BMW Street Guard 3 suit review

Reviewed by: Steve Rose for: 22,000 miles 
RRP: Jacket £630 / Trousers £495

I’ve worn the Street Guard jacket pretty much every single day for the last 18 months, so the actual mileage on that is probably much higher. The trousers are different. They are trousers – like the bottom half of a leather suit, not overtrousers – which means when you’re riding to work you’ll need your office pair in your bag to change into. So I rarely bother – reverting to an old faithful pair of armoured salopettes instead.

But what the Street Guard has done is to replace my leathers entirely. Most of my weekend riding and touring is all done in this brilliant suit. The material is unusual – slightly stiffer than Cordura, it feels more synthetic than textile and I suspect it will have considerably more abrasion resistance too. It is also incredibly hard wearing. After two winters, totalling around 15,000 miles, it still looks immaculate.

Everything still works like it did when new. No broken zips, no furry Velcro, barely even a mark. And it’s exceptionally comfortable too. The soft collar fastens close enough to keep out the cold without irritating a freshly shaven neck when you look behind. The sleeves are wide enough to go over winter gloves but easy enough to fasten in gloved hands too. It has been warm enough when needed, cool enough in summer and completely waterproof.

Other features include top spec armour which is relatively slender and unobtrusive, enough vents to keep you cool on sunny days and outer pockets which are showerproof (with a couple of inner ones that stay completely dry whatever the weather throws at them.

When I first got the suit I found the zip joining jacket to trousers a little stiff to use, but I’m used to it now and the suit has loosened up a little too. So the jacket is a definite must-have item. Whether you need the trousers depends on how and where you ride and whether you mind getting changed when you get there. Like the jacket, I can’t fault the trousers’ performance, I just prefer the convenience of overtrousers for commuting. I wouldn’t normally give top marks
for anything, but I can’t fault it. Expensive, but very good value.

More info: www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk