Review: Alpinestars Jaws leather peforated jacket

[SkH]

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/alpinestars-jaws-perforated-leather-jacket

 

499.95~ U.S.

 

Let me start the review by saying I've only owned one other leather jacket.  A Dainese Laguna EVO Leather (I reviewed it here:

 

Its been over 2 years and in hindsight, after getting this Alpinestars jacket, I can honestly say I dislike the Dainese Laguna.  Regarding the Dainese, even after 2 years, it is stiff, I have a hard time looking back and it is hot.  I only use it during winter.  I don't know if the leather is just thicker, but its hard to move around in it.  Taking it off is a chore.  I was just under the impression that this is how most armored motorcycle leather jackets are.

 

Until I purchased the Alpinestars Jaws perforated leather jacket.

 

The moment I opened the box and put it on, it was soft and moveable.  I was able to actually move around comfortably.  I realized that this is what a leather jacket should feel like.  You want to wear it.  I never felt like I wanted to wear my Dainese leather jacket.  But this jacket, I even put it on with wet roads outside.  I always want to wear this jacket.  I was always envious of my wife who seems to only wear her Icon overlord prime leather jacket wherever she goes, even during the summer.  I always thought to myself, how can she stand wearing her leather jacket every single time?  But it turns out there is such a thing as a comfortable leather sportbike jacket and I was apparently missing out on it all this time.

 

The only reason why I picked it up after my not wanting to use the Dainese, was the perforated-ness.  I wanted to see how a perforated leather jacket feels.  Well, unfortunately I bought it in the fall and have only used it in cold weather.  Which I can happily say I have no issues using it in 32f/0c freezing temps.  I do not own a dedicated cold weather riding jacket, instead I wear a base layer, a t-shirt, and a sweater (such as a hoodie), then my jacket and I am fine up to around 30f degrees.  And with the removable wind liner attached, this perforated leather jacket tackles 32f temps just fine.  I have not been able to test how cool the jacket is during the summer without the windliner and all vents open, I hope to update this review after such time.

 

Build/stitching quality seems solid.  I didn't like Dainese's stitch quality because the holes where the stitching went in seem really large, but on this jacket there are no large stitching holes so I'm fine with that.  I'll update the review if need be if any seems come apart.

 

Armor wise, it has the usual shoulder elbow, forearm armor, the foam back which I replaced with a real back armor, and a first for me, rib armor.  Well, once again it was foam, so I purchased the actual Alpinestars rib armors and inserted them in, so this has a lot of protection when upgraded.  A bit more than I am used to.

 

Looks wise, I do like the way it looks.  I chose the white-black which I will insert a pic below.  But I have just a few beefs with it.

 

With the rib armor upgrades inserted, it may make it difficult to put certain things in the side outer zip pockets.  I usually put a garage door opener in there, but found it may be too tight for it (don't want to wear-out the leather with a rectangular shape of the opener).  And my second and final last nitpick, the collar opening seems a but low (look at it in the pic below but tbh, it is much lower in person).  The v neck type collar.  I would prefer the close choking type collar over the v neck type because, well, its a leather jacket, but oh well.

 

TL:DR; This is my second leather jacket.  I (in hindsight) disliked my first based on the fact that I never wanted to wear it.  But by golly, I love wearing this leather jacket.  I ALWAYS want to wear it.  So my take away on this review is, when it comes to leather jackets, might be a good idea to actually try them on until you fall in love with one (which I didn't get to try on, but I was lucky).  I love the Alpinestars Jaws leather jacket.

 

[shinyribs]

When it comes to Dianese and Alpinestars you can always count on one thing: they are damn beautiful jackets. 

 

There's a lot of stretch panels in that jacket. I bet it is comfortable. Congrats, man. Nothing beats good gear. 

[fzar]

Thanks for the review, nice jacket. I hope you never have to give a review about how it holds-up in an asphalt excursion.