I am new to riding on the road, haven't started yet. My bike is in the parking spot, waiting to get my tags.

I am looking for a good protective jacket, but I dont want to spend $500-$600 at the Harley dealership for a nice jacket. What are some recommendations you might have?

 

You're in Maryland, so you can wear leather almost year round. If that is how you are inclined, LeatherUp.com has a broad selection of jackets at about 1/3 the cost of similar H-D branded jackets. I have this one:


It has very heavy leather, good sturdy hardware and armor where you need it. I can't vouch for the jackets at the lower end of the LeatherUp line, but this one, at or near the top of what they offer, is well worth the money. I have about 20,000 miles on mine so far and am still very pleased with it.

There is ALWAYS a 10% discount off of the already low prices at LeatherUp so make sure you get the code before you order. Here's where mine is online: http://www.leatherup.com/p/Naked-Mot...ket/93296.html

 

Leather Up has jackets. I've never bought one from them, so I can't say how good they are.

Edit...Kurt beat me because I'm a one finger typer.

 

Buy a Fox Creek leather jacket and never have to worry about buying another. Well, until it shrinks that is. But that doesn't usually happen until you approach 50....

 

Since summer is around the corner, I'm assuming you're asking about a warm weather jacket. Depending on how much you want to spend, and how much protection you want, there are plenty of options there for you. For warm weather you can look into the following.

1. Perforated leather jacket (with or without body armor)
2. Mesh/textile jacket with armor.
3. Heavy denim with armor. I have a Power Trip Ronin with armor that I paid $60 for, on sale. It's a great jacket for the money.

Of course the Mesh/textile would be cooler for the summer because it breathes so much better. But the leather will always provide more protection....and more so if it has armor. The heavy denim isn't so bad in warm weather either.

Price depends on quality and name brand. Don't feel you have to spend tons of money for protection. For under $200 you can get something that will do the job.

There are a lot of websites out there but this should get you started.

http://www.leatherup.com

http://www.jafrum.com

http://www.revzilla.com

 

Whatever you get make sure it has vents or you will not want to wear your jacket when it gets hot out if it wont breathe a zip out liner is nice also.

fwtw I bought a $475 HD jacket at the dealer but with a bunch of chrome points (you will accumulate them in short order ) and year end 20% discount I got it for 2 and some change.

This one has vents all over and is glove soft no break in at all its a very nice functional accessory to have I can wear it pretty much year around if I layer up.

That's another thing to think about get a thick heavy one now or get a lightweight one and layer up....hth

 

Whatever you do I would NOT recommend buying an HD jacket unless it is the FXRG and they are pricey unless you can find one on a place like the classifieds or ebay. All the others are made overseas and junk IMO. Ask me how I know after spending a bunch on one.... I had a Bates for many years but as I mentioned previously, once you get older leather tends to shrink.

 

Check out Leatherup.com. Large selection of decent stuff and they won't break you. Excellent service.

 

Maybe, but you have 4 times the number of posts that I have in less than 1/2 the time, so you must be pretty damned fast with that finger!

 

I recently bought a Tour Master Transition III jacket for under $200.00 and it's fantastic.
http://www.tourmaster.com/product/Te...3_Jacket/367/3