Leather Jacket Recommendations

All of these recommendations are good. Vanson is the gold standard. Some Joe Rocket are great, some are pretty poor.

My Joe Rocket Blaster is excellent, but it's listed as a 50 and my chest is 44.

Try on whatever you decide to assure fit before you buy.

Wife's Icon and my Marsee Ballistics are excellent textiles as well.:clap2:

 

I finally seen this jacket at RMC, it diffently has a wow factor, but a little to loud for me, I'm more shy and reserved, kind of like KC-10 ound:

Your days of being out in front of me are over, so get use to seeing the back of my A$$, by the end of next season, you'll be able to recite my license plate number...

[/QUOTE]

 

well, it definately has flash
don't know that I would be caught dead in it, but it does have flash

 

Vanson. Not cheap, but I think they are the best.

 

I am a clothes horse and have a 1) FirstGear Fire Leather Jacket, 2) light Brown traditional leather motorcycle jacket, 3) Sean John Motorcycle jacket, 4) PowerTrip Black Diamond perforated leather jacket, an 5) Icon Pursuit Leather jacket, 6) Shift Racing M1 Leather jacket, 7) traditional Black Leather motorcycle jacket (from Jammin Leathers - cool place to buy), 8) Cortech DSX Black Denim motorcycle jacket, 9) Fieldsheer Moto Bar Textile jacket, 10) Honda GoldWing Mesh Jacket, and finally 11) AGV Aero Sport Textile/Leather jacket. Yeah I know I am sick but I really wear all the stuff. This is just the jackets I also have pants, gloves and other apparel, but the funny thing is I only have two helmets. Gotta be normal about something. The First Gear Fire Leather jacket and the Cortech DSX Black Denim jacket are my two favorite riding jackets. I go to some Motorcycle Trophy parties in NYC and my White Shift Racing M1 Leather jacket always draws attention and complements.

 

First Gear Fire Leather Jacket


Shift Racing M1 Leather jacket




I ride better when I look good.

 

The VFR I bought is yellow so of course I gotta get a jacket to go with the bike. This is what I am considering - Another AGV jacket. Gotta look good but that is just me - good jacket with armour.




This is my second choice and it is also an AGV leather jacket

 

I think that they have pink panties to go with that Legion Jacket!

 

Hey Legs - I wanted to say sumthin about that jacket, but I am glad you did. Heck, look at me I should talk. Sorry, but the Icon Legion jacket (which I have seen in the store) looks like something the Gay Caballero would wear - Just a tad too much for me, but very visable. So pink panties are probably in the deal with it. I am not saying it will make you a Gay Caballero - just a joke and I will include myself because everyone's taste is different - like I said look at me. I have my idea of what looks good, but that does not mean that others share the same opinion. Can't a guy have a little non-offensive fun. If you can't laugh at youself then what can you do. Not making fun of anyone and no offense to anyone into alternative lifestyles. I do not worry about being politically correct since politicians tend to be very corrupted and my intentions are not to be offensive. To each his own and different types of people make the world more interesting to me at least.

 

I wouldn't call it gay.... Gays tend to have better taste!:caked:

 

I am very happy with Fieldsheer jackets. I have a 2 textile jackets (winter and summer) and this fall purchased the leather moto bar jacket in black and silver. Excellent quality!

 

While I would definately agree that Vanson is usually of very high quality, and above average, I think saying they are the best or the gold standard is a bit of a stretch. And I have owned one and purchased others as gifts.

One of the best -- sure.
Gold Standard -- I dont' know about that. To me at least that denotes the absolute best, the one that all others aim for, emulate if you will, hope to attain the status of. Vanson is just one of many excellent motorcycle leather products companies.

A lot of their designs, while excellent quality, and offering outstanding protection, look a little dated to me. Definately go after the cruiser crowd more than the sport or sport tourer crowd.

Plus the arrogance. When I was researching which company I was going to use for my custom leathers, they were one of the least helpful. But more bizarre to me, was that if I wanted them to omit their logos from my suit their was a cost and it was per logo omited! Like $50 or $75 per logo omited I want to say. I don't know, call me silly, but that annoyed me. In the end I got a beautiful suit from BKS, they didn't care I left off all their logos, or some or left them all on, same price. Although that price, for the suit was substantially more than the Vanson suit would have cost me, even without the logos.

 

I have an assortment of Joe Rocket jackets and have been nothing but pleased with them. Quality, price and fit are all top shelf! I have textiles and leather and would highly recommend them.

I also have a Frank Thomas waterproof/insulated jacket I wear on really cold/damp days and it is great, too. It is well designed with redundant flaps to keep the cold air out! Great jacket!

My experience says stick with brand names, even if it means shelling out a little more dough. One thing I've done is found my specific size in a particular maker (like Joe Rocket) and then scoured the internet and ebay for deals.

Happy Shopping!!!

 

Thank you Legs - When time and personal finances permit I hope to get down to your area and possibly meet and do some riding. You really sound like a cool person.

 

Have any of you seen this one or tried one on. Thickness and so forth?
http://www.njkleathers.com/jackets/Americana.html

 

They take a long time to break in, (I've had 3 different styles), but the VANSON is unmatched for quality and survivability in a crash. They also offer full Perf which I have it feels like a heavy T-shirt at speed but is much more protection than most synthetics. They aren't cheap new, but I sold one on EBay that the guy got a great deal and was quite happy. I've also been happy with FirstGear and they come with a liner unlike the Vanson pay pay pay.

 

This is a great thread. Thanks.

 

For summer I use wear an Alpinestars T-Stunt 2 Mesh. Nice jacket when the temps are over 80, the zip-in liner is basically worthless though, it doesn't make a big difference in comfort if I get caught in the cold with it.

For cooler temps I got a Tourmaster Cruiser II, and I have mixed feelings on the thing. Collar is really stiff and until the jacket breaks in (more on that later) I get the feeling that it's going to be a little annoying feeling the thing try and push in on my throat. Pockets could use better liners. Leather is plenty heavy, some zippered vents & the zip-in liner is decently heavy so it can handle a wide range of temps if need be.

The worst has to be the zipper that broke after 2 weeks of ownership. It wasn't the slider, it was the pull, which broke in half as I was zipping up one afternoon. The dealership I ordered it through took that one back and got me a brand new jacket with two day's turn around. If this happens on the next one I'll either return it for a refund against a completely different jacket, or replace the pull myself with hardware for a different jacket; why does anyone use non-YKK zippers on something like a motorcycle jacket? I don't think I could recommend this jacket to others based on the experience I've had so far.

 

Addendum to the Tourmaster Coaster II; I've returned the second replacement jacket for the exact same reason. Broken zipper. While installing the liner to return this one, a button on a sleeve end fell out. While I had thought Tourmaster to be a good brand, I've felt pretty burned on this one and won't be going back. Replacing the leather jacket with a Firstgear Earl, will report on that later. Have had no problems with my Alpinestars T-Stunt II Mesh that I've owned for a year, so the Tourmaster experience has been pretty pathetic by comparison.

 

I picked up a JR Sonic 2.0 this spring, for all intensive purposes it is a do everything jacket. Leather front & back panels, textile side panels that unzip & have mesh underneath(from the sleeve cuff to waist) cooling is great when its hot for a leather jacket. Foam armor in the shoulders, elbows & back(upgrade to hard plastic armor also available). I have been impressed w/ quality so far, list on the jacket is $320 I think. I picked mine up off of Ebay for $125 it had been worn twice. JR's do tend to run small plan on getting @ least one size larger than you expect you'll need.