The Cafe Racer/Motorcycle Jacket Thread

[GregO]

And sold. Thanks for the heads up dadonn. Cant wait.

That was my jacket. Dave accidentally used the wrong sleeves on the jacket -- I needed quite a bit of extra length -- and so he remade the jacket for me. The remake is spot-on perfect. Great price you got at $600!! I paid full price, and it was worth it. I'll get around to posting pics and a review in the next few days.

 

[Jägernaut]

Its perfect for me except i need to lose some weight from my honeymoon for the waist fit. Its the reason i havent posted pics yet.

 

[mikespens]

Custom tailored Bates extra thick. Circa 1980, no longer fits (not even close) so reluctantly left it at Insurrection under commission. Have some pixs so may as well post, it went with a 76 BMW R90/S:

 

[ProteinNerd]

I guess this is the right thread to ask this questions.

For my next dedicated riding jacket who should I go with? Vanson or Langlitz? Who makes the better practical jacket for riding?

 

[dudewuttheheck]

My guess would be Vanson. I think they use thicker hides.

 

[AeroFan_07]

So i like then both, have owned several Vansons, however...

I recently traded a brand-new but too small Vanson Highwayman for a 30-year old Langlitz Columbia. Check out the review. It's a bit tight as well around the waist, but I've decided to keep it. I really enjoy this jacket and for riding, I don't think you could do better. Plus, I like the fact that thier new jackets are made to order. And they hand-build each and every one of them. Give them a call (challenge for you since you are in a totally different time area) and discuss with Benny what you are thinking.

I still love Vansons,,,but have gotten bitten by the Langlitz bug!

 

[ton312]

I guess this is the right thread to ask this questions.

For my next dedicated riding jacket who should I go with? Vanson or Langlitz? Who makes the better practical jacket for riding?

Can't go wrong either way PN. You'll pay a steeper price for Langlitz. I absolutely love Vanson. I guess it depends what you're after. If you want something to armor up underneath then I'd go with Vanson. They have proven tech/designs inside their jackets to accommodate this. There is nothing uglier and less comfortable than a new Vanson. The payoff is more than worth it tho.

 

[Monitor]

What Ton says. PN, I've never seen a cafe racer from Langlitz but even Scott discretely told me that that he would much rather recommend a Crescent over their CR if I'm planning on wearing the jacket on a motorcycle. Now, that doesn't mean their CR isn't as good I guess but I was under the impression that it might not make as good of a riding jacket as the Crescent would (or the Colombia, but we were discussing Crescent as I wanted something with a mandarin collar).

On the other hand, it doesn't get any more practical than Vanson. Model A is the best, most comfortable cafe racer jacket I've ever worn on a bike. Model B is right there too but that one requires some breaking in. Or one of the sport bike jackets, the Manx, Cobra, etc. Had one of those, can't recall which one it was exactly and it's the kinda stuff pro racers would wear on the track so...

Model A now comes with armor. Seriously, no better practical bike jacket than this.

 

[TREEMAN]

This is un-real. After I woke up this morning and still laying in bed I was thinking of a comparison between Langlitz and Vanson, then I get on TFL and read this.......too much !! Anyway, I have a Model B and love it. It did take a while to break in especially in the body, but when it does it is a soft comfortable HEAVY motorcycle jacket. The only other thing I would say is it is a little roomy in the waist area. But that could be because of my measurements 42-44 jacket and 30 waist Levis. I have no experience with Langlitz but am very interested in learning more about them.