Another MC jacket inbound

[ton312]

Any clue as to the maker after handling it? Leather looks good and fairly substantial.

 

[Guppy]

Any clue as to the maker after handling it? Leather looks good and fairly substantial.

I'm afraid not... there wasn't much to go on. The "Special leather cleaner only" tag reminds me a bit of Cal Leather's tags, but there's no way this is a Cal jacket... I'm stumped.

 

[Guppy]

Additional fit pics, with shirt tucked in:

 

[ton312]

Additional fit pics, with shirt tucked in:
View attachment 56823
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Looks good. Maybe a California Creations jacket or San Diego leather? Doesn't really matter but it's fun to try and figure it out. The zip pulls are unique. Are they branded with a makers name?

 

[Guppy]

Looks good. Maybe a California Creations jacket or San Diego leather? Doesn't really matter but it's fun to try and figure it out. The zip pulls are unique. Are they branded with a makers name?

There's nowhere on the pulls where you could stamp a name. On t he back of the slider on the main zip, it's stamped YKK. There's a photo showing that upthread.

I don't think it's California Creations; I've handled one of their jackets. This is about that level of quality, in terms of leather, I would say. But all the California Creations jackets I've seen have had circular elbow panels that look like patches on the sleeves, and this doesn't have those.

I'm not familiar with San Diego leather, so I can't comment there, but I can try to find info on them.

It kindof does matter, to me, because if I could figure out who made it, I might be able to assess what it's worth, and see about getting one made in an even heavier leather. When I pick this one up, and my Cal Leather CHP jacket in the same hand, it feels about the weight of my old TRD. (And that Cal is *heavy* by itself). By itself, this one isn't what I'd consider lightweight, but it's not super heavy, either -- I'd call it a midweight leather, although it does feel thick despite not feeling very heavy.

 

[ton312]

There's nowhere on the pulls where you could stamp a name. On t he back of the slider on the main zip, it's stamped YKK. There's a photo showing that upthread.

I don't think it's California Creations; I've handled one of their jackets. This is about that level of quality, in terms of leather, I would say. But all the California Creations jackets I've seen have had circular elbow panels that look like patches on the sleeves, and this doesn't have those.

I'm not familiar with San Diego leather, so I can't comment there, but I can try to find info on them.

It kindof does matter, to me, because if I could figure out who made it, I might be able to assess what it's worth, and see about getting one made in an even heavier leather. When I pick this one up, and my Cal Leather CHP jacket in the same hand, it feels about the weight of my old TRD. (And that Cal is *heavy* by itself). By itself, this one isn't what I'd consider lightweight, but it's not super heavy, either -- I'd call it a midweight leather, although it does feel thick despite not feeling very heavy.

Like you said it's most def not a Cal. I've had a couple and never saw one in this style, more the traditional CHP with them. San Diego has been around for quite awhile, the new stuff isn't any good but the older stuff is alright. Stuff like this, without a known or identifiable makers mark is always tough to turn a profit on. Good luck with it. If nothing else you've got a nice looking jacket.

 

[Guppy]

Like you said it's most def not a Cal. I've had a couple and never saw one in this style, more the traditional CHP with them. San Diego has been around for quite awhile, the new stuff isn't any good but the older stuff is alright. Stuff like this, without a known or identifiable makers mark is always tough to turn a profit on. Good luck with it. If nothing else you've got a nice looking jacket.

Looking at the San Diego Leather Factory's website, it doesn't look like they have much anything of interest, just a lot of deeply discounted jackets that look like typical cheap mass produced stuff made not-in-the-USA. Only a few examples I could find of more vintage jackets from them that I could find on eBay, only one of which was an MC jacket, and didn't look at all like this one... so I'm guessing likely that's not it either.

As far as turning a profit, I only paid about $50 for it, so I'm not worried about the money, and if I did sell it on at some point, I'm sure I can get that much for it. I'm considering it a keeper for now, if nothing else it can be used to show a maker exactly the pattern my old beloved jacket was, and for that matter, you're right, it does look good on me. It's not by any means a bad jacket itself. If I didn't previously own a 10-lb version of this that I'm obsessive about, I'd probably think this one was just fine.

If I wanted, I bet I could I re-do the zipper pulls, grommets, and snaps, and belt buckle in real solid brass, and have a new removable liner made for it, and call it close enough.

 

[feltfan]

Nice jacket, good fit! I'd spend $50 just for that gorgeous zipped inside pocket!

I think you should send a couple of photos to Alan at Johnson Leathers to see if
he either knows or built it. Assuming he's not lurking here and can contact you
directly.

 

[Guppy]

Nice jacket, good fit! I'd spend $50 just for that gorgeous zipped inside pocket!

I think you should send a couple of photos to Alan at Johnson Leathers to see if
he either knows or built it. Assuming he's not lurking here and can contact you
directly.

I read in another thread that Johnson is one of the premier jacket makers who will do full custom work and even copy a customers jacket. I had the thought of approaching them with an inquiry. I have not seen one of their jackets in person but it seems they have a strong reputation here.

 

[TREEMAN]

I read in another thread that Johnson is one of the premier jacket makers who will do full custom work and even copy a customers jacket. I had the thought of approaching them with an inquiry. I have not seen one of their jackets in person but it seems they have a strong reputation here.

A Johnson jacket will be a must for me in the near future......

 

[Edward]

Wow. Racist too?

How in the world do you get 'racist' out of that?

This seems to be a paradigm example of the old "two nations, separated by a common language" trope. US-based folks, in my experience, have often never encountered the UK/European usage of the abbrieviation of "Pakistani" that was originally used in the thread. Here in the UK, however, (and to a large extent across much of Europe), it is both used and perceived as an equivalent of calling an African American the 'N' word. While I'm sure that the original usage was entirely innocent (this is not the first time I've encountered this on an online forum - I remember it coming up similarly on a guitar forum years ago), I would suggest that our US forumites now aware of that be careful with it, given both our already large European membership on TFL, and our increasing visibility online more generally. It would be a shame to have ill-feeling around here over this, however innocently offence can be caused.

Edited to add: A few replies to this thread have been removed and everything tidied up so we can move on past the misunderstanding. Thanks, folks!

 

[Edward]

On the issue of Pakistani leathers more generally.... Pakistani-made leather goods have been imported into the UK for decades now. I remember back in the Eighties, when large UK cities would regularly have several retail stores selling only fashion-leathers, all made in Pakistan; I know several streets in East London which are dominated by wholesale businesses selling the same (a lot of wholesalers of clothes of all sorts round where I live now). A lot of more affordable motorcycle leathers being sold by smaller brands in the UK are also made in Pakistan - cheaper than the UK, obviously, for labour. In my experience, Pakistani manufacturing is much like Chinese manufacturing: they can indeed produce the good stuff, but given that they are primarily hired to produce the cheap stuff, you'll find a lot of manufacturing down to a priceline. I've had a few MIP jackets over the years that were perfectly wearable, though they'd never be on the level of an Aero, Goodwear, w.h.y.. I tend to find the stuff produced specficially as motorcycle wear tends to be higher in quality - in part, becasue they have the budget for it (you're looking at a £200 jacket instead of a £50 fashion-Brando-style option). I'm sure it also helps to keep the price down that they are usually made to a limited range of classic designs in bulk, rather than chasing fashion.

FWIW, I've also in my time had a couple of cheaper jackets "Made in USA", which were comparable to the better Pakistani-made jackets. Not on a par with the sort of stuff we favour here, but certainly plenty-wearable. Where they both cut corners of course would be the hide might not be perfectly matched, zips would be big, chunky, and aluminium (mind you, I never had an alu YKK fail on me, so), and the lining wouldn't be all that on a quality front.

That all said.... TL/DR: I wouldn't assume that being made in Pakistan would necessarily render a leather jacket rubbish, though the relative quality won't be up there with what we tend to prefer as "the best" round here.

A Johnson jacket will be a must for me in the near future......

Johnson make very nice stuff indeed. I have a Johnson D-pocket that I got second hand. Nice, sturdy but not crazy-heavy, steerhide (comparable to Aeros and Schotts I've owned). Build seems solid, all hardware (I think aluminium) works well. The jacket itself is definitely cut for wearing on a bike - it's a little longer than the likes of my Schott (noticeably so to wear - I'd say it's maybe 2" longer in the body, and a touch longer in sleeves than my 618), feels the same length as my Bootlegger on, actually. Looks great, though, and oesn'tb throw off the visual balance (as a lot of these modern, elongated versions of classic mc styles can do). I hear their CS is great - an't say, as I didn't deal direct with them - but if my jacket is indicative of the kind of quality they can put out, then they really are very nice. I'd rate it a little ahead of the Schott jackets I've owned / handled, and I do like Schott.

 

[Edward]

Some fit pics taken with the aid of a mirror and a selfie stick:
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More to come.

Nice find, Guppy; looks like a good fit on you, too. Snug, but not too small - just about right for this sort of bike jacket, IMO. Interesting to see it actually on - the elongated kidney panel doesn't sit so far down the body as I'd imagined. Interesting to see this feature appearing in US jackets; I assume it appeared in the US market around the same time British, European and Japanese style bikes with a more 'crouched over' rider position started to become popular over there?

 

[Guppy]

Nice find, Guppy; looks like a good fit on you, too. Snug, but not too small - just about right for this sort of bike jacket, IMO. Interesting to see it actually on - the elongated kidney panel doesn't sit so far down the body as I'd imagined. Interesting to see this feature appearing in US jackets; I assume it appeared in the US market around the same time British, European and Japanese style bikes with a more 'crouched over' rider position started to become popular over there?

I can't say when it originated, but I did see this style in the 1990s, which is when I first started to become aware of biker jackets. It seemed more commonplace then, but still less common than the more standard Perfecto style. I heard them called the "long back" style back then. I bought mine in 2002, and I felt at the time that it was THE jacket as far as I was concerned. The wider kidney panel seemed more reinforced, and very unlikely to ride up the back if you were sliding down the pavement.

They seem to be far less common now, at least judging by how often I've seen them sold (I've been looking since 2012, and have seen, maybe, two like this in all that time).

This style of jacket always seemed to be associated with Harley/cruiser riders, not sportsbike riders, who mostly wore what we called "clown suits" ;-) But I mostly saw them worn by people who were more into hard rock, heavy metal, punk, or industrial music.

 

[Edward]

This style of jacket always seemed to be associated with Harley/cruiser riders, not sportsbike riders, who mostly wore what we called "clown suits" ;-) But I mostly saw them worn by people who were more into hard rock, heavy metal, punk, or industrial music.

I guess tose style associations work well with this sort of thing. "Clownsuits" is funny. I call 'em Power Rangers. Interesting these are mostly worn with upright-seating position bikes.... still, I imagine the extra panel helps in the event of a spill.

 

[Guppy]

I found a possible match for the jacket, at this web site, but it's out of stock and the pictures are terrible, and it doesn't really identify a manufacturer.

http://www.dynamicleather.com/8118 Authentic Highway Patrol Jacket.htm

I can't even tell whether the hardware is silver or brass. It doesn't look exactly like the one I have (different zipper pulls, inside pocket configuration) or the one I used to have, but it's again very close to the pattern, with the long back, side laces, full belt, etc.

My guess is it's a cheap copy of a copy of the pattern that I had -- most of these no-name "buffalo leather" jackets tend to be you-get-what-you-pay-for quality.

 

[davyjones007]

That is a great looking and fitting jacket jacket. Excellent find.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Guppy, looking at your new jacket reminds me a lot of my Gibson & Barnes Coronado. It's not exact however even the zippers & thier pulls are very similar. The "grain" of your leather also looks quite similar too. The most major area of differance is the heft of this 4.25 ounce cowhide jacket. With the zip-in vest liner installed it's right under 11.0 pounds. Serious heft, and density. Almost too heavy to wear often. Mine is a 46T (tall) and even at that the front just barely covers my belt, where the back is longer as motorcycle jackets ought to be. The lining isn't standard either, its a comfortable but very durable polyester based lining. This is a California Police jacket through and through, however with such size and weight, I don't know how anyone could wear it in California, even in the "winter."

I did buy this new, but on clearnace from Gibson & Barnes about 5 years back. It's still not broken in and I do use it as a winter jacket. Here's a photo

 

[Guppy]

Guppy, looking at your new jacket reminds me a lot of my Gibson & Barnes Coronado. It's not exact however even the zippers & thier pulls are very similar. The "grain" of your leather also looks quite similar too. The most major area of differance is the heft of this 4.25 ounce cowhide jacket. With the zip-in vest liner installed it's right under 11.0 pounds. Serious heft, and density. Almost too heavy to wear often. Mine is a 46T (tall) and even at that the front just barely covers my belt, where the back is longer as motorcycle jackets ought to be. The lining isn't standard either, its a comfortable but very durable polyester based lining. This is a California Police jacket through and through, however with such size and weight, I don't know how anyone could wear it in California, even in the "winter."

I did buy this new, but on clearnace from Gibson & Barnes about 5 years back. It's still not broken in and I do use it as a winter jacket. Here's a photo

View attachment 56987

How about some side and rear views?

 

[Guppy]

I found a possible match for the jacket, at this web site, but it's out of stock and the pictures are terrible, and it doesn't really identify a manufacturer.

http://www.dynamicleather.com/8118 Authentic Highway Patrol Jacket.htm

I can't even tell whether the hardware is silver or brass. It doesn't look exactly like the one I have (different zipper pulls, inside pocket configuration) or the one I used to have, but it's again very close to the pattern, with the long back, side laces, full belt, etc.

My guess is it's a cheap copy of a copy of the pattern that I had -- most of these no-name "buffalo leather" jackets tend to be you-get-what-you-pay-for quality.

I have another candidate for who might have made the Goodwill jacket: Highway Leather.

http://www.highwayleather.com/men-m...highway-patrol-leather-motorcycle-jacket.html