A biker can never have too many jackets and specific jackets for extreme riding conditions are a must! The motorcycle jacket is our second most prized possession and should be chosen carefully.
Since bikes first roamed the earth, the road ahead has been paved with leather, or at least it should have been. Ah, the smell of it. There is something very tribal about wearing animal skin, something that is a part of our ancestral DNA. Today’s motorcycle enthusiasts may still feel that connection, an intoxicating mix of movement, danger and the need for protection against wind, cold, rain, claws, and maybe teeth and asphalt.
Few materials can afford the abrasion and wind resistance that animal hide has been providing for centuries. Today’s modern bikers have a large choice of styles, textures, weight and color. From lightweight and perforated styles for gentle summer riding, to hulking, Mad Max, tougher-than-the-Apocalypse, 10-lb. jackets made from half a cow herd, most manufacturers offer a jacket that suits your style during every season. But why not collect them all?
It was only a generation or so ago that there basically two styles of motorcycle jackets: the standard police style with epaulets and lots of zippers, and the clubman, a more collegian look favored by the likes of James Dean and his ilk. These jackets typically had no epaulets, only side hand pockets and zipped up the middle with no wind flap. If you were smart, or lucky, you got one that buttoned down so the collar wouldn’t slap you in the face as you rode down the highway.
