How safe is your motorcycle gear? That’s exactly what Australia’s MotoCAP program wants to find out. The program was first established in 2018, by Deakins University in Melbourne, as an independent testing program that bases its ratings on various quantifiable measurements.
As of December, 2022, it assigns ratings between zero and five stars in the broad categories of Safety and Breathability. To determine Safety ratings, MotoCAP puts each piece of gear through three tests: Abrasion, Impact, and Burst, and rates them on a scale of zero to 10. For Breathability, there’s a general Thermal Comfort score (again, zero to 10), as well as a Water Resistance score where applicable.
MotoCAP reviews jackets, pants, gloves, and helmets—and as of December 12, 2022, it’s tested over 250 jackets. At the time of writing, these are the five least safe jackets that MotoCAP has reviewed so far.
Triumph Riding Hoody
- Type: Textile
- Date purchased: August 28, 2019
- MSRP: Not given
- MotoCAP Safety Rating: Half a star out of five possible stars overall.
The Triumph Riding Hoody does not come with any impact protection installed. Additionally, there are no pockets in the garment for riders to install their own aftermarket impact protection, should they so choose. Materials include a fleecy fabric shell, an aramid fabric layer, and a fabric inner liner.
The full MotoCAP testing report on this garment shows poor abrasion resistance ratings almost throughout the jacket, with the exception of some acceptable abrasion resistance in one zone that is considered a low abrasion risk in the first place. Interestingly, burst strength was shown to be acceptable at both the elbows and shoulders, despite the lack of impact protection. The rest of the jacket has a marginal burst strength rating. Unsurprisingly, impact protection is rated as being poor, since none is included with purchase of this garment.
Dainese Air Frame D1
- Type: Textile
- Date purchased: November 16, 2019
- MSRP: Not listed
- MotoCAP Safety Rating: Half a star out of five possible stars overall.
The Dainese Air Frame D1 jacket comes with impact protection installed in both the elbows and the shoulders. Additionally, there’s a pocket where a rider can install their own back protector if they so choose. Mesh panels are located in the arms, chest, and back to promote airflow.
MotoCAP’s full report on the Dainese Air Frame D1 jacket showed a poor rating on abrasion resistance throughout most zones of this jacket, with only one zone with an already low abrasion risk receiving a marginal rating. Burst strength at the elbows and shoulders was rated as acceptable, while burst strength was rated as marginal everywhere else.
Interestingly, despite the included impact protection in this jacket, the elbow protector received a poor impact protection rating in both the average and maximum force tests. The shoulder armor received a marginal rating at average force, but a poor rating at maximum force.
Harley-Davidson Trenton
- Type: Textile
- Date purchased: March 9, 2020
- MSRP: Not listed
- MotoCAP Safety Rating: Half a star out of five possible stars overall.
The Harley-Davidson Trenton jacket comes with pockets in the shoulders and elbows that allow riders to fit whatever armor they would like. However, it does not come with any impact protection whatsoever installed. It does, however, feature a large amount of mesh in the arms, chest, and back areas to promote airflow and breathability.
The full MotoCAP report on the Harley-Davidson Trenton jacket shows only one testing zone where abrasion resistance is deemed acceptable, and it’s the mid-chest and areas over the inner elbow that are at low risk of abrasion in the first place. The other abrasion zones received test ratings that were either poor or marginal. Burst strength was rated as acceptable at the elbows and shoulders, and marginal everywhere else. Impact protection was rated as being poor, because this jacket has no inherent impact protection from the manufacturer.
Johnny Reb Buckets Way
- Type: Leather
- Date purchased: May 17, 2021
- MSRP: $319.95 AUD (about $217.47)
- MotoCAP Safety Rating: Half a star out of five possible stars overall.
The Johnny Reb Buckets Way jacket scored one out of 10 on the Abrasion test, one out of 10 on the Impact test, and six out of 10 on the Burst test. It does not come with any impact protectors, nor are there any pockets at the elbows or shoulders where a rider could install their preferred armor (as long as it fits).
MotoCAP’s full report for the Johnny Reb Buckets Way jacket shows abrasion resistance that is marginal or poor in all zones measured throughout the jacket. There is no impact protection to speak of, so it automatically received a Poor rating in that area. Burst strength assessment was slightly better, as the entire jacket was found to offer a marginal level of burst protection in the event of an off.
Dririder Motion
- Type: Textile
- Date purchased: September 12, 2022
- MSRP: $399.95 Australian (about $271.85)
- MotoCAP Safety Rating: Half a star out of five possible stars overall.
The Dririder Motion jacket scored one out of 10 on the Abrasion test, one out of 10 on the Impact test, and a slightly better three out of 10 on the Burst test. It features impact protectors for the elbows, but no such protectors for the shoulders—nor is there a pocket where riders can install shoulder protection of their own, should they choose. There are hard plastic panels on the shoulders of the jacket, which MotoCAP says “would provide negligible impact protection.”
Looking deeper into MotoCAP’s detailed safety report on the testing results of this garment shows that abrasion resistance in all areas ranges from Poor to Marginal. Similarly, burst resistance is poor all around. The elbow protectors register as acceptable in terms of impact protection with average force applied, but fail under maximum force. Shoulder protection is poor at all force levels since there is no armor, nor a place for any armor to be installed.
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Source: Motocap