Aaron Rivers, Chief Reviewer

Aaron Rivers is MotoGearRater's Chief Reviewer. He has been riding for 28 years and currently rides a 2026 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special.

The trade behind the reviews

Before joining MotoGearRater in January 2026, Aaron spent 13 years working as a professional leather craftsman. That trade background is what he brings to a review. He reads a jacket, vest or glove the way a maker does, looking at the stitching, the construction, the hardware and the finishing, and at how those choices decide whether a piece holds up over years or comes apart in one season.

It is a useful way to look at gear, because most of what separates a jacket that lasts twenty years from one that lasts two is invisible in a product photo. It sits in the seam construction, the thread, the lining and the hardware, and someone who has cut and sewn leather for a living can see it in person in about a minute.

What he covers

Aaron reviews motorcycle jackets, vests and gloves. He looks at the same things on every piece: what the material actually is, how the seams are built, what the hardware is and whether it will still work after a few wet seasons, and whether the fit works on a bike rather than on a hanger.

Riding

Twenty-eight years on the road, currently on a 2026 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special. Gear that works in a shop and fails at highway speed is gear that does not work, and the riding is how that gets caught.

Editorial standards

How MotoGearRater is funded, our commercial relationships, and how our content is produced are all set out in our Affiliate Disclosure and Editorial Standards. If you find an error in something Aaron has written, tell us and we will correct it.