Leather jackets

Daaamn. Thanks, bobofish. Aero has some incredible offerings. If it weren't for the price, I'd be buying a "Hercules" model from them right now.

Alas, I've made my final decision. The 585 from Schott is the design I've fallen in love with. Granted, it's not horsehide, but at least it's a good cowhide and made in the USA. This is the jacket that calls to me.

The price is perfect, and Schott is relatively close by should I need to return or exchange it for proper fit.

Thankyou, all. I've made my decision. Stay tuned for when it blows up in my face! Heh.
 
I don't think you need to have any second thoughts at all, you've picked a great jacket. In all likelihood it will last forever. Just condition it from time to time and hang it up in an airy place after it gets wet. Never keep your keys in the pockets, or they will stretch, and keep it on a good wood coat hanger, or lay it out so that it keeps its shape.

Also from what I hear, Schott customer service is second to none.
 
I have a Foxcreek motorcycle jacket. Incredibly heavy and tough. Don't use it for everyday wear, too heavy. They are a great company to deal with. The transaction isn't done till you're satisfied.


Paul
 
My Schott motorcycle jacket is 33 years old, handed down to me from my uncle. he purchased it in 1976 at the age of 21 from a place in NYC. He gave it to my on my 17th birthday when it no longer fit him. It has seen it's fair share of bar fights, mosh pits, stage dives, and spills. Every scuff and scratch tells a story. And the best thing of all? It still fits.
 

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bobofish said:
Aero makes some amazing jackets, I haven't heard one bad thing about them. They are among the recognized masters in horsehide right now. http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/webapp/aeroleather/servlet/AeroViewPage?page=home they have a US rep that sells on Ebay, just search for Aero Jackets. Expect to spend somewhere around 6-800 but they also have trainee made jackets on their site for around half that. I would suspect that a trainee jacket would still have every bit of the quality with a little less perfection, but right in your price range. One thing to consider is that not all jackets fit all personalities; I personally think Aero makes some great jackets for the art history type. Personally I'm ordering one of their Veste de Rallyes.
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I have owned 4 Aero jackets over the last 20 years and I still have my first one and I wear it often (I wore it today in fact) If you can spring for the extra cost they are awesome.
My 1911 wore a hole in the lining of my Aero bikers jacket and I sent it back to Aero and they re-lined it with a custom leather section were I carried the pistol....15 years ago and it is still there to this day....... Amazing service
I went all the way to the factory in Galashiels in Scotland to order my last one and they custom made it for me.
Buy one you will enjoy it for years.
 
Have had a Fox Creek racing jacket for 3-4 years now---all I can say is that its excellent with a lifetime warranty(which you won't need).

The owner of the place called me before shipping to make sure they had the right size---I ordered it off the net.
 
LLBean has a great traditional A-2 leather jacket. Watch for the sales . I think I paid ~$300, on sale, a few years ago. I got the model without extra insulation. I prefer to be able to adjust the level of warmth by using various weights of fleece vests and liner jackets.
 
mabrowns said:
I have a Brooks motorcycle jacket that's 30 years old and still going strong.
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I had a Brooks jacket that I bought in 1975. Wore it for 20 years gave it to one of my nephews when he started riding. He got about 10 more years
out of it before it literally fell apart. I am not sure they are still in business.
 
Best leather I've worn for about 15 yrs is a San Diego Leather Company Jacket. It is the L.A. Police model A if I recall correctly. They are expensive and made to your measurements. Also this past spring I scored a Walter Dyer mc leather jacket, the Scooter model or something like that. Bought it for less than half price cause they redesigned the jacket and added a zip out liner and were closing out the old style which I bought. Superbly made but again not as heavy duty as the San Diego Leather jacket.

Now I've always wanted a horsehide jacket so this past winter I started looking on ebay. Didn't want to spend over a grand for one so just kept looking. Finally found one a fella sold to me for cheap and I ain't kiddin either. Brown flight jacket with zip out liner and sheepskin collar that detaches. A good horsehide jacket is just a whole different animal when it comes to wearability and just plain tough. Look up Hillside Leather for very good horsehide jackets and San Diego Leather Company for just great leather jackets. keepem sharp
 
Hillside Leather - They have a nice leather jean jacket that can be had in brown. I own several Hillside Leather jackets and a couple of Fox Creek jackets and vests. Both companies will strive to make you happy, products are heavy duty to say the least.
 
I wear a modified San Diego Leather LA Police motor's jacket that has 80k miles on it. Bought it about 23 yrs ago when I bought my current bagger, a Yonkers PD escort bike that escorted 911 Heroes funerals amongst its other duties. I also have a Walter Dyer basic leather that for fact doesn't get that much wear cause the San Diego leather is so friggin nice. stay safe and Merry Xmas to all
 
One of my favorite subjects, and one of my favorite things- leather motorcycle jackets :cool:.

I started riding in 1986, been riding ever since, never used a 4 wheeled vehicle for personal transportation.

This first jacket was a police motorcycle jacket, made by a company in San Diego (where I live). It originally had a badge holder and snapped waist loops for a police belt. I received it heavily-used second-hand from a "retired" biker . It's got a lot of miles and a lot of history, including two knife holes (patches, back and left arm).

This is me wearing the jacket, I pulled it out last year to take these pics for posterity. I "outgrew" it around 2016. I could barely breathe with it on for these pics, even with the lining and liner removed. The "skinny" days of my youth are long over and they ain't comin' back.

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Like I said, I "outgrew" that one, so I bought a new, larger size (who needs to lose weight when you can just buy a larger size 😁). Same exact model, same maker, and I can breathe in it. You don't have to be law enforcement to buy them.

I really like the simple, no-frills style of this jacket. I don't like the Marlon Brando/classic/"Wild One" type of MC jackets with a lot of visible pockets, shoulder epaulets, shiny visible collar/lapel snaps, and a buckled waist belt. Just not my style. I like simple and uncluttered.

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So that's my cool/cold weather jacket. But I ride all year long, hot or cold, and I wear a leather jacket every time I ride no matter what (learned that the hard way), even in 100+ degree temps. So for warm/hot weather riding I wear a fully perforated leather jacket. Unfortunately there aren't many options for fully perforated leather motorcycle jackets, so, being the crafty type, I bought a regular leather jacket (Xelement) and perforated it myself.

I have a lot of experience working with leather, and some amount of experience modifying leather jackets (and I've been sewing since I was in grade school), so I figured I could do it. I removed the lining, and started punching holes. Measuring, marking, and punching each hole one by one. It took me a full week to finish the perforations.

I also had to shorten the sleeves as they were ridiculously long. One pic below shows one sleeve that I shortened and one at it's original length.

I performed several other mods to the original jacket to make it the way I wanted, but you're not here to read a book about jacket modification.


Here's a pic of the finished jacket (dang, these pics make me look fatter than I actually am)

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The sleeves. Who did they make this thing for, an orangutan? The sleeves were actually that long, this pic has not been altered. I'm a normal size guy, 5' 10" in bare feet.

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Like I said, each hole, measured, marked, and punched, one by one. I used up a half dozen silver sharpies. There's a plastic cutting board inside the jacket for the punching.

This is a pic of the back of the jacket.

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This is my favorite though not really most worn leather jacket lately, a 1990 Chicago municipal PD jacket made by Taylor's Leatherwear in Tennessee.
I bought it unissued and patches removed for $250, it was my 1st leather jacket and has sentimental value for a few reasons.
I love the jacket but a good stout leather jacket isn't the most comfortable thing to wear all day so I've worn it less after discovering stuf that wears a bit easier.
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This mid 90's US issue Cooper A2 is my next favorite and most worn leather jacket since getting it back in September.
aside from the practicality and comfort I like knowing that these were basically the last good looking A2's to be issued, in the 2000's they changed the cut and fit to something that looks like an oversized mall jacket on most people.
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I don't think you'll find a more comfortable good quality leather jacket than a good A2 or G1 made with good goatskin.
cheap mall jackets can be comfortable, but while those thin crappy leathers may offer the same comfort they lack durability.
 
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