I always wear one when I ride.

Most of the time I wear an Olympia Motosports AirGlide, which is mesh with solid sleeves. That's comfortable to about 80.

Hotter, I wear a First Gear Mesh Tex 3, an extremely popular brand and style that is widely distributed. I crashed at around 40mph (hit from side by a cage) and it protected me well.

The best jackets will have CE elbow armor, good shoulder armor, and a good back protector. The lighter, cheaper jackets usually cut corners in the back protector and just have a foam pad.

I'm going to look at the Vanson mesh jacket for HHH weather as it seems really open. And HD sells a mesh jacket without padding that would at least protect you from road rash.

 

Tour Master Intake mesh jacket with armor which I do wear during the summer.

 

Over the winter, I bought a few armour pieces to add to my rotation.

1. Scorpion Awe Pants. Holy Toledo these things rock! Leather seat, leather knees, padding, waterproof liner, and very warm. They don't look too stupid either. I paid $155 for them on eBay brand new. I don't wear them all the time, but on touring trips its a good idea.

2. Harley Leather Jacket. I bought a used one off eBay....$100. I swear, the guy had to have worn it once. It was a $400 jacket. No armour but it has slots for it. I can use the armour from another jacket I have.

3. Alpinestars GPX gloves. They're for sport bikes...but I don't care. They are thicker, warmer, more of a 3/4 glove, and I like the black/red/white color combo. I feel people will see my hand motions more in traffic easier.

Now, if I'm riding to the store down the street, I'm in jeans, light jacket, basic gloves, and a 3/4 helmet.....but hey, it's the city and I can't get over 25 on any street. As I speed up, I add on more protection.

Of course, the next discussion point is...."what do you wear when it's 85+ degrees?" That's a tough one. For me, no matter what you wear you'll be hot...it's hot out, duh. We wait out months winter for it to be warm and then we complain it's too hot. We sound like chicks. I rode from Cleveland to Chicago in 92+ heat for 7 hours....I had on a vented jacket and pants but I was still hot. I took frequent stops, drank lots of water, and just accepted it. And actually, even at 92 the wind does a decent job to cool you down. Sure, if you're in 92 degree weather and stuck in traffic....OUCH!

 

I just bought a speed and strength call to arms Jacket in grey.

Really like it, it has armor and vents and looks good. Going to see how long I can wear it till the weather gets too hot and going to switch over to my mesh no name armored jacket.

 

What got me thinking of this was watching "Moto" racing while overseas. It's a big event when they televise those races. Those guys were layin' it down at very high speeds, tumbling and sliding around quite a bit, then getting up and cussing at their bad luck.

Seems that wearing armor is the intelligent decision, here. I'm gonna see if I can find a cycle shop nearby (I'm in northwest Houston for the week), and go try on some different styles and types. Pretty sure I'll go with the mesh, from what I've been reading.

Thanks for the input. Please keep it coming.

 

I also have a intake jacket for the summer and love it. I have an armored leather jacket from Harley for colder weather. My wife has a FXRG jacket that she absolutely loves.

 

First Gear dealer locator.

Tourmaster makes a similar jacket to the Mesh Tex 3.

Olympia Moto Sports is a step up in price, armor and features.

 

I just ordered the Harley Road Knight Hi-Vis Mesh Jacket.

 

+1 on Fox Creek. Grayson with full armor. Very comfortable. fully vented with a t-shirt I can not sweat up to about 80 degrees. Looking into mesh that I can swap my armor into for july/august.

 

Joe Rocket Phoenix 5.0. It's mesh and comes with a removable rain liner. It has shoulder, elbow, and back armor.