Jacket Advice & Checks

Comfort
For a mc jacket to be comfortable it needs to take a riders position into account. This means your arms need longer sleeves (and sometimes rotated a bite), your shoulders need more space, your lower back needs more material (to cover the gap in between pants and jacket) and the jacket needs to contain closings to keep out wind & rain.

Furthermore a nice lining goes a long way in ensuring good comfort.


Jacket material
Jackets are normally split up into two kinds. Leather and non-leather. To read more about leather motorcycle gear please refer to my section on leather.

Non-leather material is normally Dupont Cordura which is a form of nylon and has a scale going up to about 1000 denier (this is heavy duty and often only found in luggage). Clothing is more around 500 denier.


Lining
Some jackets contain linings that can be removed, for example a winter lining). If your jacket contains such a feature make sure that the lining can be secured in different places (otherwise it is going to roll up and come out each time you take off your jacket).

You can also opt for a great neck warmer. But try to get one with a wind stopper(to keep the wind out). This combination makes for a great connection between motorcycle helmet and jacket. I recommend you get something like this at a trade-show, where they often have special discounts.


Pockets
The more pockets the better, as long as it doesn't mess-up your look. You need at least one inner pocket (preferably waterproof) to hold your wallet or some papers. Outer pockets have no use if they can't be closed. Ask yourself ...are you going to use them while riding? So make sure all pockets can be secured. Some pockets will contain a little flap over the zipper to keep water out.


Zippers, Velcro & others
Closing your jacket will be a routine job (no wiz kid stuff). But actually it's quite heavy duty on a motorcycle jackets. Closures get blasted with wind and other elements. So a simple zipper will not do, get something strong.

Try to ensure that the zipper has a cover-up. Wind will just blow thru the zipper teeth, so if you get a piece of material behind or in front of the zipper, this will keep the mc jacket much warmer. It's a small extra benefit to have zippers that can be used with gloves and can be secured in their place (this avoids flapping in the wind).


Padding
Extra padding in essential places is no extra luxury, it's mandatory. These are the most common places to look for padding: elbows, shoulders and back. This padding can be in the form of extra material sown onto the jacket or carbon Kevlar shells in the lining (or anything in between).


Closers
How does the motorcycle jacket deal with sealing you up? Can you tighten the neck, sleeves, waistband and/or thighs? This helps with two things (1) cold air and rain coming in (2) plus it avoids the jacket from flapping and bulking up in the wind. If your jacket doesn't contain this feature make sure it is a heavy (leather) material which isn't so prone to flapping.


Suit integration
Motorcycle jackets can be integrated into a suit via Velcro or a Zipper at the back (which will provide a better closing at the waist). What I am talking about is a little zipper or likewise to attach pants to.

Of course you can also decide on a one piece-suit which often is more a personal choice. People often do it because a one piece provides maximum protection and it will be more wind & weather tight. A disadvantage is taking it on/off and they are less flexible (hard to combine, it's on or it's off)


Reflective material
The no.1 reason for motorcycle accidents is that another driver did not see you! Just quickly check out if your motorcycle jacket has any reflective material or maybe a brighter color, for example the orange stripe found on many Harley Davidson jackets. Don't forget that some very small linings can be reflective with a material called scotelite.


Ventilation
First I talk about closing the motorcycle jacket up, now ventilation?! On a hot day it's nice to be able to open a few ventilation holes without having to open your whole jacket (which makes it flap around and curl up on your back). Under the arm pits is the most common place for ventilation zippers.


Keeping your jacket waterproof
After a while all material starts to loose it's power. It becomes dirty, stinky and less effective. So you decide to give it a wash (like a new start)! Oops.. often you are much worse off. The material looks good again but isn't waterproof & effective anymore.