The Rokker Black Jacket was always a bit special. But now there’s a new version and, as we have suggested, there’s good news and bad news.

The Black Jacket has the appearance of a standard black denim jacket. Nothing about it shouts: ‘Look at me, I’m a biker’. And for many people that’s the appeal; it’s just a cool-looking, casual jacket. But delve a bit deeper, and you discover that there’s much more to it than meets the eye.

The outer chassis is made from a 100%, 14 ounce, single-layer Schoeller Dynatec. This material is immensely strong, delivering a ‘slide time’ that is 50% better than leather. The good news is that, even though the jacket is entirely single-layer, it is rated AAA under EN17092. To wear it you would never think this was the case, but it’s more than just a pretty face!

A Nanosphere treatment to the fabric also gives you much more than ‘get-you-home’ levels of waterproofing. But it’s here that there is, to some extent, bad news. The old version had taped seams and a waterproof front zip. And this would undoubtedly have made the jacket even more waterproof. But the new version has an ordinary zip and no taping. It’s still going to be way more than water resistant, but we’re probably talking half an hour in the rain before you get wet rather than an hour. Honestly, we are not sure that we are that bothered. This was never a substitute for a jacket with a membrane.

The upside of having no membrane, of course, is that this is a jacket that’s really nice to wear on a warm day, because the chassis loses none of its breathability. Okay, it’s no Klim Marrakesh or Rukka Forsair, but it runs pretty cool. A Coldblack treatment also prevents the UV rays from heating the jacket’s outer material when the sun is up.

The armour is all D3O, including in the back, but in this new version the armour in the shoulders and elbows has been upgraded to D3O’s Ghost armour. It makes quite a difference. The Black Jakket was always comfortable, but the new armour makes it more so.

Summing up, though, what is the Rokker Black Jacket? Well, as we’ve said, there’s nothing else quite like it. Yes it’s aimed primarily at warm weather riding, but it delivers good air flow in a garment that’s stronger than leather. That you get a degree of waterproofing makes it more practical than most summer jackets, yet at the same time it delivers a timeless, classic denim jacket look.

The chap did a video about the original Black Jakket (yes they have changed their spelling from Jakket to Jacket), but of course that was for the old version, so the details will be different. Finally, a word on price. At £569, this was always a furiously expensive jacket, but the price has not gone up for the latest iteration. Is that good news? Well perhaps!