Review Summary
- The Roland Sands Maywood Leather Jacket is a high quality, luxurious jacket that women will love to wear on or off the bike.
- Roland Sands’ subtle branding and style of this jacket mean that any kind of motorcycle rider can wear it, no matter the bike you have.
- The high quality leather and treatment of material, as well as the waterproof zippers, make this jacket to be weather resistant.
- There are no ventilation zips or removable liner, so this is definitely a jacket for colder temperatures.
It’s a brisk morning, but you can’t resist taking your bike out for a Sunday ride. You’re headed to get coffee and brunch with the girls, but decide to take a couple back roads to feel the wind in your hair and energize you before that first shot of caffeine. On the way over, it starts to drizzle, but with your thick leather jacket, you only notice due to the rain drops on your windshield. After a half hour riding past the trees in their fall colors, you arrive to brunch as the girls ooh and ahh over your bike, even though they’ve seen you ride it a hundred times already. A typical Sunday morning, with the addition of the perfect jacket to go with your weekend routine.
Words and photos by Jori Sutton of The Tejana Biker. Check out her Youtube!
First Impressions
Opening the box, I’m hit by the powerful smell of expensive leather. This is the kind of jacket that is designed to last for years, as you can tell from the sheer quality. The leather is incredibly soft on the outside, with a soft suede on the inside and silky type of liner. From the first impression I am in love!
About Roland Sands Design
Roland Sands Design is an American motorcycle gear brand known for their innovation in high performance gear. The brand was created by Roland Sands, a former motorcycle racer turned designer. Roland Sands Design, or RSD for short, was created in 2005 and now offers a wide selection of high quality products for men and women riders.
Roland Sands Leather Jacket Design
Thie Roland Sands Maywood Jacket is beautifully crafted, and combines technical aspects with fashion. This is a jacket that offers protection and comfort while on the bike, as well as a cool, luxurious leather that can be worn everyday.
Cut & Detailing
The jacket has a bit of a feminine cut to it, with panels on the side to allow a bit of stretch. While the jacket is a bit snug when first trying it on, it should be, as leather conforms to your body over time for the best fit. The jacket is fit enough to not be too boxy, but not so tight that you feel as if you’re in a bodysuit about to fight with The Avengers.
There are some subtle design details on the jacket which I love. The panels on the side are made to give you some stretch and ease of movement, but the way Roland Sands designed this jacket has made the panels seem as a design element, when in reality they have a technical side.
The style of this jacket seems a bit cafe racer, but honestly I feel like it could go for all sorts of bikes. The YKK zipper is easy to close the jacket even with gloves on, although for colder weather you might want a snap closure at the top.
There are hints of the Roland Sands Design logo on the jacket, but nothing too obvious, which I definitely appreciate!
Interior
The interior of the jacket includes an incredibly soft and comfortable satin poly quilted liner. The smell and touch of the liner oozes luxury to me, and is ultra comfortable.
There are two stretchy mesh pockets on either side of the interior, as well as the outside pockets on the front of the jacket. On the left breast side of the jacket there is a waterproof pocket that could easily fit any phone, as well as a back pocket to fit your back protector.
Colors
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I chose the classic black for this jacket but I’m also a big fan of the cherry red option. If it matched my bike, I would definitely go for that one, and it’s nice to see a little bit of color variety in women’s jackets.
Roland Sands Maywood Leather Jacket Material & Build Quality
Material
The jacket is made out of Winchester Full Grain 100% Cowhide, which is incredibly soft and will conform to your body shape over time. The material is 1.1 mm thick, giving you more protection and a slightly heavier feel, but very long-lasting and treated to be weather resistant.
Stitching
The quilted stitching pattern on the shoulders is stylish and well-put together. The quilted pattern continues on the interior of the jacket, on the silky layer. The stitching is moreso for design purposes and all critical seams seem really sturdy. This isn’t a jacket that will easily fall apart on you.
Zippers
All Roland Sands jackets have YKK zippers, and the Maywood ones feel very sturdy. All critical seams are sealed from the weather, including the zippers in the front and at the bottom of the sleeves (seriously, they have the waterproof seal and it’s so cool!
The front zipper goes all the way up and stays, without the need of a snap closure. However, this also means that in cold weather it may be difficult to enclose all your winter neck gear into the jacket. The front zipper is also a soft gold, adding a nice color detail to an otherwise all black jacket.
Roland Sands Maywood Ladies Leather Jacket Sizing, Fit, & Comfort
I’m loving the feminine cut of this jacket without feeling skin-tight. The stretch panels and leather material help to have the jacket fit exactly to your body shape over time.
Shape & Size
The Roland Sands Maywood Ladies Jacket subtly shows off your curves without being too boxy or too confining. I went with an XS, which is what I normally wear in motorcycle jackets. However, I’m a bit bigger in the bust, so that was my main sizing problem with this jacket. Because the bust was so tight, it caused the jacket to ride up and bunch into my shoulders.
The jacket is made of high quality leather though, so I feel confident that many sizing issues would easily be fixed with more wear.
Sleeves
The sleeves on the other hand, are very comfortable and even a bit loose if anything. You want to have plenty of space in the sleeves for range of movement, as well as if you want to layer underneath. The sleeves come to a great length on my wrist and barely even rise up when I raise my arms. I don’t feel like my gloves will be exposed when riding.
Roland Sand Maywood Leather Jacket Technical Aspects
Weather Versatility
My only complaint with this jacket is that it is not designed to be used in a variety of different temperatures. There is no ventilation and the interior liner is not removable. I live in a place where it’s hot and humid, so I don’t think I can wear this jacket out except on fairly cold days. If I were to live somewhere colder or at least somewhere with seasons, I could get a lot more use out of this jacket.
Protection
The jacket comes with the standard protection in the elbows and shoulders (CE-1) as well as a back pocket to insert a back protector. I tested out my CE-1 Dainese back armor and was able to fit it inside.
Besides the armor, the material itself is extremely abrasion resistant. The jacket is a bit heavier due to the thickness of the leather, which is why I suspect that they didn’t include a back protector for this high end of a jacket. Still would have been a useful addition to the jacket though, especially at this price point.
Roland Sand Maywood Ladies Jacket Value for Money
This entire jacket is peak design, great material, and premium comfort. Adding in the weather resistant treatment on the leather and the waterproof pockets, make this a top notch jacket.
How Much Does It Cost?
The retail price for this jacket is $725 USD (although currently on sale now). For the quality of the jacket, I think this price makes sense, as this is something that you can still use 10 years down the road. My only complaint again, is the non versatility of the jacket weatherwise, as I would expect at this price point.
Final Verdict: Great Quality Jacket
I’m a bit fan of this jacket due to the comfort, the quality, and the water resistant leather finishing and design. I would love to see how the leather fares over time, to see if the sizing problem of being too tight in the chest area would go away after a few times wearing the jacket. Unfortunately, I live in a very hot and humid place, so I don’t foresee myself having the opportunity to use this jacket as often as I would have hoped.
However, it’s still amazing quality and I would jump at the opportunity to wear this jacket if I were riding in colder weather.
Pros:
- Classic Style on and off the bike
- Great color options
- High quality material
- Flattering figure
Cons:
- No ventilation zips/openings
- No zip-out liner
Specs:
- Manufacturer: Roland Sands Design
- Price: $725 USD
- Made In: India
- Colors: Black and Red
- Sizes Available: XS-2XL
- Review Period: Fall 2023