Motorcycle Jacket - protection & style

[seanrye]

Does anyone have any good suggestions on a motorcycle jacket that offers good protection and looks good? I like the look of the wax cotton jackets but they just won't hold up very well in the case of an asphalt slide - hate that I'm even thinking about that!

Anyway, point me in the right direction if you have any suggestions.

 

[bigbjorn]

Your requirements are unfortunately basically contradictory. The best reasonably good-looking, reasonably safe jacket might be something like a Vanson Comet, but it has no armor. For an armored jacket, I have an Aerostich Roadcrafter, a Vanson CSR5, and a set of Alpinestars leathers, but they're all pretty atrocious looking.

I also have a Barbour International, but I don't use it for anything other than riding my Honda Cub... 70cc's of raw power, and even on that, I think I could get proper hurt...

 

[danilo]

if your bike is cool you'll look cool riding it...

when it comes to motorcycle cool is being well equipped to survive, so you can look cool ALIVE

get the best safest gear you can, then worry about style

 

[steviecakes]

I've seen this jacket posted on this forum before as a suggestion. I've no personal experience nor do I own a motorcycle (yet. MSF course this summer, here I come) but it doesn't look hideous and is available with CE armor. Seriously considering getting one myself once I pass the MSF course. Every other armored jacket I know of looks like power ranger steeze.

 

[Zazamoot]

Doesn't Vanson do custom work? It might be possible to work out a custom design that isn't hideous.

Their perfecto has brass hardwear that makes it a lot more wearable than the standard black and nickle you see everywhere. I wonder if they could be convinced to produce one with armor.

 

[Morgan]

I bought a sweet vintage horsehide cafe racer and shipped it to Johnson Leathers in San Francisco. They created a custom liner with pockets for Forcefield armor, and voila: an awesome leather jacket that also provides crash protection. Since pretty much every armored jacket out there is ugly, this is probably your best option. It is kind of a pain ********** though.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Originally Posted by bigbjorn

Your requirements are unfortunately basically contradictory. The best reasonably good-looking, reasonably safe jacket might be something like a Vanson Comet, but it has no armor.

Vanson offers an armored version of the Comet. I have a lightly customized armored Comet and it's a nice jacket for riding.

Zazamoot, you may consider the Vanson Force as a close approximation of the Schott Perfecto but with armor capability. The hardware has a blackened finish so I don't know if that is a dealbreaker for you. The perforated version of the Force is not as ventilated as I would like; parts of the front liner and collar are solid leather which reduces the amount of airflow but YMMV.

Note: post-bankruptcy, Vanson makes some jackets in Costa Rica so be very careful to specify a US made jacket if that is important to you. My three Vansons are all US made but they were purchased more than a few years ago prior to their insolvency.

 

[bigbjorn]

The other option would be an upsized cafe jacket and a pressure suit like the A*stars bionic suit. But basically, once you've washed the front tire in turn 9 at Willow and gone down hard, leathers start looking really really stylish!

Ride safe.

 

[bigbjorn]

Originally Posted by Ace Rimmer

Vanson offers an armored version of the Comet. I have a lightly customized armored Comet and it's a nice jacket for riding.
That's cool. I might sell my Stallion/CSR5 and get that.

 

[uNiCoRnPriNcEsSx]

depends on what bike u got. if you ride a japanese/italian sportbike, Dainese provides great protection. endomorphs need not apply.

 

[konadog]

dainese, vanson, rev'it - all nice looking and WITH ARMOR. i have the rev'it turbine and it looks pretty sharp and has full armor. it's definitely a warmer weather jacket, but the leather rev'it jackets will provide more temp control. on the cold days in LA this winter i've been pretty dumb wearing my belstaff six days blouson. crazy cool looking jacket, but no shoulder, elbow, or back padding.

 

[Crane's]

Belstaff and I'm not talking about their streetwear stuff.

 

[seanrye]

Thanks for the suggestions, I found a discount on my bike forum for britishmotorcyclegear.com and picked up a Belstaff Mojave - athough it is a wax cotton jacket (which I specifically said I didn't want!) it does however include CE Armor in the shoulders and elbows so hopefully it will be sufficient.

 

[uNiCoRnPriNcEsSx]

you will regret your purchase when you down your bike at high speeds. return it and get real leather. that jacket is also ugly. heed my warning.

 

[emptym]

For city use (10-35 mph), I think that jacket's fine, but for the highway, I'd get something made of leather (probably Vanson or Johnston Leathers) or ballistic nylon (BMW, Britishmotorcyclegear.com, Rev'it, or Dainese). I'd also wear a back protector.