The Best Motorcycle Jackets of 2026

Versatility, protection, and style? Triple-check for the Alpinestars AMT-10R Drystar XF Jacket ($900), which is expensive but one of our favorite designs to date. We tested this jacket for a year including summer heat waves, thunderstorms, and off-road mud fests. The rain layer paid dividends, and the chest vents helped us dump heat.

The 2.5-layer design has a waterproof-breathable membrane called Modular Laminated DrystarXF. The waterproof laminated DrystarXF rain panel can zip out and be stuffed into a waist pocket. When the layer is removed, the mesh layer is exposed, so your pits, back, and chest all get extraordinary cooling.

This jacket is porky. But Alpinestars addresses the build with a waist wrap so the AMT-10R Drystar XF sits properly on your body and reduces fatigue. The stretch panels on the back allow the material to move with you, which we appreciated while riding a dual-sport Kawasaki off-road.

An Italian maker, the design really targets ADV tourers. There’s a hydration sleeve in the upper back, and the reservoir’s hose has an internal pocket that routes over the shoulder. On one super hot ride, we carried a liter of ice water, which kept us cool for dirt exploration.

You’ll find pockets in every direction. Pouches are located at your hip and chest, externally and internally. There’s one waterproof pocket, which is a dandy place to store a wallet or passport. Also, the zippers rock on the AMT-10R Drystar XF Jacket. They’re super beefy with large pulls that you can grip even while wearing a winter riding glove, and the zippers easily glide. When you have a full day on the bike, these little details add up to make a big difference.

Read Review: The Single-Quiver Motorcycle Jacket: REV’IT! Tornado 4 H20 Review

Our wallet and our checklist are happy with the REV’IT! Tornado 4 H2O ($370). This design takes notes from the Alpinestars AMT-10R Drystar XF, given that it’s also waterproof-breathable and utilitarian. But the Tornado 4 H20 is a mesh jacket first, designed for maximum breathability, with mesh across the entire torso and back panel. This jacket breathes nearly as well as the KLIM Marrakesh.

Full of adaptability, this jacket comes with a fully insulated snap-out liner. There’s also a waterproof-breathable liner that can be paired with the insulation.

If you need wind resistance, you can ditch the insulation layer and ride with the waterproof-breathable liner inside the Tornado 4 H2O. We found that combo to be great for early morning and cool rides but a bit too much for warmer afternoons. That waterproof Hydratex layer can also be worn on top of the base jacket. If you add the interior insulation, that’s the warmest arrangement. That’s also the best way to utilize the rain layer because you’re protecting the jacket’s exterior from getting wet.

REV’IT! nailed the armor, which meets a CE level 2 protection certification. With rider adaptability, there are also three different internal sleeve positions, so you can move the armor further away from the elbow if your arms are shorter.

Snaps and an adjustable slider are situated on the forearm to lock the sleeve armor in the best position. An adjustable strap sits at the waist. You can also adjust the collar circumference, which is key if you wear a Buff and need that to layer between the collar and your neck. The gold for the Tornado 4 H2O is that it has plenty of pockets. There two inner pockets and two slash pockets. You’ll find an internal pocket on the waterproof Hydratex layer. There’s also an interior pocket on the insulation layer.

As soon as you slip into the KLIM Artemis ($770) we feel confident it will become one of your favorite riding jackets. The technical features and high-quality materials and construction are specialized for ADV. But the great fit and style of this jacket make it our go-to as women for just about every type of riding. 

The supple mesh liner feels luxurious while keeping a breathable barrier between you and the integrated waterproof membrane. Every material used in this jacket is top-of-the-line, and the craftsmanship shows in every stitch and panel within the patchwork-like construction.

There are internal and external pockets galore, all of which are waterproof. Straps on the waist and arms allow for cinching, while shoulder gussets and waist extenders make sure you have enough room to move. 

A recently added attribute on this model is the two-way zipper at the wrist cuff. We loved this feature when maximum airflow was desired, as well as when putting on gloves with a larger gauntlet. Unzip from the top and you still get the airflow but your sleeve won’t be flapping in the wind. 

The Artemis comes with comfortable D30 Level 1 armor for the back, shoulder, and elbow pads. The jacket is CE AA-rated. 

The Mosko Moto Surveyor ($250) is the one we’ve been searching for. Over the last few years we’ve spent 100s of hours testing various jacket systems: some jackets were durable and waterproof, some included armor, some were simple rain shells, some had removable layers for waterproofing or insulation, some were designed to “do it all” while not doing anything particularly well — all were quite expensive. 

A few years ago we tested a popular system on a month-long ADV ride that consisted of a durable outer shell, vents, integrated armor, and removable waterproof and insulated linings. We found these systems complicated and slow to adapt to changing conditions. Worst of all, when you are riding slowly through technical terrain the vents become ineffective. 

So on our next long ADV ride we opted to run offroad armor under a jersey with a burly waterproof jacket for cold and wet conditions. The challenge with both of these systems? Reliable breathability when riding hard off-road in cold temps. 

We were interested in testing the Mosko Moto Surveyor because it comes from a company that knows how to make gear for the dirt-only end of the ADV spectrum. This jacket filled a gap in our previous systems: keeping you comfortable in cold and dry temps while not causing you to overheat when riding in technical terrain.

The Surveyor from Mosko wonderfully rounds out our layering system: it packs away easily, is articulated to fit over armor, and maintains venting options if you are really working hard.

This jacket was the missing piece in our dream ADV layering system: baselayer armor, jersey, Surveyor jacket, and emergency lightweight rain shell. This system allows us to quickly adapt to changing conditions and we are left sweltering under a waterproof/“breathable” jacket system that will have you quickly overheating in technical terrain. The DWR coating is surprisingly effective in light moisture, too. 

With its use-case-specific design, ample pockets, effective ventilation, and comfortable (and actually breathable) stretch Cordura, this jacket has allowed us to perfect our layering system for hard off-road riding and ADV trips where the priority is riding as much dirt as possible. Bonus? It looks great off the bike, too. 

We’ve tested a bunch of Aether products over the years, and these designers really pay attention to the details. The Aether Mulholland ($650) is a city piece for commuters that looks urban and is ridiculously comfortable. For daily rides, we reach for this piece.

You can easily yank the armor out of the interior sleeves. When we step off the bike, this athletic jacket feels and looks like a regular wardrobe piece. The design uses a canvas-like Japanese nylon. Despite the textile strength, the material easily moves and carries a stylish workwear vibe.

Beyond comfort, the oversized zipper pulls are super easy to use with a gloved hand. Aether wisely incorporated a two-way front zipper. So, you can open the zip from the bottom for extra room when you’re seated and additional venting when riding in the heat.

Chest vents are also available. Aether offers two top-entrance pockets with snappable flaps; one envelops the chest pocket and a zippered chest pocket. The single internal security pocket is large enough for a phone.

Our only wish? To see longer underarm zippers for cooling off, but the ventilation ports on the backs of the shoulders help. The Mulholland provides decent ventilation, but it mostly racks up style and versatility points. For the hottest days and climates, check out the REV’IT Tornado 4 H2O or the KLIM Marrakesh for breathability and ventilation.

Coming in hot with an update, the steadfast KLIM Marrakesh ($420) was recently redesigned with a slightly softer mesh material that looks a little more natural. The silhouette has a drape and hand feel that’s more like a workwear piece. We found the fabric moves easily, thanks to the incorporated stretch. This Marrakesh is among the most comfortable options in our closet for on and off the bike.

There’s one caveat. The jacket is a tad long, so it bunches when we sit. If the design had a two-way zipper, like the Aether Mulholland, it would be less cramped when you’re seated on a motorbike. 

But we love the overall construction. The deep waist pockets and the ID pocket on the left arm are super handy. The Napoleon pocket on the chest is smartly designed because it’s located at the perfect height and placement for a phone, shades, or wallet. For added security, there’s an interior pocket for more essentials.

Expansion zips on the forearm are a great touch. You can slide on your gloves and then close the zips to tighten the sleeves around the glove cuffs. The zippers prevent air from tunneling up your sleeves. That said, the entire jacket is perforated, you shouldn’t buy this piece if your aim is warmth.

The integrated Cordura material sheds moisture, and we found that the Marrakesh dries rapidly. Our advice is to wear a synthetic or wool base layer. Then, even if you do get caught in the rain your layers will dry more quickly. If you ride where it’s hot, this jacket is a primo option.

Resembling an overcoat, the Dainese Sheffield D-Dry ($215) is built for street rides and commuters but still packs shoulder and elbow armor. While the jacket doesn’t include a spine protector, there’s an internal sleeve to add one. Also, this price is pretty wallet-friendly.

Looking at the construction, the Sheffield has a removable thermal liner, which works reasonably well. The high collar allows you to close the gap between the helmet and the top of the jacket, so when we tested this coat on chillier rides we stayed pretty comfortable.

Riders can tighten the snaps at the waist to prevent air from flowing up. This D-Dry fabric is fairly soft to the touch and quiet, too, so it doesn’t noisily flap in the wind. We found the design breathed super well during muggy summer rainstorms, but we never felt like air was slicing through the material.

Part of the reason we love this coat so much is that the textile is a four-way stretch. We wore this piece on our favorite mud-bogged two-track route during a downpour and muck seemed to easily fall or wipe off the face fabric. 

Four patch pockets with flaps — two near the hips and two at the chest — are on the Sheffield D-Dry. There’s also an interior waterproof pocket, which is a secure spot for valuables. The only update we’d like to see is for the lower patch pockets to have internal hand-warmer pouches, which would enhance the street functionality. 

The REV’IT! Component 3 H2O Jacket ($530) is purpose-built for off-road adventuring. We’ve tested this jacket from the forests of Bulgaria to the deserts of Baja, and it hasn’t let us down yet. The newest iteration now has a Rally Flap center-front ventilation zipper — simply unzip the main waterproof track to reveal a mesh strip, allowing massive airflow directly to your chest while keeping the jacket securely closed. The pocket openings now face away from the body, making them easier to access while wearing gloves, and the hood was reshaped to cinch more securely around the head, reducing wind catch. 

Though it doesn’t have zip-off sleeves like the Alpinestars Pro-Dura jacket, the strategic ventilation on the arms allows for fantastic airflow when things get hot — lead tester Sean Galaway even opted to wear this jacket on Baja single track during hot days to protect from the notorious Jumping Cholla cactus (if you know you know). He’s also worn it during all-day downpours in Bulgaria and been totally dry at the end of the day. 

The adjustments at the neck and wrists help to keep things locked down when you need to seal out the weather. It’s kept us both cool and dry across a range of circumstances, and it’s often the first jacket we pack when we’re not sure what kind of conditions we’ll face. 

It has a removable hood that stashes in the lumbar pocket when not in use. (Though, we often leave the hood behind altogether.) We like this jacket because it’s burly and abrasion-resistant enough to keep you protected, but lightweight enough to pack away when you don’t need it. 

We’re fans of layering systems vs jackets that try to do it all, and this jacket, paired with a jersey and armor, has been our trusty companion on months of dirt-focused ADV rides over the years. For this application, we opt to remove the included armor and wear it over a more robust armor option. Alternatively, the Component 3 H20 has a pocket for an optional back protector if you prefer your armor in your jacket. 

We also like that this jacket doesn’t look like you’re playing dress up as a motocross or Dakar racer — it’s got timeless style appropriate for adventure in remote places. Even after all that use it looks brand new after a wash and ranks as one of our favorite jackets of all time. 

The REV’IT! Stratum GTX ($1,400) is a culmination of the company’s know-how and expertise in building quality motorcycle apparel for the ADV rider. Let’s get this out of the way: it’s costly. Luckily for us, it’s currently on sale, and you are getting two jackets for the price of one, which makes it a bit easier to swallow. 

What is the Stratum GTX Jacket? It consists of an inner jacket that they call the Air Mesh layer. This layer is phenomenal and fits better than many jackets we’ve tried over the years. It’s complete with full armor (and a pocket for chest armor if needed), a built-in detachable kidney, adjustable sleeves, and a pocket for a hydration packet. This layer is our favorite part of this jacket — it’s nearly all mesh and delivers a great experience riding in hot weather. Fully ventilated, fully protected. 

The outer layer of the jacket is burly: 400-denier 3L GORE-TEX makes up the majority of this layer, and it makes you feel like you could ride through a wall without damaging it. The downside is that when you don’t want to wear the shell, it’s pretty bulky to pack away. It has ventilation at the front, upper arms, and back — you can adjust the front and arm vents while riding, which is a feature we love. The ventilation pattern on REV’IT! Jackets consistently rank as one of our favorites, letting in a ton of air and easily adjustable while riding. 

One surprise during testing was the difference between its “hanger weight” and its riding weight. When we took it out of the box, it felt heavy, and it is heavy, but the fit and finish of the coat are so spot on that it disappears into the background while riding. It’s hard to overstate how well this jacket is built. You would expect the absolute best at this price point, and they deliver. 

This jacket sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from a minimalist ADV jacket, REV’IT! Component 2 H20. The designers set out to make a jacket system more than a single jacket here — you can configure it to your liking for a ton of different weather conditions: air mesh jacket or an outershell with or without hood — you get the idea. There’s no feature lacking here, and with the lumbar pockets and hydration pocket, you’re (mostly) eliminating the need for a backpack. So the argument can be made that this is a one-stop solution for long-haul adventure riding. If we were taking off on a round-the-world ride tomorrow, this would be a jacket that we would consider. 

The Fox Racing Recon GORE-TEX ADV ($1,050) is a high-end offering worth a close look if you’re searching for one of the best ADV jackets available today. Fox Racing wanted to make the simplest and most technical offering in adventure motorcycling, and they packed it full of high-end materials to get there: GORE-TEX 3L stretch, ceramic-coated SuperFabric for added protection, and D30 armor at the back, shoulders, and elbows. We tested this jacket extensively — including a 1,200-mile ADV ride up the California coast and back home to Central Oregon — and it proved a fantastic kit. 

We love jackets that do what they were made to do well rather than trying to do everything. Though they are at different ends of the use-case spectrum, we like the Mosko Moto Surveyor and the Fox Racing Recon GORE-TEX ADV jacket. The marketplace is riddled with ADV jackets with features that often don’t translate into improving your riding experience, but they do make them weigh about twice as much as the Recon GORE-TEX ADV Jacket.

We appreciated Fox Racing’s approach: everything you want, nothing you don’t, vs. everything anyone could ever want. This translated well for our use case — we rode in everything from the high 80s to the low 40s and were able to layer up or down as needed and open and close vents to match the conditions. Wearing a jacket that was so much lighter than most high-end ADV offerings was a joy, and limited fatigue after 14-hour riding days. 

Another thing we loved about this jacket was the construction itself. If you’re paying over $1,000 for a coat, you better be blown away by its build and function, and we were! The customization options for wrists, hem, and neck were all easy to use, and they were set-it-and-forget-it vs fiddling all day. One thing that stood out during testing was the armor pockets, too. No hanging liner where armor is suspended — these pockets are integrated into the jacket, making throwing this on and off at stops or wearing it over an insulating layer smooth and easy. All of the ADV jackets and pants in Fox Racing’s line have a universal jacket-to-pant interface that was super functional and helpful during cold starts. We paired this jacket with the Fox Racing Recon GORE-TEX ADV Pants, Defend GTX Boots, and Stealth Bomber Gloves — this kit was incredible, head to toe. 

Our primary gripe with this jacket is that the vents are non-adjustable while riding. While the jacket has generous and practical vents under the arms, two exhaust vents down the back, and a novel full-length front zipper vent, none can be opened or closed while riding. On our long, multi-day test ride, we experienced big temperature swings as Highway 1 winds up the California coast — even a couple of miles swing inland made the temperatures rapidly climb, and pulling over to open. Closing vents throughout the day became a nuisance. Overall, we were very impressed with this jacket and recommend it for folks looking for a light-and-fast approach to its ADV riding. 

We are big fans of the Alpinestars Pro-Dura Jacket ($255). As far as off-road moto jackets go, this kit is reasonably priced, purpose-built, and functions precisely as marketed.

The Pro-Dura pulls from Alpinestars’ Dakar Rally-winning apparel in its design and offers an excellent jacket for those who spend most of their time riding hard off-road. We believe all moto jackets should have detachable sleeves, so that’s the top feature for us. Easily stashed in the lumbar pocket when things start to heat up, running this jacket without sleeves expands its range and can keep your core warm while offering more freedom of movement and a wider range of use during a hard day of riding. Of course, it also has ventilation zips that bridge the gap between jacket and vest modes.

A common gripe in moto apparel is when the pockets are designed to function while off the bike (like regular clothes) versus on the bike. You can’t easily access the contents in your pants or jacket pockets when you’re sitting on your motorcycle. Like the Alpinestars AMT-10R Dystar Jacket, the Pro-Dura has opposite zippered hand pockets to access what you need easily and even a waterproof inner pocket to keep things dry when you’re moving fast. This attention to detail earns Alpinestars a spot as one of our favorite jackets. 

One feature that we didn’t test extensively was the internal back pocket designed to accommodate a 2-liter hydration bladder. This is a really novel feature for folks who don’t like to wear a backpack. We typically use the Gnome tank bag from Mosko Moto, which has a hydration bladder, but on super-long or hot days, it’s nice to have the expandable option that the Pro-Dura offers. 

The cut of this jacket is spot on, too. Pre-curved arms make up for the lack of stretch, and the hem’s cut ensures the coat doesn’t bunch up when riding. We enjoyed testing the Pro-Dura jacket and found ourselves reaching for it most during strenuous efforts off-road when we weren’t sure exactly what the temps would do. We needed the abrasion resistance and durability that were not offered by a lighter softshell alternative.