First of all before I begin my review I would like to just preface it with a little background information. I live on the North Shore of Oahu and my bike serves me as a daily commuter. When I was looking for a jacket my biggest concern was finding a something that would give me decent protection without reducing me to a slimy ball of sweat on my daily commutes. Secondary to that was finding something that fit my tight budget as a college student. This jacket delivered on both.

I wore this jacket for a little over a year and it still looked great up until I was clipped in a hit and run and went down going about 40 MPH. I landed on my shoulder and slid/bounced about 5-10 feet on my side and walked away without a scratch. The jacket on the other hand, having done it's job, ended up with a few small tears at the shoulder seam and frayed mesh where it impacted/slid across the road.

I know every crash is different and that no gear can 100% guarantee safety. However, I was overall impressed at how well this jacket held up. So much that I'm about to buy another, and am taking the time to write this review.

In my opinion this is one of the best looking bang for your buck hot weather jackets on the market. The armor offers great protection, the mesh keeps you cool, and the removable rain liner keeps you dry and warm when it gets down to slightly cooler than AC temperatures.

I like to spend some time riding with a piece of gear for an extended period of time before writing a review, after having owned my phoenix 5.0 for over a year now I'll go ahead and add my observations.

lets start with the good.

comfort:
extremely comfortable, this jacket moves a ton of air. almost feels like you just have a jacket on when you're wearing it. I've had it on in 100 degree heat and never felt hot. the adjustability is good with the waist. also unlike some jackets do I never had any issues with this jacket riding up.

protection:
it's understood that mesh offers less protection than a full textile or full leather jacket, that being said however this jacket does offer good protection with armor in the shoulders elbow and back. without the liner in the armor does tend to move (more on this later). the liner goes in and out of the jacket easily and does well at it's purpose of keeping the wind off when you don't want the full ventilation of the mesh. I use it in late summer/early fall when it's still hot during the day but cools off at night. the liner also keeps you reasonably dry in a rain shower, it's certainly a water resistant liner, not a waterproof liner.

quality:
for the price. the quality is decent, the jacket has held up over my miles riding it. again for what I paid I really can't complain.

I do have a few gripes:

the armor: well more the location of the armor to be exact. with the liner in the armor stays exactly where it's supposed to, at the elbows and on on your shoulders. take the liner out the the shoulder armor sits lower than it should. likewise the elbow armor tends to sit lower than it should, moving lower towards your forearms. I'm wide across the shoulders and fairly long limbed so do be aware of this.

the zippers: not great quality here, they tend to be notchy and not very smooth.

bottom line: for what you pay it's a good jacket, it does move a ton of air and keeps you very cool in the summer. at this price point though I think there are better options. but I would absolutely still recommend this jacket and I have no plans to replace mine.

Not counting the years when I didn't ride at all, I have 24 years street including 4 years sponsored amateur street racing + 3 years just rolling in the dirt. I've seen alot but I've never designed or surveyed skins, so take this for what its worth. Its my opinion.

I live in a hot climate. I don't care how old you are, spend a day riding under the sun, the extra heat of black wind stopping overcoats taxes your energy. There is a reason white racing leathers were popular in the 70s-80s. I shopped for something I can wear when its 105'. I don't plan to ride in bad weather. I want a daily skin that doesn't suck my energy. I have heavier skins for war.

This one has been my daily armor for 8 months. After the summer I didn't trade up, I just put in the excellent liner + layers as needed. I got it a size large (they are American sizes) to unzip for extra air in hot weather, so there is room for a sweater + thermals. Didn't wear it below 40'.

The armor doesn't all fit together tight like my old racing skins do. If you hit pavement and slide, that matters alot. Fall under 50, its probably got the coverage where you need it. Make sure you set the adjusters to fit and you'll just slide right along. Be sure to spread your weight across your shoulders, where the extra armor is, so you can steer your fall and live to post reviews on RevZilla. Adequate if you can stay on your back = low side. If you high side = unless you are wearing overlapping body armor, there is no armor. Only dirt skills will save you.

Always wearing a skin is a dirt skill. Other dirt skills include: Crashing well. Trying and repeatedly failing to climb dry riverbeds, and enjoying it. Trying and repeatedly failing to jump "obstacles". Practice is phun, or you wouldn't have read this far. If you wear the Nome de Plum Nomi Prins, you are a jump.

For the price? Awesome! For street? Excellent! Too hot? Perfect. Think the street is a track? The cars will probably kill you anyway.

The liner is fine but an elastic waistband would improve it, and also its durability. The buttflap is starting to lift on mine due to the fit of the lower back armor, the way it attaches to the *excellent* mesh, and because I never hooked it to a lower.

I came back here because I'm shopping for that lower.Tearoffs would be right for this upper. I'm still looking for the lowers. With lowers if the fit isn't right when you're off the bike it looks like you got a load in your pants.

This is my first motorcycle jacket. After reading the many other glowing reviews, I jumped to order the Phoenix.

Following the sizing chart, I ordered a Medium, which I was afraid might be too small, but was actually a practically perfect fit. For reference: I am 5'10" 190lbs 40" Chest and 36" Waist.

The HiViz Yellow (which I purchased,) made a noticeable difference in my visibility to other motorists. I was tempted to order the ordinary yellow, but as a new rider I felt that I should make every effort to alert others to my presence.

Unfortunately, the weather took a turn to the cooler side just after I got the jacket, so I haven't really had an opportunity to gauge its performance in warmer weather. Nor have I experienced its performance in the rain.

The mesh definitely moves a good amount of air—so much so that at 70F, wearing just a tee-shirt the wind is downright chilly. Zip in the liner and you have a highly-effective windbreak and can be quite comfortable in cooler air.

Because the liner is basically a well-tailored plastic sheet, it does not breathe—at all. This can lead to uncomfortable sweating at a wide range of ambient air temperatures, but is less of a problem as long as you keep moving. Having a good mix of moisture wicking and cotton on under the liner also helps.

As others have mentioned, the shoulder and elbow pads are rather loose in their retention pockets and do require a nominal amount of adjustment each time you put the jacket on. This is a minor inconvenience that takes less than a minute to situate, and seems like it should be expected with removable armor. (The drift of the armor does seem to be reduced when the liner is in.) Once you have the jacket on and the padding positioned, it does stay in place quite well while riding.

A side note: I have tremendous loyalty to YKK zippers—which are not used in this jacket. In my experience, other zippers have been prone to premature failures, jams, etc. The zippers on this jacket seem to be well-made, and I am curious to see how they will hold up over time. However, Joe Rocket would find me a much more confident consumer if used YKK zippers.

I bought my first motorcycle about 2 months ago and thus this is my first jacket. I initially tried on the Atomic 4.0, also by Joe Rocket, but opted to go with the Phoenix due to the green color offered to match my bike. (not an exact match, but very close to the the kawasaki green as seen pictured)

Overall this jacket is great. CE rated armor protection in key points as well as a comfortable fit. They key holder in between the rain-liner and the jacket on the right side is extremely useful, and I have yet to notice the keys dangling off the hook. The left inner side has a pocket which the emblem says is for glasses, however I find it is perfect for a tire pressure gauge. The outer pockets are perfect for a wallet and a cell phone.

So far I have mainly ridden in cold weather. I usually wear a moderate sized winter coat under the jacket. When combined with the inner rain liner that doubles as a wind breaker, the jacket keeps my body warm as low as 30 degrees @ 75 mph so far. (my hands though are a different story...!

The only thing that could make this jacket better was if it was constructed with leather. Now, at this price point you can't get that plus this level of CE rated armor. At this point I don't see myself ever needed to upgrade to a different jacket.

I was trying to decide between this, the Dianese AirFrame and the Teknic Aquavent. I finally settled on this for a couple reasons:
- air flow. flows like crazy, even when I'm standing still. It almost catches air. This is my first mesh so maybe they all do but the AirFrame did not.
- Color. I wanted something other than black for summer and for visibility. The styling is a little boyracer for me but not too bad really.
- Price point. Was right between the AirFrame and Aquavent and unlike the Dianese it included back protection.
- Included an easy to install zip in liner. The Teknic's velcro was a PITA and the Dianese was just a wind stopper.
- fit was right between the AirFrame and Aquavent. I liked the Dianese fit much better but it would've been a one+ season jacket since there was only enough room for a thin additional layer. The Phoenix was fairly fitted but still had some room to layer. Even with the liner zipped in.

I was pretty excited about the jacket at first, for the reasons I listed. After a few hundred miles I'm not as impressed.
- mediocre quality. Both the Dianese and Teknic were built much better. The JR has hanging threads, the zippers are sticky and the sleeve snaps don't always stay. The fabric by the tailbone padding flips out instead of laying flat.
- The fabric seems to have 'relaxed' after some wear. I guess this is to be expected. I now get some fabric buffeting at speeds above 70 where I never did before.
I'm a little concerned about safety because the shoulder pads are now bicep pads, they no longer sit up and on my shoulders as they should. The Dianese had velcro on the pads so they could be placed properly.

It's not all doom and gloom.
- again, flows a lot of air.
- for the price you get a decent jacket with back, shoulder, elbow, tailbone and side protection and a waterproof liner.
- nice color, more visible and cooler than black.
- two outside pockets, a sunglasses pocket and a key clip.
- I like the cuff closure a lot. Adjusts with velcro but opens/closes with a zipper.
- not only includes a pants zipper but also tabs with snaps so you can attach to any pair of pants with belt loops. nice.

I'm 6'0" 160 lbs and a whole lot of torso. I bought 4 jackets prior to this one, but never wore any of them because they would instantly turn into a belly shirt at even a shrug of my shoulders.

I love this Joe rocket jacket and wear it every time I ride. With the liner in, I can ride down to about 50 degrees comfortably. So far with the liner out I've ridden to 98 without discomfort, and I'm not worried what the Mojave summer has to offer. Awesome jacket!

The medium tall is a bit loose in the arms for my build but nothing ground breaking.

THE GOOD:
The airflow is incredible. I'm constantly checking to make sure I have it zipped up because there's so much air movement it feels like I forgot to zip it up.

Looks great, I get complimented on it all the time.

THE BAD:
I feel they could have included more storage. There are two external pockets and one internal pocket. The internal pocket is fastened with velcro and is pretty much useless in my opinion.

The CE armor is just dropped into loose pockets so it moves around. Not as big a deal once you have the jacket on, but there should be some method of securing it once you get it in the right position.

The reflective touches on this are completely underwhelming. They should have focused more on this than all the Joe Rocket logos.

The belt loops for attaching to the pants are slightly too long and stick out below the jacket. Not a big issue, but wouldn't have been that hard to correct either.

THE UGLY:
The zippers on this jacket are terrible. You have to be extremely careful as they continually bind or catch fabric in them. Just poor planning and execution.

If you want to upgrade to CE protection on the back pad prepare to shell out a ridiculous amount of cash.

Overall I'm very happy with the jacket and knowing what I know now, I would still buy it and recommend it to a friend. It's just a little disappointing because with a few minor changes this jacket could be perfect.

Great jacket. I needed a summer jacket with great airflow, this jacket did not disappoint. I got the chance to test the protective qualities as well, jacket go torn up but I was able to walk away unscathed . Looking forward to buying another one of these jackets.

This is the most comfortable motorcycle jacket I have ever owned. Lightweight and with large mesh panels, this jacket will keep you cool on the hottest days. Even though the jacket is light, it has a solid feel about it and the armor, while not the most substantial I have ever seen, still provides ample coverage and is well fitting. The sizing thing is where most people get hung up. IT'S A MOTORCYCLE JACKET, AND THE STYLE OF SUCH IS TO FIT SNUGLY. If you are a hefty person or you have a belly, you're most likely going to want to order a size larger....but you are the best judge of that. Don't expect it to fit and hang loosely like a summer sport coat. I'm 5'8 / 175 with medium build in the chest and shoulders and a flat stomach and a medium fits me perfectly. I got the white/ black jacket and it is sharp looking. Amazing Jacket!