Whether you’re on a Vespa or a Harley, an essential piece of any riding gear is solidly-made, safe motorcycle jacket. So when your thinking about hopping on your scoot and taking a ride, think about what is the safest jacket you could be putting on your body to help keep your skin attached as well. At AMERiders we sure do.
I don’t know about you, but I cringe every time I see someone cruising along the freeway – whether on a Sportster, Trike or a Cruiser – in shorts and a t-shirt. When worn with a helmet and gloves, the safest piece of motorcycle gear can you can afford is your jacket. It should like American Express never want to ride your bike without. A riding jacket should be the number one priority.
As it is with most products these days, whether we’re talking cellphones, motorcycles themselves or, hell, even trendy hipster craft beers, we’re living in an era in which we’re spoilt for choice. Long gone are the days when the one’s options regarding the safest motorcycle jackets available consisted of “anything you want – as long as it’s black and made of leather”.
We now have jackets tailor-made for every sort of riding one can imagine, from your basic cruiser type jackets to jackets for adventure riders wanting to brave a trans-African trip, or jackets tailor-made for superbike-riding speed demons.
They all come in lots of bright colors too, with or without armor, and are made of many space-age synthetic materials, which offer just as much abrasion resistance as leather, without the weight, smell and heat-trapping properties of that substance.
So how does one go about choosing a jacket when confronted with such a spectrum of choice, such a vast range of items which all, in the most basic sense of the word, perform essentially the same function?
Purpose and Style
Well, as with many things when it comes to motorcycling, purpose, and style are bound to be two of the main factors when it comes to choosing a motorcycle jacket. First, purpose: what kind of riding are you going to be doing? What sorts of speeds do you regularly do on the street? What sort of motorcycle do you ride? This last question ties into the question of style as well. A black leather jacket accessorized with chrome “flair” and bling, with shaggy sleeves flapping with tassles, is going to look a little incongruent on a person riding a sleek Japanese superbike, as would a garishly-colored, heavily-armored synthetic jacket on someone cruising around on a Harley.
Thankfully for us consumers, jacket manufacturers generally categorize their jackets into various styles, which are easy enough to pair with the type of motorcycle you ride: “sports” or “racing” style jackets are obviously aimed at superbike riders, “street” and “stunt” is usually for riders of naked, sporty machines, “adventure” or “enduro” is aimed at those who ride big adventure bikes on long, often off-road or semi-off-road trips, while “touring” jackets are similar, but usually aimed at more road-biased riding, and the eponymous “cruiser” style jackets are for, well, cruisers.
But which one is right for me?
So now that you’ve narrowed down your options by figuring out what style suits your riding. How do you then select a good safe jacket out of what’s available in your section of jackets? Well, to help you out there, we’ve taken a look at some of the most popular and safest types of jackets for protection while riding.
Let’s face it: for most of us on two wheels, price is often a major factor that comes into play when purchasing motorcycle equipment. If you don’t ride a 1000cc superbike, you might feel like a thousand dollar armored leather racing suit is a bit overkill for you – but that doesn’t mean you want to skimp on safety.
Textile jackets have come a long way in the last two decades in terms of impact and abrasion protection. Not to mention the approved armor in the elbows and shoulders, along with a removable (and upgradeable) back protector. And in terms of practicality, there are some that are fully waterproof and have excellent ventilation for those hot summer days. Not to mention some have excellent prices as well.
Over the last decade or two, adventure-style motorcycle touring has exploded in popularity and this type of riding calls for rather specific gear. You need a jacket that offers not only abrasion and impact protection but also protection from extreme weather, as well as the need for a lot of pockets and compartments for your touring goodies.
The best safest motorcycle jacket
For bikers who ride cruisers, cafe racers or retro-style muscle bikes, style is a huge part of their approach to motorcycling. Part of the statement one makes when riding such a machine, of course, is the riding gear one wears.
~And as always…
~Live Free Ride Hard~
~AMERiders
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