Vintage Cal - It's changing my outlook on things

[Monitor]

Maybe i have been unlucky, but i still have not experienced a "good" Cal...
I have had 4 in total, 3 CHP and 1 Cafe racer, and all of them have been pretty disappointing.
My first one was a 60s padded CHP (teardrop talon zippers), the stitching on that one was horrible and the leather was thin and vinyl like, sent it back.
The second one was an unpadded version from the same era, it was just as bad and went back to the seller too.
My third one was the red Cafe racer, it's not bad, but not great either, the stitching is average, the leather is thin, if it wasn't red and rare i would have sent it back.
Fourth one is a later era center zip CHP, YKK zippers, same messy stitching and average leather, bought on TFL so couldn't send it back but i would have done so if i could. It's used as a riding jacket by my GF when she comes on the bike with me.

I'm still looking, hoping i will finally score a good one, but they are hard to find...

It'll happen.

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

thanks for the kind words and good posts. I agree on the fit. That's why I have 4 LOL. I think I have almost every scenario covered:

1) If I lose 10 lbs, but sleeves feel short
2) If I gain 10 lbs, but sleeves feel long
3) Just about perfect but a little short
4) Just about perfect but a little wide and short

My favorite one fit wise is actually the first I bought from John. But it's a tad too small. 42L so it has that extra inch which makes a huge difference, but I can barely zip it up and the sleeve length is definitely on the edge.

And interestingly enough, all 4 have different "feeling" leather.

Gwen told me at their peak, they had 6 seamstresses making 2.5 jackets each per day. So I wouldn't hold out for perfect stitching and all that. The fit though seems possible given how many are out there floating around and in good shape.

 

[JMax]

thanks for the kind words and good posts. I agree on the fit. That's why I have 4 LOL. I think I have almost every scenario covered:

1) If I lose 10 lbs, but sleeves feel short
2) If I gain 10 lbs, but sleeves feel long
3) Just about perfect but a little short
4) Just about perfect but a little wide and short

My favorite one fit wise is actually the first I bought from John. But it's a tad too small. 42L so it has that extra inch which makes a huge difference, but I can barely zip it up and the sleeve length is definitely on the edge.

And interestingly enough, all 4 have different "feeling" leather.

Gwen told me at their peak, they had 6 seamstresses making 2.5 jackets each per day. So I wouldn't hold out for perfect stitching and all that. The fit though seems possible given how many are out there floating around and in good shape.

And throw in that so many were custom and/or built to a motorman’s specs. Just gotta keep plugging away.

 

[Robbie79]

Congrats! Very good score and fit is spot on!

 

[ton312]

Maybe i have been unlucky, but i still have not experienced a "good" Cal...
I have had 4 in total, 3 CHP and 1 Cafe racer, and all of them have been pretty disappointing.
My first one was a 60s padded CHP (teardrop talon zippers), the stitching on that one was horrible and the leather was thin and vinyl like, sent it back.
The second one was an unpadded version from the same era, it was just as bad and went back to the seller too.
My third one was the red Cafe racer, it's not bad, but not great either, the stitching is average, the leather is thin, if it wasn't red and rare i would have sent it back.
Fourth one is a later era center zip CHP, YKK zippers, same messy stitching and average leather, bought on TFL so couldn't send it back but i would have done so if i could. It's used as a riding jacket by my GF when she comes on the bike with me.

I'm still looking, hoping i will finally score a good one, but they are hard to find...

Honestly at your height, I wouldn’t even bother with the LAPD. I’ve had a couple with the L penned into the pocket and they were still too short. I understand that this accommodates a zipped up seated position well...Unless you are OK with a hem above your belt buckle. As much as I love the LAPD it’s one of the few jackets I’d never buy again based solely on the universally short (front) length. If you were 5’10” or under, I’d say keep looking.

 

[Kubatu]

Honestly at your height, I wouldn’t even bother with the LAPD. I’ve had a couple with the L penned into the pocket and they were still too short. I understand that this accommodates a zipped up seated position well...Unless you are OK with a hem above your belt buckle. As much as I love the LAPD it’s one of the few jackets I’d never buy again based solely on the universally short (front) length. If you were 5’10” or under, I’d say keep looking.

Easy solution, just wear your pants higher!

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

The one in this post is long, almost too long. Must be custom. No size in the pocket. My others, 1 is 42L, my favorite, but damn it's tight. The others are 44 and they fit great, but short. I'm 6'0, so yeah, I'd agree and say 5'10 is max unless you get lucky like this last one. But I guess some can pull off the really short jacket look so go for it if that's your thing.

 

[ton312]

Easy solution, just wear your pants higher!

Too short! I fixed it!

 

[ton312]

The one in this post is long, almost too long. Must be custom. No size in the pocket. My others, 1 is 42L, my favorite, but damn it's tight. The others are 44 and they fit great, but short. I'm 6'0, so yeah, I'd agree and say 5'10 is max unless you get lucky like this last one. But I guess some can pull off the really short jacket look so go for it if that's your thing.

What’s the back length on that one? I noticed it does look longer. The longest one I ever had was 26”, but the front rise is usually about 1-1.5”.
I figured the long sizes related more to sleeves than body as mine were almost all about the same.

 

[ton312]

This is why I stopped pursuing Cal:

You can see I tried to camouflage the length with a black hoody. That’s my go to move when a jacket is too short. I still do it as a means of self deception. They just about all fit me just like this. Longs and regulars alike. 2” more front length and I’d have a fleet of these jackets.

 

[ton312]

I spoke too soon. I did have one oddity that had acceptable length.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yeah...first one is too short for me. Must cover my belt to make me happy.

 

[Kubatu]

@ton312 you're probably aware of this, but since I wasn't sure if you were referring to all LAPD models, my Vanson CHP is significantly longer than my Cal CHP. Not sure of the front length, but the difference is 28" to 24", respectively. The Vanson is at the point of looking normal even with standard jeans today, which tend to be low rise.

 

[ton312]

@ton312 you're probably aware of this, but since I wasn't sure if you were referring to all LAPD models, my Vanson CHP is significantly longer than my Cal CHP. Not sure of the front length, but the difference is 28" to 24", respectively. The Vanson is at the point of looking normal even with standard jeans today, which tend to be low rise.

Yes indeed. I personally favored the model E. Well, at least that’s what google says

 

[jonbuilder]

I spoke too soon. I did have one oddity that had acceptable length.
View attachment 322015 View attachment 322016 View attachment 322017

I been wearing this one once a week

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

What’s the back length on that one? I noticed it does look longer. The longest one I ever had was 26”, but the front rise is usually about 1-1.5”.
I figured the long sizes related more to sleeves than body as mine were almost all about the same.

26 at the longest point with the curve, so really more like a 24.75-25ish for the most part. Compared to usual 24 probably and like 22.75ish-23 at the main body. The "regular" models usually hit me at the top of the belt line, but really showing the belt for the most part. The one L I have slightly covers the belt, so it's probably an inch longer.

The shoulders are big on me too, so the jacket is really hanging off rather than sitting at attention like on my tighter models. So that's probably another .5 inch right there too.

Come to think of it, this thing would fit you pretty darn good. But I ain't selling it yet . I'll let you know though down the road.

 

[Jin431]

Agreed that not all Cals have that "something" like @Carlos840 mentioned but the ones I got from @dannyk @Mandarin do. The stitch work is all over the place, the fit isn't ideal, the sleeves are 2-3x too wide on me but I don't really mind as it's plain cool

 

[Leather Walker]

I definitely have jumped into this hobby head first. I won't deny it. Didn't even know what Aero, Himmel, Real McCoys, etc. were. Barely had heard about Schott. Didn't know the components on a jacket like a biswing back, cross zip, half belts, etc. Probably generally categorized them into black or brown and biker or fashion to be honest.

It's been fun/educational/mostly successful, but there were a couple mistakes along the way. No biggie. Somehow the closet currently has 21 leather jackets with another in the mail and that's with me selling a few as well and not counting several "starter" mall type jackets.

I definitely have some redundancy mostly because of fine tuning the fit or variables. But I also think I have a pretty good cross selection. I'm justifying it all in my head, but I'm really just fooling myself. Some of it I dismiss as I know I can pass some of the tighter fitting or less favorite jackets off to my two sons soon.

But to the point of it all. Been on a Cal mania lately. Bought 3 variations in short time span. Then this 4th became avail on Ebay. Again, it was slightly different, mostly in that it had a teacore base. So I hit buy and it showed up. Needed some love and luckily I've gotten to know the Cal shop pretty well, so I was confident they could bring it back to life.

Just guessing on the zips and all that, probably a 50s model. It's a little big on me and using my others as reference, I would say is probably a 46L. The 44s tend to fit me perfectly. But again, justifying in my head, it'll be my "too much pasta CAL" in case the others start getting too tight.

What I love about it is that when I grab it, I really feel like I'm holding on to history. If I'm being honest, it's probably just turning the corner of seeing it's apex, but just barely because it still has a lot of life to go. There's a few scratches and cuts, glorious patina and oxidation, random stitching here and there. One of the snaps is visible while the other 3 are hidden, don't know why. Almost has this Indian Ranger mixed hardware sort of thing. Probably spent 30 years plus on a bike getting exposed to sun, rain, bug guts, and whatever else it picked up in various dive bars (or at least that's the romantic image I'm giving it in my head).

But what really has me rethinking everything is that this jacket is what a leather jacket should be. I don't think me having 22 jackets and wearing each them 5 to 10 times a year will ever get any of those jackets to evolve to this point, even though many of them have the pedigree for it. And while I really really tried to capture it in photos, you really got to see this thing. It was lathered in Skidmores the get it alive again, so some of the brown base is hiding. And even though the jacket probably weighs 8lbs, it feels like nothing when I'm wearing it.

Lastly, wanted to give a shout out to Greg Field @Honeyman1935 for helping me source some missing hardware so I could fix a couple things on this bad boy. And of course the wonderful ladies at the Cal Leathers shop in Ventura for doing their usual magic, and her dad for giving me some tips on conditioning the leather.

Anyway, enjoy. I do think this is my goal with my jackets. To get them to evolve to this. So not saying END GAME by any means. It's too much fun to be on the hunt. But I do want to get my rotation down to maybe like 8-10ish. I figure 1 for each day of the week and maybe a few for random situations like a B3 for instance.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

One of the nicest Cal I've ever seen! Congrats! As a Cal lover I am, I understand you perfectly. I literally love the brass hardware/black leather effect on cross zip, I find this totally killer.

I own 3 Cal and I can't be happier. They're different from each other but I find beautiful in equal parts. For example, the first one I bought is a heavyweight padded, no belt loops. I guess zippers were replaced at some point, but a Talon puller remains in the main one. I fixed its male pin so I can zip up easily. When I do, I feel its embrace tightly on my body.

The second I purchased (in Japan) is this cute one: midweight leather, Serval #10 zipper and Talon in cuffs. Belt loops, kidney panel... size 38 as inner pocket shows. No scars of rough life. I usually wear it in early winter/early spring, also at summer nights if weather cools down a bit. Very tapered, so it's unlaced.

The last one I bought is this padded beast. Made of mid/heavyweight leather, I love its pattern with these wide lappels. #10 Talon zipper and Serval in cuffs, bi-swing back and kidney panel. People stare at it when I take a walk over there. Ah, I forgot: gives off an irresistible leather smell!

 

[Jin431]

One of the nicest Cal I've ever seen! Congrats! As a Cal lover I am, I understand you perfectly. I literally love the brass hardware/black leather effect on cross zip, I find this totally killer.

I own 3 Cal and I can't be happier. They're different from each other but I find beautiful in equal parts. For example, the first one I bought is a heavyweight padded, no belt loops. I guess zippers were replaced at some point, but a Talon puller remains in the main one. I fixed its male pin so I can zip up easily. When I do, I feel its embrace tightly on my body.
View attachment 322342
The second I purchased (in Japan) is this cute one: midweight leather, Serval #10 zipper and Talon in cuffs. Belt loops, kidney panel... size 38 as inner pocket shows. No scars of rough life. I usually wear it in early winter/early spring, also at summer nights if weather cools down a bit. Very tapered, so it's unlaced.
View attachment 322343
The last one I bought is this padded beast. Made of mid/heavyweight leather, I love its pattern with these wide lappels. #10 Talon zipper and Serval in cuffs, bi-swing back and kidney panel. People stare at it when I take a walk over there. Ah, I forgot: gives off an irresistible leather smell!
View attachment 322344

Love seeing all of this. This just drives the point home that I'm not done with my Cal love affair. That padded cross zip is so clean and mean looking!

 

[El Marro]

Funny thing with Cal's. They're the best, there's no debate there but I love them on the photos more than on myself. I can't say why, but that's just how it is. Except the padded one I had, I really miss that one.

I think this is true for me as well. I have one perfect LAPD from the the 60s. Incredibly thick unyielding horsehide that makes heavy CXL seem like lightweight lambskin. It fits well, but at least an inch shorter than I would like and it is so heavy that every time I put it on to go out I just look at myself in the mirror for a moment or two and then take it off in favor of something more comfortable.