Men's Blade Motorcycle Riding Leather CE Armor Biker Ventilated Jacket Black L

The Men's Blade Motorcycle Leather Jacket sold by jackets4bikes is a high quality Jacket. Some reviewers claim the leather is too stiff; but 1.3mm leather is stiff until "broken in." particularly “Genuine Leather“ (more correctly called Split Leather; and even Full Grain and Top Grain leather is stiff at first). When I received my jacket on a Thursday, I rubbed in a good dose of Weiman's Leather Conditioner that cleans, conditions and protects leather products (there are other good leather conditioners). The next morning I wore my jacket for 2 hours in the morning as I did yard work and then took a 40 minute bike ride. I took a 5 hour bike ride on a sunny Saturday and the jacket is already softening up and starting to conform to my body. I should point out I am 5'6”, have a 40” chest and a 32-33” waist. The medium jacket I bought fits me very well, with the arm sleeves just right with my arms extended when out riding.Other comments on the jacket:1. The inside of the leather collar is padded with a soft fabric liner;2. The jacket has two inside very large zippered pockets;3. A smart-phone or wallet pocket on the zip out liner;4. Two outside well-sized side zippered pockets;5. A zip out liner that I will never use. I took mine out as I would rather use a fleece turtle neck shirt or a sleeved sweater of my choice for cold rides; and a thick leather jacket is fairly warm anyway; and a turtle neck shirt or a sleeved sweater is less hassle than zipping out and putting back in a take out liner.6. Zippers for men's or women's biker pants. I cut these out as I have never zipped my jackets to pants (and do not want the zippers rubbing on me). With the pant zippers and liner out my jacket weights 5 pounds, 2 ounces7. All the zippers have zipper pulls, a nice touch.8. A velcro waist belt and velcro straps on the sleeves which I prefer as that allows a more precise fit.9. The upper vent zippers do not let in much air, but better than none... plus there are no exhaust vents on the back of the jacket, thus you need to have a loose waist to allow ventilation.10. No Storm flap, but then that allows better ventilation with a zipper down. On cold days a good turtle neck sweater will do the job.11. Really bright white piping on the Zippered vents and front pockets.12. Quality CE armor on elbows, shoulders and back; and protective pads on front, side and back of Jacket13. The jacket appears to be well stitched.By the way, I am 74 and still ride a cruiser. I have had quite a few motorcycle jackets over the years. I will still use my leather Perfecto style jackets (think John Travolta in Grease or Marlon Brando in The Wild One), and my well vented summer jacket. But I am very glad to add this Blade Jacket to my collection; I love the look and call it my “Warrior Jacket.” Overall, for the price, this jacket is a great buy. Take good care of this jacket, use good Leather conditioner, and this jacket will give you a good number of years of service. Kudos also to jackets4bikes for their speedy delivery service.

For $109 USD, you are not going to get a $300+ USD fit and quality, but for a new rider or an occasional rider, it gets the job done, and for experienced riders who have hefty waistlines, it's a good, solid buy. I have a 48" chest and 34" waist, and ordered an XL, which fit across the shoulders and chest, but swims in the waist area. The velcro strap at the bottom of the front zipper doesn't hold, and bunches the jacket up in front if you clamp it. I solved this problem by clamping the jacket at the hips with locking metal clamps, and it looks somewhat like the advertised photo, but still has a lot of play that makes it a balloon up when going above 60mph, and can act like a small kite above 80mph, which can be unnerving in strong side winds - but it's manageable. If you have a 48" chest and a 42" waist, then no problem - it will fit like a glove. Still - I like the jacket, especially in very hot weather, when I open the two front vents and the jacket balloons out a bit away from my body when at speed - sure, I look like a leathered up Pillsbury dough boy, but I'm not sweating, and still protected. The armor pads move around and are not secured very well, but again, the benefit is that they will adjust to different sized men, and get the job done. The front armor works great, especially for large bugs at 65+ mph - you can hear them smack against the jacket but not feel them - and I have also been hit with rocks, metal and all sorts of road debris at speed, with several deep cuts in the leather to show for it, and it protected me - that reason alone is enough to buy this jacket and live with the quirks - and the reason I wear leather and not textiles. The zippers held up pretty well over 4 riding seasons and many, many miles. I just took the plunge and bought a more expensive, better fitting jacket, but will be keeping this one in my closet for a standby for friends. For riders on a budget, it's the best insurance and skin protection you can get for what amounted to me for $27 a riding season, and has been well worth the quirks. If you only have $100 or so, I strongly recommend it. Happy riding.