Taichi RSY269 Explorer Air adventure motorcycle pants

Straight answer: RS Taichi puts three-dimensional mesh on the front thigh, the rear thigh, above the knee and below it. The back of the knee uses a finer mesh instead.

Those four zones are not an even sprinkle. The front thigh takes the wind head-on while you ride, so the mesh there moves the most air. The rear thigh is the opposite, pressed against the seat with no airflow at all, so the mesh there is about letting moisture out during long hours seated.

Why the back of the knee gets a different mesh: that is the point that folds every time you bend your leg, thousands of times a trip. Coarse mesh there digs in and eventually breaks its fibres. Finer mesh is softer and folds comfortably, at the cost of some airflow, and the back of the knee was never a heat source anyway.

The mesh itself is the maker's T-DRY. Its point is pulling moisture to the outer face to evaporate rather than holding it, so your legs are not left clammy after a long stretch in the sun.

Straight answer: two soft knee protectors rated CE level 2 come with the trousers and can be set at several heights. The hip carries foam padding, not certified armour.

The words sound alike but the two are different classes. A protector is a tested product with a label and a tier. Foam padding is damping, untested, with no tier. Plenty of listings call both of them armour, and buyers believe they are covered at four points when the real number is two.

The hip is worth upgrading more than people think. In a fall onto your side the pelvis touches early, and it is the slowest of common riding injuries to heal. RS Taichi sells the TRV086 Stealth CE protector separately, dropping straight into the existing hip pocket with no alteration.

The seat and inner thigh are reinforced with Schoeller Dynatec, an abrasion and tear resistant fabric placed where contact lasts longest.

Straight answer: beyond five standard sizes and two women's cuts, RS Taichi makes two more marked BM and BL. The B is a wider-waist version: the same height and the same inseam as M and L, with roughly five to seven centimetres more at the waist.

This is the problem most makers ignore. A rider of 170cm with an 85cm waist finds L tight at the stomach, and jumping to XL fixes the waist but adds three centimetres of leg, dragging the hem down over the heel. Worse, longer legs drop the knee pad below the joint.

BM and BL keep the length and only open the waist and hip. The knee armour stays on the joint, the hem stays where it should, and only the stomach gets room. For the middle-aged Vietnamese build these are the two best sellers in the range, and also the two most often left out of a stock list.

How to tell which range you are in: measure your waist and read the chart below. If your waist lands a step above the size your height suggests, you are exactly who the B sizes were made for.

Straight answer: the hem is cut wide to pass over tall off-road boots, and the calf carries adjuster flaps to take it in when you wear low shoes.

These are two needs fighting over one trouser. A wide leg clears adventure boots but flaps loose and untidy at speed with ordinary shoes. A narrow leg looks clean but will not go over a tall boot at all.

The calf flaps let you pick each day. Heading off road in tall boots, open them. Riding into town in trainers, cinch them and the leg sits close with no spare fabric.

The waist adjusts on side belts. Mesh trousers are light and slippery and tend to slide down in a leaned-forward position; the belts hold the waistband in place without a separate belt.

Reflective panels sit front and rear. Legs move while you ride, and another driver's eye catches movement faster than a still patch of brightness.

Take the RSY269 if you want riding trousers wearable in the heat, high-tier knee armour from the box, and you are one of those riders whose waist and height do not land on the same size.

Matching jacket: the RS Taichi RSJ340 Kompass Air is the jacket from the same line, in the same mesh and the same adventure cut.

For days of riding in rain take the RS Taichi RSY270 Drymaster Kompass, with a waterproof membrane and a cut you can pull over ordinary trousers.

For city use at less money look at the RS Taichi RSY258 Quick Dry Cargo, a fast-drying trouser with cargo pockets on both thighs.

To look like ordinary clothing off the bike take the Komine WJ-7495R, a jeans cut with the armour hidden inside.

Buying at BigBike: genuine stock, a 12-month warranty on manufacturing faults, nationwide delivery with cash on delivery.