My new custom cafe racer jacket arrives as I head in for surgery...

[Navin323i]

Greetings Gents,

I hope you all have been doing well. Sadly I'm heading into the hospital shortly for knee surgery due to my 3rd episode of spontaneous internal bleeding in my left knee (past 2 times were in August 2010 and August 2011). Doctors don't know why it keeps happening or where the bleeding is coming from in my knee but after several attempts at draining my knee with a large syringe needle, they have decided that surgery is the only option since with my pacemaker an MRI is not possible for me. Wish me luck!!

There's no better way for dealing with the sadness of having surgery than by getting a brand new leather jacket.

The jacket was custom made by a company once featured on Oprah years back. They are located in Mumbhai, India and is called MakeYourOwnJeans.com

I've bought custom made jeans from them before and the quality and fitment was outstanding (you provide them your measurements) but I decided to see how good their leather jackets are.

All I can say is WOW!! Their site is very straightforward in terms of supplying the exact measurements they need from you, along with pictures they provide to show you how to take each measurement. It definitely made my job easy. I got to pick the jacket style, leather colors, zipper color and interior liner. Best part are the low prices which is a huge plus especially in today's economy. I wound up paying $120 plus shipping so my wife was happy I wasn't spending the kind of money that we all spent on our Aero jackets. Jacket quality is outstanding... doesn't feel like a "mall quality jacket".

I've been trying to find a leather jacket to match my blue BMW as you see in my Avatar pic, but have been unsuccessful up until now. They offer a turquoise blue style color. The jacket took a week from the time I placed the order to be custom made, and then took about 5 days to get shipped via UPS from India to my home in the U.S. Throughout the process the company provided me with email updates so I knew what stage the jacket was in.

Without further adieu, allow me to introduce to you my new cafe racer jacket. I like the fact it's very light weight (easy on my knees) and the leather they use comes from sheep (I do wish they offered other leather options besides sheep but it's all good).

One thing... I've lost over 10 pounds in the 2 weeks that I've been on crutches due to my knee injury. Comparing my pics below to my avatar, do I look like I've lost weight? My wife says definitely but I'm not so sure.

Jacket Specs:
Turquoise leather exterior
Matching Turquoise interior lining
2 interior horizontal pockets
Side buckle adjusters
Shoulder bi-swing
Brass colored zippers
No handwarmer pockets

Thanks for looking!

Navin

 

[volleykinginnc]

Wow that is one blue jacket. How thick is that leather? Do you think it could be used as a motorcycle jacket?

 

[Navin323i]

Wow that is one blue jacket. How thick is that leather? Do you think it could be used as a motorcycle jacket?

Hey there! Haha... yeah it's definitely blue enough to match my blue car so this is my car leather jacket.

Not sure about the exact thickness, but I definitely wouldn't use my specific jacket to ride in... I'd feel more comfortable with a jacket either that has armor or is made of horsehide for the added thickness and protection.

I'm guessing from your screen name that you're a volleyball player? That was my favorite sport in my high school days.

 

[volleykinginnc]

Yeah I used to play a lot more than I do now. At my prime I was able to play a couple of tournaments on the pro beach tour.....ahhhh...those were the days.....tore my ACL a couple of years ago so I feel your pain on the surgery. Best advice I can give is pllllleeeeeease do your rehab. It is tough but the discpline will pay off in the long run I promise. Best of luck.

 

[Navin323i]

Yeah I used to play a lot more than I do now. At my prime I was able to play a couple of tournaments on the pro beach tour.....ahhhh...those were the days.....tore my ACL a couple of years ago so I feel your pain on the surgery. Best advice I can give is pllllleeeeeease do your rehab. It is tough but the discpline will pay off in the long run I promise. Best of luck.

Wow... very cool that you were on the pro beach tour... congrats! Sorry to hear about your torn ACL. Yeah, my knee surgery is a bit unique here... my main issue here is internal bleeding in my knee, not necessarily a structural knee issue like ACL, meniscus, etc. Doctor originally thought I had an ACL tear when I first had this problem in August 2010 but because of my pacemaker I can't have an MRI so a CT Arthrogram study was done and it was determined I had no ACL tear. Nonetheless they still don't know why my knee keeps bleeding. I am on blood thinners for my mechanical heart components so that's not helping my situation but something is definitely wrong... maybe a leaky capillary(s), vessel(s), etc. Not sure if they'll be giving me any rehab but if they do I'll definitely do it. I want to heal fast enough to get back to running around with my baby daughters and coaching my older daughter's basketball team.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Hey, have a good surgery and feel better soon, okay? And enjoy that jacket!

 

[Metatron]

Firstly, good luck with the surgery and get well soon!

Secondly, thanks for posting, nice jacket! They have some other designs I quite like too. Can I ask, does the leather have a natural surface or does it featured a pigmented, corrected grain finish?

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

Navin!! You indian paisano!!
(in the dialectal italian sense of "friend, fellow from the country" )
the jacket is great and you look cool in it, as usual!! best of luck for your knee, keep us informed!

and thank you for the info about MakeYourOwnJeans, much appreciated!
ciao!!

 

[Shangas]

If you have knee surgery going on, perhaps you should invest in a stylish walking-stick.

It's what I'd do...

 

[GriffDeLaGriff]

Nice color you were lucky to find that place to make your own jacket. What a cool idea

Good luck with the surgery and yes - its very obvious that you lost weight, I see it in the face.

 

[Windward]

Hey Navin - hope you get well soon - thanks for the pics and yes ... its a real car jacket.

 

[Navin323i]

Hello my friends!

Surgery was a success!! The surgeon arthroscopically went into my knee, drained a lot of thick blood clots and scar tissue that had accumulated in my knee for god knows how long, then discovered 4 areas in my knee (all capillaries) that were leaking blood so they cauterized them so that they no longer bleed. Finally the surgeon discovered I had a tear in my meniscus which would explain why my knee felt like it was giving out on me and why it kept clicking/popping before my recent internal bleeding episode.
I'll be on crutches for another week until I see the surgeon for followup and he'll remove the stitches in my knee. I started physical therapy yesterday and will have 3 visits per week for the next 4 weeks to improve the range of motion in my knee. I'm so happy... my knee feels so much stronger and it's not swollen like before.

Hey, have a good surgery and feel better soon, okay? And enjoy that jacket!

Thank you so much Joel!! Hope you've been doing well.

Firstly, good luck with the surgery and get well soon!

Secondly, thanks for posting, nice jacket! They have some other designs I quite like too. Can I ask, does the leather have a natural surface or does it featured a pigmented, corrected grain finish?

Thanks for the nice wishes and for the jacket compliment! Good question you asked... I'm not sure what the difference is between natural surface versus pigmented corrected grain finish. What do you specifically mean about pigmented corrected grain finish and natural surface?

Navin!! You indian paisano!!
(in the dialectal italian sense of "friend, fellow from the country" )
the jacket is great and you look cool in it, as usual!! best of luck for your knee, keep us informed!

and thank you for the info about MakeYourOwnJeans, much appreciated!
ciao!!

Ciao my friend! Thank you for the kind words. Yeah, I figured I'd post up the info about this company since it would give many of us a more cost effective option for leather jackets. Mind you... if Aero had offered a blue horsehide color then I would have had this blue jacket made by Aero instead but sadly blue isn't one of their color choices.

If you have knee surgery going on, perhaps you should invest in a stylish walking-stick.

It's what I'd do...

I've actually been on crutches throughout my whole ordeal. I find having 2 crutches much easier to use than a walking stick or cane... with crutches it's easier to distribute my weight more evenly on both sides of my body versus with a cane or walking stick.

Nice color you were lucky to find that place to make your own jacket. What a cool idea

Good luck with the surgery and yes - its very obvious that you lost weight, I see it in the face.

Thanks Griff!! I hope you and your family have been doing well.

 

[Navin323i]

Hey Navin - hope you get well soon - thanks for the pics and yes ... its a real car jacket.

Thank you so much, Windward!! I hope you've been doing well.

 

[Harry Gooch]

Glad to hear it worked out, sir. Knees can be tricky little beggars.

Cheers,

Harry.

 

[Navin323i]

Glad to hear it worked out, sir. Knees can be tricky little beggars.

Cheers,

Harry.

Thank you so much, Harry! I agree with you 100%.

Cheers,
Navin

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Good news.

 

[Metatron]

Oh, that's quite an ordeal you went through! I'm glad you are recovering!

Pigmented leather features a protective layer of artificial, embossed grain, which is completely uniform and which obscures the original surface of the leather. More durable, but less attractive than leather with a transparent finish.

 

[Navin323i]

Oh, that's quite an ordeal you went through! I'm glad you are recovering!

Pigmented leather features a protective layer of artificial, embossed grain, which is completely uniform and which obscures the original surface of the leather. More durable, but less attractive than leather with a transparent finish.

Thank you so much for the kind words! Thanks for the explanation about pigmented leather. Looking at my jacket I'm not sure whether it has the protective layer of artificial, embossed grain versus leather with a transparent finish. If you have the time I'd suggest going to the website and contacting their customer service. Hopefully they will be able to answer your question or at least direct your question to their expert(s) who can answer your good question.