New REV'IT Women's Motorcycle or Scooter Jackets

One thing that many women riding motorcycles and scooters struggle with is finding riding gear that's stylish and safe. 

Gracia Ladies Jacket

Well, REV'IT has decided to throw their hat in the ring with 2 new jackets for Fall (with a couple more coming in the Winter, so stay tuned :D). The Gracia is a wax cotton, 3/4 length, waterproof jacket with a vintage look and feel. Offered in black and brown, this little number features a removable thermal liner and Knox lite armor in the shoulders and elbows. There's also a pocket for an optional back protector, which will fit Knox or TPro shaped armor. 

 

Taksim Ladies Jacket

The second option is the Taksim, offered in black and olive:

The Taksim is also waterproof, with a removable thermal liner and Knox lite armor in the shoulders and elbows. It has a pocket for an optional back protector. Don't worry, the (fake) fur hood is removable. 

Both of these are priced at $300 and are great options for riding around town on your scooter or motorcycle. I wouldn't recommend them for highway riding or touring/distance rides but definitely kickass alternatives for that short commute across town to work. 

I'm super excited to see these hit the floor at Scuderia soon (most likely October) and will post once I have some real people trying them on (myself included). 

Macna Women's Motorcycle Gear

   

Macna is a new line of gear coming out of the Netherlands, distributed through Twisted Throttle. I was able to try on a couple of their women's motorcycle jackets and pants when I visited their store in Rhode Island last weekend.

  

I don't know what I was doing when that 2nd picture was taken of me in these pants. Probably something like "these fit soooo well". 

This outfit is priced nicely under $300 each. The Lily jacket is $269 and the Onyx pants are $249. Both have a very Dainese/REVIT/Alpinestars esque fit to them. They also offer 2 removable liners, one waterproof and one thermal. I'm wearing an XS in both (smallest size offered).  The pants felt a lot like Dainese or Alpinestars fit, tapered at the knee and fitted down the leg. But the knees didn't feel nearly as tight as Dainese pants do on me.  What's difficult to see in this photo is that the calf has an adjustable velcro panel allowing you to pull it back all the way like I did for a more tapered leg, or let it out a little for more of a 'bootcut' jean fit/look to adjust for varying boot and calf sizes. I'm also wearing them over my skinny jeans without the liners but would definitely be comfortable with thermal baselayers instead. 

The Lily has several vents but no mesh panels like it's sister, the Lunar ($379.99)

  

What's really cool about the Lily is the removable collar system to reveal a meshed/ventilated panel for hot weather riding. I think that makes this jacket a great all around textile. The fit is a little more generous in the arms/elbows and waist/torso. I would recommend this fit for more curvy figures. It does have a 3/4 length cut so on me, this one falls almost on top of my hip bones. With a shorter torso, I would try the Lily above instead. 

Another cool feature on the Lunar is an exterior zipper along the cuff to attach the inner liner to the shell. Imagine  not having to figure out what snaps go where to put your jacket back together because you can see the zipper on the outside!

Macna offers more women's options including a killer 3/4 length leather touring jacket and pants, but we likely won't see the rest of the line come into the US until they figure out what women riders want/need. If you live in New England near Exeter, Rhode Island, you can visit the Twisted Throttle shop in person and check them out for yourself. They also have a couple of gloves that I didn't have time to check out. 

I'm hoping to review the Lily / Onyx combo soon so stay tuned!

Are you a size 6-8, shopping for a new jacket?

If you're in the market for a (womens) motorcycle jacket, please email me using the contact button on this page, or simply to joanne at gearchic dot com. I have a couple of great items in my closet that could use a good home!

Plus Size Jacket and Pants

My friend Chris needed some help finding gear. She met me at Scuderia the other day and we got her dressed! She's a ~US 10 on top and ~US 14 on bottom and has a 31" inseam.  Her immediate needs were a pair of boots and riding pants.  She's making the transition from a cruiser to a dual sport bike (woo hoo!), with an upright riding position. But she also likes to borrow her man's sportbike and wanted something that would be comfortable on that bike too.

Chris is a real woman with real curves and she needed real gear. She wanted protection in the knees and hips, no mesh/ventilation (since she's commuting on the freeway) and enough room in the hips and her inseam. Although we couldn't get her into the Ventura pants like I wanted, we did get the unisex Horizon Pants, XXL Standard (see photo gallery) on her and they fit perfectly.

What Fit?

The Horizon in XXL (standard length) were perfect (see photo gallery). As you can see, they fit her real curves nicely. The inseam is just right, the armor fell at the knees in the right place (although they are adjustable). They also come in standard, short and long.  They don't have full length zippers, so they're supposed to be worn as pants. You could wear them as overpants without the thermal liner. You'd just have to take off your boots every time you needed to change in and out of them. Chris is wearing them over jeans in these photos.

   

Unfortunately the Ladies Tornado 46 was a little too tight (without the thermal liner, over jeans), so we tried the men's 48 (over jeans, without the thermal liner). The rise (bottom of the crotch to top of the waistband) was way too short so she couldn't even get them on comfortably.

We also figured out that the Horizon and Axis had the best female fit, meaning a slightly higher rise in the waist, room in the hips and thighs but a nice tapered fit at the knee.  The problem with the Axis was that the legs didn't taper enough at the knees and just weren't as protective and fully featured as the Horizons.

The Jackets

Although she didn't leave with one of them, here are two jackets that she tried on.  Unfortunately I didn't have other colors in her size so you can see the difference between the two. She's wearing size 42 in both which translate to a 14-16 or L/XL.  They're very similar, but slightly different in terms of price point and features.

The one one the left is the Ventura. Read my review here. The one on the right is the Indigo (also available in hi viz). The Indigo doesn't have some of the features of the Ventura, and it's also a little bit longer in the torso and falls below the hips.

Both of these would be great options for commuting, touring or everyday riding.