The game plan is for my wife to retire in 4-5 years and then retire to Portland. A Miata hard topped convertible- and an RAF Irvin to wear when driving with the top down- are on the wish list. Too old and too poor for a Spitfire.
Alden 403 Moc Toe Boot - Brown Chromexcel - $680 The classic "Indy" style Alden Boot in the classic Horween brown Chromexcel. 
Grant Stone Diesel Boot Dark Olive Chromexcel - #395 Goodyear welted, Horween Chromexcel, classic good looks. 
Himel Bros. - The Ross Mk. 1 Leather Jacket Classic D-pocket motorcycle/aviator style jacket. That was awesome! And the line about Daniel Craig not getting a freebee and paying for his jacket was priceless. Makes me wish I wasn't all thumbs and could work there!
I got my jacket, its amazing.
Thanks Carrie!
Enviado de meu E2363 usando Tapatalk
Awesome jacket, deserving of its own thread really. Vanson makes superior gear and your pictorial is proof positive. Congrats man. BTW the cuff will eventually lay in the most beautiful way. Wait for it. Eventually you'll be glad it's not stitched there.Just received my new Chopper jacket from Carrie @ Thurston and am thoroughly impressed. Heads and tails above a similarly priced jacket I own from a popular NY manufacturer that shall go unnamed
Since there are a few other threads about this jacket showing the whole thing, I figured I'd mention some of the pleasantly surprising details I noticed upon receiving the jkt.
Hardware: superior in build and feel vs the "other" brand. Waist buckles on the other jacket are made of cheap, stamped metal with rough edges. The chopper buckles are smoothly shaped, solid brass that have been plated in something like chrome for a fine finish that I'm sure will patina nicely. Just about all other pics I've seen of the jacket show the hardware to be quite yellow brass color, however I'd describe mine as having a warm silver tone. All the zippers are SUPER stiff to pull initially, but after a few up/downs are working smoothly. Let's say I'm NOT concerned the zippers will open up during an unintentional off.
No skimping on the leather: this is riveted leather for the waist adjuster. The double layer of cowhide seems overkill since I'd hope my waist never exerts such heavy loads on the jacket(!) but it's another example of how Vanson doesn't cut corners with construction
Functional adjusters: Other jackets I've had may have buckles/straps to adjust the waist tighter or looser but they either don't have extra material to allow real expansion or they create a muffin top appearance when cinched tighter. The chopper has an unlined gusset that can expand the jacket waist by about 3" per side and will tuck away cleanly if the belts are tightened. Very clean
A keychain: within the internal, left breast pocket is a brass keychain with leather strap attaching it to the upper part of the pocket. It tucks neatly away within the pocket and hangs about midway down. Nice way to avoid having to fish your keys from the bottom of the pocket. Speaking of pockets, there is another internal breast pocket on the right side making a total of 4 pockets altogether. They're big and deep enough for most anything I can think of carrying in a riding jacket
Cuffs: Not sure if I would be so quick to call this a qualm, but the lack of stitching around the cuffs makes the leather a bit more balloon-y than I feel it needs to be. The leather is so (wonderfully) thick that the rolling of the cuff back on itself as it attaches to the sleeve liner causes it to press into my wrists a little. My point is, if it were stitched around the cuff, the leather would probably lay more flat. I'm guessing the leather will naturally crease more and more around the cuff opening with use to become unnoticeable. Compared to yet another unnamed Japanese brand J-100 jacket (which I don't own but did try on in the store), the single layer of cowhide in the gusset folds away nicely where I cannot feel it against my arm when zipped shut.
The big picture: awesome jacket and great sizing guidance from Carrie. I sent her my measurements (6ft tall, 40" chest, 175lbs) told her I wanted a jacket I could wear just as comfortably on the bike WITH added armor as well as off the bike without the armor and she suggested size medium. I'll post pics of me wearing it with and without armor later on, but the jacket feels great for both scenarios thus far!
You could order this jacket from many other sellers out there, but Thurston Bros has the customer service to make sure you get EXACTLY what you want in this awesome piece
I got my jacket, its amazing.
Thanks Carrie!
Enviado de meu E2363 usando Tapatalk
Just received my new Chopper jacket from Carrie @ Thurston and am thoroughly impressed. Heads and tails above a similarly priced jacket I own from a popular NY manufacturer that shall go unnamed
Since there are a few other threads about this jacket showing the whole thing, I figured I'd mention some of the pleasantly surprising details I noticed upon receiving the jkt.
Hardware: superior in build and feel vs the "other" brand. Waist buckles on the other jacket are made of cheap, stamped metal with rough edges. The chopper buckles are smoothly shaped, solid brass that have been plated in something like chrome for a fine finish that I'm sure will patina nicely. Just about all other pics I've seen of the jacket show the hardware to be quite yellow brass color, however I'd describe mine as having a warm silver tone. All the zippers are SUPER stiff to pull initially, but after a few up/downs are working smoothly. Let's say I'm NOT concerned the zippers will open up during an unintentional off.
No skimping on the leather: this is riveted leather for the waist adjuster. The double layer of cowhide seems overkill since I'd hope my waist never exerts such heavy loads on the jacket(!) but it's another example of how Vanson doesn't cut corners with construction
Functional adjusters: Other jackets I've had may have buckles/straps to adjust the waist tighter or looser but they either don't have extra material to allow real expansion or they create a muffin top appearance when cinched tighter. The chopper has an unlined gusset that can expand the jacket waist by about 3" per side and will tuck away cleanly if the belts are tightened. Very clean
A keychain: within the internal, left breast pocket is a brass keychain with leather strap attaching it to the upper part of the pocket. It tucks neatly away within the pocket and hangs about midway down. Nice way to avoid having to fish your keys from the bottom of the pocket. Speaking of pockets, there is another internal breast pocket on the right side making a total of 4 pockets altogether. They're big and deep enough for most anything I can think of carrying in a riding jacket
Cuffs: Not sure if I would be so quick to call this a qualm, but the lack of stitching around the cuffs makes the leather a bit more balloon-y than I feel it needs to be. The leather is so (wonderfully) thick that the rolling of the cuff back on itself as it attaches to the sleeve liner causes it to press into my wrists a little. My point is, if it were stitched around the cuff, the leather would probably lay more flat. I'm guessing the leather will naturally crease more and more around the cuff opening with use to become unnoticeable. Compared to yet another unnamed Japanese brand J-100 jacket (which I don't own but did try on in the store), the single layer of cowhide in the gusset folds away nicely where I cannot feel it against my arm when zipped shut.
The big picture: awesome jacket and great sizing guidance from Carrie. I sent her my measurements (6ft tall, 40" chest, 175lbs) told her I wanted a jacket I could wear just as comfortably on the bike WITH added armor as well as off the bike without the armor and she suggested size medium. I'll post pics of me wearing it with and without armor later on, but the jacket feels great for both scenarios thus far!
You could order this jacket from many other sellers out there, but Thurston Bros has the customer service to make sure you get EXACTLY what you want in this awesome piece
Just received my new Chopper jacket from Carrie @ Thurston and am thoroughly impressed. Heads and tails above a similarly priced jacket I own from a popular NY manufacturer that shall go unnamed
Since there are a few other threads about this jacket showing the whole thing, I figured I'd mention some of the pleasantly surprising details I noticed upon receiving the jkt.
Hardware: superior in build and feel vs the "other" brand. Waist buckles on the other jacket are made of cheap, stamped metal with rough edges. The chopper buckles are smoothly shaped, solid brass that have been plated in something like chrome for a fine finish that I'm sure will patina nicely. Just about all other pics I've seen of the jacket show the hardware to be quite yellow brass color, however I'd describe mine as having a warm silver tone. All the zippers are SUPER stiff to pull initially, but after a few up/downs are working smoothly. Let's say I'm NOT concerned the zippers will open up during an unintentional off.
No skimping on the leather: this is riveted leather for the waist adjuster. The double layer of cowhide seems overkill since I'd hope my waist never exerts such heavy loads on the jacket(!) but it's another example of how Vanson doesn't cut corners with construction
Functional adjusters: Other jackets I've had may have buckles/straps to adjust the waist tighter or looser but they either don't have extra material to allow real expansion or they create a muffin top appearance when cinched tighter. The chopper has an unlined gusset that can expand the jacket waist by about 3" per side and will tuck away cleanly if the belts are tightened. Very clean
A keychain: within the internal, left breast pocket is a brass keychain with leather strap attaching it to the upper part of the pocket. It tucks neatly away within the pocket and hangs about midway down. Nice way to avoid having to fish your keys from the bottom of the pocket. Speaking of pockets, there is another internal breast pocket on the right side making a total of 4 pockets altogether. They're big and deep enough for most anything I can think of carrying in a riding jacket
Cuffs: Not sure if I would be so quick to call this a qualm, but the lack of stitching around the cuffs makes the leather a bit more balloon-y than I feel it needs to be. The leather is so (wonderfully) thick that the rolling of the cuff back on itself as it attaches to the sleeve liner causes it to press into my wrists a little. My point is, if it were stitched around the cuff, the leather would probably lay more flat. I'm guessing the leather will naturally crease more and more around the cuff opening with use to become unnoticeable. Compared to yet another unnamed Japanese brand J-100 jacket (which I don't own but did try on in the store), the single layer of cowhide in the gusset folds away nicely where I cannot feel it against my arm when zipped shut.
The big picture: awesome jacket and great sizing guidance from Carrie. I sent her my measurements (6ft tall, 40" chest, 175lbs) told her I wanted a jacket I could wear just as comfortably on the bike WITH added armor as well as off the bike without the armor and she suggested size medium. I'll post pics of me wearing it with and without armor later on, but the jacket feels great for both scenarios thus far!
You could order this jacket from many other sellers out there, but Thurston Bros has the customer service to make sure you get EXACTLY what you want in this awesome piece
