So, yeah. Despite not riding the bike more than once a month at the moment, I bought myself a new leather jacket. Jess is overjoyed.
I like it, anyway. When I was down in Bris in early August, I happened to be walking past Team Moto near Jamie's place just as they were getting ready to close for the afternoon. After wandering around the bikes, I headed inside just to see what they had on offer. And what would you know - they had products displayed in such a way as to catch my eye and remove money from my wallet!
This particular jacket is a Joe Rocket, and was originally priced at (apparently) $599. Being a Joe Rocket, I'd believe that. I'd also believe that it was originally a bit more than that again, actually. These were on special for $350, and you know how I do love a bargain.
At any rate, I managed not to buy one right then and there, and spent the next 2 weeks cursing that decision. So, when we were back in Bris, I made a point of heading over there especially to pick one up. Luckily they still had a couple left. The silver & black jacket was a size too big, but the only ones that fit me snugly were a bright red, which I wasn't too fussed on. Beggars can't be choosers, and I was happy to get one at all at that price.
The main reason I wanted one is because of this:
There are zip-off side panels that run from the cuff up the inside of your arm, then back down to the waist of the jacket. Zip them off, and there's airflow mesh exposed underneath. So when it's hot (IE, all the time up here), you can simply zip the side panels off and enjoy fresh cooling air. You would have to be trying VERY hard to land on any exposed bits of mesh during a crash though, which is great.
I had to ride the bike in for a service the other day, and wore the jacket. It was absolutely freezing! It was also raining at the time, but we'll leave the discussion about the sensibilities of riding to work in the rain, in an air-flow mesh jacket to another time, OK? So I have high expectations for this jacket, and hope to get a lot of use out of it. I'll probably still use my mesh RallyX jacket through summer, since NOTHING beats the airflow you get with it, but for anything cooler, this will now be my main riding jacket.
I had been looking for a leather jacket with good ventilation for some time, but no one seems to make such a thing. One of the bike shops here had a couple of jackets made with perforated leather front and back, but once they sold out they didn't get any more stock. I almost bought one when I first saw them, but at $500 they were just too expensive. However, since they disappeared, this is the first jacket I've found that was predominantly leather, yet had good ventilation as well.
Now, to find a decent matt-black open face helmet that won't break the bank... :)
