How Your Motorcycle Jacket Is Supposed to Fit

Posted by chippywarren on Jan 4th 2012

Something I’ve heard a lot is, “I’ve never had a motorcycle jacket before, how is it supposed to fit?”. Wearing a leather motorcycle jacket is different from your suit or leisure jacket.

The simple answer is this: you need to be comfortable.

Some people just prefer a snug fit, but if the jacket is too snug you lose insulation value and the ventilation system won’t work as it’s intended. When it comes time to wear your hoodie, you may not have room! Some people prefer a loose fit, but if the jacket is too loose, especially at the bottom, air will flow up as you ride making you uncomfortable in cooler weather.

You don’t want to be constricted through the shoulders and the jacket should be able to be easily worn over heaviest items you wear. Try it on over your hoodie or heated vest. You should be able to give yourself a hug.

Sit on your bike. The sleeve length should fall at your wrist when your arms are in the riding position. It will fall to about mid-palm when your arms are at your sides. A lot of people give us their shirt sleeve measurements. What you have to keep in mind is shirt sleeves are meant to fall at the wrist, not mid-palm. If you are over 6’1″, we recommend a long. We have the ability to customize a jacket for you to get the right sleeve length.

The body length should fall right at your belt line when you stand. When you are sitting the bottom of the jacket should rest on your thighs. Any longer and it will push up and give you the “Dolly Parton Effect” as I remember one of our customers calling it. If it’s barely pushing up it should be just fine once you wear the jacket and it relaxes a bit. When you are sitting on the bike, the kidney panel should cover your lower back. This is also something we can customize to get the right length.

As always, we’re here to help, so don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-766-4165 if you have any questions.