509 @One Leather Motorcycle Jacket Review

Street motorcycle riders may not be familiar with the 20-year-old Washington-based 509 brand, unless they also ride snowmobiles. However, when you delve into the ownership of 509, it all makes sense. 509 is owned by Teton Outfitters, which also has Klim under its umbrella. Teton Outfitters is owned by Polaris Industries, the company behind Indian motorcycles and Slingshot trikes. When the new 509 @One leather jacket appeared on the Ultimate Motorcycling doorstep, we were anxious to see what it was all about.

“As riders, we want to share what the streets mean to us through stylish, innovative products inspired by the motorcyclists that have come before us,” 509 Product and Technical Designer Andy Berg tells us when positioning the brand. “Our goal is to inspire that feeling you get when your wheels hit the pavement, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”

Right out of the box, the 509 @One motorcycle jacket impressed. The 1.1mm leather looked to be high quality, and the jacket’s manufacturing is instantly recognizable as highly sophisticated—not a surprise, given its $510 price tag.

In addition to the sporting cut and supple leather, the @One delivers a great feel off the rack thanks to accordion stretch panels on the back below the shoulders, perforated leather at the armpits, and a two-position snap waist-adjustment system at each side. There are also many leather panels, furthering the cause of flexibility.

The 509 @One jacket also has a zip- and snap-in quilted vest liner for cooler rides, which snugs the fit a bit. This jacket immediately felt perfect on me—fit is always personal, of course. The Large is sized as expected, including a welcome generous arm length.

We also noticed that the 509 @One jacket was completely armorless—even at the shoulders and elbows. Yes, there is a back pad, but those are worthless in a crash. We recommend you do what we do—toss the pad out. Oh, wait, Associate Editor Kelly Callan uses those back pads to protect her knees while weeding in the garden.

As 509 offers no optional armor, a call was put in to Forcefield Body Armor. Soon, we had CE level 2 protection for the back, elbows, and shoulders of the 509 @One jacket. With that $150 worth of Isolator 2 armor installed—the five pockets are ready and waiting—the @One was ready for motorcycle riding.

Naturally, the @One jacket felt wonderfully comfortable without the armor. However, in that configuration, it’s casual wear, not motorcycle gear. Fortunately, thanks to the flexibility and fit of the Forcefield pieces, the jacket was still comfortable, though a bit snugger with the armor installed.

The Forcefield armor is only noticeable when putting the jacket on—long sleeves can catch on the elbow armor. Once on, it disappears. When riding, you have the knowing confidence that CE-rated protection provides in case of a mishap. The zippers are high-quality YKK pieces, with the beefy gimmick-free main zipper getting a long pull for convenient manipulation.

The collar seemed to always require some adjustment every time I put it on—fortunately, I have a wife that notices. The magnetic neck flap is a nice touch and lays unobtrusively flat. In addition to the expected hand warmer pockets, there’s also a small exterior chest pocket. Either my wallet or my iPhone 12 Mini will fit in there, but it’s best suited for paper carrying rather than holding anything bulky.

Inside the @One jacket are two zippered Napoleon pockets—a happy surprise. However, a customary large lower interior pocket is nowhere to be found. Although you lose access to those Napoleon pockets with the liner installed, 509 makes up for it with two zipper Napoleon pockets in the liner—excellent.

Riding in the 509 @One jacket is an absolute pleasure. There’s no binding when riding an upright motorcycle—the stretch panes function as intended. Rather than being aimed at the supersport crowd, the @One jacket works for upright motorcycles of all styles—sport to retro to cruiser to tourer. The longer sleeve stops your wrists from exposure to the sun with short gloves, while tucking right into gauntlet gloves on cooler days.

You will likely reach for the @One jacket on hot summer rides, as the perforated underarms do a great job of moving air through the jacket. At the other end of the riding weather spectrum, freeway rides with temps in the 50s definitely get chilly, as the vest liner doesn’t block the airflow.

509 designers did a superb job of giving the @One jacket its own style. It has modern and classic accents, plus discreet embossed and embroidered branding, making it a versatile leather jacket that you can successfully wear on motorcycles from multiple genres once proper armor is installed. It also is quite presentable in polite company, particularly with the armor removed for casual settings. Being Southern California based, we appreciate its warm weather compatibility, making it the 509 @One leather jacket we can enjoy year-round.

509 @One Leather Jacket Fast Facts

• Sizes: XS – 3X
• Color: Blacktop
• Armor: None

509 @One Leather Jacket Price: $510 MSRP ($660, as tested)