British bike jacket – can you help me date it? Clix zip, Newey studs...

[Mr Badger]

Party Seven?

'Possibly the worst beer in the world'! For non-British FLers or those under a certain age (don't worry, you'll automatically join the non-exclusive club, give it time!), Watney's and several other British so-called breweries almost uniformly sold mid-brown, flat and flatulence-producing 'traditional bitter' and ale during the 1970s, which was available in seven-pint cans that you pierced with a 'church key' then proceeded to slop all over the place... bloody awful!

 

[Carlos840]

That would be my guess. It might also have been a copy from another brand that Lewis owned, I've seen a fair bit of stuff that came out under the Aviakit name, which if memory serves LL also owned. If the hide is so lightweight it feels almost like it could be lamb - lighter than an A2 by some way, for instance - that sounds very typical of the late-60s British stuff I've handled. I don't think I've ever touched a Lewis (or comparable brand) of any age that I would even remotely trust to protect anything in a spill....

Just as an FYI, Lewis leather are still branded as Aviakit...
Also, although the quality in the 80s was apparently pretty bad, the present quality is really good.
The brand was bought back by a real passionate of the brand a few years ago, and i really would not hesitate to say that the current jackets are right up there with the best of them.

I own a Dominator and often use it to ride, the leather is really nice and thick and the stitching is strong and really nicely put together...
I do wear an armored shirt underneath, but i trust the jacket to stay in one piece it i did take a spill...

Their customer service was also top notch and the jacket was completed in around 3 weeks when i was quoted 6.

 

[Mr Badger]

Just as an FYI, Lewis leather are still branded as Aviakit...
Also, although the quality in the 80s was apparently pretty bad, the present quality is really good.
The brand was bought back by a real passionate of the brand a few years ago, and i really would not hesitate to say that the current jackets are right up there with the best of them.

I own a Dominator and often use it to ride, the leather is really nice and thick and the stitching is strong and really nicely put together...
I do wear an armored shirt underneath, but i trust the jacket to stay in one piece it i did take a spill...

Their customer service was also top notch and the jacket was completed in around 3 weeks when i was quoted 6.

The current owner, Derek, is a lovely bloke – I popped in to see if he would stock my Bam-Balam belts, etc, a coupla months back and he couldn't have been nicer – we spent about an hour chatting about all sortsa stuff... he got a job working for the guy who used to own the company, and convinced him to redo some of the older designs – when his boss said he was selling the company, Derek told me that he got really nervous, especially as he said "I've got the perfect person in mind"... when his boss said, "it's you", he almost passed out!

Sadly, Derek's got his own range of belts (around £200, as you'd expect!) but he was very complimentary about my wares, indeed...

 

[Edward]

Certainly no offence taken, squire – if the East End leather trade was owt like back in the early 1990s, when I lived just off Shoreditch High St then Brick Lane, then it was thriving...

There are still a lot of leather wholesalers around the area, mostly (as is the norm for people in the garment trade in that area) folks of Bangladesih, Indian or Pakistani descent. India and Pakistan do seem, bsed on what I've seen, to be major centres of production for fashion leather-wear, so it's logical that people from those communities would be involved in that trade here in London. Outside of the specialist, niche stuff that we're into in these parts, I can't imagine there's much (if anything) of it manufactured in the UK any more, primarily on cost grounds, though the loss of manufacturing industry in general I'm sure has a lot to do with it too.

Allow me to solve that conundrum for you, chief – voila!

Pretty neat arrangement, I'd say... I've used some Mink Oil on the jacket, it's coming up really very well indeed!

Aha! THanks, I see it now. So the jacket doesn't have the correspnoding male half of the stud fasteners for the collar on the chest panel behind it, a la the Schott / generic Perfecto style approach? I get it now...

Just as an FYI, Lewis leather are still branded as Aviakit...

Is that on the LL items themselves as a co-brandin,g or is it separate? I have an old pair of bike boots (and I've seen many other items) from the 70s or earlier that have only the Aviakit brand, no mention of LL.

Also, although the quality in the 80s was apparently pretty bad, the present quality is really good.
The brand was bought back by a real passionate of the brand a few years ago, and i really would not hesitate to say that the current jackets are right up there with the best of them.

I first encountered their stuff maybe ten or twelve years ago.... Back then they were making great stuff too. Thin leather, lighter than I would be comfortable with, but that's to personal taste. They were certainly accurate to the originals I've handled. While it's what I prefer, the heavy-leather thing that is popular with a lot of us isn't how most jackets were back when. I've heard good things about the company since it reopened under new management. Wasn't that many years ago, was it? The Ace Cafe went for four or five years without being a Lewis outlet, then they started up again. I remember their prices seeming crazy when they came back on the market, but most of the name brands I like have caught up with them by now anyhow.

I own a Dominator and often use it to ride, the leather is really nice and thick and the stitching is strong and really nicely put together...
I do wear an armored shirt underneath, but i trust the jacket to stay in one piece it i did take a spill...

Their customer service was also top notch and the jacket was completed in around 3 weeks when i was quoted 6.

I've heard a lot of good things about them. I did like the.... what was the alternative model they called the Dominator something.... A brown jacket, like an A2, with knits, but slash pockets...? Looked really sharp, but it was lambskin, for which I do not care. Dominator was always a nice design. Lewis had some interesting cuts - a lot of them too Sixties for me, but again that's to personal taste in design. I rather liked the Corsair - from memory, it was like a Dominator with epaulettes, and no chest-zip pockets. The lancer front models always intrigued me in that they appeared to have taken inspiration from the american jackets like Schott et cetera but given them a whole new sensibility which was uniquely British. At the Goodwood revival, when you look at the guys doing the early/mid 50s US biker gangs (really unchanged, for the most part, from the late 40s, Hollister Incident period) and the guys doing the English Rocker thing from the 59-65ish period.... for all the similarities, they are stylistically worlds apart. Like comparing a 40s Zoot Suiter and a second generation Teddy Boy.

 

[Carlos840]

I think Derek, the new owner bought the company in 2003 or 2004...

According to Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Leathers) they were first called D Lewis in the beginning (1892), then they started using the Aviakit name in 1929 when they were selling aviation gear, they only started being called Lewis Leathers in 1960.

If you buy one of their jackets now you will have a "Lewis Leathers" patch sewn on the outside chest (it is possible to omit it on demand) and an "Aviakit" tag on the inside

The corsair is nice, it is basically a dominator without the chest pockets, no epaulettes though, it was the jacket used by the germans in the movie "battle of Britain".

I am starting to feel like i should do a review of my Jacket, for some reason nobody seems to like them on this forum which is a shame!

 

[Edward]

Ah, yes... I must be thinking of another one that had epaulettes... (or maybe it was a previous variation on the model, I don't know). Jinkies, 2003/4? That's longer ago than I thought, but it would chime with the period when I last seriously looked at a screen-accurate Franknfurter jacket... Interesting they're mixing the labels like that - are they deliberately doing that to distinguish the product of the company in its current incarnation from older stuff? I wodner what period my Aviakit boots are from... Long, knee-length, zip up the back... same as ever they were, but these are labelled Aviakit, no Lewis branding. I'd be surprised if they were earlier than 70s. The surface is off one of them (all the classic signs of hard riding with a kick-start bike), but they're great for what I wanted them for.

It' be interesting to see a review of your jacket. There's not much mention of LL on here. I think it's because the Lewis jackets maybe weren't much seen in the US (this place is, of course, very much US dominated), and they are mostly associated with the Sixties and on, which falls outside most people's era of interest around here. Still, they're out there now making great jackets and a few of them have surfaced round here (JohnnyJohnny bought one an age ago, chasing the Luftwaffe look). Definitely be interesting to hear more about yours.

 

[Carlos840]

To be honest i am not sure about the labeling thing, i think there is a mix of two things.
One is historical accuracy for a few items, like the flying boots which are only labelled D.Lewis, as they would have been back then.

The other one is i think just a tradition more than anything else...
I think that in the early 30s they only labelles things as "aviakit", then leading into the 50' and 60s the Lewis Leathers name came along, until it was officially registered in 62
If you check the wikipedia page it shows a few jackets with a mix of "aviakit" and "Lewis Leathers" tags, sometimes one or the other, sometimes both.
I think they just carry on doing it because it was always done, not to distinguish anything in particular. Some kind of reference to the past!

I can't really help regarding the dating or your boots, but i am sure that if you sent them a picture or two they could help you date them!

I will try to do a review of my jacket soon, i think more people need to know about them...

 

[pipvh]

I did like the.... what was the alternative model they called the Dominator something.... A brown jacket, like an A2, with knits, but slash pockets...? Looked really sharp, but it was lambskin, for which I do not care.

Was that the Countryman? Multi-coloured knits at the sides, not all the way around? I tried one on the other day. I agree that the sheep leather is a bit soft but it's true to period. They can make them in cowhide, though... The jacket looked particularly 'right' somehow, though it isn't the style I usually go for. I was - and remain - seriously tempted.

 

[rocketeer]

It' be interesting to see a review of your jacket. There's not much mention of LL on here. I think it's because the Lewis jackets maybe weren't much seen in the US (this place is, of course, very much US dominated), and they are mostly associated with the Sixties and on, which falls outside most people's era of interest around here. Still, they're out there now making great jackets and a few of them have surfaced round here (JohnnyJohnny bought one an age ago, chasing the Luftwaffe look). Definitely be interesting to hear more about yours.

Yes Yes Yes, More bike jackets please. US, British, anything really back to the 80s.
OK I'm a Power Ranger but we dont need to review those do we

I will try to do a review of my jacket soon, i think more people need to know about them...

You must you must!

I think Derek, the new owner bought the company in 2003 or 2004...

I am starting to feel like i should do a review of my Jacket, for some reason nobody seems to like them on this forum which is a shame!

Oh yes they do

John

 

[aswatland]

The quality of Lewis Leather jackets in the 1960s and 1970s was extremely good. I own a late '60s/early '70s twin track Bronx in a size 42 and its a great jacket. The leather is thick and the fit is very sharp and stylish. I can post pictures if any one is interested. I have a Bronx made from brown leather on order and will post a review when it arrives in the next 16 weeks. I too would like to see more reviews of British MC jackets on the forum.

 

[Highwaymanman]

I had a black Super Monza for a while.... maybe one of the finest jacket styles ever, to my taste. I loved it but if it fit so tight that I just couldn't walk around in it with my wife and kid in tow. I looked like a total wannabe biker with a pram instead of a Norton. It had to go and I made a very good profit on it. It ended up with some some LA rocker guy who is probably drunk under a table in a bar right now. That's how a jacket like that is meant to be worn, I feel, so the universe kind of unfolded as it should have.

 

[rocketeer]

The quality of Lewis Leather jackets in the 1960s and 1970s was extremely good. I own a late '60s/early '70s twin track Bronx in a size 42 and its a great jacket. The leather is thick and the fit is very sharp and stylish. I can post pictures if any one is interested. I have a Bronx made from brown leather on order and will post a review when it arrives in the next 16 weeks. I too would like to see more reviews of British MC jackets on the forum.

Yes post it up please.
I will dig out my pics of a standard Bronx I had a while back.
J

 

[aswatland]

Late '60s/early '70s Lewis Leathers Twin Track Bronx size42.

 

[shadowrider]

Cool. Never saw a double main zipper like that before. Is it so that you have two ways to zip it up - tighter or looser?

 

[aswatland]

Cool. Never saw a double main zipper like that before. Is it so that you have two ways to zip it up - tighter or looser?

Yes. You can layer under it when the inner tracks are used. It first appeared on the Bronx in 1965.

 

[Carlos840]

Cool. Never saw a double main zipper like that before. Is it so that you have two ways to zip it up - tighter or looser?

The idea behind it is that you can use it in summer on the tight zipper, and in winter if you layer a lot you use the wider zipper...

Not sure how well it works in real life!

 

[Edward]

Interesting! I've seen that on much more modern jackets (my parents tried to buy me one of those for my 21st, bless them - all big shoulders, black zips, a totally modern look of a jacket. No dice for a twenty-one year old wannabe Joey Ramone (something he had in common with a fifteen year old Alice Cooper wannabe, and an old-enough-to-know-better Brando wannabe...). I wasn't aware it went back this far. I wodner how many jackets really had thse used as intended, and how many were really used to accomodate jackets that had, eh, shrunk in the wardrobe?

Was that the Countryman? Multi-coloured knits at the sides, not all the way around? I tried one on the other day. I agree that the sheep leather is a bit soft but it's true to period. They can make them in cowhide, though... The jacket looked particularly 'right' somehow, though it isn't the style I usually go for. I was - and remain - seriously tempted.

No, this was very much in the style of an A2... This one:

Passing resemblence to the Aero Happy Days (though the latter has a bulkier silhouette, boxier cut), or the Aeriel Star jacket with the slash pockets.

To be honest i am not sure about the labeling thing, i think there is a mix of two things.
One is historical accuracy for a few items, like the flying boots which are only labelled D.Lewis, as they would have been back then.

The other one is i think just a tradition more than anything else...
I think that in the early 30s they only labelles things as "aviakit", then leading into the 50' and 60s the Lewis Leathers name came along, until it was officially registered in 62
If you check the wikipedia page it shows a few jackets with a mix of "aviakit" and "Lewis Leathers" tags, sometimes one or the other, sometimes both.
I think they just carry on doing it because it was always done, not to distinguish anything in particular. Some kind of reference to the past!

I can't really help regarding the dating or your boots, but i am sure that if you sent them a picture or two they could help you date them!

I will try to do a review of my jacket soon, i think more people need to know about them...

Interesting, thanks - and definitely do put up a review.

 

[rocketeer]

Here's mine. Bought for £4 at a car boot probably about 18 years ago. Lightning zips, cotton lining, this one had the duel Lewis Leathers-Aviakit label and was sized around a size 46. It also had some fancy kind of nickle buckle that Derek cannot get reproduced...... unless he orders 10,000 of the things. A little too large for me so I had plans to wear it with layers for winter riding on my A65. Did it once and decided I was not into riding in winters that much anymore. I still ride in winter on my Busa but now resort to my(say it softly ) Shhhh.....Gortex.
Regret it is the only pic I have.

I did have another Bronx but never photographed that one.
You have to be careful buying used Lewis Leathers as a lot were made to measure. The one not photo'd was a V shape as if it had been made for a body builder, "Kind of wide at the shoulder and narrow at the hip"

 

[Highwaymanman]

Some superb jackets there. Love that Twin Track Bronx.

 

[Alabama]

I remember for those of us who could not get enough money together for a party 7
there was the the party 4. I also remember me and a couple of mates trying to sneak
out of some ones house when their parents got home early, and dropping party 4's from under our coats.
they were open and Watneys going all over the carpet. Did not go to that house for a while.
Ah what it was to be 16 in 1973.