Black Lambskin Motorcycle jacket sugestions?

[chamburger1]

Hi I'm looking for a black motorcycle jacket made of preferably lamb as its lighter weight. If anyone has any experience with that style, would like to spend below 400$ closer to 200$ is ideal.

 

[Smithy]

Hi I'm looking for a black motorcycle jacket made of preferably lamb as its lighter weight. If anyone has any experience with that style, would like to spend below 400$ closer to 200$ is ideal.

If you're going to use it for riding, I wouldn't pick lamb that's for jolly sure. Heavy weight horsehide or steerhide all the way.

If it's just a non-riding jacket you're after in a light weight leather, they're a dime a dozen on eBay. Sorry for not being more specific but not exactly my area of either interest or expertise.

Someone here might be able to prod you in the right direction though.

 

[Harris HTM]

Hi I'm looking for a black motorcycle jacket made of preferably lamb as its lighter weight. If anyone has any experience with that style, would like to spend below 400$ closer to 200$ is ideal.

I don't ride but I would be reluctant to use lambskin.

 

[chamburger1]

I don't ride but I would be reluctant to use lambskin.

If you're going to use it for riding, I wouldn't pick lamb that's for jolly sure. Heavy weight horsehide or steerhide all the way.

If it's just a non-riding jacket you're after in a light weight leather, they're a dime a dozen on eBay. Sorry for not being more specific but not exactly my area of either interest or expertise.

Someone here might be able to prod you in the right direction though.

Thanks you to the both of you. Its definitely not for riding. I like the style but I am looking for something a little lighter than the horsehide I have now. I was hoping someone could direct me to brands that are good quality, did a search here and didn't find too much.

 

[Harris HTM]

Thanks you to the both of you. Its definitely not for riding. I like the style but I am looking for something a little lighter than the horsehide I have now. I was hoping someone could direct me to brands that are good quality, did a search here and didn't find too much.

If you don't need it for riding then I think Schott produces a lambskin MC jacket, though I guess it will be more expensive than what you are looking for. Other lightweight leathers are goatskin, jerky horsehide, battered steerhide (see the aero site) etc. Good luck!

 

[handymike]

Lewis Leathers uses a nice quality Lamb. Most other makers around here use Goat for a lightweight jacket. It is a very durable leather, but doesn't get the aged look as quickly as horsehide. Oops, Harris is quicker than me

 

[kronos77]

I think with your requirements, you might be better off checking out Lucky Brand. I shop there for jeans and shirts and I always notice some leathers on the rack. They are usually in your price range and weight requirements. They even have some Schott made jackets that go on sale for 40% off. Wait for the sales!

San Diego leather FActory has some lower priced jackets in various styles and leathers. Quality is suspect compared to the favored brands here, but you will only get what you pay for.

Other option...filmjackets.com. These guys make all sorts of jackets based on models worn in films. I actually tried contacting them and got no response a while back, but it doesn't hurt to fire off an emeil.

 

[handymike]

I didn't notice your price criteria earlier. I think the used market might be the way to go. Better quality for your $$

 

[tropicalbob]

I'd sworn off lambskin years ago, but recently Tmitchell of this forum was offering a 1940's either lamb or capeskin in this incredibly cool style, very like a fitted Highwayan with zipped sleeves, irridescent satin lining, and beautifully grained leather. It was so nice my wife grabbed it. You might want to keep an eye out on Etsy and Ebay for something from that time period.

 

[navetsea]

for that price range you really need to look at 3rd world country manufacturer/ maker to get the best quality for the price, 2 yrs ago I only spent half your minimum budget to buy my sheep leather/skin jacket measured to my size, modified design, and custom color dyed 0.7mm sheepskin from one of the local online shop sites in my country

when it was new

now after 2yrs

 

[ton312]

Honestly I wouldn't recommend a lamb skin jacket...for any purpose. My wife has spent $$$ on designer lamb skin and it literally crumbles after a few years of regular use. And her use is simply daily wear. I think navetsea's jacket is the exception to the rule, in general, that it's an extremely fragile hide. Not to say it doesn't look good but there's a diminishing return on its life. A vintage goat, steer even horse will give you many times over more returns on your investment and spare you the weight concerns of the heavier hides that are popular and expensive around here. They're out there, but you'll need to put some hours in to find your jacket.

 

[navetsea]

mine was a sheep... so probably it was a street-tough grownass lamb dad or something.

 

[tropicalbob]

It would be interesting to hear from someone knowledgeable on the subject. The jacket I mentioned above is light as a feather, beautifully grained, and doesn't have a nick or scrape on it, and it's from about 1946. As we saw recently on the Finnish Jackets thread, lambskin was used almost exclusively there during the war and the jackets were very sturdy. Just guessing, but I wouldn't be surprised if the tissue-like consistency of today's lambskin jackets isn't simply due to the overall cheapness of materials in all garments today. Look at what's passing for wool at Jcrew and Banana Republic.

 

[Skyhawk]

We have a nice 2.25 oz lambskin in black available at Headwind Mfg Co. It has a nice matte chrome tanned finish. It is no doubt the softest leather I have ever handled. This hide should hold up for many years of wear. It is not as robust as Steer, Horse, or Goat. I would say it is similar to thin Capeskin or Sheep, but being softer it will stretch much easier than the other hides. I don't see this hide falling apart with wear but it will most likely break in faster and may stretch quite a bit over the long hall. We can build you a custom lambskin M/C style jacket. The price would depend on the design and materials. We may be able to do it for between $500 - $600 / depending on the jacket.

Here is a sample of the Chrome tanned black 2.25 oz Lambskin on top of black 3.5 oz Capeskin. Also pictured are our black snaps and black 100% wool knits:

 

[Harris HTM]

Hi I'm looking for a black motorcycle jacket made of preferably lamb as its lighter weight. If anyone has any experience with that style, would like to spend below 400$ closer to 200$ is ideal.

It just crossed my mind: you can check Wested. they are cheap, offer a wide range of hides and styles and I think they do customization. I have never come across any of their jackets but I haven't seen any negative review.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I also suggest you contact Wested. They are very reasonable for custom work and will make you whatever you want if they don't have it... and they're not in a third-world country. No, their jackets aren't mega-tough mil-spec or heavy duty moto armor, but they are very serviceable in ordinary use. I love my lambskin Raiders jacket... and when I tore the back panel, they repaired it FOR FREE.

http://www.wested.com/

 

[Edward]

It just crossed my mind: you can check Wested. they are cheap, offer a wide range of hides and styles and I think they do customization. I have never come across any of their jackets but I haven't seen any negative review.

Wested aren't a bad option. They do a range of bike jackets, mostly in the classic Perfecto type style, and variants thereof:

http://www.wested.com/bikers-world-14-c.asp

I've never handled any of their bike jackets, but the stuff of theirs I have seen was all very nice. Not on a par with the premium makers, quite - just not as 'finished' or 'classy' - but at a fraction of the price, and still perfectly respectable jackets. The only thing that I'd be wary of looking at their bike jackets online is that some of them look on the long side to my eye. You'll often find that modern production bike jackets look oddly proportioned as they have been elongated for the guys who buy bikes you have to lie down on to ride, pulling the jacket up. That said, I'm looking at jackets that aren't being worn, so it's hard to tell, really, just what they're like. Wested do do some stuff made to measure for astoundingly little, too. They have a range of hides across their offerings, though you might have to ask them about availability of those in the biker range; with these being imported from suppliers overseas, it may or may not be possible to order one up in your choice of hide. They do have a specific model of 'biker style' jacket in lamb, though it's a ladies' model specifically (I don't know the gender of the OP, so just flagging this up).

A little bit of a jump-up in price, but still well within the OP's budget, there are lots of places in the UK selling bike leathers to the motorcycle crowd - see, for instance, - https://www.bikersparadise.co.uk/Cruiser-Motorcycle-Clothing.html - anything labelled "lightwieght" or "Summer" leather might be worth looking at.

Overall, though, OP is probably best off looking in the US itself, as there are bound to be many more, cheaper jackets there, which are also a soft hide. Lambskin won't be hard to find in fashion wear - though slightly harder in men's stuff, I think, than in the women's fashion ranges (where virtually all leather is lambskin in my experience). Personally, I'd be wary of lambskin from a durability pov, but I'm a bit of a clumsy-ass, so that may not apply. For a lighter leather, my preference is typically goat, but I can't think of anywhre at the cheaper end of the scale offering bike jackets in goat.

Schott do lambskin versions of the Perfecto, though at a significantly higher price than the OP's budget (even in the US, where they're a much more sensible price than in the UK!). Worth keeping an eye on the used market.

Maybe also have a look at the "cosplay" suppliers that can be found all over eBay? One of them must be doing a bike-style jacket of the type desired - typically they use lamb to keep the price down, as they're really fancy-dress jackets that won't ever be worn on a bike.

Another option, if you can stretch to it, might be the revivied Mascot brand - they are ,I think, Cowhide, but again a fairly light one (as was normal for British bike jackets back in the 60s) - http://www.mascotleathers.com/ (I see they've expanded the range by one leather jacket and three non-leather since last I looked. I'm oddly tempted by that Monzaesque one in Cordura....). GBP299.

Aero have a similar blue now. Kind of denim. Would look great on a Board Racer or similar.

I actually rather fancy the look of that on the Original 59er HWM model; great Ace Cafe rocker kinda vibe to it.

mine was a sheep... so probably it was a street-tough grownass lamb dad or something.

I'd be interested to see sheep leather. Lewis have long offered two main options - cow, or lighter sheep (I believe they now do horse too). The sheep is reputedly much tougher than lamb, while still light - by reputation, it sounds a lot like goat, except with a smoother appearance. I don't have any direct experience, though - save to say that the first time I handled a Lewis I was very surprised at how light and soft it seemed, compared to the bike jackets I was used to.

 

[Superfluous]

Rag & Bone lamb motorcycle jacket:

 

[bn1966]

I have been mostly wearing my Cape A-1 jacket this week

 

[AeroFan_07]

These guys have done a good job covering this topic, however there's a few things I should point out after having a couple lambskin jackets over the years. First, lambskin won't be any "cooler" to wear on a warm, sunny day than cow or horsehide if in a similar color and type, as most of these will be black. Also since most lambskin jackets are "fashion" oriented, they also tend to come with at least some type of insulation "fixed" into the jacket. [Polyfill, Thinsulate, etc] Some, such as many of the Wilson's models had zip-out poly-fill liners. These would also not be comfortable in warmer enviroments.

That said there were several models of jackets produced in the later 80's to early '90's that were made of a very thin type of cowhide, it wasn't lamb, and not of a riding quality of thickness. That may be something to look for. Or do a search for the Harley Davidson Basic Skins jacket I did a review on here, that's a moderate-priced piece that is very flexible, has no insulation, breaks in quickly and easily and just gets more an more comfortable. Plenty of those still out there [used, not in production anymore] and just a simple, basic jacket.