Rukka Marco Jacket

[Neil W]

Whilst on a recent trip to the Nurburgring area we had some extremely heavy rain and true to form my Hein Gericke Master IV started to P*** in water.
I was totally sickened off so diverted to the Detlev Louis store in Aachen and bought a RUKKA MARCO jacket.
Price wise it was cheaper than the UK internet prices but not by much due to the current exchange rate (should have got it six months ago).
That said it was comfortable straight away and the fit was excellent plus it is superbly waterproof as proved by riding in five hours of heavy rain in Germany and Belgium and then a three hour ride in crap weather back from Hull.
So far I've got nothing but praise for the quality of the jacket and how it is performing plus I like the idea of the 5 year guarantee

 

[Kahuna]

Whilst on a recent trip to the Nurburgring area we had some extremely heavy rain and true to form my Hein Gericke Master IV started to P*** in water.
I was totally sickened off so diverted to the Detlev Louis store in Aachen and bought a RUKKA MARCO jacket.
Price wise it was cheaper than the UK internet prices but not by much due to the current exchange rate (should have got it six months ago).
That said it was comfortable straight away and the fit was excellent plus it is superbly waterproof as proved by riding in five hours of heavy rain in Germany and Belgium and then a three hour ride in crap weather back from Hull.
So far I've got nothing but praise for the quality of the jacket and how it is performing plus I like the idea of the 5 year guarantee

Neil - Amble to Aachen is a heck of a ride to take it back any time in the next 5 years though isn't it?

How / where did the Master jacket leak? Have you spoken to HG about it? I'm about to start the hunt for a new jacket and the master would have been my 1st choice.

I have had the HG Voyager for 6 years and 40k miles - with not a drop of water and a MUCH better jacket than my Twat Suit.

 

[Neil W]

Warranty is europewide and in any case I can take it back if there's a problem to any Louis store which is no problem because I go over at least twice a year to Germany.
As for the HG Master I've posted before re the crap guarantee, HG only guarantee the jacket for 2 yrs after that it is the GORETEX guarantee. I spoke to them who say that if you return the jacket to them they will test it and if it leaks they will disect it to find the problem.
If it is a manufacturing fault with HG's workmanship ie not the goretex liner well tough you have a cut up jacket.
If it is a goretex fault they will recompense you towards the replacement ie percentage of value of a two or three year old jacket.
My jacket leaks on the arms and has done since it was 2 1/2 years old despite proper reproofing and cleaning.
That said I have a much older HG goretex jacket which was much cheaper as does my wife (£200 rather than £350 which are both still fully waterproof.
In my opinion have a look at the Rukka or the Halversons kit at Custom Lids on the Hill the quality is much better than the Master IV and V
That said some of the HELD gear that MOTOBRIO at Hawick stocks seems good and I have Clover cordura trousers which are 6 or 7 years old still serviceable and
100 % waterproof

 

[david m]

Hello Neil. let me introduce myself, my name is Dave and i'm the manager of Hein Gericke in Newcastle. i've just read your post about the problem you have had with your Master iv jacket. if you can, could you pop into the shop with your jacket and i'll investigate the problem fully for you. we value all our customers very highly and will do everything we can to resolve any problems you may have.

 

[david m]

Hello Kahuna, My name's Dave and i'm the manager of Hein Gericke in Newcastle. I've read your post about looking for a new jacket and would love it if you could pop into the store and i'll brief you on all the full weather jackets that we have available. If you can't make it in then phone me on 01912612097 and i'll take your details and post you the new 2008 catalogue to browse through to help you make your choice

 

[Kahuna]

Hello Kahuna, My name's Dave and i'm the manager of Hein Gericke in Newcastle. I've read your post about looking for a new jacket and would love it if you could pop into the store and i'll brief you on all the full weather jackets that we have available. If you can't make it in then phone me on 01912612097 and i'll take your details and post you the new 2008 catalogue to browse through to help you make your choice

Hi David - thanks for the reply. I know you guys work hard to get things right - I suppose you're a little hamstrung by the parent company.

I pretty much gave up on HG after 3 fairly disturbing visits (two to Aberdeen store and one to yours) over the recent 3 months.

I was perusing the new suits on two occasions in the Aberdeen store and on both occasions I was the only shopper - but had to chase the guy serving to get any service. His explanation of the suits was very matter of fact and I decided I wouldn't bother there again.

In the mean time the guys at Sunderland Cooper BMW had a sale on and I picked up a Twat Jacket (worst mistake I've made BTW) at a sensible price.

Last time I came in to the Newcastle branch I had a list of 5 things I needed (always got these at HG in the past):

Have you got any 20/50 mineral oil - er no not got any in stock!
Have you got any silk glove liners - er no not got any in stock! (had some thin thermal ones though)
Have you got any ACF Spray - er no not got any in stock!
Have you got an Optimate - er no not got any in stock!
Have you got any of the Doc100 Cleaner - er no not got any in stock (I found some my self on your shelf after mooching for a few minutes).

I also find that when I really need help in your shop I need to go find someone - seems like mooching through the £1k + suits isn't enough to catch the sales attention!

I've loved my HG Voyager and would love to replace it - but everything in your catalogue that's of a similar quality is hugely expensive for a suit. I'm in Spain now for a few months so I'll not be needing the winter kit for a while. I've spent a lot of money with HG in the last 7 years or so and until recently had great service - so I'll be happy to come in and see you when I get back to the rain (oops - I mean British Weather).

 

[Neil W]

Thanks for the offer Dave but I've already returned the jacket in the middel of last year when your staff informed me that the fact it was over 2 years old meant it was no longer their problem and I would have to take the matter up with GORETEX in Scotland (they did provide me with the contact details) and that was the advice I was given by them.
Obviously the jacket was still wearable if not fully waterproof so I didn't want to have it cut up and be left without it.
I do have another HG Voyager goretex jacket which is much older and my wife also has a Voyager goretex jacket about three years old which are both fine.
What I objected to was that when I bought the Master jacket it was around about £300 so not cheap and a great deal was made about the 5 year guarantee .It only gets used when I'm abroad once a year and occasionally in the winter. The rest of the time I always wear the Voyager or my AM leathers .
It would be fair enough with a jacket that was worn every day if it started to leak at 2 or 3 years old but not one that has been lightly used and always properly looked after.
As I say its too late now as I took the plunge and replaced it with the Rukka.
I still buy HG gear because most of the time it's absolutely fine and excellent value for money but not sure if I would spend £400 on a new HG goretex jacket.

 

[swissrob]

i had a marco jacket also but didnt like that it had no vent zips at all.... so it got very hot in warmer weather. otherwise it was a very nice jacket, oh one other thing - if u want to zip it into trousers u have to look for trousers that have a full zip and not the normal 6" zip section

 

[Aretsukusu]

So far I've got nothing but praise for the quality of the jacket and how it is performing plus I like the idea of the 5 year guarantee

I've had mine about 2 months and have ridden in most of the crappy weather we've had this "summer", no leaks. :sunshine it was the first jacket i'd tried that fitted and didnt make me gag when i did it up fully around the neck. Agreed though, it is a bit warm when the sun does show up. :sunshine

 

[(RIP) ugg]

As it was going to be a hot hard ride in Eastern Europe, i bought a DEVON 111 JACKET from hein gericke in leeds a month before our 4500 mile trip to Bulgaria.

On the way we had the worst rain possible in most countries ,especially AUSTRIA Wein and Romania ( the whole bloody country)

Before we set off i took out my thermal liner and only wore a t'shirt..all the way there n back.
the rain didn't get through despite monsoon rain conditions...it kept me warm also..

wen the sun finally decided to show his self...my vents on top wer ok , also the sleeve vents and back panel vents , gave me some air flow to cool me..
120+ degrees in the heat...

i rode with the inside zip undone , and just used the press buttons to keep the jacket closed...

overall for a price of £120 this jacket was worth every penny , plus it comes with H,G 2 year guarantee

Foto...me , jacket n Gs1100 in Bulgaria



cammera dont like reflective strips , but ye see the the jacket like....

ugg

 

[Stu_C]

Well, I think the older stuff seems to be the better stuff from HG. I inherited a HG textile jacket from my dad (purple one, can't remember what type) which was about 5 years old. Took it out on a short ride in the rain and got wet arms and side! When visiting the parents, I dug out my old HG textile jacket (touareg I think...) which I bought when I was 17 or so (13 years old now!) and it still fits to start with but best of all, totally waterproof!! Can't complain about that! now all I need is goretex trousers...