Have you ever wondered why motorcyclists wear leather vests? I completed my own research by speaking with riders, store employees, store owners, and even non-riders to determine the most common reasons.
| Purpose of the Vest | Percentage |
| Protection | 22% |
| Warmth | 19% |
| Displaying of club patches and colors | 16.5% |
| Storage of small items | 16.5% |
| Holding down T-shirt | 12.6% |
| Fashion | 9% |
| Historical reasons | 4.4% |
After compiling the data, I verified the information with several riders and they agreed with the results. For an in-depth review of each reason, continue reading below.
Table of Contents
Leather vests provide protection from falls, debris, and bugs
Falls
The leather vest offers less protection when compared to leather or textile jackets. But it is a much better option than a shirt for protecting your chest.
I have heard stories of many individuals explaining how the vest protected them from severe road rash during falls.
There is one story that I remember more than others.
The motorcyclist was rear-ended by another motorcyclist. He slid down the road several yards. But the vest saved most of his skin. He had some road rash on his arms, but his chest and shoulders only had minor bruising.
Flying Debris
Before there were windshields on motorcycles, leather vests were worn to protect the rider from flying debris.
Stones, rocks, sticks, and other debris are often kicked up by truck tires speeding down the road. The leather jacket absorbs all the items that could damage the chest area.
Having the arms exposed isn’t a problem because the objects aren’t hitting the rider squarely on. They are usually glancing off to the side.
Another problem with flying debris may come from the rider traveling at high speeds.
Traveling at a high speed has the potential of causing loose accessories to flail in the wind.
Accessories such as belts can fly up and hit the motorcyclist in the chest. Without a vest, this could be a painful experience. Riding a bike at 70 MPH and having a belt fly up and hit you in the chest could be a very painful experience.
Bugs
The leather vest protects the rider from flying bugs such as cicadas, June bugs, and bees. I remember reading an interesting account of a motorcyclist that was stung by bees while riding.
He was only wearing a T-shirt at the time because it was approximately 80 °F (27 °C). While riding he experienced a sudden pain in the abdomen. He described the pain as being so bad that he thought he had gotten shot.
He was convinced that it never would have happened had he had on a vest. He bought a vest immediately to avoid ever having to experience that type of pain again.
He did find other uses for the vest such as displaying patches and reducing wind chill. So it wasn’t a bad investment.
This is not uncommon. I’m sure you will get a similar story if you spend some time talking to a rider.
Leather vests also combat bugs in another way. The vest makes it easy to clean the bug splatter off of your chest. It’s much easier to wipe splattered bugs off of a vest with a damp cloth than it is to wipe them off of a T-shirt.
Leather vests provide warmth and layering options
Some motorcyclists live in climates where it is too hot to wear a leather jacket for an extended periods of time. But they need something to protect them from the wind chill effect from riding a bike at higher speeds.
A leather vest provides enough surface area to limit the wind chill effect felt on the chest. The arms are much better at handling the wind chill compared to the chest. So having the arms exposed is not a problem.
Many of the leather vests snap right up to the neck. And they do a great job at regulating the temperature and keeping the chest warm. This is a much better option than getting overheated with a leather jacket.
Plus the vest is a small item that is easy to pack if it needs to use.
A leather vest can be used to provide warmth by incorporating it into the layering process. If a little more warmth is needed a leather vest can be layered over a hoodie or even a leather jacket.
And by layering, you don’t have to stress about covering up the patches or colors displayed on your leather vest.
Leather vests are perfect for storing small items
There arent many options for storing items when traveling on a motorcycle. Items are placed in the bag and worn by the rider, or the storage bag can be strapped to the motorcycle.
This is the best option for carrying larger items, but it could be overkill for much smaller items. A leather motorcycle vest is a solution to the problem. Vests have many pockets designed to store small items. Some stored items include:
- Cell phones
- Wallets
- Keys
- Garage door openers
- food
It’s easier to take items out of a vest pocket rather than trying to remove them from the pockets of a pair of tight jeans.
Leather vests prevent loose clothing from blowing in the wind
A loose T-shirt blowing in the wind is a common problem associated with riding a motorcycle. Wearing a vest holds the loose shirt in place and prevents fluttering.
Having a T-shirt in your face at high speeds is annoying and unsafe.
Another reason that some riders want their shirt held down is to conceal their self-protection device and would like to have it concealed.
Riding with just a soft shirt in the blowing wind allows others to see the imprint of the item. This is not always desirable.
The vest covers the T-shirt and holds it down in the wind so that you are unable to see the imprint of the item that needs to be concealed.
Motorcycle club patches are displayed on leather vests
Leather vests offer a method for riders to display club patches.
Motorcycle clubs usually have requirements to join and responsibilities. Many of the tasks require a serious amount of effort and time to complete tasks and responsibilities. And in the process, they are able to earn patches.
There are usually three major club patches are displayed on the back of the leather vest in the following arrangement .
A patch with the name of the club resides at the very top. The largest patch is located in the middle of the back indicating the name of the organization. This patch could be the name or a logo. The bottom portion of the leather vest has a patch indicating where the club is located.
The front of the vest is where non-related patches are located. There could be any number of these.
These patches and logos tend to focus more on the rider’s individuality. Some of the patches include statements about their beliefs or their personality. And it’s not uncommon to even see a patch that displays a little humor or sarcasm.
I love looking at the patches. Whenever I see unique patches I try and think about what it means to the rider and why its special to them
Leather vests are fashionable and remain in style
Some individuals wear a leather vest for fashion. They choose a vest based on what is in style at the time.
Some riders choose a vest because an actor wore it in a popular movie. Sean Connery wore a beautiful 100% napa leather vest in the movie “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” which aired in 2003.
The leather vest is still popular and sought after at the time of this writing. It can be purchased at Leather Cult at the time of this writing for about $150
Leather vests have historical significance
Like a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride……
Jon Bon Jovi
The least popular reason for wearing a leather vest was associated with the cowboys from “times of old.”
Cowboys wore leather vests for several of the previous 6 reasons. Some of which include warmth and the storage of small items.
But cowboys preferred leather vests over leather coats for practical reasons. Leather vests were less likely to get caught on fences, animals, or any other objects located on the ranch.
