New Motoport Marathon Jacket Arrived - First Impressions

[airengineer]

I had been looking to buy a Motoport jacket to go with my Ultra II stretch Kevlar pants purchased this past spring. I wasn't keen on the Ultra II or Riva jackets and was in a quandary until I saw their new Marathon jacket introduced this summer. My black, stretch-Kevlar, Quad-armor model arrived last Wednesday and I thought I'd post my impressions. Bear in mind I'm no expert but I am picky about the things I buy. Based on my experience with the pants, I was pretty sure this jacket would be nice. I also read the long thread by Repko over on ADVrider on the Marathon and that's what convinced me to take the plunge. Rides to date: I commuted to work on Friday and took a 200 mile trip on Saturday.

Back to the jacket, out of the box this thing is heavy! 11 Lbs. shipping. And stiff. I started to wonder if I was going to be OK with this and then I remembered; when I got my Ultra II pants, they were HEAVY and STIFF. I swear they could stand up by themselves, maybe even hold the bike up too. Now after months of commutes and rides, the pants are quite comfortable and I don't notice the weight at all. In fact, I feel naked if I don't have them on when I sit on the bike. (I'm an ATGATT rider).

It's getting cold here in the mornings, mid-40’s and by now I'd be wearing the liner in my old jacket to make the 5-mile ride to work just to arrive there cold. When it gets into the 30’s PolarTec jacket under the jacket/liner. 20’s long johns under my jeans, and wind pants over and I'd still be pretty stiff when I got to work both from the cold and from all the stuff I had to wear!

I usually wear a short-sleeved Under Armor type exercise shirt to work and the ride in Friday with the Marathon was quite comfortable with just the wind liner. This liner has a double-coverage flap over the zipper that at first takes some getting used to. Once you get it nailed down though, it's bulletproof. No wind, no drafts, nada anywhere on the jacket. Saturday morning it was in the high 30’s when I left for Plattsburgh. Long sleeved, cold-gear shirt, wind liner, Buff Typhoon on my face, winter gloves, full-face and I was perfectly comfortable on the 80 mile trip. I couldn't close the neck on the jacket due to the Buff but it didn't seem to matter. The jacket is comfortable once on the bike. In fact, it feels great while riding. The weight disappears, the heavy material resists buffeting well, and the waist snugs up easily with no flapping there. Really comfortable. The only pic I could nit is that the Velcro on the right-side collar (the hook part of the closure) can find and grab the neck liner on the helmet strap with unerring accuracy and speed. Like the wind flap on the jacket liner, practice will make it better.

On the ride home, I didn't need the Buff and tried to properly close the collar with the liner. It was a bit tight, but after 40 or 50 miles I stopped noticing it. Like the pants, it's going to loosen up and work very well. I had taken a lightweight fleece jacket along for going into stores and wore it on for the ride home and found I was too warm with temps in the mid-50’s.

While I wouldn't want to do a lot of manual anything while wearing this jacket (at least not until it's thoroughly broken in), on the bike it feels .. . . .. well, great. Really solid, really well-built and . . . … safe. It's no Joe Rocket styling trend setter but damn, it's a tank, except that it doesn't feel that way in the saddle. I now feel that I have the right gear. One nice feature is the mesh pocket in the back of the jacket. Perfect place for the liner, the Buff, or an extra long-sleeved, cold-gear compression shirt. Wayne also added slash-type handwarmer pockets (the built-in type) and for my size and arm length they work really well. I popped my digicam in there and forgot about it. The jacket falls in such a way that the pocket and camera didn't bunch up or poke me during the ride.

One thing I didn't really care for; the extra sleeve pocket. I was expecting the built-in pocket similar to my old jacket or the 10” arm vents on this jacket. Instead it's basically a patch sewn on the sleeve with a zipper in it. Kind of rough looking given the overall look and feel of this high quality armor. I'll be removing this as Wayne told me that cutting attachments off this material with a seam ripper is not a problem. BTW, the sleeve vents have a mesh liner and so would make a great place to drop your keys or other small items, assuming you don't need the vents fully opened.

HTH helps anyone considering this jacket.
Airengineer

[MLS2GO]

I plan on getting the mesh gear this winter for next year. Appreciate all the reports on all the different Moto Port gear. Thanks.

[rxcoop]

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...oport+marathon

[bomber60015]

K -- I'll admit my web-juju is weak, but am I the only one having trouble with Motoport's website? I get lots of 404 errors and whate pages with much gibberish and red Xs . . .

[sugarcrook]

I called today and they're changing hosting companies.

[bomber60015]

Thanks, crook -- hope they get it squared away soon -- bad gris gris

[airengineer]

Mine has a zippered pocket inside the left side of the jacket. I had Wayne remove the upper and lower cargo pockets and add the zippered slash pockets on mine.

Air

[ColemanCox]

Can you post some pictures of what you have? Always interested in seeing the different configurations.....

Thanks

[Ko]

Originally Posted by airengineer

Mine has a zippered pocket inside the left side of the jacket. I had Wayne remove the upper and lower cargo pockets and add the zippered slash pockets on mine.

Air

thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to know...