Summary
The British Motorcycle Gear (BMG) Adventure
jacket is a lightweight shell optimized for off-road
outback adventures. But it works just as well on
the street and, when matched with the BMG Adventure
pants, it looks Dakar Rally ready. It's also an
excellent bargain!
Background
The folks at British Motorcycle Gear know off-road riding
the BMG Adventure outfit is the result. The Adventure jacket is
a focused
piece of kit, designed with the Dakar
Rally in mind, along with high desert adventures, touring and
long-distance off-road riding of all types
The jacket has a different design philosophy, for
lack of a better term. It is a jacket "shell",
without the typical insulating and water-resistant
liners attached, although it does include a lightweight
windbreaker that also offers some protection from the
rain.
Included also are Knox elbow and shoulder armor
inserts but other
than that, it's up to the rider to add or subtract
whatever he or she feels necessary to achieve the
desired level of protection. The Adventure
pants have no armor at all, but they can be fitted with
knee and hip armor if desired.
I discovered that this design philosophy results in
an outfit that feels
liberating; I can wear my own tight-fitting armored
shirt and pants underneath and the lightweight Adventure
jacket and pants leave enough room to
provide good air circulation and a very comfortable fit.
For that reason and more, the BMG Adventure jacket
and pants make a wonderful riding outfit, especially
suited to the modern-day all-terrain adventures.
The outfit has become
a favorite, even though the closest I usually come to an
off-road journey is a few miles up a dirt road or two.
wBW Flash Slideshow:
British Motorcycle Gear Adventure Jacket Details
British Motorcycle Gear Adventure Jacket Features The most noticeable feature of the Adventure jacket
-- other than the KTM-inspired styling in the orange
version shown here -- is its weight, or lack of it.
The jacket tips the scales at only 4 lbs., including the wind- and
water-resistant windbreaker liner that comes
stored in the rear pocket, ready for use. The
matching Adventure pants are featherweight at only 1.5
lbs., less than some of the jeans I wear.
I really like the idea of having a jacket that's an
outer shell only, because I'd much rather mix-and-match
my own liners and armor anyway. I almost always
rip out the armor that comes with motorcycle clothing
because I prefer to wear armored shirts and pants, which
locates the armor in the correct locations much more
accurately than any non-wearable protection can.
When the armor is removed from most off-the-shelf clothing
you'll discover a completely different sensation -- the
jacket or pants becomes more flexible, with a feel
similar to street
clothing. This means more comfort and it feels
altogether less cumbersome.
The lighter weight of the Adventure outfit also is a
clue that it's primarily focused on warm-weather riding.
The weave of the 500 denier material allows a lot of air
to flow in and through; shine a flashlight in back of it
and you can see the light. Both the jacket and
pants are lined with the same black open-mesh lining
found in almost every motorcycle jacket and it also helps ventilation by keeping the shell
material away from the skin.
If the weather turns cool, throw on a pair of thermals or a
windbreaker underneath or the water-resistant liner
provided with the jacket or even your favorite liner
cribbed from another jacket and you're good to go.
At various times in our recent variable Spring weather I've
combined the Adventure jacket with layers ranging from a fleece sweater to the windbreaker to a windproof shirt to a turtleneck to a
simple T-shirt underneath -- the
possibilities are endless.
Elbow abrasion protection and
clear plastic ID badge pocket on sleeve cuff.
Adventure Jacket Styling
No doubt about it, the Adventure jacket looks like
something right out of the Dakar Rally, lacking only a
few sponsor logos!
The off-road look may not be for everyone, but with the
huge interest and sales of Adventure Touring bikes like
the BMW R 1200 GS, the new Ducati Multistrada 1200, the
Kawasaki KLR 650 and, of course, my very rare Multistrada 620, it's a perfect match.
The jacket is available in the KTM orange shown here or
a BMW-like blue trim, with the stone and black body
panels in the same locations on both. The styling
may seem a bit busy in this jacket, but this is typical for an
off-road inspired design and the different patches of
material each serve a purpose.
For example, the black material covering the elbows and
upper arms offers additional wear protection. The
surface of the material is covered with shiny black dots
made from silicone; it looks rather like like the
material found on the heel portion of the palm on some
motorcycle gloves.
The Adventure jacket shown here is a manufacturing sample
that was made during the first manufacturing run to
verify the various procedures. The stitching on
this one is a combination of hidden and single row
stitching that appears to be hand sewn. I'm not
sure if the regular manufacturing run will have
computer-controlled stitching or not, but either way,
this is not a mass-marketed
jacket, so you won't find it at your local Moto-Mart; it
can only be purchased through the BMG online store.
I'd rate the quality as very good; not quite up to
Dainese or Rev'it standards, for example, but nowhere
near their price either. The jacket has a lot of
detailing, pockets, reflective material and adjustments,
which I'll describe in the following sections.
Removable cell phone pocket and
hydration hose receiver. Note open collar.
Most Notable Features
Besides the rugged Dakar looks, the Adventure jacket has a number of interesting
features that separate it from the ordinary:
Hydration Bladder: One feature that
you've probably already noticed by looking at the photos
is the built-in hydration pack. The removable
insulated bladder holds about two liters of liquid.
Hydration pack users swear by them, based on feedback
from owners of the
CamelBak
hydration backpack we reviewed.
I discovered it can be filled up and placed in the
refrigerator overnight to get it cold -- not sure about
freezing it as I was afraid that might burst the seams.
I've also soaked the hydration pack in water to keep it
cool using the evaporation method as I ride.
The drink hose comes out of the back, over the left
shoulder and fits through four loops. It crosses
the front zipper and attaches up on the right chest in a
fabric loop receiver. It has another
attachment loop on the wind flap that covers the upper
neck, which can be folded over and left open.
When it's in this position, the drink hose slips through
the loop, which places it in a more central position.
This is a better location because it allows the jacket
to come off without having to pull the hose out of the
loop if it's on the right. In any case, I guess
it's good to have the choice.
Removable Arms: The removable arms
are another feature of
the Adventure jacket that perhaps isn't as obvious. I'm not sure who actually removes
the arms on their motorcycle jacket, why they'd do it
and where they would store them, but the capability is
there in any case.
Actually, the most useful part of
this feature is that the zipper around each arm (which
is well hidden under the material on the shoulders) has
been left with an opening under the arm on each side,
which allows extra ventilation also.
Adjustable Neck System: I think one
other feature that's worth a separate mention is the
neck cover system. As I mentioned above, there's a
small flap that serves to secure the neck via
hook-and-loop. Both the collar and this flap are
filled with soft cushioning material and lined with a
very soft micro-fleece to keep them comfortable.
The flap can either be used in the familiar fashion to
secure the neck or it can be folded back over itself to
secure to a small piece of hook-and-loop on the left
side, out of the way. This provides more cooling,
along with the central neck wind flap, which can also be
snapped on to itself on the left and out of the way of
the zipper.
The plackets on either side of the zipper are wide and
they're actually sewn on the outside of the jacket
shell. They can either be used to cover the entire
zipper by closing them together with their hook-and-loop
fasteners, or left open. The reason they're placed
wide apart is to allow full access to the main zipper,
which can be lowered for more cooling.
This is especially useful up at the top with the neck
system and I rode this way almost the entire time I had
the Harley-Davidson Road Glide Custom, because it
provided excellent cooling behind the big fairing.
Obviously, a lot of thought went into designing this
system, but the only thing missing are separate
attachment points on the outside of the flaps, to allow
each side to be folded back over and attached to the
outside of the shell, which I think would be useful to
keep the flaps out of the way semi-permanently.
Cell Phone Pocket: The Adventure
jacket also has a removable cell phone pocket, located
on the upper right chest. The pocket is actually
rather large for today's cell phones and it will even
fit some of the smaller digital cameras. The
pocket attaches with a plastic slider/retainer at the
top and there's a section of hook-and-loop underneath to
keep it secured to the jacket.
The clear cover on this pocket allows the pocket to be used to
store identification, although the left sleeve also has
a non-removable pocket near the cuff with a clear cover
that can hold an ID card or badge.
Close-up of open collar system.
British Motorcycle Gear Adventure
jacket lining.
Adventure Jacket Venting
Besides the jacket material, which provides good
ventilation even if the vents are closed, the
Adventure jacket has a full compliment of ventilation
ports.
The sleeves feature a long zipper-covered vent that runs
from the wrist to the elbow. The zipper used here
has two runners, so the vent can be opened in two
directions and all the way open or closed. It has
a full mesh lining underneath in addition to the full
mesh lining of the jacket, which allows a lot of
ventilation.
The jacket body also has short zippered vents at the
top, just below the shoulder line. These may not
be
quite as efficient as some because the horizontal format
doesn't open up as an air scoop when the zippers are
opened, but every little bit helps.
Two more vents that open with zippers are located in back of the
jacket, just behind the upper arms. Combine all
this with the neck when it's opened and the natural
ventilation of the fabric itself, and you have a jacket
with excellent ventilation all around.
The only thing that spoils it somewhat in the front are
the lined pockets on the left (external) and right
(internal) of the chest. I would have made the
pocket linings out of mesh material to allow the air to
flow through; as it is, the taffeta lining blocks some
of the air that might find its way through the shell.
I have been wearing the Adventure jacket on different
motorcycles with and without windscreens and fairings,
in temperatures ranging from mid-60's to 90 and I've
been comfortable throughout. Of course, at the
upper end of that scale, only a full mesh jacket will
do, but the Adventure provides good ventilation and may
even keep in some of that needed moisture better than a
full mesh jacket might do.
Sleeve zipper and adjuster snap.
Removable hydration bladder.
Zippers and Closures
The jacket uses an off-brand ("GRT") of zippers,
but they work fine. They're used in all of the
vents mentioned above, including the zip-off sleeves and
also for the main jacket body. The jacket front
uses a two-way zipper that allows it to be opened or
closed from top or bottom. The zipper pulls are
not rubber covered but the bottom slider remains mostly hidden behind the front
jacket wind flap, so this hasn't been a problem.
The jacket has easy-to-use waist adjusters with about 3"
of adjustment on either side. The arms have a
single adjuster at the elbow, but unfortunately on this
manufacturing sample the "hook" part of the
hook-and-loop is so short that it immediately runs out
of "loop", so there it lacks any adjustment range.
BMG said this problem was resolved in the full
production version of the jacket.
The sleeves on the jacket have a two-position,
rubber-covered snap a few inches above the cuff.
This helps to keep the two-way zipper in place at the
cuff end and also helps to adjust the lower sleeve.
The sleeve cuffs also have a hook-and-loop adjuster at
the ends.
Reflective material used on the
BMG Adventure jacket.
Reflectivity
Illustrated in the photo above, the Adventure jacket
has includes several highly reflective strips of reflective piping
along the upper arms, back and chest, including the BMG
logos on the outside of the upper arms and on the upper
back.
Jacket Sizing
The Adventure jacket is available in sizes ranging from
XS to 4XL. The British Motorcycle Gear size chart
shows the XS as fitting a U.S. 32-35" chest and the 4XL
a 53-56" chest. The jacket was designed to
fit loosely, so it runs almost one size large on purpose
to allow extra room for all of the reasons so far
described.
I first ordered an XL for a 44" chest but it fit more
like an XXL. The size large shown here still has
plenty of room and it fits loosely on the model, who is
larger than me. The sleeves are also a bit longer
than expected for this size.
British Motorcycle Gear Adventure jacket front pocket
and waist adjuster.
Pockets
The Adventure jacket includes two lined hand cargo pockets,
located towards the bottom on the front of the jacket.
Each of these also has a separate lined
zippered pocket on the outside. These pockets are
covered by flaps that secure with hook-and-loop.
The left upper chest has a vertically-oriented lined
pocket covered by a water-resistant zipper. This
pocket can be used to hold a wallet or other gear.
The large rear pocket stores the wind- and
water-resistant liner. In addition to the clear ID
pocket on the left sleeve cuff, the right sleeve has a
small zipper-covered pocket at the cuff that can be used
to hold spare change, keys or other small items.
Safety and Protection The jacket includes removable Knox
elbow and shoulder padding protectors, which aren't
quite as shaped as the protectors designed for racing,
but they're also not as constricting. The jacket
has a pocket for a back protector or padding but I'm not
sure which version of the Knox protectors sold by
British Motorcycle Gear will fit.
Miscellaneous Features The Adventure jacket has a short attachment
zipper in the rear that can be used for the matching BMG
Adventure pants.
Conclusion The British Motorcycle Gear Adventure jacket is a
comfortable and good-looking solution for serious Adventure
Touring and exploring in warmer weather. It's also
a good alternative for anyone not fond of mesh. The jacket has
many unique features, including the very useful built-in
hydration pack.
The Adventure jacket is also a very
good value, costing only about half of some of the other "big name" Adventure
Touring-inspired motorcycle gear which have fewer
features.
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