This afternoon I rode to Tacoma to visit NW Motor Scooters to check out their LA based GoGo Gear line of protective gear. Go Go Gear claims: Motorcycle and scooter jackets no longer have to be unattractive! Harley Davidson or Vespa, motorcycle or scooter, biker men or women, scooter girl or guy, GoGo Gear brings fashion to protective, armored, abrasion resistant riding gear and accessories.
Naturally, I was curious. Protective gear for women that’s functional and looks good?
I tried on their Military Jacket (liked it a lot!), Trench Jacket (didn’t quite work for me) and Hologram Jacket (I’ll let you decide for yourself). :P All jackets had solid armor in the back, elbow and upper arm area (all CE approved). The armor in the shoulders didn’t quite fit snugly on any of them. Their size 6 was slightly bulky on me especially in the shoulder area, so I tried a size 4, which was a bit snug in the arms, but I like my jackets tight so that it doesn’t shift in the event of a crash.
Speaking of crashes, my biggest concern was of course how well these designer jackets would hold up in worst case scenarios. The jackets are made with either 600 or 1000 denier cordura, which is then covered up with the nicer material – wool, knits or acrylic. This appears to be in keeping with the specifications of the average, mainstream motorcycle jackets out there. I could see myself wearing one of these jackets for in city low speed riding when the option might be to skip gear altogether, but I definitely wouldn’t make any of these my main jacket for either touring or dual sport riding. I can’t imagine how long this elegant designer wear would hold up on a wet, muddy ride. I’m also a gear nazi and I wear only the best protection I can buy – dual layer mesh kevlar custom made by Motoport (not big on looks but very functional).
My other concern was the hip length of the jacket which is fine for scooter riding, but might be awkward for swinging a leg over a motorcycle. Fortunately they had a Kymco 250cc motorcycle on display, which I sat on, and the jacket seemed to be fine and the length didn’t appear to get in the way. They did after all ride motorcycles wearing those big great coats back in WW2. :)
To summarize, I didn’t buy any of them, but I *am* tempted to get the Go Go Gear Military jacket for casual around town riding. With a $375 price tag though, I’ll have to think about whether I’d rather spend my money on one of these or that retro RevIt jacket that I was eyeing a few months ago.
Here are some photos of me in some of the coats that I tried. This one was my favorite by far.
Click below to see the remaining images.
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