New Bates website, insane?

[regius]

https://www.batesleathers.com/terminator-series

ok, they are the one and only.... but $2745 for a indefinite wait time.

 

[ton312]

Yes. Very much so. The leather looks awful. Great design but that looks like a rubber jacket with printed/embossed "grain".
It also appears as if they've used some photos of vintage jackets being sold as completed new versions. Odd.

 

[regius]

The Terminator II jacket photo on the site right now is their current production. The leather is actually decent, consider it a beefed up version of Euro fashion leather. It's tanned in Germany, thick cowhide, but soft. Coincidentally, my girlfriend's Coach bag must have been made out of the same leather!

The grain is NOT those even pebble type, it's actually quite uneven, some areas don't even have grain, all smooth, some has long valleys. The color on the photo looks blue, but the one I have is pitch black, so I guess there's that variation too. However, it's worth noting there are TWO T2 patterns. A modern, streetwear pattern with the lapel being wide toward the hem, and the movie pattern of tapered down lapel. I think the movie pattern also has the front belt loop placed more to the side (The T1 pattern definitely has the front loop placed facing forward).

 

[ProteinNerd]

Its a really nice pattern for sure but how do they justify charging 3 times the price for that model over their other models using the same leather?

 

[ton312]

Its a really nice pattern for sure but how do they justify charging 3 times the price for that model over their other models using the same leather?

Excellent point PN. I'm sure the answer is

 

[Monitor]

Its a really nice pattern for sure but how do they justify charging 3 times the price for that model over their other models using the same leather?

Because it's the only place where you can get THE Terminator 2 jacket, I guess. Nobody else is making it and nobody else is making anything close to it.
Sure, any D-pocket will be enough for your casual cos-player but if you want the real thing, there's only Bates. If I had the money, I'd pay those two and a half grands. There's just no any other way around it...

Then I'd take it to Alan to remake it stitch for stitch in CXL. XD

Also, leather aside, Bates makes an insanely good product. That CR, one that's on their site, the Competition, is possibly the best designed jacket I've seen. I always say their CR is a piece of equipment, not just a leather jacket. It's the little details but everything is just so well put together, so carefully designed that it's hard to think of it any other way. They have really perfected that CR and I actually think that at $850, it's really affordable, considering how superior it is to just about any other CR on the market.

I'm pretty sure that as a motorcycle jacket, it'd stand up to anything they've came up with for the racing track today.

 

[Edward]

Looks like a great jacket, if way more than I'd ever spend. The Terminator link is also a minus for me, style wise, but that's to personal preference. I'd be surprised if they get many of the comic con types buying these; I'd say their market is the successful, middle-aged man who can afford to treat himself, and upon whom the T2 style made a big impact when it was in the cinema. Now he can afford a Harley and the"real" jacket....

I think the one thing I don't care for on this range of jackets, all other things being equal, is the side-lacing. Never been a fan. Maybe I could get used to it if I got the right jacket at a bargain.

 

[ProteinNerd]

I “get” that they are the only ones doing the “T2” jacket but I hate that type of thinking in business. If they can happily make and sell their other styles of jacket for $850 or $1200 but then charge $2400 just because “they can”....that irks me. It doesn’t cost more to produce, they just want to fleece their customers because they can. It doesn’t affect me as I’ve never even considered a T2 (and still don’t want one.)

By the way, is this another case of someone buying the business name of an old vintage brand and saying they are the “authentic” brand? I don’t remember bates being a custom only brand previously and it seems to be the only option they offer now?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I'm with you Edward. I wouldn't buy a MC jacket with side laces. There are so much better stylish ways to accomplish the same thing especially in a premium jacket.
HD

 

[Monitor]

I “get” that they are the only ones doing the “T2” jacket but I hate that type of thinking in business. If they can happily make and sell their other styles of jacket for $850 or $1200 but then charge $2400 just because “they can”....that irks me. It doesn’t cost more to produce, they just want to fleece their customers because they can. It doesn’t affect me as I’ve never even considered a T2 (and still don’t want one.)

By the way, is this another case of someone buying the business name of an old vintage brand and saying they are the “authentic” brand? I don’t remember bates being a custom only brand previously and it seems to be the only option they offer now?

That's exactly it - they do it because they can. It's... Yeah, I know what you mean but they know all too well there are plenty of people out there who love both Terminator movies - emphasis on both since there are only two Terminator movies - and are a die hard fans. Like myself. Aside from it being my favorite movie ever, T2 is considered to be one of the best movies ever made, both by critics and the profession and that's a huge deal do be associated with and they know it. So you'll always have people more than willing to happily pay a premium to have this jacket (myself included) so why turn down free money? It's business.

Belstaff and other companies are actually doing the same. They shove some jacket in some Hollywood blockbuster and charge couple of thousands of pounds for it later on once it appears on their site. It's a shit practice but it's free money.

Bates never went defunct if that's what you mean. It changed management but they've always been in business. Since Bates was primarily in the business of making professional racetrack leather suits, they've always been custom made. Someone may correct me on this but I don't think Bates ever had made a single OTR jacket.

 

[Monitor]

Regarding side laces, people often associate them with the 80's but don't forget that Buco was doing D-pocket jackets with side laces in the late 50's.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Well lets see...I started riding a MC in 1964 at age 16. Had a motorcycle off and on ( mostly on ) over all these years. I don't give a hoot about what is historically correct at certain times concerning side laces, movie cool, or silly short MC jackets ending up at practically navel level which always looked like someone wearing their little grade school brothers jacket to me . I care more about a leather MC jacket that is comfortable, has good reach without sleeves riding up to my elbows, easy to adjust, or just fits in length and designed fairly snug around the waist without allowing drafts up my back or down the crack of my ass.
I've had many different brands over the years including Bates. However, there are several better engineered MC jackets on the market these days than most of years gone by IMO. Vanson being one.
HD

 

[Guppy]

I like side laces. They do more to adjust the fit than those little buckles do. And I think they look cool.

 

[Monitor]

I care more about a leather MC jacket that is comfortable, has good reach without sleeves riding up to my elbows, easy to adjust, or just fits in length and designed fairly snug around the waist without allowing drafts up my back or down the crack of my ass.

Which is what side laces are for.

That, and regarding length of the jacket, there are some crazy people out there who don't want to look old.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I know what side laces are for...but many MC jackets are just made trim at the waist to nullify the need.
What does length of a MC jacket have to do with looking old..??..or did I miss the joke?

 

[Monitor]

What does length of a MC jacket have to do with looking old..??

Exactly - nothing. Same as it doesn't have anything to do with looking like you're wearing your little grade school brothers jacket.

But motorcycle jackets are short. Really short. They always have been. Look at the CHP cops...

Making a jacket trim at the waist cuts your customer base and by a serious factor at that. What's trim for one guy is unwearable for another and that's where side laces come in very handy.

 

[pak]

The first decent leather jacket I ever had was a Bates CR. This was in the 70s. The process was to send in your measurements from a magazine add. I dont recall if you could customize beyond your measurements. The jacket was most likely steer or cowhide. I recall the jacket as being very well made and substantial. I gave it away because of the heavy weight. And as much as I continue to like leather jackets, I still do not wear them often due to the weight.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Well..if the MC jacket sleeves are riding well above the wrists and jacket hem way above the belt..Somebodies either ready for the fashion runway of today or just look like the jacket is several sizes too small ( you know more like a kids jacket ) IMO.

My Motorcycle jackets aren't and never have been short or certainly not really short. I have several '60s vintage and newer models, I see no need for a very short MC jacket. My bikes have included Triumphs, Kaws plus Several HDs which I have now. So mainly cruisers rather than crotch rockets. To me very short was the '40s- '50s style and so cops could add utility and gun belts.

I can see where some kind of side adjustment can certainly come in handy for many however, again, MC jacket brands do offer a few models trimmer than others. Some with belt loops but no belt since one is not really needed to cinch anything up. A belt would just be for looks. Some of us without gigantic beer bellies prefer and can wear neater fitting models like those.

Yeah...I just don't get 'that's the way they are supposed to be' philosophy still behind the extreme 'above the belt' short jackets whether MC or regular utility style jackets. I suppose the argument that altering a jacket can 'ruin what it was meant to be' does hold some water...but I'd rather see a well fitting jacket even if that means custom fitting for long arms and torso.

Guess I'm just hard headed Monitor, but my jackets will always fall below my belt and my wrists. If not..I'll donate them to a little girls school. ( just kidding )...
HD

 

[Mark]

I was out today on my HD 48, dam wind was shooting up my arms, not nice when the temp is only a couple of degrees above freezing. Off the bike my SB biker jacket fits a treat but on the bike the arms ride up above my wrists by a good couple of inches. Fine in the summer, not so good in the winter. Moral of the story being..add an inch or two on those measuremets before emailing in your order! (that goes for back length as well as arm length)

 

[ton312]

Side laces may not be what people want to look at but Vanson, Cal and Bates all use them. For a riding jacket I love them. There's no better cross zip for riding than the Vanson model E (in my opinion). I've had both Bates and Vansons Highwayman and they were really nice fit wise on a bike. The laces allowed me to snug the jacket around my entire torso, not just the waist. The problem I've always had with belted or buckled closures at the waist is the balloon effect they create. Laces let you snug up higher to the pits.