Belstaff's 2024 Motorcycle Collection
This year marks Belstaff's 100th anniversary, and to celebrate the brand has overhauled its entire motorcycle collection. We’ve added six of these newly revamped jackets to our shelves. Each one comes with an improved abrasion rating and the whole collection is rife with new features, like vents for warm weather, a snap-in thermal vest for cooler weather, and style for miles.
All the classic Belstaff silhouettes we’ve stocked for years have been retooled and now boast an improved AA safety standard. Previously, Belstaff only rated its jackets to a single “A” rating—the minimum needed to qualify as saleable motorcycle gear in the EU. More on that below.
But it wasn’t just safety features that were upgraded. The price tags actually came down a little bit, and functional features have ticked decidedly upward.
Half these new jackets have zippered vents—a first for Belstaff waxed cotton motorcycle jackets. None of them have zip-in quilted liners any longer, but four of them come with snaps for an optional Climate Vest.
And there are two completely new models for 2024: the cold-blooded Shearling-collared Convoy jacket, and the warmer-weather-ready (but still 3-season-capable) Waymaster jacket.
/// A Stylish Six-Pack
While Besltaff is known for its classic black motorcycle jackets—and to be sure we’re stocking all six in black—we’ve brought in a smattering of alternate color options, like sand-tan, and a classic olive green option.
Collectively this six-pack of premium riding jackets embody everything we love about Belstaff motorcycle gear. Style, function, protection—all rolled up into beautiful garments made of reinforced British Millerain waxed cotton.
These four legacy jackets represent subtle improvements to proven classics—shown here in order of jacket length*: the Ariel, the Brooklands, the Crosby, and of course the Trialmaster.
For the full size comparison please refer to the recently updated Belstaff size charts on the individual product pages, which reflect measurements of the actual jackets themselves.
Next: the Waymaster, built on the same chassis of the Crosby, but unlike that classic 4-pocket hip-length jacket, this one is endowed with discrete intake and exhaust vents, small trim differences like a neoprene collar hem, subtle reflective trim, optional elasticated storm guards at the cuffs, and an internal cinch instead of traditional external half-belt. The Waymaster is offered in a limited run of olive green in addition to standard Belstaff Black.
// Climate Control
All of the waxed cotton Belstaff jackets in our collection are doubly waterproof—with a hydrophobic waxed cotton finish on the outside, which is further reinforced from incoming rain by an internal Microporex waterproof/breathable membrane that's hung between the shell and the jackets' tartan liner.
Insulation has been updated too. The old outgoing Trialmaster and Brooklands jackets used to feature zip-in quilted liners. No more—the new versions of these jackets come sans zip-in thermal liners, and instead get optional snaps, shared also by the Crosby and Waymaster jackets, which allow the savvy jacket owner to quickly install or remove the new Belstaff Climate Vest.
Belstaff has built vents into three of its new jackets. The new Brooklands, Waymaster, and Convoy jackets (pictured below, left to right) all get hidden bicep vents and complementary rear-facing exhaust vents, to help pull air through the jacket while underway, keeping the rider cool and comfortable.
/// CE Clearly Now
These jackets are all now rated CE-AA, versus the predecessors rated at A only.
What does that mean?
The EN-17092 CE Safety Standard centers on abrasion resistance, but there are some other aspects that manufacturers must meet, like passing certain seam strength tests, and having CE rated armor in place.
In terms of abrasion resistance, the AA rating means that in key areas of the jacket like the elbows, shoulders and back, which would be most prone to contacting pavement in a slide, the garment must survive a destructive abrasion test replicating a crash on pavement at approximately 45mph. "A rated" jackets need only to pass a 25mph test; and AAA jackets are required to survive at approximately 75mph.
Fun fact about the CE ratings: manufacturers decide which level to test to, and pay dearly per test. So if they submit a jacket to be qualified for the “A” rating, they don’t get to know if it’ll pass “AA” or “AAA,” because that’s a whole other series of tests.
Because of how the test standard is structured, we have to think of the A, AA, and AAA ratings like gates. These AA rated jackets pass the 45MPH gate, but we don't know if it would pass the next gate, the AAA 75mph test, or where on the rather broad span of speed between 45 and 75 they would last until.
The AA mark feels like the right rating for these jackets, but these gates leave big knowledge gaps between them. EG: we only know for sure they material passes the 45MPH test, but we don't know what the ultimate speed limit is.
If we had to guess, these reinforced waxed cotton jackets from Belstaff would all be on the lower and of the AA abrasion continuum. And that's about what we'd expect—still suitable for bopping around on the town, cruising country roads, or urban commuting.
We know EN-17092 is an imperfect standard. For example, the outgoing Belstaff Riser leather jacket was only marked “A,” but it almost certainly would have passed AA or likely even AAA if put to those tests, as do most full-weight leather motorcycle jackets.
By extension, "AA" rated jackets don't all offer the exact same level of protection. A garment could fail at 46MPH, or 74MPH, and both be lumped into the overly broad AA category
Still, the CE Rating Standard is valuable. It provides an important relative safety standard to start from. But it helps to understand the test, to be able to read between the lines, and above all to use common sense.
It should be noted that the whole CE rating system is a European standard required in the European market. But here in America, baby, there are no rules. Only Darwinian common sense, which we highly suggest employing when it comes to shopping for any bit of motorcycle gear.
These laboratory tests attempt to simulate real world conditions. In the real world, every crash is different, and every rider is ultimately left to independently come up with their own safety analysis in terms of what they're comfortable wearing, and at what speed.
// Cream of the Crop
A note about the Belstaff Centenary: we're not carrying nearly all of the new lineup. As always, we cherry pick available products based on our own independent set of criteria.
For the new Belstaff jackets absent from our own catalog, we passed because either they were A) too far out stylistically, B) far too expensive, or C) not protective or practical enough.
We do our best to be gatekeepers and not offer products we don’t believe in, or feel would offer false confidence, or simply violate what we perceive, as gear editors, to be an unholy cost/value proposition.
For example we skipped all the $1,500 to $1,875 leather jackets, because that's just offensively overpriced.
We also passed on the A-rated Belstaff Temple summer riding jacket not because it doesn’t look great (it does!) but because summer is the season of speed, and being A-rated only doesn't inspire enough confidence, not to mention the relatively hefty price tag.
*There are a growing number of well-priced AA- and even AAA-rated summer options out there, like the Merlin Shenstone Air and Merlin Chigwell Air, or the Klim Marrakesh, or any of the John Doe Motoshirts or jackets, which test to the even higher AAA mark.
// In Stock Now*
For the size Belstaff jackets that we are stocking, we believe them to be leaders in their class. And the attention to detail and workmanship is among the best we've seen in the industry—the stitching is surgically precise, with bar-tacks reinforcing every pocket opening.
The touchpoints all are well attended to, with brass knurling at the buckles, silicon coatings on snaps that could otherwise potentially damage one's paintwork, and of course the lux corduroy at the collars and cuffs.
*The only downside: while Belstaff has perfected the waxed cotton motorcycle jacket over the last century, the company has not quite gotten the hang of warehousing and distribution.
We had to order these jackets 6 months ahead of delivery and the availability of special-order sizes, or in-season restocks, is quite unknown. If you see something you like and we have your size, we recommend coming in to try it, or order online for an at-home audition, because once these jackets are gone there's no telling when they're coming back.