What should I look for when buying a jacket?

[London_ed]

As the title says really. I have recently bought a CBR125 and I wanted to get a decent, reasonably priced jacket for when I'm riding. I am not too concerned with brand names. I'd just like to know what made you make your decision when buying one?

Also are back protectors useful for everyday road riding?

[T0MMY]

A jacket.
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ZX6R + CBR600RR

[hedgehugger]

One that fits

[daemonoid]

[multijoy]

I'm a fan of sleeves, myself.
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'11 CBF1000A, '99 C90, '98 CB500
silky666: He rode amazingly well considering his bike is the weight of a small van and had slicks on.

[pepperami]

[flat spot]

A zip?

[P.]

Do they do kevlar lined hoodies...

Would like.

[parv1]

[Rogerborg]

[stinkwheel]

One that keeps you warm and dry. Better to have a jacket that keeps you warm,and dry and therefore attentive than one that offers the best crash protection in the world and leaves you cold and wet.

It's better not to crash in the first place and staying alert is a good first step to that.

Make sure it's comfortable, make sure the armour (if fitted) is in the right place and securely held there. Make sure you can fit plenty of warm clothes under it for the winter. Try it on while sat on the bike to make sure the arms are long enough, the back doesn't ride up and it doesn't ruck-up in your elbows and armpits. If they wont let you sit on the bike in it, don't be buying a jacket off them.

The ability to zip it to your trousers is a plus, if only from a draught prevention point of view.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[ThoughtContro...]

[Ariel Badger]

For weather protection the ones sold by Lydl /Aldi are great for the cash and they are ok in an off.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Rogue_Shadow]

Check out a thread a made not to long ago

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=246592

I finally got the Jacket / Trousers combo I linked on the last page.
They are perfect, I removed the thermal from the Trousers so I can easily wear Jeans underneath instead.
The kit keeps me plenty warm, dry and its comfortable.
Only niggle is that the phone pouch is abit small & all the inside pockets of the jacket are actually on the removal thermal. So if you remove the thermal layer you lose all the interior pockets

But for my first set
Perfect
Comfortable
Great quality

Hope this helps

[Nefeco]

Pocket space/volume and comfort of positioning are generally my first considerations.

Then again I've never come off, so my opinions are formed by 32 years of the wrong kind of experience for forming opinions about jackets (turns out I'd have been ok in a T-shirt and shorts*) so just ignore me...

--N.

* Yes, but only once. I was young and stupid. I got less young but probably not less stupid.