Harley Innovator Jacket

[Bone Stockman]

I’ve come to the conclusion that all things being equal, I’d rather ride with a jacket on, rather than just a T-shirt. Not only will it hurt a lot less if I have armor and material between my skin and the pavement in the event of an off, but it’s just more comfortable not getting sunburned and windburned, and it’s nice to have pockets for phones, keys, and stuff.

I’ve got a bunch of jackets, but nothing great for summer. I have a Klim Latitude and a BMW Rallye 3 which are both great jackets, but they’re both ¾ length, which means they bunch up given the Harley’s riding position (the Klim much more so than the BMW). I’ve got an old Cortech mesh jacket that’s holding together relatively well, but it’s old and kinda ratty, and I can’t find the rain liner. And I’ve got my leather FXRG which is great up to about 80 or so. But it also weighs a ton.

I saw the Innovator at the local shop, and I liked the look. It’s one of the better-looking jackets I’ve seen. I’d considered the FXRG Switchback, but isn’t waterproof, and I can’t get my head around the removable panels (what the hell do you do with them when you take them off? How much air leaks in when it’s all zipped up?) I looked for reviews online, and they’re few and far between for both jackets. Eventually I figured that the Innovator would be the better choice. Apparently I talked about it too much, as I ended up getting one for my birthday.

It’s a really well-constructed jacket. The seams are all even, there are no loose threads, and it feels solid. When I bought my first Harley in 2005 the jackets that were available were billboards, nothing more. This is for-real motorcycle gear. There are lots of reflective bits. The vents have snaps to hold them open. The zippers are the real deal. The pockets are well thought out. The armor’s top-notch. There’s additional material at the contact points. In other words, Harley’s finally gotten serious about their brand-name riding gear. This could easily be an FXRG piece, and it’s arguably the best-looking jacket Harley sells.

The interesting thing to me was the “Triple Vent System”. Supposedly these jackets were wind tunnel-tested with the Rushmore bikes and designed to flow air based on the airflow around the fairings of these bikes.

In a trial by fire, I wore it on a road trip this weekend. Rode 900 miles or so in 90+ degree heat and high humidity on everything from an hour-long traffic jam to highway droning to backroad bombing to relaxed cruising.

The verdict? So close. Oh so very close.

As I said, this is a for-real riding jacket. I’m a Large in every riding jacket I have (other than the ones that have the numerical sizing – which everyone should adopt). The Medium was too short and small, the Large is perfect but for the girth. There are Velcro adjusters at the waist, but nothing to reign in the chest (I’m slim; not the typical Harley rider build). There are also snaps to adjust the girth of the sleeves, but there’s only two options: snapped or unsnapped. The sleeve cuffs have a zipper closure, and the collar has a nice neoprene roll on it for comfort.

So how does it work?

Sadly, not as well as I’d hoped. The hottest it got was 93 degrees, and it was humid. The jacket just doesn’t vent well enough to be used in that heat. The Triple Vent works great, but it’s not enough. There’s great airflow across the lower part of my torso, but again, it’s not enough. With a set of vents at the shoulders it would be fine. But even with the cuffs unzipped, there’s not enough flow through the sleeves to the top part of the chest to make high heat comfortable. And then there’s the color. Black looks great, but c’mon Harley, ColdBlack is a thing and you already have a relationship with Scholler…..Seriously. Make this jacket with ColdBlack and shoulder vents and keep it under $500 and it’s a serious piece of gear.

As it stands, this is a really good jacket. It looks fantastic, and is not terribly uncomfortable into the low-90s. It’s waterproof and is designed around my bike.

You’re close Harley….So, so close.