Joe Rocket Suzuki Nitrous Mesh Jacket

[Ramazith]

Joe Rocket Suzuki Nitrous Mesh Jacket. This is the Jacket I have. I think this jacket is being discontinued.

The outer and inner material is 100% polyester. Most of the outer is 2 ply mesh with canvas like polyester from just above chest level to over the shoulders and along the torso sides and some at the end of the sleeves.

It has CE rated shoulder and arm armor. The description of the back armor says, "Removable spine pad with pocket for optional C.E. spine protector." I guess the back is not CE. It has 2 pads in the back. One on the spine and one at the small of the back.

The arms and waist are snap and Velcro adjustable. Also has snaps in the back to attach to pants.

It comes with a full torso and sleeves zip out liner. Not water proof.

The color is mostly black and gray with 'go fast' decorative patches.

Suzuki licensed product.

Likes:
-Mesh
-Light weight
-Armor does not slide around inside the jacket and is in the right places. It covers what I want covered very well.
-Cost, $99, brand new
-Fits snug, arms not too long, adjustable fit, not bunchy
-Not too hot, has zipper vents at cuffs, mesh allows good air flow
-Suzuki licensed. I don't know what criteria Suzuki uses to license products, but hey, I hope they wouldn't authorize their name on a piece of crap.

Dislikes:
-Polyester. Not that I want to catch on fire but, polyester is not the best material to do that in. It's not the worst either. One will not become engulfed in a ball of flaming molten plastic for wearing polyester.
-Back armor seems to not be CE. CE is a European deal that means the product meets certain manufacturing standards. It doesn't always mean 'most safe'. It can mean 'not dangerous'. Generally, CE means well made. The back pads do seem well made.
-Go fast patches. It's all GSXRed up. I ride a C50 cruiser.
-Lack of reflective stuff

Mods: Yes, I modified a jacket.
-The jacket is mostly black and gray. Not the most visible colors scheme for pre-dawn riding. I bought silver Duck brand reflective tape at Walmart and cut it to fit over the go fast patches. Reflectivity and visibility greatly improved. Except for a patch on the left arm, the tape has stayed perfectly in place.

[Ramazith]

I now own two of these jackets. Let me tell you why.

The front zipper is terrible. Really, it is. I love pretty much everything else about the jacket. The zip in liner works surprisingly well at 37F going 70mph. It's not toasty warm, but it does the job rather well.

These front zippers though, man, just plain bad. The zipper on my first one was fine for a few months. Then, it broke. The teeth wouldn't go together and it was hard to zip up. Sometimes they separated. One day, they wouldn't come apart, when I needed them to, and I broke the whole head trying to get out of the jacket. Oh well, I said, sometimes you get a bum zipper.

I bought a second jacket, a size bigger even. Hey, maybe I'm zipping it over too much gut and then add the waist band of the chaps, it's just too much for any zipper to hold together against.

Well, jacket number two also has a bum zipper, evident after the fifth time I wore it. It's hard to zip up, gets stuck, takes a few tries sometimes. Not right at all. At least it unzips fine.

Jacket number one was repaired by a tailor. It zips up fine sometimes. Other times it's a Greco Roman wrestling match. Unzipping, no problem and the teeth, so far, stay together.

All this even after rubbing the zippers with a welders stone.

Sorry, Joe, but my next jacket is likely to be another brand. I mean, a riding jacket that doesn't zip is no good as a riding jacket.

[rexmitchell]

I had this jacket but sold it with my old bike...I wasn't exactly impressed, it lacked the built in, non-removable armor for your ribs that similar joe rocket models have, also felt kinda cheap...will have to agree with Ramazith