Rev'it Cayenne Pro

Rev'it Cayenne Pro Review
by Rick for webBikeWorld.com

Summary:  Subtle but significant changes to the original, based on owner input, make the Cayenne Pro one of the most versatile, highest quality motorcycle jackets available.

Here it is, almost the end of April and I'm still catching up from the Powersports Dealer Expo in February.  The annual Expo is the place where the manufacturers introduce new clothing, helmets and other goodies to (hopefully) salivating dealers, who will then (hopefully) place huge orders, so they can (hopefully) sell all the Latest und Greatest stuff to (hopefully) salivating motorcycle owners. 

That's the theory at least, and although it might not always work as planned, it's a lot of fun and they at least have one salivating fan -- me!  It was a good year, and the 2008 Expo was pretty exciting, and if you haven't already, you can read all about it in my report.

The Expo usually sets the tone for the year and it indicates the direction that many different types of motorcycle gear will take; this year the outrageous motorcycle helmet graphics and colors made a big impression on me -- enough to create this special helmet photo gallery -- as did the display of the new Rynus clothing lineup (review) and, of course, the big, bold, new REV'IT! clothing exhibit.

Rev'it must have laid down some serious dosh -- not to mention time and effort -- to get their display up and running, and it was put to good use.  There are so many tasty products in the Rev'it portfolio that it now takes a farmload of square footage to show everything off, and their old booth was starting to look like a telephone booth.

During my visit, Rev'it walked me through the new Sirocco jacket (review); the new Apache Boots (First Look); and the updated version of their "flagship" jacket, the Cayenne Pro, which I covered in a First Look report from the show and which is now the subject of this report.

The Cayenne Pro is an update to the original Cayenne jacket, which we reviewed back in 2005.  Other 3/4- or 5/8-length textile jackets have come and gone, but the original Cayenne is definitely my all-time favorite, and it's been put to good use, protecting the backs of several riders over the last 3 years.

I'd have to say that the original Cayenne is probably one of the most versatile jackets around, and it can't be beat when rigged in all-out winter mode; its Hydratex and insulating liners repel chills with aplomb.

But evolution is the name of the game at Rev'it, and since the Cayenne has been one of the company's best selling jackets, they wanted to update it by incorporating all the latest technologies to keep the sales momentum. 

"The Cayenne was torture-tested over the last three years since its introduction", said Jordan Levitt, who leads the U.S. Rev'it office.  "And it was used in ways we never anticipated, so when it came time for an update, we wanted to improve every single aspect of it."

Now if you think about it for a minute, evolving a product, rather than releasing something completely new and different, actually takes some guts in today's "IT'S NEW!" -- "IT'S DIFFERENT!" -- "YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE!" marketplace.

Thus, it's much harder to sell incremental changes.  "The first thing we did was to change all of the zippers and all of the snaps...", said Jordan.  Huh?  Ponder selling that to customers expecting the Next Big Thing... 

But there's a big difference here: the Cayenne and the Cayenne Pro aren't aimed at your typical Ninja street squid.  Not that there's anything wrong with that market segment, mind you -- but Cayenne owners are usually hard-core world travelers who demand the best and don't even look at the price.  Well, maybe just a little....

But seriously -- who else would get excited about the fact that the Cayenne Pro now has the highest quality, spring-loaded, Italian-made Fiocchi metal snaps?  These little works of industrial art will get the toughest riders through the roughest trips on the planet without a complaint, from the looks of them.  You just don't see that level of detail on your average everyday off-the-rack jacket.

In a surprise move, Rev'it also went to good ol' DuPont Cordura for the shell, in 500 and 1,000 denier.  Jordan said that Rev'it surveyed owners of the original Cayenne, and as it turned out, more riders are familiar with Cordura than any other material.

Not that the Swiss materials used in the original weren't good, it's just that Cordura is just as effective and potential owners know exactly what to expect from it.  And it's good stuff, I might add, that's been torture-tested in many motorcycle garments for many years now.

The front ventilation panels on the original Cayenne had zippers that allowed them to be removed and stored in the back removable pouch pocket, but owners told Rev'it that they loved the vents but wanted the ability to convert back and forth without having to stop.  So the panels can now attach with Velcro and they can be folded up and snapped to the opposite corner, where they'll remain in place, but can easily be folded back down, even whilst riding.

There are two additional chest vents on the Cayenne Pro, and both double as pockets.  Can you see them?  They're hidden behind the upper waterproof flap pocket, the one just below the fold-up chest vents.  Those mid-height pockets have a zipper in addition to the flap, and the chest vents are accessible by a vertical zipper that runs next to the placket for ease of access.

The lower pockets now have a horizontal zipper and -- surprise -- no flap cover.  Why?  Apparently the feedback was that the flap made it too difficult to access these pockets when on the bike, and riders wanted a simple zipper pull that could be grabbed and instant access.  Hidden behind the lower front pockets are "hand warmer" pockets, accessible through a vertical strip of Velcro on the edge facing the rider's sides. 

The arm vents use the waterproof zippers that Rev'it pioneered, and the Cayenne Pro has two vertical vents in the rear, just below the rider's shoulders.  The Pro now has stretch Cordura panels on the backs of the elbows and a stretch Cordura panel on the back of the neck, just below the collar.

The wide 3M reflective panels that outline the chest vents, on the arms and across the back are laser cut and laminated directly to the jacket shell without stitching, which makes for a nice, clean look.  The new Rev'it logo is also laser cut and laminated. 

By the way, the Cayenne Pro now has matching trousers that feature the same high-tech treatments and they're a nice match for the jacket.  They have stretch Cordura and brushed leather panels inside the legs for comfort.

The jacket and pants now use CE-approved SAS TEC armor.  The armor in the shoulders is larger than normal to protect more of the rider's shoulder, and the jacket has thick armor that covers the elbow and back of the forearm.  The Cayenne Pro jacket includes a section of Temperfoam, but a SAS TEC back protector, very similar to the one we discussed in our review of the Furygan "Fighter" jacket, is available as a relatively low-cost option.

The Cayenne Pro has dual liners similar to to the system used in the Sirocco.  The zippers and snaps have been arranged so that the owner can use the waterproof/windproof liner or the insulating liner or both -- or none.  The waterproof/windproof liner has laminated, sonic-welded seams and 3 layers; Jordan says that it offers better waterproofing than anything they've used before, again based on owner input.

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The insulating liner is new, it's now made from "Exkin" (say "Eks-skin").  Exkin is a new material; it's a moisture wicking fabric that was tested at two times the warmth factor of the DuPont Thermolite insulation used in the original Cayenne, at half the thickness!  Hey, that's progress!  This means that a 1 oz. liner is as warm as the old 2 oz. version.

Now most of the other manufacturers would probably throw in any old stuff just so they could say the jacket is insulated; leave it to Rev'it to be obsessed with a detail like this.

But here's the secret that's probably one of the best features of the new Exkin liner: because it's thinner, the jacket has a more consistent fit when the liner's removed; that is, the jacket doesn't have the "balloon" effect of other jackets with a too-thick liner, where the jacket grows a chest size or two when the liner is removed.  A more consistent fit also helps keep the armor in place when the liner is absent.

The Cayenne Pro now has a pants connection zipper bonded directly into the waterproof membrane in addition to a zipper bonded to the inside of the shell, so the matching Cayenne Pro pants can be attached in a wider variety of conditions. 

Also, the last 6"-8" of the bottom of the jacket inside the shell, up to the spot where the attachment zipper is located, is now fully lined with waterproofing material.  This was done to prevent any water from wicking up inside the jacket if you're riding in severe conditions.

Another innovation that Jordan was very proud of is the incorporation of "SuperFabric" abrasion-resistant panels on the wear points of the Cayenne Pro.  Rev'it claims to be the only motorcycle clothing manufacturer currently using SuperFabric -- in fact, Rev'it is featured on the SuperFabric website.

SuperFabric is ceramic-infused material, with "little tiny ceramic shields" embedded in.  The SuperFabric is laser cut and directly bonded to the outer Cordura on the Cayenne Pro; it can be seen as the black panels just below the elbows in the photos.

Superfabric is claimed to have four times the abrasion resistance of leather and -- get this -- 15 times the abrasion resistance of Kevlar, yet it's super thin, lightweight and flexible.  Unfortunately, the stuff is extremely expensive, so Rev'it is currently using it in the two most important places, the back of the arm and the knee/shin area on the Cayenne Pro pants.  As the cost of SuperFabric decreases, Rev'it plans on making wider use of it in their clothing.

The Rev'it Cayenne Pro is now available in sizes S to XXXL and in some nice color combinations; in addition to the very bright, high-visibility orange and gray shown here, the jacket is available in black, black/light gray, light gray/red and a nice, earthy dark green and gray. 

UPDATE:  We had an incorrect price posted earlier; the correct list price is $549.99, which means that the jacket isn't quite the bargain we initially thought, but compares well with high-end jackets from BMW and others.

Conclusion
It's nice to find a company that has created a popular product and instead of dumping it and starting from scratch just to satisfy the marketing department, they gathered owner input to further develop the concept.  It both validates the original idea and also helps make the customer feel like they haven't been abandoned.

The Cayenne Pro doesn't look like a radical change from the original -- which, by the way, is still a very worthy jacket -- but it incorporates some sophisticated technology that has made it even more versatile.

There's probably not enough here to convince original Cayenne owners to upgrade, but surely it will attract new customers, especially now that Adventure Touring has become one of the most popular forms of motorcycling sport, and I'll bet that Cayenne owners will upgrade to a Cayenne Pro when it comes time for a new jacket. 

The problem, of course, is that the original Cayenne is so well built that it may be years before that happens!