Joe Rocket Ballistic 6.0 Jacket

shaggystyle

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Ok, so about a month ago I started shopping for a fall/winter jacket. I wanted something water proof with a zip out liner and most importantly it had to be available in tall sizes. It's probably important to point out that I was not looking for a multi-season jacket. I wanted it to be able to standup against the kentucky fall/winter (which is a bit harsher than some of you northern people think). I read quite a few reviews on the Joe Rocket Ballistic 7.0 online and quickly decided that it was exactly what I wanted...unfortunately my timing sucked and it was on backorder until mid November. The weather was getting too cold for my mesh shift jacket so rather than shelving the bike for almost 2 full months I bought a Ballistic 6.0 instead (and saved a good chunk of change in the process). Here are my thoughts:

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Fit:
I ordered a size XL Tall (which only comes in black/black). It's a 3/4 jacket and the body fits me perfectly with the skirt coming down to just below my butt. The sleeves however are still about 1 inch short, but since my winter gloves a decent guantlet on them this isn't that big of an issue, i just wish they were a bit longer. The thing is bulky, but not too bulky. The elbow pads do block a little bit more of my mirrors than I'm used to but it's not too bad. Compared to the FirstGear Kilamanjaro this thing is much thinner.

Temperature Control:
This is where some people may have a problem. The only venting for the jacket are two midsized forearm vents (with a large rear exhaust). Since I was buying this thing exclusively for colder weather that didn't really matter much too me. The 7.0 has 2 additional large chest vents which would have been nice, but oh well, i'll make due with what i have. Besides the waterproof midliner pretty well negates most of the advantages of venting. As for keeping you warm, it's fantastic at that. I went for a ride the other night in sub freezing temps (about -1 C), I had a light fleece jacket on underneath and never even got a little chilled. I would guess that it may not hold up as well when it gets down below -10C (<14F) but we'll just have to wait and see. One of the really nice features is it has an internal windskirt that buttons around your waist keeping the wind from blowing up into the jacket from the bottom.

Storage:
This thing has about 5.8 billion cubic feet of storage....seriously. 3 different inside pockets for wallet, ipod (there's a waterproof grommet for passing the headphones through), and spare face shield. 2 large chest pockets with vertical zippers for god knows what. 2 large cargo pockets on each hip with plenty of room for bottles of water, gps, books, a sandwich, etc. 1 Large triangular rear pouch.....oddly, about the size of a sawn-off shotgun:confused:. And to cap it all of, 2 handwarming pockets. This thing seriously makes me wonder why I bothered buying saddlebags.

Styling:
Sometimes I curse the fact that I'm a freakishly tall monster. For some reason the entire motorcycle clothing gear assumes that all tall people are also color blind and refuse to offer us any options other than black/black. I really like the stying of this jacket with the highlighted shoulders and forearms, and I would have loved it even more if I could have gotten the colors to match my bike (black/red) but unfortunately it wasn't an option.

Misc:
The collar just doesn't seem to fit quite right. It presses against my adam's apple which can make shoulder checks a bit uncomfortable. However if I leave the velcro strap undone or if I tuck a balaclava into it, then it's perfectly fine.
The armor is pretty good: elbow, shoulder, and foam backpad.
It's definitely waterproof. Every zipper, flap and pocket is designed so that water will NOT get in.

All in all, I'm really happy with it. I think it's going to serve me really well this winter and I've really enjoyed having it. I don't regret my decision of not waiting for the 7.0 one bit....I just couldn't stand the thought of going that long without a ride.
 
B

Bo67

Looks cool. i have a Joe Rocket Ballistic Meteor 4 jacket and have been pretty happy with it. My only complaint is that you have to be real careful zipping the thermal liner in. The teeth are real fine and like to snag the outer layer of the jacket if you're not paying attention thus causing a stuck zipper. Other than that, I think the quality is great.
 

Cloggy

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Thanks for the review, I am looking around for a new winter jacket at the moment. My present one is a "Rev it" (sorry can't do anything about the name) many years old and although its fine to my work and back I've had a couple of days in the rain that it started leaking through, (after aprox 1.5 hours of hard rain).
I think I'm going to buy another Rev it jacket (they are reasonably priced (in Holland) and good quality) but this year they all seem to be slightly shorter which makes me doubt about how warm they will be, unfortunately my textile trousers (evolution) does not zip on to the rev it jacket, so I might need to buy new trousers as well.
You can get the Joe Rocket stuff in Holland but you really have to search, and it is slightly more expensive than the equivelent Rev it jacket.

My local dealer has a deal at the moment for 15% off winter clothes, which might end up swinging my decision.

It was informative reading your thread as it highlights the important factors of buying a winter jacket. cheers.
 
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