I like short sleeves and I cannot lie...

[Monitor]

This.
I never understood the "you need long sleeves to ride".
If your wear short gloves you will never be able to create a tight seal between gloves and jacket, even if the sleeves are knuckle long and you try to shove the glove inside the sleeve you will still get wind/rain coming in.

As you said the only way to get a tight seal is gauntlets going over the sleeves.
If you try to do that with knuckle long sleeves they will push on your glove and be a pain, whereas shorter sleeves will fit great inside a gauntlet and create a good seal.

All the jackets i ride in have this kind of sleeve length and i have not once felt that i neede and extra 2 or 3 inches to cover my wrists when riding.
The only decision is shorty gloves if it is warm or gauntlet gloves if it is cold or raining...

IMO any longer becomes a pain on and off the bike.

Absolutely. For riding; Sleeves with tight closure under gauntlets (another thing I can't stand on a jacket is sleeve zips that don't do nothing) or just actual riding gloves, which are virtually all made slightly longer by default & for that very reason.

And also, have you noticed how on most jackets with stupidly long sleeves, you sit on a bike and you still end up with naked wrists?

It's always the jacket, never the sleeves.

Oh, and I just gotta add that this is a perfect sleeve length if I had ever seen one and exactly how I want my jackets to look like right now.

 

[JMax]

I dunno, my apes are pretty high. Sometimes the pattern requires longer sleeves for it to work for me. But as you say, if the pattern is right the sleeves should not need to be longer. Some of my Vanson, the Force is the perfect example, seal like a mofo. And the pattern on me is spot on. No matter what I’m doing, sleeves hit right at the wrist. Perfect. I don’t need no gauntlets or gloves or mittens.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Here's my sleeve sweet spot for me.....

 

[Will Zach]

^^
This is what the OP hates with passion... Different strokes I guess. I think short sleeves can look cool, but my hands somehow feel naked in them. More importantly for me though, I prefer my sleeves NARROW...

 

[MrProper]

The question is always: what is short? What is long?
That is certainly very individual.
For me, the same applies to sleeves as to pants: if they are a little shorter, then they must be tight. Wide and short does not work for me at all.

 

[Ugly Genius]

I think that a person’s physique dictates ideal sleeve length to an extent.
Thinner guys can pull off short sleeves, but look like their wearing the wrong sized jacket even if only the sleeves are too long.
A larger person can pull off the longer sleeves in many cases, but short sleeves make it appear as if they’re stuffed into the jacket.

This is just a generalization on my part and there are many exceptions that I’ve seen, but its like the third criteria I parse through when checking fits.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Thinner guys can pull off short sleeves, but look like their wearing the wrong sized jacket even if only the sleeves are too long...

That would be me. I dislike the feeling of having the ends of the sleeves anywhere near my wrists, and much prefer them long enough to hang approximately at my knuckles. You're absolutely right, it looks like I'm wearing someone else's jacket, but that's what is most comfortable for me. And no, I'm not a rider and have never owned a motorcycle, much to my dismay.

 

[navetsea]

I have different sleeve length between my jackets, purely for variation. I like longer sleeve on cafe racer-esque looking jacket, I also like shorter sleeve ending at the wrist for more "rebel/ rockstar whatever" look on crosszip and denim jacket style, after washing one of my off the rack denim jacket has its sleeve shrank a bit higher not at my wrist bone anymore, but it is fading and look the part . however the opening should be tapering close to my wrist.

 

[bn1966]

With the OP and some others on this one, can’t stand long (to me) sleeves on my jackets, have them all either ordered shorter if made to order or tailor shortened if an off the shelf buy.

I ride in an up right position my steed being a Vespa, my main riding leather is a vintage Brooks CR and I had the sleeves shortened. Mainly worn with short summer gloves, I wear Gortex lined gauntlets for adverse weather and a better seal.

 

[ton312]

Of course it’s totally down to personal taste. I have an “acceptable tolerance” for sleeve length and so long as the jacket fits into that range, I’m happy. If they are either too short or too long, I’m not happy.
Too short: (borderline but they felt it)

Too long:

In the “acceptable range”:

One thing I’ve learned, the sleeve length and even shoulder width numbers don’t always tell the whole story. I have resigned to the belief that there is no escaping “getting lucky” with regard to fit. I don’t the exact percentage and as much as I am a student of the numbers…luck is an inescapable truth.

 

[Marc mndt]

As long as the jacket looks good as a whole, I don't care too much about sleeve length.

 

[Edward]

First of all, "vintage" is an extremely broad term. Not all jackets and wearing/style preferences were the same during the "vintage" era (which most people would consider 1920s-1970s for leather jackets roughly.)

Indeed. Also, not all people were the same. Easy to forget sometimes that we're all in a niche where there's the option of having a jacket made to measure. Many more people throughout history simply wore what was available that they could afford. Even as relatively recently as the 70s... Joey Ramone didn't choose jackets as short on him as this:

He was - depending on whom you talk to - somewhere between 6'3" and 6'5", very skinny, and not much fitted him quite right. Notably, later on as there was a little more money (though they were never rich rock stars), his jackets improve in fit...

This.
I never understood the "you need long sleeves to ride".
If your wear short gloves you will never be able to create a tight seal between gloves and jacket, even if the sleeves are knuckle long and you try to shove the glove inside the sleeve you will still get wind/rain coming in.

As you said the only way to get a tight seal is gauntlets going over the sleeves.
If you try to do that with knuckle long sleeves they will push on your glove and be a pain, whereas shorter sleeves will fit great inside a gauntlet and create a good seal.

All the jackets i ride in have this kind of sleeve length and i have not once felt that i neede and extra 2 or 3 inches to cover my wrists when riding.
The only decision is shorty gloves if it is warm or gauntlet gloves if it is cold or raining...

IMO any longer becomes a pain on and off the bike.

Yip. If you've got long gauntlets that come up over the sleeve (surely the sensible way around, so the wind doesn't hurtle up your arm - and getting a sleeve in there is surely why zipps to snug 'em up to the wrist is why they were invented in the first place), you don't need the sleeve covering half the hand.

I like the proportions on Brando here:

(Slightly shorter glove that a full gauntlet, but still.)

I dunno, my apes are pretty high. Sometimes the pattern requires longer sleeves for it to work for me. But as you say, if the pattern is right the sleeves should not need to be longer. Some of my Vanson, the Force is the perfect example, seal like a mofo. And the pattern on me is spot on. No matter what I’m doing, sleeves hit right at the wrist. Perfect. I don’t need no gauntlets or gloves or mittens.

Riding position is definitely an issue - which is of course why some bike-specific jackets nowadays are cut to sit best in a certain shape. Form following function: the popularity of the racing 'lying down over the tank' stance among Lewis' market was why they initially designed the Bronx in 1956 with leather over the belt buckle and no pin in the buckle (a Perfecto style buckle would scratch the tank), then in 1958 switch entirely to side-buckles, a very 'British' bike jacket feature to this day. Not so much a concern if you're riding Indians or Harleys where the riding position is much more upright as a rule. Similarly, by 1978 when Lewis introduced the Supermonza, it was far from the only British jacket that was longer than previously typical - a response to riders of sports bikes and the like who wanted more coverage over the spine when crouched over the bike. Ape hangers I imagine will test the limits of length of any sleeve, no matter how the jacket is cut.

Course, as even in bike world leather is no longer a standard but one of a range of choices, there's still a subjective fashion element to it as well.

View attachment 355630 Here's my sleeve sweet spot for me.....

That's in and around what I like too. I tend to favour it at the longer side, even as far as my knuckles, if it's an overcoat or trench style, but anywhere between the base of my thumb and the bottom of my palm on a shorter jacket. The main thing is it doesn't disappear halfway up my arm as soon as I bend my elbow...

 

[Monitor]

Indeed. Also, not all people were the same. Easy to forget sometimes that we're all in a niche where there's the option of having a jacket made to measure. Many more people throughout history simply wore what was available that they could afford. Even as relatively recently as the 70s... Joey Ramone didn't choose jackets as short on him as this:

Must be why 9/10 Perfectos in France had shortened sleeves.

 

[Edward]

Must be why 9/10 Perfectos in France had shortened sleeves.

Ha! Stranger things have happened. I have read that the SS uniforms were deliberately cut with shorter sleeves than other uniforms to give the suggestion that these Aryan 'supermen' were bigger than they really were. Not sure whether that's where the Luftwaffe got the idea, but plenty of them certainly liked their jackets three inches too short in the sleeve and a size or two too small overall if the photos anything to go by!

 

[TREEMAN]

The acceptable and short range appear the same to my eyes. ( acceptable might be even shorter than the too short range ) IMO the long range looks the best. Everyone's different....your too long is HD's sweet spot....

 

[handymike]

I have my preference, but I’m flexible depending on the cuff type. A tight fitting zippered cuff can be shorter than a full non-adjustable cuff. A button cuff might be longer than a knit cuff, etc. my range tends to be between the wrist-bone and the thumb-knuckle.

 

[nattevagten]

Might be an European thing, but long sleeves don't look good, IMO, and usually feel uncomfortable in my experience. At least I can't stand it when the sleeves cover half of my hands. I always go for a 25.5" length (around the curve) at my height of c. 182 cm.

The odd angle of the photos (taken from a bookshelf) makes the sleeves look a bit shorter than they are, but this is more or less the length that I prefer:

 

[MrProper]

Except for the first jacket, all sleeves have a length of 70 cm.

Too short:

Perfect:

Just not too short yet. But it must not be much shorter:

Just not too long yet. But it must not be longer:

 

[jonbuilder]

This.
I never understood the "you need long sleeves to ride".
If your wear short gloves you will never be able to create a tight seal between gloves and jacket, even if the sleeves are knuckle long and you try to shove the glove inside the sleeve you will still get wind/rain coming in.

As you said the only way to get a tight seal is gauntlets going over the sleeves.
If you try to do that with knuckle long sleeves they will push on your glove and be a pain, whereas shorter sleeves will fit great inside a gauntlet and create a good seal.

All the jackets i ride in have this kind of sleeve length and i have not once felt that i neede and extra 2 or 3 inches to cover my wrists when riding.
The only decision is shorty gloves if it is warm or gauntlet gloves if it is cold or raining...

IMO any longer becomes a pain on and off the bike.

I agree 100% When I use to ride, I only wore leather jackets designed especially for riding motorcycles and used gloves that covered the sleeves

 

[jonbuilder]

The vast majority of my jackets are pre-60s and I go with the flow regarding sleeve length. I do prefer the proportions demonstrated by ton and MrProper. Regarding measurements for a pre 60s jacket in order of importance (chest, shoulder, back length, arm length, hem)
I will be quicker to move a pre-worn contemporary jacket because of an OK but a little off sleeve length.