I Wear Motorcycle Jeans All The Time. But Are They Actually Safe?

I've crashed in motorcycle jeans before, too, and they've saved my bacon on more than one occasion. But every situation is different, and so are jeans.

21:11

Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Aug 7, at 7:21am ET

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I love lab testing, don't you?

To some degree, it's probably an extension of the love I've felt for process videos ever since I was a kid, and I first stared in open-mouthed wonder at how my favorite crayons were made. But in a lot of cases, lab testing is even cooler. I mean, who wouldn't want to see and better understand exactly how and why product manufacturers are making the claims they do about the safety of things that you and I rely on every day?

Curiosity is cool, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I've told this story before, but back when I first started riding motorbikes, I wasn't as ATGATT as I would later become. While I've always ridden with a full-face helmet, an armored jacket, gloves, and boots, I didn't always ride with dedicated motorcycle pants. You know, the kind with armor in them? Not even leather ones; when I started, I wasn't riding with proper textile moto pants, either.

As it does with so many people, it took an injury I would probably have walked away from with nothing more than a bruise to get me to finally buy my first pair of armored motorcycle jeans. I was wearing regular casual pants on the bike, and I went down in a low side after slipping in some oil. Sure, I didn't have a lot of money to be spending on motorcycle gear, but it doesn't make much sense to save money on moto gear if you're going to spend more money (and time, and sanity) after you suffer an injury that you could have avoided by buying proper moto pants, right?

It took months of recovery, time off work, time off school (because of course I was doing both at the same time, and commuting to both on the bike), and was an entire situation I could have avoided if I'd just been wearing actual motorcycle pants. Could it have been worse? Sure. But it could also have been a whole lot better. You live (hopefully), you learn, and you don't make the same mistake twice. At least, I try not to!

Anyway, that's where a video like the newest one from John at Bennetts Bikesocial comes in handy. He purchased a number of currently available motorcycle jeans (at the time of writing in summer 2026) and paid for independent lab testing to both check how the provided armor performs, as well as the abrasion resistance of each pair. Then, he stacked it up against a control piece of BKS moto leather, just to really illustrate how these modern textile materials compare in terms of protectiveness.

Now, to be clear here: Of the many pairs of motorcycle jeans that they tested, only three also come in women's sizes. As a woman who's been riding for around 20 years, I'll say that's unfortunately not terribly surprising, although it is of course disappointing. Also, while I won't completely spoil the results (seriously, just watch the video), none of the ones that ARE available in women's sizes and cuts scored in the top 30 percent of the chart.

What do you think?

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Another thing I'll note here is that if you have a pair of motorcycle jeans that has reasonable abrasion protection, it is very possible to purchase more protective (and breathable, in some cases) armor than they ship with from the factory. In fact, that's something I should probably look into for the ones I wear the most.

Mind you, it's obviously important to purchase a pair of motorcycle jeans with good abrasion resistance qualities, as well as consider whether you want unlined, partially lined, or fully lined jeans to address potential (and painful) skin shearing concerns in the event of a crash. And while it's true that you might grumble about plonking down a little extra for better armor (on top of whatever you're already spending on the gear itself), the peace of mind might be worth it. When I got my first pair of leather pants (the bottom half of a two-piece set of track leathers, in fact), I spent a little more to get a coccyx protector, just because I know that's an injury that I really don't want to learn about first-hand if I can avoid it. It's all about harm mitigation, you know?