Casual double rider jacket - SB Oakland, or Aero King of the Road?

[NamoAmituofo]

Very fair comments and sound advice.

To me the aero HWM is a rainy windy cold wintery day jacket (about 70% of the year in London!)

And I just want another jacket for the sunny weather - you know, nice tan glowing under the sun but not baking hot yet (about 10% of the year).

The remaining 20% is sweaty humid cloudy sticky London/Indian summer - t shirt and shorts, or at best linen shirt and shorts. The only occasion I’d wear two layer during this sticky weather is for a wedding (would be unlined linen jacket).

So most likely KoTR in a pinnacle cognac . There is no price info on pinnacle assume it’s not crazy expensive otherwise I’ll go for natural HH CXL

I think natural HH CXL resembles ladies Louis Vuitton handbag handles - started bland, but after lots of wear and sun it develops very nice tan shades

It’s a good day as lots of good thought process going on - bad ideas eliminated - making progress

I’ll post pics of the new aero samples when I get them

 

[Aloysius]

Just to clarify, the KotR will always run warmer than the HWM, regardless of material, because you have much more leather on you, layered and held close to your body.

The HWM with its intentionally boxy fit is probably the closest to a summer wear leather jacket shape that you're going to find.

 

[MrProper]

I can only speak for myself, but the warmer the weather, the lighter it should be for me. If only so that I can carry it easily over my shoulder or arm when it gets too warm to wear it during the day. I think the loud Badalassi is great, but too stiff for that. Vincenza would be fine, but my Crosszip from Vicenza looks too warm for me. At the moment, the only option is the LL Corsair made from veg tanned sheep. For a summer jacket, I would probably go for goat.

 

[TartuWolf]

Starting from 15 Celsius I just switch to a shirt+vest or my denim jacket. Leather jackets get a rest, same as leather boots.

 

[Edward]

Just to clarify, the KotR will always run warmer than the HWM, regardless of material, because you have much more leather on you, layered and held close to your body.

The HWM with its intentionally boxy fit is probably the closest to a summer wear leather jacket shape that you're going to find.

Yeah, light goat HWM with a cotton lining and no storm cuffs would probably be the best option.

I wore a Wested in India in Summer weather (actually February; looking ta locals in Winter coats at 20 Celsius nearly gave me heatstroke). Similar reasoning to this. Similar shape to the HWM, loose enough it, no knits.

Actually, I recall a time when I had both an Aero Goat A2 with the silk-cotton lining, and an Aero AN6552 in the same goathide, but with a satin lining and a mouton collar. The latter was a significantly warmer jacket to wear, the non-breathable satin liner and the mouton collar doing a significant amount of heavy lifting on that front. Surprised me how much difference there was, actually.

 

[El Marro]

Leaving aside the chance of them messing up, at the end of the day you're going to be throwing down 80% of the cost to get a jacket that is not the jacket you wanted. That is the road to regret.

Truer words were never spoken! I have proven this to myself with hand tools, guns, and leather jackets. In almost every case I went back later and bought the item that I truly coveted from the beginning.

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Samples showdown

Left to right,

Row 1 - CXL steer brown, goat rust suede, goat russet

Row 2 - Blattwerk mahogany, badalassi russet, CXL HH natural

Row 3 - mustang natural, Vincenza russet, pinnacle cognac

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Shortlist:
CXL natural VS pinnacle cognac

 

[NamoAmituofo]

 

[Aloysius]

Truer words were never spoken! I have proven this to myself with hand tools, guns, and leather jackets. In almost every case I went back later and bought the item that I truly coveted from the beginning.

Well if you have Cals you're upgrading to Lost Worlds, Colt Government Models you're upgrading to STis, Cimarron SAAs you're upgrading to Colts, let me know.

Shortlist:
CXL natural VS pinnacle cognac

View attachment 610509

To be clear, I'm still strongly warning against the plan to get this thing as a 'summer jacket', but the Pinnacle is going to serve your needs much better. The natural CXL won't turn that rather disgusting meat-red of a "natural veg tan" but it will develop a much different tone, whereas the Pinnacle is going to evolve but within the parameters of the shades you indicate liking.

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Asked Holly why Pinnacle is not available as a customisation option on Aero website - and got the following interesting reply "This isn’t listed for this style as this leather isn’t really the ideal choice for a motorcycle jacket, but we can do it. If you could select ‘I’ll decide later’ when placing your order and we can update this when we get your order. There is a £60 surcharge for this leather."

Its weight is identical to badalassi and vincenza!

 

[Hide'n'seek]

Asked Holly why Pinnacle is not available as a customisation option on Aero website - and got the following interesting reply "This isn’t listed for this style as this leather isn’t really the ideal choice for a motorcycle jacket, but we can do it. If you could select ‘I’ll decide later’ when placing your order and we can update this when we get your order. There is a £60 surcharge for this leather."

Its weight is identical to badalassi and vincenza!

Weight has nothing to do with it, it is the very soft handle and drape that make it in our opinion not as suited to a Motorcyle jacket / cross zip style that works best in a leather that has a little more structure to it, rather than just draping .
This is why it isn't available as a "drop down" option, we can use it but we need to discuss it and make you aware of our concerns. If we simply have every option showing it becomes "build a bear" and we end up with all sorts of questionable combinations of materials and styles

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Thank you for the clarification! It would be a motocycle jacket for non-riding wear for sure

My 'quest' for a tan KoTR started after reading/following this post https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...-hh-j-106-kotr-indian-mix-biker-jacket.97528/

It so amazed me a seemingly 'bland' initial look of CXL natural HH, could develop such a nice patina from heavy wear and exposure to elements https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...106-kotr-indian-mix-biker-jacket.97528/page-6

 

[Hide'n'seek]

Thank you for the clarification! It would be a motocycle jacket for non-riding wear for sure

My 'quest' for a tan KoTR started after reading/following this post https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...-hh-j-106-kotr-indian-mix-biker-jacket.97528/

It so amazed me a seemingly 'bland' initial look of CXL natural HH, could develop such a nice patina from heavy wear and exposure to elements https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...106-kotr-indian-mix-biker-jacket.97528/page-6

Natural Chrxl is far from bland, it develops it's own unique and beautiful character, like many of our leathers. It is up to you to do the hard work and make the jacket your own, they give back what you put in to it, the more you wear it the more dramatic and beautiful the change. If you only wear it on a sunday if the weather if fine it is going to take a long time to break in / develop character. If you wear it often and wear it in all weathers, don't baby it the results can be special.

Take those samples and really work them in your hands , scrunch them up feel them , see how they can change , i know it's hard with a small square to try and picture the end result.

"The worst your Aero will ever look is the day you get it "

 

[Canuck Panda]

Non rigid hide like Pinnacle will drape like deerskin but it will look a bit slouchy on a moto cross zip no matter how thick the leather is. The zipper will also sag (the metal teeth will weigh down on the soft leather) and create a wavy look while the other seams stays straight. The belt also doesn't work well when the leather is too soft. When wore open the soft hide will amplify the slouchy look,

The more rigid hides will give a cleaner look,

As much as I like the Pinnacle hide, I think if you are dead set on the KOTR design, then either Badalassi or CXL is the better option in the long run.

There is also the action pleats on the back of the KOTR, if the leather is too soft, even thick, the "ears" will flip out on day 2 from the elastic tension. Maybe a belt-less, pleat-less, snap-less cross zip design can work with the softer leather without looking too slouchy, but that's too many customization at this point...

I find myself in this cycle a lot, dreaming of a custom jacket and then back to square one...

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Non rigid hide like Pinnacle will drape like deerskin but it will look a bit slouchy on a moto cross zip no matter how thick the leather is. The zipper will also sag (the metal teeth will weigh down on the soft leather) and create a wavy look while the other seams stays straight. The belt also doesn't work well when the leather is too soft. When wore open the soft hide will amplify the slouchy look,
View attachment 610763

The more rigid hides will give a cleaner look,
View attachment 610764

As much as I like the Pinnacle hide, I think if you are dead set on the KOTR design, then either Badalassi or CXL is the better option in the long run.

There is also the action pleats on the back of the KOTR, if the leather is too soft, even thick, the "ears" will flip out on day 2 from the elastic tension. Maybe a belt-less, pleat-less, snap-less cross zip design can work with the softer leather without looking too slouchy, but that's too many customization at this point...

I find myself in this cycle a lot, dreaming of a custom jacket and then back to square one...

Thank you - I really appreciate this - this forum is amazing. Will place the order in CXL natural HH

 

[Edward]

If we simply have every option showing it becomes "build a bear" and we end up with all sorts of questionable combinations of materials and styles

The 'build a bear' reference did make me chuckle. I remember a time when Ken came back to sort things out in 2012 and he had for a bit a Windward with a mandarin collar, to which he'd added a warning label of sorts. It surely pays to listen to those who know what works and what doesn't!

 

[Marc mndt]

There is also the action pleats on the back of the KOTR, if the leather is too soft, even thick, the "ears" will flip out on day 2 from the elastic tension.

Which isn't necessarily a bad look imo. It's standard on vintage Buco's .

 

[NamoAmituofo]

Order placed! Thank you everyone! What a quest it has been!

I can sleep better now

And to quote from the koi hobby - let this be the last jacket (fish) I buy

That means I can stop looking at the Classfied ads now!!

With 3 jackets - already 1 too many - @Monitor your super weight white CR is still making way from Canada to me, I may have to make a call which is a keeper - between it and the HWM - I anticipate the super weight CR would be warmer in winter.

But then again my wife said she really likes the HWM!

So possibly keep all 3

Now I can't sleep again - can't stop thinking of my greed / sin

 

[Aloysius]

Thank you - I really appreciate this - this forum is amazing. Will place the order in CXL natural HH

You can ask if they might be able to tumble the hide for you.