Last week I was lucky enough to be one of the first people in the world to receive a pair of Maple Motorcycle Jeans. If you've ever been shopping for protective motorcycle clothing and in particular kevlar motorcycle jeans, you'll know how bad some of the designs look and how expensive they can be. Dave from Maple Motorcycle Jeans is out to change this with his Kevlar lined, classically styled, raw denim jeans. I'm going to be doing a full review of these jeans once I have had some time to break them in, but if you read on you can see my first impressions.
First thing I noticed when I picked up the package from the post office was that they were heavy! But upon removing the contents of the package I was pleasantly surprised to discover along with the jeans came a set of CE approved, knee and hip Forcefield Body armor. The armor fits into the jeans using pockets and Velcro strips adding extra impact protection if you want it.
The jeans themselves are made of a thick 13.5 ounce raw denim that feels of a similar quality to a pair of Carhartt jeans I own. As I'm sure many motorcycle riders would agree a lot of riding gear is not the sort of thing you feel comfortable wearing out to dinner or standing at a bar and avoiding this was one of Maples main objectives.
Two toned, double stitch detailing around the pockets and waist is a very nice touch which also adds to the jeans strength. All of the buttons, including each one on the fly and all of the rivets feature Maple branding, showing just how serious they were about producing a product made to their own specifications. A buckle at the back allows for extra adjustment which will help riders who have issues with their jeans slipping due to more aggressive riding positions. Other nice design touches are the embossed maple leaf on the leather label and a small, red, embroidered maple leaf protruding out from behind the right rear pocket. If you're the kind of guy who wears braces (not on your teeth) there are even buttons to attach them to!
Turning the jeans inside out reveals why they weigh so much. The Kevlar panels are huge! In the front they run from the waist all the way down to the shin and in the back they cover the whole of your backside and half way down your thighs. Combine all that Kevlar with that CE armor and you'll be wearing the next best thing to leathers!
Custom motorcycle clothing and gear available at 100MPH.com.au
