Johnson Leathers Kangaroo Cafe Racer Jacket

[ykurtz]

Wanted to share a few pics of my new Johnson Leathers Kangaroo café racer jacket. Kangaroo is mentioned occasionally here but I haven't seen many examples of it. It is unbelievably light, but offers superior abrasion and tear resistance so I think it's ideal for motorcycle jackets in particular. According to Wikipedia: Kangaroo leather is lighter and stronger than the hide of a cow or goat. It has 10 times the tensile strength of cowhide and is 50% stronger than goatskin.

As usual Alan nailed the fit. Full disclosure: I had originally received the jacket about a month ago, but the fit was a bit too tight with the armor installed. Needless to say, Alan took the jacket back, asked for some pictures showing the actual fit, and he was able to address all of the issues with no additional expense to me. Great customer service, and one of the reasons why I don't and won't hesitate to do business with him 'long distance.'

From a styling perspective, I went for a clean, Brooks Café Racer style. I initially had chest pockets in mind but decided against them as I already have a jacket with those in black and wanted this jacket to be different.

The jacket weighs about half as much as my other leather (cow and goat) jackets of comparable styling. It feels almost like wearing a leather shirt versus a leather jacket.

Front


Back


Close up of grain


I'll put up some fit pics a bit later.

 

[pawineguy]

Great looking jacket! The grain is really unique... I have been staring at it trying to compare it to other hides and I don't think there is anything that comes to mind that really looks like that. I like the nice drop in the back for riding.

 

[Fanch]

Fantastic looking CR jacket. Kangaroo makes a wonderful hide. I have several pairs of cowboy boots with uppers made from kangaroo. ML Leddy boots made in San Angelo TX has a $100 upcharge for uppers made from kangaroo rather than kidskin.

 

[Monitor]

Wow, this is beautiful! I never knew kangaroo hide is so nice! Fantastic grain, texture... Simply a fantastic looking CR.

 

[Vespizzare]

Congrats. I never thought about kangaroo leather. As the search function will show you, I'm one of Alan's biggest fans (and I learned about him on FL). I'm not sure about the light weight. More bulk and weight (up to a point) gives a perception of protection I think, even if the hard facts would disprove it. Also is Kangaroo a lot more expensive? Did you have a choice of colors if you wanted something other than black? Do you plan, at some future time, to get another JL in a different style? If so, what design?

 

[Edward]

Nice looking hide. Would you say it's light enough for a Summer leather?

 

[ykurtz]

Congrats. I never thought about kangaroo leather. As the search function will show you, I'm one of Alan's biggest fans (and I learned about him on FL). I'm not sure about the light weight. More bulk and weight (up to a point) gives a perception of protection I think, even if the hard facts would disprove it. Also is Kangaroo a lot more expensive? Did you have a choice of colors if you wanted something other than black? Was it a 100% stock design or have any custom mods you chose? If made from your design, what was your inspiration?

Upcharge for Kangaroo was around $350 for this particular hide. It's the same hide used to make professional racing suits, which Alan also can make. I saw a suit and asked about the leather when I visited him back in October. I didn't ask him about other colors, but I'm toying with the idea of something in sand/stone color for the summer. So I guess I'll find out if other colors are available. For the design, I showed Alan some pics of a Brooks Café Racer per below:





And through an iterative process I decided I didn't want the chest pockets but zippered slash pockets instead, etc. The leather in the pics looks a bit on the thin side and that's the look/feel I wanted without sacrificing the protection. I extended the kidney panel length to make sure my tailbone was covered while riding; some straight cut jackets expose your tailbone and I wanted to make sure I avoided that on a riding jacket.

 

[ykurtz]

Nice looking hide. Would you say it's light enough for a Summer leather?

It's the lightest hide I've had the pleasure to own; I definitely was looking to extend the wear of the jacket through the warmer months. But summers can get 100+ in Texas, so I'll be wearing mesh when it gets to 85+.

 

[ProteinNerd]

Great looking jacket and sounds like a nice choice of leather for a warmer weather jacket. How does it compare on the "stiffness" scale to say HH and goat?

 

[ykurtz]

Great looking jacket and sounds like a nice choice of leather for a warmer weather jacket. How does it compare on the "stiffness" scale to say HH and goat?

It feels halfway between the two, but because it's thinner than a typical jacket of either, it's hard to really make a comparison. It certainly doesn't want to stand up on its own, but it doesn't bounce as much as the goat I've experienced, either. I believe it would be 'acceptable' as a casual jacket, but I think it's more ideal as motorcycle jacket material, because of its unique abrasion and tear resistance. The 'lightness' factor, though, gives it a unique advantage: it's like comparing 'plate mail' to 'magical chain mail' which is lighter and has more protective qualities than the thicker plate. I think jacket weight, which is usually a function of hide type and thickness, translates to many riders: 'it will protect me' more. But bottom line no jacket will protect from a high speed crash into a wall. Kangaroo, however, does better in slides than comparable hides in cow/goat, so for that particular use case, there's a measurable advantage. For me it was worth commissioning a moto jacket with that advantage and paying a little extra for it.

 

[fish70]

Gorgeous. I had a Schott 141 for a few years so I love that style.

 

[IXL]

I find this simple style quite appealing. I guess you won't be riding in it this weekend.......
For the really hot Oklahoma/Texas summers, I've found the fully perforated Sportrider jackets that Vanson manufactures will get me to 100°F. Maybe a little more if I'm feeling tough. I like wearing leather more than the textile mesh.

 

[ykurtz]

I find this simple style quite appealing. I guess you won't be riding in it this weekend.......
For the really hot Oklahoma/Texas summers, I've found the fully perforated Sportrider jackets that Vanson manufactures will get me to 100°F. Maybe a little more if I'm feeling tough. I like wearing leather more than the textile mesh.

I'll look into that. Prefer leather to mesh myself.

 

[bbq]

The jacket looks great and the kangaroo sounds perfect for a summer jacket here in Maine. It was also good to hear that you've had so much luck with JL. I've been thinking about them after reading other posts; I have family in SF. But it sounds like a coast-to-coast order would work too. Thanks for the pics and the info.

 

[tropicalbob]

I believe this is the first kangaroo jacket I've seen. Anyone know how the leather breaks in? Is it more resistant to fading or developing a patina than other hides? It looks like it would be.

 

[ykurtz]

The jacket looks great and the kangaroo sounds perfect for a summer jacket here in Maine. It was also good to hear that you've had so much luck with JL. I've been thinking about them after reading other posts; I have family in SF. But it sounds like a coast-to-coast order would work too. Thanks for the pics and the info.

If you decide to go with JL, once you decide on a jacket style, I recommend going with the fit jacket approach: he'll send you a comparable jacket for fit pics, which will help zero in on the fit. And, ultimately, even if something is a little off, he'll make it right.

 

[tmak]

was that one of JL standard designs?

 

[bbq]

If you decide to go with JL, once you decide on a jacket style, I recommend going with the fit jacket approach: he'll send you a comparable jacket for fit pics, which will help zero in on the fit. And, ultimately, even if something is a little off, he'll make it right.

Thanks ykurtz!

 

[Superfluous]

Great looking jacket. Congrats. I'd be interested to see the brown hides available in Kangaroo.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Nice, thanks for posting - doesn't resemble a Brooks cafe racer at all but it is, as you say, a more simple cafe racer design. Let's talk price: with the extra $ for roo, does this mean the jacket cost over a grand?