Shift Racing Women’s Flare Jacket

The Shift Racing Women’s Flare Jacket is one of my favorite light weight motorcycle jackets. This jacket is big on fashion but it is lacking a bit in some of the features.

Pros

The biggest pro of this jacket is the styling. It seems a lot of motorcycle jacket’s market themselves stylish on the bike and off. But really with their big shoulder armor and awkward cut most of those jackets look nothing like the things I wear off the bike. Now I’m not going to claim I wear the Shift Flare around town when I am not riding, but I don’t stick out like a sore thumb when I go into stores or restaurants while I’m am riding.

One of the biggest wins in this jacket for me is the smaller shoulder and elbow armor. I am a petite woman and I feel this armor fits me better and doesn’t stick out six inches from my actual shoulder. The back armor is also only a foam pad.

The material of the jacket is standard 600 denier construction but it looks less motorcycle-y and more like other non-motorcycling coats. The bottom hem, wrists and neck are also a stretchy cotton material and adds to the style.

The fit is a slim fit and the sizing is pretty standard “juniors” sizes.

Cons

This is certainly not an all season jacket (nor does it claim to be) and I am having a hard time classifying it in a season. It is certainly not a hot summer jacket. The jacket only has one very small air vent over the left chest which is basically a joke and doesn’t offer any airflow in the hot weather. In the cooler weather though the jacket only has minimal wind protection and the cold air pours in through the seams and zipper. My ideal temperature for this jacket is a sunny 65-75 degrees F.

I’ve not worn the jacket in the rain, but I would not expect it to block out more than light drizzle.

I was also disappointed that this jacket didn’t offer any reflective piping or decals. This is a feature I’ve just come to expect in motorcycle jackets and is a detail that Shift could have included without much extra cost.

There are also a couple other little details that make me wonder who tests these designs out. The pockets close with just a snap, no zipper, which makes me uncomfortable. I can’t put any valuables in there for fear I’ll lose them somewhere on the freeway! I was also annoyed with the velcro closure at the neck. The velcro tab is too tight for me to comfortably fasten around my neck so I leave it open and the zipper open an inch or two at the top for comfort. But this left the scratchy side of the velcro flopping around and it kept getting stuck to the inside of my helmet! After getting stuck in traffic a few times and tearing my helmet liner I had to get some velcro at the craft store and cover the flap over.

Conclusion

Over all I really like the jacket and it is my go-to piece of gear when I am meeting people on the bike and don’t want to show up looking like a power ranger. The price is right, just under $100, which is less than many other textile motorcycle jackets. However for $100 I would like some additional features like more vents and reflective piping or decals.

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