My New Himel Kensington Horsehide Cafe Racer

[53Effie]

Great looking jacket Andrew. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy!

 

[bretron]

Andrew, now that is how a cafe should fit!

 

[Cooperson]

That's a great looking racer! Fit is spot on too. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Andrew, nice long length on that too. I love a good simple cafe.

 

[AndrewC]

Funny about the jacket length. As far as the back length, it measures 25 inches from the bottom of the collar, the same as my other two jackets. But it actually hangs about an inch lower on my backside than the other two, just the wasy it fits I guess. And well, the front is longer anyway. In my search for a new HH Cafe Racer (which took almost a year), I also considered GW (but didn't want to wait 18 months), the Real McCoy Buco J100 (which I tried on several times - and I really wanted to like it - but I found that for me they were very tight in the shoulders and chest and going to a bigger size led to too much extra room in the waist), and the Aero Sonoma. All are great jackets, but I found that the Himel was the best fit for me. I found this forum was very helpful and a great source of information. Although, I wish there were for fit pictures floating around. Now I see Aero has a new jacket, the Fontana, which looks really nice...

 

[Seb Lucas]

You did great with the Himel. Pretty much on par with what Goodwear make and I imagine more supple and wearable than the Aero HH Fontana.

 

[technovox]

Beautiful fit, Andrew!
The finish and texture of the horsehide on these Himels is absolutely amazing. Pics just don't seem to capture it. One thing that surprised me about my Himel racer, was that the zippers on the sleeve are unlined, so when the sleeves are unzipped the wrists are exposed. Unlike my other cafe racers.

Very nice jacket. I have been lurking this forum for a while, but have never posted. I also picked up a Himel Kensington Racer in June. I had met Dave in Toronto, visited his shop and tried on some jackets, got to see his leather samples, liner samples, zippers, etc. I ended up with the black shinki horsehide, camo lining, one collar snap, size 40 with 1 inch shorter on the arms. It was a very cool experience and Dave is a great guy. I can't say anything about this jacket that hasn't already been said elswhere in the forum. It is my favorite jacket that I have ever worn for sure. My other present jackets include a Schott 141 and a vintage gold tagged Brooks Cafe Racer (which is in very nice shape). Here are a few fit pictures of the Himel. For some reason the leather looks dull in these crappy ipod pictures, but it is very shiny in reality:

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[Xenophon]

Now that looks like a PERFECT fit to me! And I'm hard to please. Very clean cut too. Congrats and enjoy!

 

[AndrewC]

Thanks. Technovox - one of the things that turned me off about the Himel originally was that the sleeve zippers were unlined as you say, but now that I am used to it, I prefer it that way. I find the sleeves very narrow at the wrist, which I like as it keeps the arms from flopping around. And when the sleeve zippers are done up, there isn't that bunched up lining sticking into my arm. Also, when it is warm out, I find unzipping the sleeves a bit lets some nice airflow up the arm. Also, the welting on the arm zippers looks very nice. Whatdo you think of the unlined sleeve zippers?

 

[winterland1]

Both the Himels look great. I am a black leather guy myself. AndrewC's is a little long for my taste but we know correct length is all about what the owner likes.

 

[technovox]

At first, I was a bit unsure about the unlined zippers on the sleeves. I've never encountered it before, and I've been through a fair share of Cafe Racers over the years. But now I've gotten used to it, and find it actually useful in a couple of ways. It offers more climate control- here in the Bay Area, the weather will go from frigid fog to warm sun in a couple of minutes or miles, and the sleeves really help cool in warmer weather quicker than the lined zippered sleeves. Also, an extra bonus is that it is much easier to read my wrist watch. And showing a bit of wrist is somehow a bit rakish. The one draw back is that I've gotten the hairs on my wrist caught in the zippers a couple of times...
But one of my favorite aspects of the Himel is the weight of the horsehide - much more versatile than my heavier horsehides in this SF climate.

Thanks. Technovox - one of the things that turned me off about the Himel originally was that the sleeve zippers were unlined as you say, but now that I am used to it, I prefer it that way. I find the sleeves very narrow at the wrist, which I like as it keeps the arms from flopping around. And when the sleeve zippers are done up, there isn't that bunched up lining sticking into my arm. Also, when it is warm out, I find unzipping the sleeves a bit lets some nice airflow up the arm. Also, the welting on the arm zippers looks very nice. Whatdo you think of the unlined sleeve zippers?

 

[AndrewC]

Due to a new jacket purchase, I have my Himel Kensignton for sale if anyone is interested...
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?75107-Himel-Kensington-Black-Size-40&highlight=himel