Richa Boyfriend Diablo jeans in blue

The Richa Boyfriend Diablo jeans came about after a visit to Richa headquarters last year.

 

We won't, these days, go within a mile of a Kevlar, or lined, jean. It is true that if a motorcycle jean is fully lined it can be very abrasion resistant. But if a motorcycle jean is 100% lined it is almost inevitably going to be thick, heavy, ugly and near-on unwearable in warm weather.

 

But there's another thing about Kevlar or lined jeans, especially when it comes to women. Invariably, they look awful. They just don't mould to the body. Flattering they are not. And it matters not a jot the lady's shape; not yet born is the women who goes into any shop asking for trousers that add a couple of centimetres to the hips. And that's exactly what a fully-lined, Kevlar jean will do.

 

The other problem with ladies' motorcycle jeans is that most of them are designed by the designers of men's motorcycle wear. And most of them are totally clueless when it comes to the requirements of lady riders or pillions. Most of the jeans that come out of the motorcycle, clothing brands are little more than copies of what sells on the high street. Which is why most have impractical, low-rise waists that end up looking embarassing on the bike.

 

Over the years Sara, our MD here at Motolegends, has worked with a number of manufacturers in an attempt to help them create jeans that do work for women. Jeans that work on the bike. Jeans that work off the bike. Jeans that reflect the shapes of real women; and not just those on Instagram.

 

The Rokker 'High-Waist' jean is a prime example. It was created by Sara with Rokker, and is exclusive to Motolegends. It is a fabulous jean that just works. It is protective, comes with the lowest-profile armour, contains stretch for comfort, and fits an unfeasible array of shapes and sizes in a most flattering manner. Sara was also behind the PMJ 'Sara' jean, which was of course named after her.

 

And now there's our new 'Boyfriend Diablo' jean on which we have worked with Richa. And the brief from Sara here was to reflect a change in the way that women are now wearing their jeans. A few years ago, tapered and skinny ruled, but these days jeans are much more relaxed and flowing. And so, Sara asked Richa to create a high-waisted jean for ladies that reflected this shift in the way that women are wearing their jeans.

 

The Boyfriend Diablo jean is the result that collaboration. It may not be exactly what Sara had originally envisaged but there were, of course, other considerations that had to be taken into account. And the most important one of those was the armour. The jean could not be so wide in the leg that it risked the armour not being in the right place if it all went Peter Tong.

 

But the essentials remain. Our Boyfriend Diablo jean from Richa is a high-waisted jean, with a more contemporary, relaxed fit.

 

In truth, the jean is not made from a particularly exotic combination of materials, and that's because we wanted it to hit a different price point to our Rokker jean. The outer fabric is actually a cotton-Cordura mix. Now this mix is sufficient to deliver an AA rating for abrasion resistance under EN17092. And really AA has become the benchmark for most motorcycle clothing these days.

 

But not every AA garment is born equal. AA is a pass mark; and clearly this Richa jean hits that pass mark, but this jean is not going to be as abrasion resistant as, say, our AA-rated, Rokker high-Waisted jean. It just isn't; you need to accept this. The Richa is a nice jean, but it's not a Rokker. Then again, it is half the price of the Rokker.

 

The jean comes as standard with Level 2, D3O, Diablo protectors in the knees and hips. And this is important.

 

Level 2 Diablo hit the market last year, and in quite short order it pretty much killed the whole concept of wearing Level 1 in your jeans; or indeed in anything else.

 

D3O's Level 2 Diablo is barely any heavier than D3O's Level 1 Ghost armour. Yet it is softer, more flexible, much more breathable, and obviously it will absorb significantly more energy in an impact than Level 1 Ghost, leading one to the question that if you can get Level 2 protection for the same price as Level 1 protection, why would you ever want the latter?

 

There's one other thing to be said for wearing Diablo armour in a jean. It's very slight curvature helps it to mould better to the knee. It finds the knee more easily, and tends to hold on to it better. It also looks better from the outside, being more or less invisible.

 

There's really not much more to say about the jean. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if you like the look and the shape of the Boyfriend Diablo jeans, we can be pretty confident that you will like wearing them.

 

The jean comes in two, leg lengths and, as ever, the best way to get it right is to come and see us. We'll sit you on the bike here in the shop. We'll check the fit, we'll adjust the armour to get it in exactly the right place, and if the jeans need to be hemmed because they're too long we'll do that within the price too.

 

All in all, we reckon our Boyfriend Diablo jean is a great package. A flattering, contemporary, relaxed fit. AA abrasion resistance. The latest, most wearable, Level 2, D3O armour and a free hemming service here in the shop, if that's what's required.

 

We can't see the catch!