entry zipper in an open position. Nothing has torn and the seams have not failed, which is amazing because I’m pretty hard on my gear and have been known to tear it from myself in a frenzy.The colour you see in the image and some kind of fluoro nonsense no grown man would ever wear.Join the National Motorcycle Alliance Today. I have always been a wet-weather gear miser. Pull the collar open and secure it to a hook on the left side and this front opening allows a lot of air into the jacket.Note that the main entry zipper (YKK Vislon type) does not have a locking runner.By the way, the 3D mesh inside the vent and covering most of the inside of the jacket shell really helps to keep a nice airy space between your body and the jacket shell and this space also helps to circulate the air.That circulation is needed if you’re wearing the Gore-Tex liner underneath, because the air moving over the top of the liner pulls moisture away from your body.There are also vertical 140 mm long zipper-covered vertical vents on either side in front, about mid-chest.Pull each zipper down from its garage to reveal a narrow slit on either side, which helps somewhat with ventilation but doesn’t really form a large entry point.Just below the big upper front vents are horizontal waterproof zippers on either side.These are a combination pocket and vent, another clever idea.