Best motorcycle jacket in Canada: textile vs leather vs mesh, with picks for every budget

For most riders in Canada the best first jacket is a three-season textile jacket with a removable liner, EN 17092 class A or AA, and Level 1 or 2 armour in the shoulders and elbows. It covers cool mornings and wet days and costs less than leather. Mesh is better if you ride mostly in summer heat; leather is better if you ride fast or on track days. We priced nine jackets in the three materials on 2026-10-23. Our default is the Alpinestars ST-1 Waterproof (class A, Canadian median CA$379.95); the step-up is the Bogota' Pro Drystar (class AA, Level 2 armour, median CA$639.95). The sections below say why, and what we could and could not verify.

Textile, leather or mesh: what actually differs

webBikeWorld's jacket buyer's guide makes the same split: leather is durable and suits cooler weather but is heavier and less breathable; textile and mesh breathe better; modern textiles can match or beat leather for abrasion resistance; and armour matters whatever the fabric. The label is what compares them. EN 17092 grades the whole garment on a spinning abrasion rig: AAA is the toughest class, then AA, then A. Armour is graded separately by EN 1621 as Level 1 or Level 2, so an AA jacket can still ship Level 1 armour (SATRA: EN 17092). Our EN 17092 guide walks through the classes, and the back protector guide covers the piece most jackets leave out.

The picks by budget

Mesh: for hot rides, not for crash coverage on a budget

The T-SP X Superair is certified class A under EN 17092-4, according to Alpinestars, with 3D mesh combined with 600D and 450D polyester on the outer arms, shoulders and sides for the abrasion rating. The Airwave 4 is listed as class AA on most retailer pages, which is a higher abrasion grade than A, but some colourways are listed as class A, so read the label of the exact one you buy. It is fully ventilated and not waterproof. Both include Level 1 shoulder and elbow armour. Our hot-weather mesh guide covers the heat side. Brand pages: Alpinestars, REV'IT!.

Textile: the best fit for most riders

The ST-1 Waterproof is certified class A under EN 17092-4 per Alpinestars, with a fixed waterproof liner and an 80 g thermal liner that snaps out and stores in the back pocket, so one jacket covers spring to autumn. That makes it our default for a first jacket. If you ride in long cold or wet stretches, spend more on the Bogota' Pro Drystar: Alpinestars lists it as class AA with Level 2 shoulder and elbow armour, a 600D shell and a 100 g body and 60 g sleeve thermal liner, and rates the membrane at 5,000 mm waterproof. It also accepts the Tech-Air airbag. Its cheapest Canadian price on 2026-10-23 was CA$499.00 at RidingGear.ca, with a Canadian median of CA$639.95. Match textile with the rain gear guide if the jacket's own liner is not enough, and see the adventure and dual-sport guide for touring kits.

Leather: for sport riding and track days

The Blacktrack comes from Alpinestars' urban leather range: Alpinestars lists 1.0 to 1.2 mm bovine leather, class A under EN 17092-4, Level 1 shoulder and elbow armour and a detachable thermal vest. The cheapest Canadian price was CA$639.95 at Bayside Performance. The GP Force V2 is a leather jacket that retailers list as class AA; its lowest landed price was CA$530.74 from FC-Moto in Germany, but the cheapest Canadian store was CA$699.95 at Revco. For track days check your organiser's rules first, as in our track day guide. Leather is also what Alpinestars and Dainese compete on for premium jackets.

How we picked

We pulled ALLR's Canadian jacket catalog for models in stock at ten or more stores shipping to Canada on 2026-10-23, then picked one jacket per material and budget that had a stated EN 17092 class and armour level. We read the class and armour from Alpinestars' own pages where we could and from retailer listings otherwise (REV'IT! Airwave 4 and GP Force V2, flagged above). We did not test any jacket and found no independent test results for these models, so the classes are manufacturer claims. Prices are landed totals for new, in-stock listings; the lowest listing can be a single size, which is why we also show the Canadian median. We used no forum threads and make no claim about what any community recommends. The methodology page describes how ALLR prices are built.

Prices are a dated snapshot (ALLR data, 2026-10-23). For the rest of a first kit see the beginner kit under CA$1,000, the riding pants guide and the buyer's guide hub.