Why Should I Buy A Vanson?

[TREEMAN]

Don’t buy a Vanson.. you probably won’t like it !!

 

[abone]

I own two Vansons. One is a Thurston Bros special Oxford in a TB sourced heavy brown cow hide. I’ve owned that jacket a little over a year and it took quite a bit to break in. It’s now supple, soft and incredibly comfortable on and off the bike. I just love that jacket. The leather is incredible and if TB could source some more, I’d custom order a Vanson E or Hardcore. It’s that good.
My other Vanson is a Chopper I bought a couple weeks ago, TB specs. I assume it’s the new CW that is scorned so much. I haven’t handled the legendary CW but I’ll say this leather is thick and appears extremely durable. It’s not stiff, but it has grain.
For the Chopper I think it’s superb. It had a petroleum smell when it arrived, I worked it over with saddle soap, then leather conditioner and hung it outside for a few days. All good now. The leather improved with the treatment.
I’ve had a couple good rides with the jacket and it is easily my best bike jacket, and I have a few. Range of motion, fit of the sleeves at the wrist, tight but extremely comfortable fit, zero drafts, billowing or catching the wind.... everything you want on a bike. The jacket is the proverbial brick shit house. When the jacket arrived and I tried it on, my wife immediately said “it’s too small”. I’m standing there thinking “this jacket fits perfectly”. In other words, it looks tight, but feels right!
As others have stated, their patterns are excellent.
As mentioned, for the Chopper I am perfectly fine with the leather and quite like it. Having said that however, if I ordered a jacket to wear off the bike in this leather, I’m not 100% sure. I think the fit would be critical.

 

[Guppy]

My other Vanson is a Chopper I bought a couple weeks ago, TB specs. I assume it’s the new CW that is scorned so much. I haven’t handled the legendary CW but I’ll say this leather is thick and appears extremely durable. It’s not stiff, but it has grain.

Let's see some good close up pics of the leather.

 

[abone]

Let's see some good close up pics of the leather.

Sure, will do in the morning.

 

[Carlos840]

Yes that happened. And then found a new one and they closed permanently due to Covid. But it’s my understanding they didn’t use the same tannery for each leather they stocked. So one leather may have been done at one place and the x somewhere else and the z another place etc...so I’m not 100% sure about any of their leathers and their current status.

From Constantine: "your HD was made with remaining Peabody / Salem leather from alliance thet went down in flames"
Apparently the leather was hand finished/waxed by some dude called Mike, who had been doing that for them for 30 years or so. The guy was in his late 60s so he retired rather than start again after the factory burnt down.

After that they tried to get new X150 from a few new suppliers, but last i heard they could not find anyone who could do the final waxing/finishing as well as Mike used to do it. They got a bunch of sample batches but none where quite right.
Last i heard they had built test jackets from the best batch they had found and where conducting tests.
That was a couple months ago.
No recent news as Constantine has since left the company and he was my only Vanson contact.

 

[dannyk]

From Constantine: "your HD was made with remaining Peabody / Salem leather from alliance thet went down in flames"
Apparently the leather was hand finished/waxed by some dude called Mike, who had been doing that for them for 30 years or so. The guy was in his late 60s so he retired rather than start again after the factory burnt down.

After that they tried to get new X150 from a few new suppliers, but last i heard they could not find anyone who could do the final waxing/finishing as well as Mike used to do it. They got a bunch of sample batches but none where quite right.
Last i heard they had built test jackets from the best batch they had found and where conducting tests.
That was a couple months ago.
No recent news as Constantine has since left the company and he was my only Vanson contact.

Man everything is changing. Constantine answered a bunch of questions for me. Good dude.

 

[TREEMAN]

Sure, will do in the morning.

Also looking forward to seeing the pics ...

 

[El Marro]

No recent news as Constantine has since left the company and he was my only Vanson contact.

Damn, that’s a shame!
Constantine was great to deal with and he loved these jackets as much as we do. I hope he is well and I wish him luck with whatever it is he’s doing now.

 

[roadking04]

Don’t buy a Vanson.. you probably won’t like it !!

SADLY, I have to agree with this statement. It is really hard to watch Vanson go down the tubes. Just look at the pics double H posted. The leather is even worse in real life. Almost like a rubber coating. Their customer service was starting to improve with Constantine, now I don't know where they go. Already sounds like they are reverting back to not answering emails on time, and soon lame excuses will be given as to missed eta's.

I am afraid Ton is going to be very disappointed if/when he finally gets his jacket. He has seen first hand Vanson's best. He might even be a little mad if he has to spend $40-50 to send the POS back. Sounds like they might already be starting to give him the runaround. I really hope I am wrong. It's hard for me to watch this leather icon do down the toilet. I hope they can turn it around before it is too late.

 

[abone]

 

[Hh121]

Leather good to me, will be helpful if you can provide the series number as well.

 

[abone]

Here you go.
I’m pretty sure the jacket was built last year but not positive.
If the # means something, let me know.

 

[Hh121]

Sorry couldn't help, I forget chopper uses different series number from others

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

Here you go.
I’m pretty sure the jacket was built last year but not positive.
If the # means something, let me know.
View attachment 329617

I think you said it was custom for TB, so that throws out the sequential. I think the newer models are in the 80k range, but that's for their usual off the rack. 50k is 2000, I know because my Enfield is that and they confirmed Oct. 2000 build, and about 20-25k is 1990 more or less. Custom has it's own set of codes, so no way to figure out without contacting them. But I know the history of your jacket and it sounds like recent build. So there must be some sort of indicator, probably the numbers after the first or second * I was trying to put together a basic rule of thumb guide, but needed more input from everyone to get a good range. Gave up honestly, was starting too feel like too much of a nerd

 

[Coriu]

SADLY, I have to agree with this statement. It is really hard to watch Vanson go down the tubes. Just look at the pics double H posted. The leather is even worse in real life. Almost like a rubber coating. Their customer service was starting to improve with Constantine, now I don't know where they go. Already sounds like they are reverting back to not answering emails on time, and soon lame excuses will be given as to missed eta's.

I am afraid Ton is going to be very disappointed if/when he finally gets his jacket. He has seen first hand Vanson's best. He might even be a little mad if he has to spend $40-50 to send the POS back. Sounds like they might already be starting to give him the runaround. I really hope I am wrong. It's hard for me to watch this leather icon do down the toilet. I hope they can turn it around before it is too late.

It should be very interesting to see where we are in 20 years. I think it will become increasingly difficult to get a new, high quality leather jacket for a number of reasons.

How often in recent years have we seen an iconic brand get bought out by a huge conglomerate who comes in and changes business strategies, for the worse, and/or moves its manufacturing operations to become more cost-competitive. I would not be surprised if that happens to Schott.

I wonder how many companies are living in risk like Vanson, one catastrophe away from a supply chain nightmare? The answer might be frightening for us leather fanciers. Tanneries are nasty operations-see link below.
https://gizmodo.com/how-leather-is-slowly-killing-the-people-and-places-tha-1572678618

I think as sustainability and environmental issues get further under the microscope, and associated liabilities grow, some companies may choose to get out of the business.

 

[abone]

After @Hh121 requested to see the # of my Chopper made me realise I hadn't registered the serial # yet, so rather than mail it in, I called Vanson to register it over the phone. Mike V. picked up the phone and after taking my information proceeded to talk my ear off for 20 min about what's going on there with their leather. The short story is what everyone already knows. All their old suppliers have gradually gone out of business so they currently have no Octagon or X150.
Their current plan however, which is under consideration, is to do all the final finishing of their leathers in their basement so hopefully Octagon and X150 will be available again soon if this comes to fruition.
I asked about ordering a custom jacket, and he said they have a broad range of cowhides available and would gladly send me swatches. They have smooth coat, grainy coat, pebble coat, waxy coat etc etc. I asked if this info was on their website, and he chuckled and said no!
Regarding the old comp weight vs new, he said if you laid 25 year old CW next to the new stuff, there isn't much difference. I know this will elicit derision so I'm just repeating what he said.
He also went into a long explanation of the state of the horsehide industry.
If you want to know what's going on at Vanson, call on Sat and speak to Mike V.

 

[JMax]

After @Hh121 requested to see the # of my Chopper made me realise I hadn't registered the serial # yet, so rather than mail it in, I called Vanson to register it over the phone. Mike V. picked up the phone and after taking my information proceeded to talk my ear off for 20 min about what's going on there with their leather. The short story is what everyone already knows. All their old suppliers have gradually gone out of business so they currently have no Octagon or X150.
Their current plan however, which is under consideration, is to do all the final finishing of their leathers in their basement so hopefully Octagon and X150 will be available again soon if this comes to fruition.
I asked about ordering a custom jacket, and he said they have a broad range of cowhides available and would gladly send me swatches. They have smooth coat, grainy coat, pebble coat, waxy coat etc etc. I asked if this info was on their website, and he chuckled and said no!
Regarding the old comp weight vs new, he said if you laid 25 year old CW next to the new stuff, there isn't much difference. I know this will elicit derision so I'm just repeating what he said.
He also went into a long explanation of the state of the horsehide industry.
If you want to know what's going on at Vanson, call on Sat and speak to Mike V.

Your hide looks like what my Hardcore was made of. Trust me, with wear it will look great.

 

[Peter Mackin]

Don’t buy a Vanson.. you probably won’t like it !!

What’s not to like

 

[JMax]

View attachment 329653 View attachment 329651
What’s not to like
View attachment 329651

Stunning. That looks like top of the line 50s/60s Steer.

 

[TREEMAN]

It's hit or miss w/the CW.......Some examples of it look better than others. I have a Model B America jacket ( 2016 ) and it looks nothing like the current stuff. Mine appears to be naked cowhide or semi-aniline. Also I made that other statement in jest. Go Vanson !! Although I would not want the current Comp. Weight.