| Author | Message | ||
     Iamarchangel |
So I bought one at the start of the month and have gone out several times in it. I've probably totaled 600 miles in it. Why: I had a Joe Rocket mesh last year and felt good in it. When cooler weather came, I got a Nexo leather jacket. For some reason, I just felt safer in leather but the Nexo is heavy and solid. I looked for perforated leather but the price for name brands is pretty high. HD tends to sell quality stuff and the price was good so I went with it. Price: it lists for $US350, and you can get it for less. I got mine through St Paul HD for $US297. (Special thanks to Vicky for her smooth handling of a Canadian order to be shipped express to a US address, most dealers don't like to do that.) I saved about $CDN200. The jacket is well constructed. It is made in China for HD. The leather has a nice quality smell to it. It came with armour in the elbows, shoulders and sleeves. The armour is CE, very similar to the Joe Rocket type of armour. There is a 8" zipper to attach to pants: it works well with the Adventure pants. There are zippers and a snap on the wrist. I thought the snap would interfere with my gauntlet type gloves but it doesn't. There are two outside pockets, one inside. All three zip close. The inside one is bigger than other bike jackets I have tried. The perforations allow you to see through the leather. A lot of air passes through. There is a vented liner. I typically wear a Nike Pro mock turtle shirt under it. Under 25°C, it actually feels cold to ride. Above 25°, it's comfortable. Today was the hottest day yet at 84°F and a humidex of 96°F. The heat was bearable in this. Even when I had to stop and hang around a rider who had fallen, I never had to unzip the jacket. So far, I am really pleased with the deal. I'm going to get the HD leather cleaner to wipe the bugs off. And probably invest in heavier mock turtles for cooler weather. (I noticed a couple of riders in the pics on the '08 Buell model catalogue wore them, looked like a good idea. It is.) Cons: minor things and personal things. The front zipper needs a little wiggle to go past the leather strip on the front panels (look at the jacket pic on Buell.com). Other jacket have a sunglasses pocket, this doesn't. I wear prescriptions so I must carry glasses with me. They fit in the pocket but it is so big, my glasses sit lower almost to my armpit. Of course, if you don't have to carry glasses, there is a lot of room there. Same with the front pocket, I carry my iphone there and it sits too low, almost up against the airbox. Again, if you don't have an iphone, you'll appreciate the good size pockets. It would be nice to have some colour choices. Note 1: is it Glitch who always says get a tight fitting jacket? In any case, I'm agreeing with him now. The first ride with this, I dropped the hammer and moments later looked at the speedometer. I was doing 160 kph. My other jacket would buffet madly at 135. Here, I can lose my license for 160. It makes a big difference to my riding. Note 2: check to make sure it still has armour. The new Buell wording is different than before but the part numbers are the same as mine. |
