Despite what gear manufacturers will have you believe, no one motorcycle jacket will perform well in every possible scenario. But some jackets can play a handful of roles well, offering enough versatility to earn a spot in your gear closet. The Icon Slabtown is one such piece.
Named after the district in Portland, Oregon, USA where Icon Motosports is based, the Slabtown jacket is pitched as a three-season street riding jacket. It’s not waterproof, nor is it designed for extremely hot days. But for anything from chilly to warm weather, it works a treat.
Aesthetically, the Slabtown is all business, featuring a slightly subdued take on the urban brawler styling that Icon is famous for. It’s cut with Icon’s ‘sport’ fit, which means it’s boxy rather than tailored, with generous hook-and-loop waist adjusters and pre-curved sleeves. It fits sort of true to Icon’s sizing chart, with the caveat that it leaves a lot of room to layer up (so size down if you want a
figure-hugging fit).
The Slabtown’s construction uses a mix of heavyweight and stretch nylon panels, with extra fabric in high-risk areas. Equipped with a full cache of flexible D30 armor, the jacket rides the line between comfort and safety, offering plenty of articulation while riding, but retaining a hefty feel. Accordion panels behind the elbows add extra flexibility (and an extra hit of retro bike jacket styling), while a slight drop in the tail protects your modesty.
Color-wise, your choices are black, grey, or green (pictured here). Icon’s branding is subtle, with a solid metal logo stitched into the chest and a sublimated logo on the lower back. So while the Slabtown jacket isn’t quite casual enough to pull date night duty, it doesn’t scream for attention.
The quilted vest liner offers a remarkable amount of warmth on colder days. Because it’s sleeveless, it’s a breeze to zip in and out—and it doesn’t make the jacket feel bulky when it’s in use. It’s also compact enough to leave in for crisp morning rides and stow in a backpack as the day warms up.
Ventilation is courtesy of two zippered shoulder vents, two vertical zippered vents at the back, and two-way cuff zippers that let air in via the sleeves. There’s also a clever front vent system that’s engaged by unzipping the main closure and connecting it to a second zipper on a mesh panel. It’s hard to tell if it’s an effective design by itself, but the whole system works well enough when everything’s open—although you do need to contend with the jacket billowing somewhat.
Where the Slabtown skimps, is on fussy frills. The collar is a simple non-adjustable affair with a soft fabric along the ridge that adds comfort; a design that’s repeated at the cuffs. There are two discreet hand warmer pockets at the sides and a Napoleon pocket inside the jacket (with a Saint Christopher medallion tucked inside, as is Icon’s tradition), but not much else.
Whether that’s good or bad depends entirely on your needs. If you like to adjust every last inch of your jacket and stuff your pockets like an over-zealous marsupial with an EDC obsession, this probably isn’t the jacket for you. (And if you’re precious about your bike’s paint job, the exposed YKK zipper on the front will likely put you off.)
But if simplicity is high on your list of must-haves, the Slabtown qualifies. I’ve used it for everything from testing the Yamaha XSR900 GP in moody Portuguese weather, to grabbing it for a day of mixed-terrain adventure riding in South Africa. Like a bowl of porridge fit for a precocious blonde intruder, the Icon Slabtown is not too much, not too little, but just right.
Icon Slabtown jacket | Images by Devin Paisley
