It is New Riding Jacket Time. What to Look for in a Textile Jacket

New Jacket Time

I am looking for a new motorcycle riding jacket. Specifically, I want a ¾ length textile jacket.

Why textile and not leather?

I have ridden in both. Leather is the abrasion resistance king! Textile can be almost as good but nothing will completely prevent road rash if you slide long enough on a tar and chip road surface. What tips the scale other than cost is what happens to leather when it is completely water soaked. Leather will take forever to dry and when dry will get water stains that will be there forever. When my old jacket got wet, a few minutes in the dryer on very low heat made it as good as new. Textile can be re-sprayed with waterproofing without showing stains. Modern textile materials used in name brand motorcycle apparel are made to withstand sliding on pavement.

Back to me! It became apparent during my annual fall ride week that my ten year old three quarter length Teknic textile riding jacket was beginning to self-destruct. I have a hot weather perforated jacket for the truly hot days of summer. The Teknic jacket has been my main jacket for every other time of year. Unfortunately, the stuffing inside the cool weather liner has shrunk to the point of being useless. Additionally, some of the external seams are beginning to fray and the collar has been repaired already.

I personally prefer the ¾ length jackets as they are more suited to the slightly larger body types. I don’t have a Barbie doll shape. I am ’around’ average dimensions for a “mature” adult male. So fit is just better for my body type. I also like the extra front pockets that the ¾ length jackets have. Four large front pockets means I can carry a cell phone, GPS unit, a large wallet and sunglasses. If the temperatures really plummet, I can put four of those temporary hot packs in each pocket and keep warm (try it…it works). Most ¾ length jackets also all have some form of rear “across the bum” pocket that is big enough for a spare set of gloves, a paper map or some chocolate bars (see above mature adult body type discussion). Many manufacturers call these jackets “Adventure Touring Jackets”.

The ¾ length jacket has some drawbacks too. Just try putting most rain suits over a ¾ length jacket. It is almost impossible. Both of my rain suits will fit over a waist length jacket, not the ¾ Teknic. Another drawback is that the ¾ length jacket is almost always too bulky to take off and stash in a saddle bag. These drawbacks do not outweigh the benefits in my opinion.

I went looking for a replacement for the Teknic. Sadly Teknic is no longer with us. The company is no more. However, almost every motorcycle clothing manufacturer has a few ¾ length costs in their lineup. They range from around $200.00 to over $1200.00. I won’t bother to list all of the coats I have seen as there are lots of places on the net to find reviews, specs and deals. In addition to the clothing manufacturers, most of the motorcycle companies have their ‘house’ brand clothing lines. Most of the time the “in house stuff” is really good. BMW, Victory and Triumph both sell really nice clothing.

So what do I look for in a motorcycle jacket?

Firstly, I am not a big fan of the colour black. If the coat is only available in black, I am not interested. Black is cool looking and for years my street bike coat was a black leather jacket and I have road raced in black leathers. But black is hot in the summer and even with florescent strips is not seen in traffic. So no colour choices means I pass on to another brand.

Fortunately, most brands have both all black and multi-colour jackets. This includes “Hi Viz” colours. Hi Viz is the florescent safety vest colours (mostly the bright yellow but some in orange tones too). Every brand is also now using varying amounts of highly reflective strips in places on the jackets.

What are the features a good quality ¾ length jacket should have?

Fit - Firstly, does it fit you? Just like shoes, some brands fit completely different than other brands. A 48 (US size) from one brand may fit like a 44 in another brand. Even if you plan to buy on line, try on your preferred brand before buying. I suggest trying on a variety of jackets.

Safety- Remember the jacket isn’t just a garment to keep you warm or allow you to look ‘cool’. The jacket is your upper body protection and an important part of your safety package along with gloves, pants, boots and helmet. The jacket should have CE (a European quality tested standard) shoulder, elbow and back protection. This doesn’t just mean extra layers of fabric. It means added pads captured in the garment by design. These can be a bit uncomfortable and might make the jacket a bit more difficult to get into quickly. However they will save your most vulnerable joints in a fall. Try the jacket on and make sure that the elbow pads are at your elbows, etc.

Material - Next look at the material used to make the jacket. Is the material strong enough to prevent road rash? Most jackets will be made of a material like 600 Denier Cordura or Carbolex. Some high end jackets like KLIM go to 840 Denier Cordura.

Waterproofing - Waterproof jackets are nice when it rains! Some ¾ length jackets use a waterproof coating, some use a zip in rain “liner”. The latest jackets from Olympia have the liner zip out and then go over top of the outer jacket for waterproofing. Many of the jackets also now have waterproof zippers and even flaps over zippers to keep out the water.

Liner - The ¾ length jackets should also have a zip in or snap in thermal ‘liner’ to keep you warm. Being warm and dry on your ride are both good things.

Venting - Just like I don’t enjoy being wet or cold on my ride, I also want to have lots of vents that can be opened to keep me cool on a hot day. All of the best ¾ length jackets will have vents with an easy pull zipper to open and close while on the move. I expect to see a vent on each arm, one each on both shoulders and two on the chest. On the back of the jacket there should be one large vent or two small ones. Look for good quality zippers (like YYK) that will allow you to open the vents easily while riding.

Collar and Sleeve - The jacket should have a soft collar with a flap that closes up the top of the jacket without being uncomfortable on the neck. Same thing on the wrists. Wrist closures should allow you to have the wrist closure tight enough to allow you to snug up your glove over the top of the sleeve.

Pockets - Most jackets have some combination of big and small front pockets to allow you to carry big stuff and small stuff. I leave it to you to decide who has the best package of different pockets. Personally, I am not keen on small pockets as they are hard to access with gloves on.

So which one did I buy? I will update with “part-two” after I have tried on a bunch and taken some photos to show features.