Road Tested: The Icon Slabtown motorcycle riding jacket

Regardless of what gear producers can have you consider, nobody motorcycle jacket will carry out nicely in each potential state of affairs. However some jackets can play a handful of roles nicely, providing sufficient versatility to earn a spot in your gear closet. The Icon Slabtown is one such piece.

Named after the district in Portland, Oregon, USA the place Icon Motosports relies, the Slabtown jacket is pitched as a three-season road using jacket. It’s not waterproof, neither is it designed for very scorching days. However for something from chilly to heat climate, it really works a deal with.

Aesthetically, the Slabtown is all enterprise, that includes a barely subdued tackle the city brawler styling that Icon is known for. It’s reduce with Icon’s ‘sport’ match, which implies it’s boxy slightly than tailor-made, with beneficiant hook-and-loop waist adjusters and pre-curved sleeves. It matches kind of true to Icon’s sizing chart, with the caveat that it leaves lots of room to layer up (so dimension down if you’d like a
figure-hugging match).

The Slabtown’s building makes use of a mixture of heavyweight and stretch nylon panels, with further material in high-risk areas. Outfitted with a full cache of versatile D30 armor, the jacket rides the road between consolation and security, providing loads of articulation whereas using, however retaining a hefty really feel. Accordion panels behind the elbows add further flexibility (and an additional hit of retro bike jacket styling), whereas a slight drop within the tail protects your modesty.

Shade-wise, your selections are black, gray, or inexperienced (pictured right here). Icon’s branding is refined, with a strong steel brand stitched into the chest and a sublimated brand on the decrease again. So whereas the Slabtown jacket isn’t fairly informal sufficient to tug date night time obligation, it doesn’t scream for consideration.

The quilted vest liner presents a outstanding quantity of heat on colder days. As a result of it’s sleeveless, it’s a breeze to zip out and in—and it doesn’t make the jacket really feel cumbersome when it’s in use. It’s additionally compact sufficient to depart in for crisp morning rides and stow in a backpack because the day warms up.

Air flow is courtesy of two zippered shoulder vents, two vertical zippered vents on the again, and two-way cuff zippers that allow air in through the sleeves. There’s additionally a intelligent entrance vent system that’s engaged by unzipping the primary closure and connecting it to a second zipper on a mesh panel. It’s arduous to inform if it’s an efficient design by itself, however the entire system works nicely sufficient when every little thing’s open—though you do must cope with the jacket billowing considerably.

The place the Slabtown skimps, is on fussy frills. The collar is an easy non-adjustable affair with a delicate material alongside the ridge that provides consolation; a design that’s repeated on the cuffs. There are two discreet hand hotter pockets on the sides and a Napoleon pocket contained in the jacket (with a Saint Christopher medallion tucked inside, as is Icon’s custom), however not a lot else.

Whether or not that’s good or unhealthy relies upon fully in your wants. When you like to regulate each final inch of your jacket and stuff your pockets like an over-zealous marsupial with an EDC obsession, this in all probability isn’t the jacket for you. (And for those who’re valuable about your bike’s paint job, the uncovered YKK zipper on the entrance will possible put you off.)

But when simplicity is excessive in your checklist of must-haves, the Slabtown qualifies. I’ve used it for every little thing from testing the Yamaha XSR900 GP in moody Portuguese climate, to grabbing it for a day of mixed-terrain journey using in South Africa. Like a bowl of porridge match for a precocious blonde intruder, the Icon Slabtown just isn’t an excessive amount of, not too little, however excellent.