Icon Motosports (www.rideicon.com) seems to love polarizing the motorcycle community with its outlandish commercials and over-the-top gear. Just take one look at their website and you’re sure to find rock music spouting alongside images or videos of stunt riders on mean-looking sportbikes. Another glance at their product line shows bright graphics, metallic embellishments, and tons of attitude. It’s so pervasive that finding a product that would interest this otherwise old-fashioned reviewer (not to mention, scooterist) is … actually quite difficult. My choices are basically black versions of the Accelerant or Motorhead jackets. There’s got to be something more interesting here.
Enter the Hella leather jacket for women. Not for me, but for Hee-chan. Phew, now half the pressure is off of me and onto her for finding a jacket that works well for riding. First off, the Hella jacket we tried was the plain, black leather one. Aside from a few detail areas, the jacket is quite subdued for Icon, but nonetheless beautiful and, dare I say, impressive. Icon has a history of being somewhat obsessive about their products, and the more I dig into this jacket, the more I feel like this should be considered by all female riders who claim one of the following riding styles: cruiser, touring, or sport.
Outer
Gorgeous. This brings to mind a biker jacket with dress sensibilities – something that would be equally usable in both riding and non-riding situations. In my opinion, clothing stores will advertise leather jackets that are “biker-inspired”, but lack technical details that really matter when riding. This jacket, however, does the reverse; it takes a gritty road jacket and polishes it up. I hope you agree that Icon did a great job with the appearance here.
The leather chassis is made of 1.0-1.2mm thick leather. This is in the middle of what would be considered adequate thickness for a leather jacket. The leather is cowhide, features something of a matte, pebbled appearance, and feels quite substantial to the touch. I believe the abrasion resistance of this jacket would fair well in the advent of fall. As well, this leather will break-in nicely and the cut was friendly to Hee’s form. We found the jacket to be true to size, with Hee wearing size Small. For reference, she is 5 feet 4 inches tall, has a 36 inch bust, and 27 inch waist. Two problems we had were with the shoulder width and sleeve length, which we felt were slightly too wide/long. Icon jackets are rather infamous for having long sleeves, so we suggest you give a couple different sizes a try.
Continuing with the leather outer, there are no stretch panels on this jacket, although there are four small waist adjusters on each side. There is perforated leather on the bottom and tops of the sleeves and down the side of the torso for some ventilation. This is in addition to two intake vents near the shoulders, and two exhaust vents in the rear. One could also theoretically open the hand pockets for more air as these are mesh-lined.
There are a number of snaps on this jacket, both functional and cosmetic. There is a nice see-through snap on the collar as well as a flap at the bottom to cover the bottom of the zipper. I wish my Alpinestars jacket had those! In addition, there are four snaps that come up from straps at the bottom of the jacket. These serve no purpose, but do add to the styling. On the top left of the jacket is a metallic Icon badge that features several sparkly crystal-like inserts (and Hee likes sparkles so plus points there). On the sleeve is a metallic Icon “I” that adds to the accenting. At the end of the sleeves is a zippered cuff that opens up to reveal a leather connection. I prefer mesh (for ventilation) as well as a snap/button closure, but perhaps Icon felt it would detract from the overall looks. All the zippers are made by YKK and the snaps are unbranded, but feel like they’re made of good quality. None of the zippers have “pockets” for them to hide into when zipped up, so they will flap around when riding.
Inner
As you open the jacket, you’ll notice that the main zipper flap says “Ride Among Us” in small, punched leather holes, the Icon motto. A nice detail.
The interior of the jacket features two chest pockets. Sadly, neither the liner nor the outer offers more interior pockets. One thing I liked was the number of connections for the jacket liner. There is a snap at the end of each sleeve, a snap on each side under the arm, and a zipper that goes clear around the opening of the jacket. There’s even some leather covering the underarm snaps which is a good design point. It’s nice to see an interior lining that really tries to “connect” with the rest of the jacket; it speaks well of Icon trying to create a product that doesn’t cut corners and covers its bases well.
That said, the jacket does not have any zipper connection for pants (nor a flap to support sewing on a zipper connection). I’m not sure if this is because Icon pants (especially for women) do not come with a mating zipper or not. As well, the full-length liner, while lightly insulated, is not windproof or waterproof, so there is the chance of slight discomfort under less than ideal weather conditions. I’d comfortably say that this jacket should do well under temperature conditions ranging from 40-85 degrees F, with the lower range expanding if you can fit a sweater under the snug fit.
Protection
Aside from the outer being made of leather, there is no additional material in the chassis to aid in padding or abrasion resistance. If you like, you could call the raised “Icon” lettering in the lower rear of the jacket to be padding, but I just call it “pretty”. However, inside the jacket, you will discover CE-rated armor in the shoulder and sleeves. We found the armor to be of acceptable thickness; it didn’t feel too bulky, but also felt like it would hold up in a fall. It flexes well and features holes to permit ventilation to go through.
One welcome addition to this jacket is a dual-density foam back protector that is a step up from the usual foam pads you see in most jackets (even high-end ones). The back pad is quite tall, covering a large section of the spine. As well, it is tapered to not be too bulky, and there are incisions to aid in flexing. While it has the consistency of tough styrofoam (don’t bend it in half or you’ll find yourself buying a new pad), it should provide better protection than your typical open-cell foam pad.
And yes, there’s a little Saint Christopher medallion hidden inside the jacket. I’ll let you discover it for yourself. May it protect you in your travels.
Summary
The Icon Hella leather jacket presents a good blend of form and function. The features and attention to detail are many and the gripes are minor. At a retail price of $350, we believe the wearer is getting good value for their money: an attractive jacket that has long-term usefulness and versatility both on and off the bike. (4 stars out of 5)
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