Find your fit

After years of fitting NZ riders, the most important lesson is this: height is the most reliable starting point.

Most people reach for their jacket size, t-shirt size, weight or chest measurement when sizing a vest. These can be misleading. Someone who normally wears a Large jacket may not need a Large Helite vest.

Size charts are a helpful guide, but they don't always match how a vest fits in real life, which is why height comes first. Start there, then cross-check your chest, waist and hip measurements to land in the right range.

For the Turtle 2 and e-Turtle vests, take your measurements over a t-shirt or a thin jumper, not over your riding gear. The GP Air and e-GP Air are sized over a race suit.

The Touring, Vented and Roadster jackets are worn like a normal motorcycle jacket, however they are European sizes and tend to run quite small. Go by the size chart and not your usual size.

It's common. The Turtle 2 and e-Turtle are developed to sit over your motorcycle gear, so they're fairly accommodating size-wise, and there's roughly 5 cm of adjustment in the straps to take up differences in your chest and waist.

If you're on the cusp of two sizes, prioritise your height and hips. These are the two points of structure, around your shoulders and hips, so you need to fit within them.

Final fit also depends on a few personal factors:

• Body shape and proportions
• How bulky your riding gear is. If you ride in very thick or extra bulky gear, it could push you up a size
• Personal preference for a snug or relaxed fit

Also worth knowing:

• 35 kg is the minimum weight for wearing any Helite airbag vest
• The Turtle 2 and e-Turtle also come in L-Wide and XL-Wide, for riders who are wider across the chest, waist and hips. On the vest they're labelled L-L and XL-L