Joe Rocket leather jacket

[Guest]

A friend gave me a Joe Rocket leather jacket. He was not the original owner - someone owned it before him, and it got very little wear. When it landed in my hands, there were a very few bug splats on it, so I know it's been worn while riding at least once, but it's still very far from the break in point. I was told it is a model from about 3 years ago and has sat around unused fot the last year.

Anyway, I've been trying to break it in by wearing it as much as possible. It has nice styling, thick, dense stitching, lots of armor and padding strategically placed. The zips for pants are attached to a nice firm and wide elastic band. Zip arm vents, inside zip pocket, etc. Lots of really good, well thought out features, except...

First thing I noticed was that the JR arm patch was really hard, and placed right under the armor. This ended up pinching my arms during movement, and I mean really hard. I took the logo patch off, that left stitch holes in the white leather, but what a different feeling.

Next thing was wearing it with short sleeves underneath. The mesh lining might create some breathability, but it's abrasive to my skin, particularly on my elbows.

Also noticed something about where the removable back padding ends... it's tacked in about 4-5 inches above where it ends, and it likes to catch and stick to the waist of my pants (non-riding, non zippered pants) if I move around too much.

Yesterday, I went to zip the front main zipper up and it broke off. Not just the pull, but the loop that holds the pull broke right off. I can't even rig the zip with anything, so I'll be taking it to a taylor this week to see what can be done.

Now I'm not saying this is a good or bad product, but just want to share my experience for your consideration, especially since I read some bad experiences some others had on another forum, including one case where someone's Joe Rocket mesh/leather combo jacket shredded in a crash. Personally, I love the jacket and hope I can get it fixed without a major hassle, and perhaps improve it's overall reliability at the same time. I got mine for free, but now I'm not so sure I'd spend big bucks on one

[Ninja_Lancer]

I've heard JR has been in product improvement mode for a few years. Most of their stuff "3.0" and newer is ok, but the older versions are not so good. I have a JR Phoenix 3.0 and a Leather/Textile combo jacket and both seem well made. But due to the inherent drawbacks to mesh I want to upgrade to perfed leather next summer. Oh, and my JR gloves are great too. Newenough even has them on closeout right now.

http://www.newenough.com/joe_rocket_razor_glove_page.htm

[MissFabulous]

I will say I love my JR gloves - of the DOZENS I tried on, they were the only women's gloves that fit me right. I have large hands and long fingers for a gal, but the proportions are different than men's. I tried on so many... anything that came close to fitting right had seams that ripped at my fingertips... everything else was too wide across the middle part of the hand or too short in the fingers. I think JR is one of the few manufacturers that doesn't just scale down men's sizes smaller to call them "women's" but they actually take the proportional differences into account. Mine are all leather, not mesh BTW.

Comments on the site NinjaLancer mentioned say to go a size bigger, and that might be true for guys, but if ordering gal's sizes, I would go a size smaller. I was shocked to fit into Mediums since I have very large hands. I was lucky to get mine half off at a somewhat local ATV place so I could try them on. They're still a little tight across the inside of my palm, but breaking in nicely, and that is where the leather will stretch the most so they should be "just right" in no time. They're soft, but seem durable, reinforced and "grippy" without being too grippy, if ya know what I mean. Some others I tried had so much rough suede in the palms that I didn't feel like I could move my hand without inadvertantly tearing up the throttle! Sure, suede will smooth out over time, but as a newbie, anything that felt like velcro to the throttle seemed dangerous to me.

Wish I knew the exact model and year of my jacket so I could give better info... I love it so much that I'm determined to get the zip fixed and work out some practical ways to overcome the other challenges!

[kdc67]

I've had a JR jacket catch on the back of my jeans, too. I got the problem solved by putting my belt a notch smaller than I normally wear it at. It actually wasn't uncomfortable during riding, either.

Good to know it could just because it's an older jacket. I've been considering their new Trixie line. I'd still like something like this Fieldsheer mesh, too, though. (Erm except in blue.. I'm not a pink type of girl.) They're increadibly comfy.

[MissFabulous]

I've had a JR jacket catch on the back of my jeans, too. I got the problem solved by putting my belt a notch smaller than I normally wear it at. It actually wasn't uncomfortable during riding, either.

Good to know it could just because it's an older jacket. I've been considering their new Trixie line. I'd still like something like this Fieldsheer mesh, too, though. (Erm except in blue.. I'm not a pink type of girl.) They're increadibly comfy.

Check out Brockton Cycle for the fieldsheers - dirt cheap!

http://www.brocktoncycle.com/eshopitems_cat_755-17073-17074.Jackets_-_Women.htm

[kdc67]

Pretty cool, but they don't have the style I want. They do have the MotoGP one I was checking out, though for only like $5 cheaper. They don't have nearly the selection as motorcyclestyle.com, either. :?

[Cruzr]

I will say I love my JR gloves - of the DOZENS I tried on, they were the only women's gloves that fit me right....

I agree.....the ONLY pair of gloves that I found that fit me are JR in a women's design. I have small hands with short fingers. I got a women's small and might have been able to wear an XS, if they had had a pair in stock. The small's work really well and fit well. The little finger is a little too long but that's the only complaint thus far....

As for jackets. I can't find a jacket at any of the local shops that really fits me. I can wear ninjalancer's JR mesh and it fits pretty well. I tried on a men's CorTech and a FirstGear that weren't too bad. None of them feel comfortable, though. If they fit around the waist, the chest and shoulders are a little too big. If the chest and shoulders are ok, the waist is too small.....women's motorcycle jackets simply aren't made for women with actual curves.....:-(

[MissFabulous]

I agree.....the ONLY pair of gloves that I found that fit me are JR in a women's design. I have small hands with short fingers. I got a women's small and might have been able to wear an XS, if they had had a pair in stock. The small's work really well and fit well. The little finger is a little too long but that's the only complaint thus far....

As for jackets. I can't find a jacket at any of the local shops that really fits me. I can wear ninjalancer's JR mesh and it fits pretty well. I tried on a men's CorTech and a FirstGear that weren't too bad. None of them feel comfortable, though. If they fit around the waist, the chest and shoulders are a little too big. If the chest and shoulders are ok, the waist is too small.....women's motorcycle jackets simply aren't made for women with actual curves.....:-(

nope - I've talked to several men and women who feel the same way - most moto gear for women is just scaled down from men's proportions, and not built for us, and us gals come in many shapes and forms- men too!! I have the same deal with the waist to shoulder ratio. Seems that a lot of the other industries have caught on, but not yet in the MC gear industry. From a business standpoint, I understand that you can't make each style in 8000 measurements, but taking some basic differences into account would make a big difference.

The understanding of male/female proportional differences isn't anything new. Ask anyone who has studied human figure drawing at any time over the last... oh, 50 years or more. The general ratios were worked out long ago, but clothing manufacturers haven't quite caught on... in the MC gear industry, they're just now starting to advertise in a female friendly way, but they sure haven't figured out our needs yet for the most part!

Funny that I had good luck with the JR gloves with my long fingers and you had good luck with JR with short fingers. Guess they're doing something right that we haven't figured out in that department! I hope more are to follow!!!