Merlin Shenstone Air D3O motorcycle jacket review

Most of my riding gear is more about function than style. I’m rarely accused of having any style at all. But once in a while I stumble into some by semi-accident.

That’s the case with the Merlin Shenstone Air D3O jacket that I’ve had for a full year now. At $349, the current price at RevZilla, the Shenstone is not inexpensive, but it may well be worth the price for a style-conscious rider of a café racer or similar motorcycle who’s looking for a versatile, three-season, warm-weather jacket that combines classic looks and materials with thoroughly modern protection.

I say I stumbled into it because RevZilla gave me this jacket to wear when I went to the press launch for the Royal Enfield Classic 350 last year. Not only was the classic style the right match for test riding a motorcycle with “Classic” in its name, but the large mesh panels the Shenstone features were also appropriate for the weather, since Royal Enfield unveiled the motorcycle in Savannah, Georgia. Merlin has a full line of classically styled motorcycle gear, but the Shenstone is the second most summer-focused piece in the lineup. It spent the long winter in my closet, but it’s already getting a lot of use as spring warms up and, frankly, the Shenstone is growing on me.

Shenstone air: Traditional meets modern

It’s the traditional style that makes the Shenstone air look like it fits right in with your vintage motorcycle or café racer or cruiser. But there’s a lot of modern protection features underneath the classic looks.

As old as I am, the days when waxed cotton was the latest in motorcycle gear technology were still before my time. But the look remains recognizable, second only to leather, as traditional motorcycle gear. The Shenstone uses a waxed cotton the company calls Cotec, made for Merlin by a UK specialist company called Halley Stevensons. In addition to the material itself, the quilted stitching in the shoulders recalls the pre-armor days when that minimal amount of padding was all the impact protection motorcycle jackets provided. In the Shenstone, however, those traditional appearances are deceiving.

The Shenstone Air D3O offers modern protection. As the name implies, you’ll find D3O armor at the shoulders (underneath and far more effective than that stitching) and elbows, and Merlin includes a back protector, too. I’m tempted to say, “as they should, for the price,” but the reality is a lot of manufacturers make you buy a back protector as an added-cost option, so I’ll give Merlin some credit.

Also, you’re not going to have to rely on that waxed cotton for waterproofing, either. The Shenstone comes with a zip-in Reissa waterproof and breathable liner. Merlin put some effort into making the liner as weatherproof as possible. It connects to the jacket with two zippers that run up the sides of the jacket’s main zipper, plus a snap that connects at the back of the neck, and the sleeves of the liner connect with color-coded snaps that match up with loops inside the cuffs of the main jacket. Then the liner has its own main zipper, which is covered by a flap with a strip of Velcro to keep it in place, which should keep water from getting in through the zipper. I haven’t worn the Shenstone in a deluge, and I wouldn’t expect it to keep me reliably dry on a day-long rainy ride, if only because the liner stops short of the bottom of the waist-length jacket, meaning water is likely to find its way in around your waist, even if it doesn’t get in around your neck. The liner is best thought of as a compact, easily packed insurance policy to keep you dry in an unexpected shower. Maybe even better is that it does a great job of extending the Shenstone’s temperature range by blocking the wind when temperatures are cool.

That’s because the other key part of the jacket’s name is “Air.” From the shoulder area down, the jacket is mostly mesh and the inside of the arms are also mesh, so a lot of air flows through in hot weather. I’ve found that mesh panels on the inner arms help greatly with cooling because my arms are out in the wind, scooping up air that flows through. This works well on the Shenstone because the mesh extends up the arms and through the underarm area. The entire back of the jacket, from the shoulder area down, is mesh. The front has less mesh area (I’ll get into that a little more later), but the Shenstone still moves a lot of air. Also, you not only get the protection and comfort of the D3O armor, but it is also thoughtfully perforated to allow some airflow.

The Shenstone is not as cool as some all-mesh jackets I have, because the waxed cotton material in the shoulders is somewhat weighty and airflow in the chest is not maximized. But I find I can cover a pretty wide temperature range by using an insulating layer and the weatherproof liner on a cool morning, and gradually stripping down to a T-shirt under the mesh as the afternoon heats up.

Fit and more features

I’m five feet, 11 inches tall, 175 pounds, with a 42-inch chest and the medium Shenstone fits me well. My motorcycle jackets vary between medium and large, depending on cut and purpose (how much I want to be able to layer beneath them). Check the sizing chart wherever you’re shopping, and if in doubt, I’d suggest going down a size.

Adjustment straps at the waist on both sides of the jacket and on the upper arms allow you to tailor the fit at least a little. The sleeves close with a zipper and on top of that are snap closures with two positions. There’s a similar snap closure with two positions at the neck, and the collar is lined with a soft, padded material.

The Shenstone offers six pockets. The exterior handwarmer pockets close with zippers, so you can use them to carry items without worrying about losing something. The two exterior pockets on the chest close with two snaps each. Inside the jacket, there’s a phone-sized pocket on the right side, about at the level of the handwarmer pocket, and there’s a larger pocket on the interior on the left side. Both close with Velcro.

The Shenstone comes in two colors: black and the “olive” color I have, which is really a dark brown. The “olive” designation may have you thinking there’s a green tint to it, but there isn’t. It’s brown.

One final note on the fit. I imagine the Shenstone will appeal to riders of traditionally styled bikes, whether naked bikes, café racers, or cruisers. Due to the cut of the jacket, the Shenstone will work fine on bikes with neutral ergonomics or cruisers, but for a café racer with seriously sporty ergonomics, it does not have the sport cut and rotated sleeves that make it feel natural when your’re in an aggressive riding position. Not a deal-killer, just something to note.

Nitpicks and minor mysteries

There are a couple of things I don’t like about the Shenstone and one thing that isn’t really a complaint, but merely a detail that makes me wonder.

While almost the entire back of the jacket is mesh and the mesh on the arms does a good job of maximizing airflow while providing more durable material in impact zones, the jacket’s cooling ability is compromised by the pockets on the front. My other mesh jacket, which is all about cooling and not at all about style, has handwarmer pockets made of mesh material, so air still flows through. The Shenstone’s handwarmer pockets are made of solid material, so they block some airflow. Worse are the chest pockets, which cover up a significant portion of the chest where cooling air could get in. That might be considered a decent tradeoff if the pockets were useful, but they’re not. They’re hard to access while wearing the jacket, because they are so high on the chest and open at the top, and they’re too small to carry a modern phone. I seriously doubt I will ever use them, but they’re sitting there anyway, blocking airflow. The Merlin Chigwell Lite jacket is very similar to the Shenstone but it lacks the chest pockets and the front is all mesh, so if you like the Shenstone but need maximum cooling for your climate, maybe consider that jacket, instead.

It’s also worth mentioning that the interior pockets are hard to access if you’re using the Reissa liner and, of course, they’re exposed to rain, since they’re outside the waterproof membrane. Some manufacturers duplicate the interior pockets on the weatherproof liner, but not in this case. Maybe that was not done out of concern that it might compromise waterproofness.

Not so much a complaint, but just something that makes me wonder: Is anyone really skinny enough to use the second snap on the wrist and neck closures? I’m no bodybuilder, by any means. I don’t have a thick neck or wrists. But the first snap on the neck closure is plenty tight. I can’t even use the second one. Same with the wrists. I have to believe those second snaps are just decorative. Nobody’s that skinny.

Final verdict on the Merlin Shenstone Air

As I mentioned above, the Shenstone is really growing on me. I didn’t use it a lot last summer, in part because my personal old British motorcycle was a few states away and still in storage during the hot months. Now that I have been reunited with my old Speed Triple, this very British-styled jacket suddenly seems more appropriate than when I was riding my bright red Honda VFR800. Plus, our second move in two years has taken me to an even slightly cooler climate, and I’m finding more days when the Shenstone fits the conditions, either with or without the liner.

And, I admit, even though brown is my least favorite color in clothes, I kind of like the way it looks. I’ve never been one of those people who’s self-conscious about wearing motorcycle gear when I get to my destination. I don’t care about blending in and I figure my gear may be the opening for a conversation with someone who’s curious about motorcycles. I recognize, however, that many other riders want to get off the bike and walk around without wearing something that screams “motorcycle gear!” The Shenstone’s good for that.

Maybe the best part is that you can walk down the street in your Shenstone and 99% of the people you meet won’t know you rode in on a motorcycle, but a few really knowledgeable people who ride themselves will spot the waxed cotton, nod knowingly, and probably assume you arrived on a super-cool customized café racer. Even if you ride a Honda Navi.