Instroduction
Royal Enfield’s apparel business is perhaps as crucial for the bike maker as its motorcycle business. It plays a huge role in projecting Royal Enfield as a lifestyle brand for its existing and potential customers. Now, Royal Enfield sells over 10 riding jackets in various categories, but it’s the touring segment that offers the most options. After all, touring is a sizable part of a Royal Enfield customer’s ownership experience.
What we have here is the Royal Enfield Explorer V3 riding jacket, which is the entry-level offering in the touring jacket category. Unlike fully textile touring jackets, the Explorer V3 uses a combination of mesh and polyester fabrics, which makes it a versatile jacket for everyday use. Now, we will test this jacket in various conditions and tell you how it performs, and whether or not you should buy one. But, that is for the later reports. In this report, let’s look at the Explorer V3’s features and what it is made of.
The Construction
As mentioned earlier, the Explorer V3 uses a mix of mesh fabric and high-density polyester to keep the jacket lightweight yet highly resistant to abrasion. In terms of construction, it uses 600D abrasion-resistant polyester fabric at most parts and nearly 40 per cent mesh fabric at the chest, arms, and back for ventilation. Further, it uses 610D abrasion-resistant Cordura fabric at impact zones, which should offer high resistance to abrasions, tears, and scuffs.
The jacket also features a cushioned comfort collar that should prevent skin chafing, and accordion stretch panels at the elbows and shoulder blades to offer a flexible fit. In terms of protection, the Explorer V3 comes with Knox Microlock level 2 armour at the shoulders and elbows. Meanwhile, it gets an EVA foam protector for the back, while there’s no provision for a chest protector.
What’s more, Royal Enfield has used YKK Vislon zippers all around. The jacket also gets a trouser connection loop, which prevents the jacket from riding up the body in case of a fall/slide.
The Features
Being a touring-friendly jacket, the Explorer V3 has five pockets – two at the front, one at the back (to store the rain liner or documents), and two internal pockets. That said, none of these are waterproof. This riding jacket has a detachable internal thermal liner and a breathable, waterproof rain jacket that can be worn as an inner or an outer liner.
Given its textile construction, you may feel hot while using the jacket every day, but for colder climates, it should work well. As far as the fit goes, Royal Enfield has opted for a regular fit as against some snug-fit options available in the market. For reference, I am 5’7’, my shirt size is large (42cm), and the L-size jacket fits me comfortably.
Further, it gets Velcro adjustments for the forearms, cuffs and waist, while the neck tab gets a button closure. The jacket also gets reflective lining at the front and back to make the rider more visible in low-light conditions.
What’s Next?
The plan is to test the Explorer V3 jacket extensively over the next six months in various riding conditions. We will test it in the city, on long rides, and since it’s the rainy season now, we will also tell you how it fares in the mighty Mumbai monsoons. The idea is to see how comfortable or otherwise the jacket is in these riding conditions and tell you whether or not you should buy one.
Product Details
Brand: Royal Enfield
Model: Explorer V3 Riding Jacket
Price: Rs. 8,950
Availability: Royal Enfield Online/Offline Stores
Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi
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