Komodo Ceno Jacket - Two Wheel Freaks Review

 

Komodo Ceno Jacket

Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Words by Dean Devito

GQ poses by: Dean Devito

 There is a tendency among people to not give important issues thought until its too late…often we don’t design budgets until we bounce a few checks, don’t realize our car needed some love until its smoking on the side of the interstate, and take the quality of our motorcycle gear for granted until we need it…and I am sure you’ve heard the old adage; “there are two types of riders, those that have crashed, and those that will.”

While I don’t particularly care for this saying, it does serve to remind us that the time to think about what we wear during our ride is before we are asphalt surfing while our bikes make pretty sparks grinding down the road. Fortunately, most riders know the value of a good jacket, and for riders that know the value of protective gear, Komodo offers their Ceno jacket.

Race grade protection for the street seems to be what Komodo had in mind when they designed the Ceno jacket. After all, its safety features are strongly influenced by those found on the one piece race suits offered by Komodo, but they have added a few niceties with the street rider in mind.

For the street rider, the Ceno is equipped with a removable quilted vest liner, as well as reflective piping along the shoulders, back and chest to help the rider’s visibility. The waist is adjustable, and the arms are pre curved in an “athletic reflex” position for a natural fit while on the bike. There are additional zippered vents across the rider’s lower back, and an added pocket or two that you wouldn’t find on the top half of a race only suit. The fit may be a bit tighter and ‘racier’ than a traditional street jacket, but its competitive roots help keep the armor where it should be if you ever need it.
The Ceno was tweaked for street wear, but the soul of the jacket is taken directly from the track, and the Ceno’s purpose is clear; to protect its inhabitant should he be caught up in a sudden gravity storm. Paying homage to its racer roots, the Ceno boasts double and triple stitching in critical impact areas, and armor in the back, shoulders, biceps and forearms. Protection is robust as Komodo states, “the Ceno was designed from the ground up to save the rider during a crash.”

  To further the jacket’s strength, Komodo has implemented a few extra areas and layers of protection that often go overlooked by other manufacturers. They have combined medical grade temper “memory” foam (to assist in impact absorption), as well as CE approved armor in the forearms (outside of the bicep and shoulders). There is also a leather wrapped carbon/Kevlar plate that covers the forearm and elbow area of the sleeve.

The outside of the bicep is an area of the body that a lot of jacket designers overlook so I decided to ask the guys at Komodo about the inclusion of extra protection there. They said that they have witnessed racing injuries to the upper arm so they designed the Ceno to help protect the street rider from those same types of injuries.

For riders that want to tweak the fit of the Ceno and relax it a bit from ‘race spec,’ all CE armor is removable, as is the non-CE approved back pad. Even if the CE armor is removed there is still a level of protection offered to the rider via the memory foam on the biceps and shoulders as well as the foam and forearm plates. Obviously, removing the armor reduces the level of protection so this isn’t recommended but it is nice to know that the Ceno won’t leave you completely unprotected if you decide to do it.

Probably the most visible racer’s aspect of the Ceno is the “aero hump” on the back. While it is debatable whether or not the race inspired aero hump has actually made me a faster rider (don’t worry, it hasn’t- Ed.), it’s designed to assist with ventilation and to protect the spine during a crash…and it also did a great job of convincing my seven year old son that I was almost as cool as Nicky Hayden.

There are a lot of upsides to Komodo’s philosophy and execution with the Ceno jacket in terms of protection, but all of that protection makes the jacket seem a bit “Power Ranger” ‘ish to some observers. Graphics and overall design are relatively subdued, and the Ceno does not scream, “SQUID!”, but the aero hump and overall style may not be everybody’s cup o’ tea. However, should you ever fall off and need the protection I am sure you’d swap fashion leather for the Ceno in a heart beat, as Komodo seems to be banking their reputation on engineering their gear for maximum protection.

 Komodo has designed the Ceno to ventilate well, making use of a mesh inner liner, perforated leather in the chest and arms, zippered bicep vents and zippered vents on the lower back. This ventilation would serve a warmer weather rider very well. For cooler days, using the removable quilted vest liner helps, but the tighter fit also means that layering is limited to thinner layers. Combating cold weather in the Ceno is really only a battle you’ll win into the 60’s.

The jacket has a natural fit when riding, and nothing flaps, rubs, buzzes or annoys. However, I was more comfortable with the overall fit after I removed the CE shoulder pads as it loosened up the feel of the jacket (I have pretty broad shoulders and have removed shoulder pads from every jacket I have used for street use; so this is not an unusual gripe for me). While removing the CE armor does compromise protection it still has temper foam protection so you’re never riding ‘naked.’

The style, fit, and ventilation seem to suggest that warmer weather, back road blasting, and aggressive riding is what the Ceno’s forte would be; and with the 8 inch universal zipper attachment you can easily attach leather pants for full leather protection. The jacket is tough enough for urban riding, vents well, and is comfortable enough to commute in. It would do well in that role providing that you aren’t looking for lots of storage options from your jacket.

The Ceno looks the part of a serious leather jacket, and Komodo has backed up the look with well thought out layers of protection. They have set-out to make track quality protection usable for the street rider; and I believe they have succeeded. The Ceno has earned a permanent place in my garage for warmer weather riding, regardless of distance or destination.

Sizes are available in Small through XX-Large, and the waist has an adjustable strap so the Ceno should be able to fit most bodies. Run over to www.komodogear.com and check it out. Hustle up…they are currently on sale for $349.

Discuss the styling or anything else about the jacket at our Komodo Ceno Jacket forum.