Hi everyone, hope your week is going well. Today I wanted to explain just what the real differences are between a classic style motorcycle jacket and any other type of leather jacket. Motorcycle jackets are not made the way they are just to look cool! Yes some go overboard on the damn zipper pockets, but for the most part there is a practical reason for all the ways a motorcycle jacket is styled.
Lets start with the overall fit, something most don’t think about. A motorcycle leather jacket is made for a person sitting on a motorcycle, duh! Now think about it, have you ever had on a coat or jacket and sat down in your car? I bet anything the front of your coat bunches up like a balloon. That’s because when you sit your lap is pushing the stiff jacket up. A motorcycle leather jacket is cut short in front.
See how short it comes to that guy in the picture? It’s cut so that it ends right at your waist, where you bend. That way it does not ride up and bunch up when sitting on a Harley. Now, the back however is cut a little longer. That’s because most are leaned forward with your hands up on the motorcycle handlebars. So they cut the back longer so it does not ride up and expose your lower back when your riding.
Let’s go on the the belt. Most leather motorcycle jackets have a wide belt, or half belt, built into the jacket way down at the waist. The reason for that is to keep your jacket tight so that the wind your hitting while riding your bike does not flow under it and bellow it up or flap it around. It just keeps your jacket down and tight on you.
Lets go on to the collar. The reason a leather motorcycle jacket has wide snap down collars is for several reasons. They snap down so it keeps it in place when hitting that wind from the road, you don’t want your collar smacking you in the face 200 times! When it’s snapped open you have plenty of room to turn your head easy and keeps you cool. But when your riding in cold weather or raining you can snap it up and the overlapping flaps break the wind and keeps you warm, plus the collar covers your neck.
Some leather motorcycle jackets have lace up sides. That sort of is the same reason as the belt. They just keep your jacket tight and fitting right on you. Most also have zippered vents on the front, back or both. They do two things. They let air flow through you so the jacket does not balloon out in back, and it also keeps you cool and not trap your body moisture. A good leather motorcycle jacket always has vents.
Zippered cuffs on a leather motorcycle jacket help keep the wind from blowing up your arm and stops your loose cuff ends from flapping in the wind. Finally we come to those zippered pockets. The reason they are zippered is simple, they stop stuff from falling out of your pockets as your going 70 down the road, and you can easily zip and unzip them.
As for where they are on your body, that’s for ease of use as your sitting there on the bike. They are just easy to reach from a sitting position. You don’t want a dozen different things in one big pocket to fumble around in as your driving, so that’s why there are several smaller pockets. That way you can just unzip one, grab that one thing you want and be done with it.
Now, some brands just put more pockets on for show. I’ve seen leather jackets with zippers that don’t even open, they are just for looks! Those are NOT real motorcycle leather jackets. That pretty much wraps up all the reasons why leather motorcycle jackets are cut and designed differently than other leather jackets. So now you know, it’s more than to look cool!