AGV Sport Xena Ladies Vented Jacket Review | Summer-Ready Motorcycle Apparel

July 27, 2016

AGV Sport Xena Ladies Vented Jacket Review

While not quite as cool as Xena: The Warrior Princess’ uniform, the AGV Sport Xena Ladies Vented textile jacket is stylish lightweight apparel to keep you protected as you do battle on two-wheels during the hot days of summer.

The outer polyester chassis is dominated by stretchable large-pore mesh panels on the front and back to maximize airflow. This is interspersed with solid sections along the arms, and Spandex panels at the sides.

With these sizable areas of mesh, the AGV Sport Xena Vented jacket flows a welcome amount of air when you’ve gotten up to cruising speed, and the non-vented panels give the jacket more structure than a pure mesh jacket.

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The solid panels are strategically placed in the AGV Sport Xena Vented jacket. Aesthetically pleasing flowing lines follow the female curves on the jacket front, and just happen to trace along the pocket lines, where a bit more foundation is needed. Across the top of the shoulders and down the arms there is a large swath. The latter gives additional support to the CE-approved elbow and shoulder protection, as well as further abrasion resistance in those vulnerable areas.

There are also narrow non-vented panels running along the sides of the back, and half-sleeve length sections under the arms, adding shape to the AGV Sport Xena Vented jacket. The lightly padded neoprene collar adds a soft and comfortable feel around the neck.

A thickly ribbed wide Spandex accordion panel runs up the sides of the jacket. The textured look is interesting, and provides ease of movement when twisting or bending, while retaining a fitted look to the jacket. I was surprised the Xena jacket didn’t come with a two-way zipper, as it’s a three-quarter-length jacket. Without a two-way zipper there’s a front pucker when sitting astride a bike, and no one wants a little belly pooch—especially not a Warrior Princess.

I’m a fan of this jacket length, though, because my lower back stays covered, even when riding a sport bike, and I don’t need to zip the jacket to my pants. Should you want to make the jacket-to-pants connection, the Xena has an 8-inch zipper to achieve this goal.

A removable waterproof liner installs easily in about two minutes. There are two color-coded loop and snap tabs in each sleeve to keep the liner sleeves from getting twisted, another loop and snap tab on each side of the waist, and one long zipper that runs from bottom hem up across the back and back down to the other hem.

I haven’t had a chance to test the waterproof element, as we’re dry as a bone here in SoCal at this time of the year, but the Reissa liner definitely works as a wind blocker. I like the functionality this adds to the jacket, as the liner can be stowed away in a backpack during the hot part of your ride, and zipped in to keep you warm when temps drop.

The AGV Sport Xena Vented Jacket is light on pockets. In addition to the two zippered hand pockets, there’s just one interior vertical pocket to slide a wallet or phone into. The outer pockets have nicely long zipper pulls, as do the cuff vents, making them easy to use with gloved hands. Cuffs can be secured with Velcro tabs while leaving the zippers up to flow additional air. Quality YKK zippers are used throughout.

Although the Xena has an 8mm foam back pad installed, that won’t do much for you in a fall. I recommend you swap out the pad in the body armor pocket in the interior mesh liner and replace it with a more substantial CE Level 2 back protector, such as the Forcefield Armor Pro Lite K Level 2 Back Insert. It takes just a few seconds and gets you real back protection. Reflective piping along the back and sleeves enhances visibility at night.

When the temperatures get blistering, the AGV Sport Xena Ladies Vented jacket can’t compete with a pure mesh jacket, but it flows plenty of air to keep you cool on all but the hottest 100+ degree days, while providing a bit more structure and feeling of security, as well as giving you a much tidier look.