Viking Cycle Leather Motorcycle Jacket for Men – Biker BloodAxe Armor Protection

I like this jacket a lot -- especially for the price. The shoulder and elbow armor is Viking Cycle's excellent rendition of Rev'it's tough, flexible Seesmart armor. The back armor is just a foam pad though, but better than nothing. I'll probably replace it at some point. The fit was exactly what I hoped for. I'm 5'8, about 160 lbs, with a healthy cheeseburger-fed dad-bod gut. I ordered a size Small and it's perfectly slim and snug for my body, even sucking in the gut.The construction is pretty good. Only the exterior is leather and the rest is a tough, light polyester fabric, similar to Cordura 600d, along all the interior edges where more expensive jackets might have used leather. The rest of interior is lined with polyester mesh similar to an old football jersey, including the pockets for the armor. It came with a sleeveless liner but I removed it and added it to my liner collection, never to be worn.There are two good-sized interior pockets plus a zipper pocket along the right inside lapel, but not the left, perfect for my COVID mask... The outside chest zipper pockets are very deep, but awkward to access, not being at an angle, and should be good for letting in air regardless. the side zipper pockets are about the size of my hand. Could be deeper, but holds my garage door opener, at any rate. It has zippers at the cuffs to let in more air, and snaps there and at the waste to tighten things up when you want to keep air out.The leather itself is soft and feels good. It's not particularly thick and it says it is cowhide leather in two places. I do not believe it is actually buffalo hide. It has a strong odor that I'm sure will eventually dissipate -- if I go fast enough. It says it's made in Pakistan on the inside. They did a great job putting it together. The grey stripes are highly reflective thick vinyl, which is great since this is likely to replace my usual extremely visible fluorescent yellow-green Viking Cycles Warlock mesh jacket (which I highly recommend as well -- that one is size Medium and fits great too).I have no complaints about this jacket, for less than $100 bucks, and I'd probably be happy if I had paid twice that. The armor alone would cost about $40 bought on its own. Plus, there are no logos or free advertising for someone else on it. But if it falls apart or disappoints me at a later date, I'll revise the hell out of this review.

[Pros]Protection: For the price, quality of leather of this jacket is amazing. It is sturdy and thick yet not uncomfortable. I don't feel restrained while riding, and I'm confident that if I ever happen to go down on the road, my skin will be protected thanks to the quality leather of this jacket. CE armors in elbow, shoulder are nice additional protection. Spine guard is just a piece of foam, but its understandable considering the price. Personally I took out the spine protector since I always wear a hard-shell backpack when I'm on my motorcycle. That way the jacket also looks better when I'm off the bike. You can always buy separate upgrade spine guard anyway.Utility: It comes with tons of features; bunch of pockets, zip-able ventilation holes, detachable liner, more pockets on the liner, reflective silver lines, armor inserts... Can't even name it all.Style: It's surprisingly hard to find a leather jacket that has protection and style at the same time. If it looks good on eyes, usually its not truly meant for motorcycle and lacks protection. If it is built for motorcycle and protection, usually the jacket looks bulky and stupid. When you finally find a leather jacket that has both protection and style, the price is usually extremely high. This jacket has both style and protection yet does not break your wallet.Versatility: You can wear this jacket for almost any season. With the inner liner and vent holes closed, the jacket definitely cuts off wind and keeps you warm and dry. You can always layer up some sweater underneath in super cold weather. In sunny weather, just take out the liner and open the ventilation pockets. Airflow is better than I expected and I could wear this jacket in summer of California. In extremely hot weather, it could be little too stuffy for some people, but personally it was bearable for me for that "leather jacket macho" look. True 4 season jacket. Love the versatility.Price: $110 for quality genuine cow leather jacket with armor inserts? I'm sold. Sold twice! This pretty much justifies all the cons I'm going to list below... but well here goes cons.[Cons]Smell: It does have strong odor when it's just out of the box. I have had couple of other high quality leather jackets, so I know that its not just the leather smell. I has strange moss-like smell and this can be problem with some people. After airing it out and riding with all the pockets open, the smell went away a bit, but not completely gone and I don't think it would ever will unless I do some hardcore cleaning. I will try leather cleaner and conditioner, but for right now, I'm just dealing with it.Sizing: Size runs a little big and I do not understand why some people are saying this jacket runs small. I usually wear size medium, but for this jacket, even small is still bit roomy. I'm 5'8 190lbs and wish there is extra small size for the slim fit I'm looking for. On the positive side, I can layer a hoodie underneath this jacket so I can wear it even in extra cold weather.Inner liner: The liner is thin and not really filled with anything but air. Personally I just take it out and wear hoodies underneath when I need extra warmth. Taking out the liner is also somewhat tricky because the elastic bands want to get tangled to the buttons inside the arm. It was kind of a struggle to take out the liner, which makes me not wanting to put it back in. If you are thinking about wearing this jacket in cold weather, just leave the liner inside forever or take it out and layer up with something else. It's definitely not an easy on and off liner.Overall, this is a good quality jacket with a great value. Despite some cons, this is my favorite riding jacket to wear. If you are not sure to get one or not, I'd say get it. Can't go wrong with the price anyway.

This is my first motorcycle jacket. I've used it for a little over a month and so far it strikes me as very durable. It was quite stiff (as expected) when i first got it but it does seem to breaking in and loosening up some. It's breaking in slowly which i appreciate because if it did it too fast i would have to think it was built with crap materials that would not hold up. I expect in about 6 months it'll be broken in will for me. Removing and installing the liner is a little time consuming but I do appreciate the color coded buttons on the liner when re-attatching the sleeves so they don't get tangled up inside the jacket sleeves. There are seemingly endless pockets and all that are on the outside have heavy duty zippers. I like it a lot. Does a great job keeping the wind out on cold days. A few minor complaints. 1)the stiff collar hits my throat a little bit and can be uncomfortable sometimes. Not terrible but s mine nuisance. 2.)is a bit short. I expected it to be on the short side which is fine for a motorcycle jacket but i am 6 ft tall with a very very long torso (short legs) so for me i could use an extra 2 inches of so in length. 3.) the sleeve cuffs don't get as tight as i would like them. I'll have to find some gloves that work well with the jacket, otherwise when it's cold out the sleeves ate drafty and my arms get some cold wind on them.The negatives are all very minor things and overall the jacket is great and looks much better in person. It also feels like it will give good protection should i ever need it (knocking on wood)