MCN's best women's motorcycle leggings and jeans tested by our female riders

The market for women’s motorcycle gear has been growing steadily in recent years, giving female bikers a wider choice both in terms of fit and protection. If you are a casual rider who isn’t looking for textile trousers for touring or commuting, you will likely be considering a pair of motorcycle jeans or riding leggings. These days they can offer the protection you require while looking like regular clothes. Especially handy if you are spending time in them off the bike. They can be worn with casual short riding boots or more practical touring boots.

Jump to:

• What to consider
• Jeans
• Leggings
• FAQs
• How we test kit

Things to consider when looking at jeans and leggings

Protection

Safety is important, after all it is why we spend our money on motorcycle gear in the first place, so checking the CE rating and armour that it fitted is key. Motorcycle clothing is rated with a letter system, A being the less protective and AAA being the most protective leaving AA a happy middle ground. This letter is a guide for how much abrasion resistance they have, so basically how long they can slide on the tarmac for before your skin is exposed. Armour will be rated at either Level 1 or Level 2 with two being the higher impact resistance. It’s best to buy the most protective kit that you can afford.

Construction

Abrasion resistance is achieved by technical textiles such as Kevlar, Aramid and Spectra, to name but a few. Some of these textile weaves can offer additional advantages like water resistance, moisture-wicking and heat dissipation, as well as having the ability to stretch for a comfortable fit.

Fit

Women’s motorcycle leggings and jeans come in a range of sizing, leg lengths and rises to cater for different body shapes. Although many manufacturers run true to size, be prepared to be flexible for the best fit. This may be affected by the fitment of armour, which needs to sit snugly to do its job properly, but not so tight as to affect comfort and mobility.

High waistbands allow there to be no awkward gap between jacket and jeans plus no fear of a muffin top. It’s a good idea to check what pockets are on offer as they are handy for stowing keys or earplugs, when off the bike.

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Jeans

Motorcycle jeans are now probably the most popular type of protective trousers, especially with more casual pleasure riders. They are designed to offer good levels of protection whilst appearing to the untrained eye, to be just a pair of jeans. Perfect for sunny days out on the bike or wearing off the bike at work or a social event. They are perfect for that cool look, a pair of jeans and a leather jacket, possibly the most timeless cool look for any rider.

Leggings

Motorcycle leggings are becoming incredibly popular with female riders, due to their stretchy, comfortable fabric, making them an easier option for getting the right size for you. They have wider waist bands which is very flattering and can allow for a snug all over fit for almost any body shape. The relaxed nature of this trouser option makes them perfect for almost any ride as they tend not to have buttons that dig in at your waist and they flex easily with your movement.

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Frequently asked questions

Are regular jeans okay for summer motorcycle riding?

Although they may look tough on the surface, regular jeans aren’t strong enough to protect you in the event of a motorcycle crash. Even during a low speed slide in a pair of denim jeans, the road will eat them up in less than a second, leaving you up a creek with no paddle in sight.

By contrast, motorcycle jeans are much stronger. They’re made by mixing the denim with other, tougher materials, which earns them rated abrasion resistance. They can also feature impact armour, and extra abrasion resistant linings, for a higher rated level of safety.

This combination of safety features will help significantly reduce the risk of injury, should you be involved in a crash. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a good pair of motorcycle jeans, and compared to a pair of denim jeans it’s absolutely no contest which is safest.

How are single layer jeans different from lined jeans?

Single layer means abrasion-resistant material is woven directly into the outer layer. Conversely, lined jeans have a regular cotton denim outer shell with a separate inner lining made with abrasion-resistant material, usually aramid fibers or material like Kevlar.

Do I need to size up when buying motorcycle trousers?

This is a tricky question, sizing is still not an easy thing with ladies bike gear. Some brands will make their clothing to the standard ladies sizing but not allow for the added thickness of the fabrics and armour, where other are better at this. It’s easiest to set some time aside and go into a store to try on various sizes and brands to see which cuts fit your shape best. For extra help see our women’s motorcycle clothing buying guide.

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How MCN tests women’s jeans and leggings

At MCN, our team of expert journalists have decades of experience gained over hundreds of thousands of miles in order to provide you with opinions and evaluations you can trust, alongside news of the most significant developments in motorcycling safety gear. We want you to stay safe, enjoy your riding and hopefully look great while doing so! 

We don’t test our kit to destruction; we use it exactly how you do, in the real world and in all conditions.

That means we can deliver impartial buying advice you can rely on. To make it onto this list, women’s jeans and leggings must have been worn for hundreds or thousands of miles by our team of experienced female testers, show no major flaws, and meet modern safety standards as well as offering decent value for money. 

Each of our expert reviewers tests their jeans and leggings for a variety of things, both subjective and objective. Factors assessed include the level of safety rating, what armour is fitted, how breathable they are, do they look good and do they have any additional features like waterproofing.

However, we also assess how they fit, what sizes and lengths are available, if they are true to size, their perceived quality, how we feel wearing them and how comfortable they are both on and off the bike.

We cover thousands of miles in these trousers and regularly compare them with one another in the office, so collectively we’ve built the sort of knowledge base you can trust.

If you can’t see a review against a pair of jeans or leggings on this page, it’s because we haven’t tested them yet. These will only be included if we think they’re important and relevant in the market, and rest assured, we will be working on bringing you a review as soon as we’ve done the miles.

Here’s a brief run-down of the star rating system we use, and what each score means:

• 1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A helmet with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
• 2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A helmet with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level and there is room for improvement. It might be lacking safety features, be poorly built or far too expensive to recommend.
• 3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A helmet with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
• 4 stars – A product has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A helmet with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
• 5 stars – A helmet has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A product with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.

To find out more about our kit testing, head to our dedicated page explaining how we test motorcycle products.

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