Top 10 leather motorcycle jackets 2024

[@Ianjeffery2500]

Quality presentation and very well put together. Not many companies this good and great to see this promoting motorcycling and customer service. Would love to hear your views on Goldtop jackets which I own and love.

[@01dumbfrog]

Belstaff still puts their name on the outside of all their riding gear especially mid shoulder on each arm. Even the leather jackets

[@davebethell1]

I can't believe 'premium' leather jackets are only A and AA standard. Maximising profit rather than re-testing?? For me Goldtop is the premium jacket, ultra comfortable, UK made, AAA rated and sublime quality. Why pay more for a lesser brand.

[@yardenl1998]

As an owner of their Viceroy and Bobber jacket nothing ever comes close to the value you get in the quality of garment, materials, hardware, safety, comfort and price that comes close to Goldtop.

[@Hamdard-Rider]

As a new motorcyclist, this comment and its reply are worth more to me than this monotone entire video about how one particular person chooses to sell overpriced jackets.

[@davebethell1]

@@Hamdard-Rider it's all about personal choice and how much you want to spend. Personally I'd always opt for motorbike gear to be the safest available. However this doesn't need to come at a massive cost. Also bear in mind that good quality, protective kit is worth it's weight in gold should the worst happen. After years of buying various brands I'd recommend Goldtop (jacket), Held (gloves), Hood (jeans), Altberg (boots), the best fitting helmet for your head shape (with Arai and Shoei probably being the best). Plus Scott waterproofs if you go out in the wet. Hope this helps and safe riding

[@giorgipiorgi]

For me, leather is so much more comfortable to touch than most other materials

[@tymobyrne4451]

Leather is my perfect day jacket, we get a few of those StateSide™. Glad my 1991 Hein Gericke V-Pilot is in good shape still, dint like any of those jackets you showed, form over function they are, and their form doesn't tick my boxes like the V-Pilot either.

[@jonasvaccaro7606]

Why not Goldtop?

[@Motolegends]

Don’t like them. They’re just copies of jackets from the sixties. Leather’s not great. Jackets are heavy and not particularly comfortable. But if you’re all about the look, go for it. CP

[@bbumble4117]

They are heavy but they are also very comfortable, at least for me. They are also CE AAA rated and you don’t pay over the odds for a brand name that can’t be bothered to re-test their jackets. Given that, as you pointed out that leather jackets are about nostalgia, a “sixties” look is hardly a weakness. There are plenty of reviews elsewhere by Goldtop owners like me who are very happy with their purchases. This said, I am equally happy with jackets I have bought from you, not least the Klim Marrakesh.

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

@@Motolegends Thanks for being straight up and honest.

[@JeffArnold-c6h]

​@@chriscarbaugh3936 Saying Goldtop leather quality isn't great is like saying water isn't wet. Observably false, and really calls into question his credibility. The jackets are heavy, because the leather needs to be thick to get AAA rating. He just don't want to promote a brand they don't stock. Fair enough, but don't pretend they aren't nice jackets.

[@fiucik1]

Why not Goldtop, why not Revit, why not Merlin, why not John Doe, and so on. The simple answer is they don't sell it, so why say it's any good... I have a Merlin Alton 2 jacket, I use it to commute to work on daily basis, and people are complementing it all the time, even more so than my bike, and I ride a Bonneville. It looks the part, it's very comfortable, has decent ventilation, D3O armor, AA rated, has removable thermal liner, and it didn't cost a fortune. What's not to like?

[@Poorlybobsdad]

I once crashed a bike at Donnington doing about 130mph wearing a Crowtree leather suit. I got up and walked away with only a small friction burn on my elbow where the armour had moved. Depends how you ride and where I suppose.

[@dukesublime4178]

Great way to start the weekend. Cheeky wee Motolegends video. Bravo sir.

[@01dumbfrog]

I’m in the USA and I wear my Belstaff everyday especially when I’m riding and if I’m not wearing Belstaff then I’m wearing my Hein Gerick equipment my skin is worth the expense comfort is secondary to my safety.

[@Back2TheBike]

My Weise Hydra Pro bought 7yrs ago has given sterling service, waterproof too.

[@ChipZilla69]

I bought the Belstaf Vanguard leather jacket from moto legends about a month ago. I've got the Marakesh jacket and Rukka Nevala 2 suit as well. I'm a year round rider and commute on the bike. I liked the Spidi jacket but as he said in the video they are running out of some sizes and din't have one to fit me. I like the Ace legend but it would look better without the patches on the arms.

[@kevingallen1678]

The Brylcreem kept the leather waterproof.

[@vwt6wanderlust307]

Peter Tong

[@BriKinsella]

Chris, you are a great presenter and must, for whatever reason, are not looking at the camera in this video🤷🏻‍♂ Is it because your notes are off camera? Personally I prefer the eye contact 👍🏼

[@Motolegends]

No, we were experimenting with camera angles. We are always looking at different ways to shoot these videos, but I agree the intro section didn’t work. Next one will be better, we hope! Notes? Heaven forfend! CP

[@BriKinsella]

@@Motolegends 😆 You're a natural!!

[@spencersmustache2844]

I love the info here but hate the camera angles. Why cant it just be straight on?

[@danthechippie4439]

Very well put together as always Chris. The first Bellstaff was gorgeous.

[@kennyforgot83]

i have a Richa Charleston jacket in black and its brilliant jacket, comfy, excellent fit, allows good movement and good price as well.

[@223Sako]

"Thrown out of cubs" 🤣

[@hantek4647]

This year I've bought Held Cosmo 3 and this jacket is amazing. Main zipper and pockets with ventilation + TFL do the job. I'd say that up to ~25°C it is completely fine, above that you start to feel the heat. As all leather jackets it needs proper care, when you use sprays preventing absorbing moisure it will withstand light rain with ease, for heavier rains you just need a rain suit. I currently use it as main motorcycle jacket but it can be a nice jacket to wear in spring or autumn as a regular jacket ;)

[@amygardiner2278]

Love that color on the Richa Charleston. Wish it came in a women's version.

[@derekcomer4858]

I love the Held Hot Rock, need to start saving my pennies 😊

[@Fractal379]

Thank you, thank you!

[@AJSpinDrift]

That Belstaff Brooklands looks like a thing of beauty.

[@roadwarrior8560]

Why is he always looking at the wrong camera??

[@flexywing]

Can't see the point of this vid, no prices?

[@Vjekoslav-vf3hr]

Is it a bit early to think about leather?

[@eyemallears2647]

In your marriage? 😂

[@MrMkRich]

Did I hear you say “Peter tong” not pete tong…. Hehe tbh I never heard that before but it fits your style 😀

[@matthewfall-eq8be]

The sports bike is dead? I think not old boy😅

[@Motolegends]

I get the stats from the MCI A every month. Believe me, the sales of large capacity sportsbikes are insignificant. This is just fact; it’s not my personal interpretation. CP.

[@MouldyPIX]

You might get the stats from MCIA each month, but you certainly don’t read them or analyse them. If you did you would see that YTD 2024 sales in the Road Sport category shows a 13.3% INCREASE in sales compared to 2023. Overall units of Sports bikes far exceeds Touring bikes (which you failed to mention). The increase of 13.3% in Sports bikes compares to just 7% increase in adventure bikes, and a 12.6% DECREASE in sales of Naked bikes. So why didn’t mention that in fact the statistics support a switch away from Naked bikes to Sports bikes? Sports bikes are still over 10% of total bike sales, which includes scooters! If you omit scooters from the statistics then Sports bikes account for over 12.5% overall market. Can I suggest that before you make such crass and ill informed comments that you actually read the statistics that you claim to receive each….as I do.

[@Motolegends]

⁠@@MouldyPIX I have a degree in Economics from an ancient university, so this isn’t my first encounter with statistics, although I never enjoyed the subject. But I do know that you can make stats. appear to say whatever you want them to say. In this instance, a somewhat larger increase on a small base still doesn’t really amount to much by way of volume. Now clearly I was referring to larger capacity sportsbikes, so if you look at Road Sport sales in the 751cc + categories a much different picture is painted. The greatest growth in sportsbike sales right now is in the smaller capacity arena; particularly the 125 cc. category, and as the customers we are dealing with don’t tend to ride such bikes we don’t consider them to be relevant to our discourses. And so the fact remains that larger capacity sportsbikes are on their knees; although as the category is still technically breathing, pronouncing sportsbikes as dead was perhaps slightly premature, even if the direction of travel is correct. I do feel, though, that most people would have been less literal than you, and would have accepted my assertion. The clothing industry sees this phenomenon from the tiny sales of one-piece leathers, but most motorcycle dealers and industry observers also seem to accept the situation.The big sportsbikes that do sell these days tend, by and large, to be bought as ‘trophy’ bikes by older riders who want others to think they’ve still got it. It’s akin to the situation with Ferraris and racier Porsches. But however you rationalise it, the bottom line is that large capacity sportsbikes are no longer really a mainstream category. Put it like this, the ‘Adventure’ category is twice as large as the ‘Road Sport’ category in unit terms. But in value terms the difference would be much larger, because most adventure bikes are of larger capacity, and therefore expensive. Whilst, as I have explained, the majority of sportsbike sales are in the lower-priced, A2 and learner categories. So whilst, on one level, your 10% figure is correct, in terms of values, (ultimately the amount spent is more indicative than the number of units shifted), the value of the sportsbike market woul be nearer, I suspect, to 4% or 5%. Strip all the tiny bikes out of the equation, and I would suggest that large capacity sportsbikes would account for just two or three percent of the market in terms of sales values. There is another factor here. The MCIA changed its category definitions recently, partly to disguise the drop off in sales of sportsbikes. Many of the bikes now included in this category are not, therefore, what would be traditionally have been termed sportsbikes. I understand that some people find it hard to accept that trends change, especially if they have some kind of vested interest, but even though my use of the term ‘dead’ might have reflected a degree of hyperbole, it’s a category that’s on its knees, and despite a press that is still in love with the notion of bikes that lend themselves to getting your knee down, it seems unlikely that the sportsbike will ever make a significant return. All the metrics, demographics and social factors would suggest that the sportsbike is more a phenomenon of the past rather than one of the future. CP

[@davidmccall4776]

Yackety, yackety, yack! 🤐🤔