Post Pics of Your Cafe Racer Jackets

[Mandarin]

Here's one that looks like an Excelled but is unbranded. I just got it on ebay after Monitor signaled it in the Finds and Deals thread (https://www.ebay.com/itm/MENS-VINTA...m3b2e25a350:g:P7oAAOSwQtJcmSjQ&frcectupt=true).
I didn't really need it , especially since I had just bought what I thought should be my ultimate CR from the classifieds. Turns out I was the highest bidder. And the jacket is in pretty good vintage condition. Leather is supple and seemingly indestructible. Fits slim, but confortable. I'll probably keep it.

 

[Monitor]

Here's one that looks like an Excelled but is unbranded. I just got it on ebay after Monitor signaled it in the Finds and Deals thread (https://www.ebay.com/itm/MENS-VINTA...m3b2e25a350:g:P7oAAOSwQtJcmSjQ&frcectupt=true).
I didn't really need it , especially since I had just bought what I thought should be my ultimate CR from the classifieds. Turns out I was the highest bidder. And the jacket is in pretty good vintage condition. Leather is supple and seemingly indestructible. Fits slim, but confortable. I'll probably keep it.


View attachment 164208 View attachment 164209 View attachment 164210

It's really, really awesome! Everything about it just works. Fits you great!

 

[Mandarin]

Thank you for posting the link!

 

[vivicorsi]

Height 6“5,Aero Café Racer 46 , oil pulled brown Fqhh
This leather ages so beautifully.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Height 6“5,Aero Café Racer 46 , oil pulled brown Fqhh
This leather ages so beautifully.

Ahh...perfect!!

 

[vivicorsi]

Ahh...perfect!!

Thank you I love the oil pulled brown. Tougher to wear than the Vicenza but it ages wonderfully.

 

[Fonzie]

Thank you I love the oil pulled brown. Tougher to wear than the Vicenza but it ages wonderfully.

How is the thickness in your oil pull HH? I have an Aero in this leather that I really like, but it’s definitely thinner and more supple than my Vincenza jackets. I wouldn’t see it as tougher though.

 

[vivicorsi]

How is the thickness in your oil pull HH? I have an Aero in this leather that I really like, but it’s definitely thinner and more supple than my Vincenza jackets. I wouldn’t see it as tougher though.

It is a midweight fqhh . Definitely much tougher and thicker than my vicenza cafe racer. It takes a long time to break in. But it develops more character.
Maybe they changed it . My oil pulled cafe racer is more than 17 years old. Unfortunately I didn’t wear it that often due to my addiction to leather jackets and too much options.

 

[Fonzie]

It is a midweight fqhh . Definitely much tougher and thicker than my vicenza cafe racer. It takes a long time to break in. But it develops more character.
Maybe they changed it . My oil pulled cafe racer is more than 17 years old. Unfortunately I didn’t wear it that often due to my addiction to leather jackets and too much options.

Yeah, they must have changed it, mine is 4 years old and was also referred to as mid-weight FQHH, but needed no break in at all and was supple straight out of the box. It ages beautifully though.

 

[ProteinNerd]

Yeah, they must have changed it, mine is 4 years old and was also referred to as mid-weight FQHH, but needed no break in at all and was supple straight out of the box. It ages beautifully though.

Have we seen pics of yours recently?

 

[Fonzie]

Have we seen pics of yours recently?

Not for a while, it’s an M-422a bomber style, still packed away for summer but I’ll get it out to take pics soon. Autumn doesn’t really want to start here just yet in South Oz.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Hi,
I don’t know what the official definition of a Cafe Racer jacket is - maybe there is only a general concept, and that’s all that’s necessary - but if cross-zips count, I’ve got a few Langlitz Cascades that seem to be a match.

I’ve only got pix of one right now.
It’s what I call my birthday jacket. Based on the hardware (Coats Clark main pull, Conmatic at the cuffs and chain pockets) I think it was made the same decade I was, and on eBay this auction actually ended on my birthday! It was for sale in Los Angeles where I live so I simply rode into Hollywood the day before and struck a deal with the seller and took it home. It was everything I was looking for; Cascade, padded, pin-stripe back design, and the bonus of an unusual color.

Unfortunately the jacket was in rough shape. Very dry and brittle, especially the sleeves. One sleeve has several holes and severely cracked leather. For some reason the body, front and back are in much better condition. It was very dirty overall and covered in a yellowish dust. What I thought were grease stains at the lower back turned out to be dried mud, which came off with a little water.

Here I am trying it on in the shop before I bought it. It was like wearing a paper bag. I think because it’s so special it might have been on display for 20 or 30 years, just hanging on a wall getting drier and drier.

As you can see it cleaned up pretty good. Also this was the first one I saw that did not have a liner. It’s just a leather shell. Maybe someone can explain why if that’s a common thing or not.

This birthday jacket ended up growing in size a bit after I washed it and used a whole tub of conditioner on it. I wore it a few times but as the threads started failing, no doubt completely exhausted, I had to stop using it. My plan is to eventually ride up to Langlitz in Oregon and see if the creators can repair and reincarnate the artifact.

I ended up buying a few others and found one that is sort of a black goat skin version of the grey one, except that the fit is more accurate and it does not have the pin-stripes at the back. It is also an unlined leather shell. And these were clearly made like that as the label is sewn on the inside to the exposed pocket material.

Anyway, if these are cafe racers, I’ll see if I can get some pictures of the other two tomorrow during the day.
Cheers.

 

[Gamma68]

I have a Langlitz Cascade and love it. Please post photos of your other Cascades when you have the opportunity.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Here they are. Thanks for your interest.
I would be interested to hear any opinions on the date of these. In general I'm guessing 1960s but if you think it might be another decade I'd like to learn why. Thanks.

Here are a few pix of the goatskin Cascade. It fits pretty good but the picture was out of focus so I did not post it.
The main zip. The cuff zips.

Some of the fine white dots are nicks and cuts in the leather. Most are paint over spray. I saw some of that in the ad but it didn't look too bad. When it showed up there seemed to be a lot more. For a second I thought it was too much. Then I said to myself, "Who am I kidding?" I'm an artist and a lot of my clothes have paint markings on them. Pants, boots, jackets, shirts. Honestly this is probably doing me a favor...

What I wore today.
I was interested in this one because of the measurements and the back pinstripes. I thought it might fit better than some of the others. I seem to be learning my measurements by trail and error. I like vintage jackets and gear in general that sort of have a history and story. The seller said it was from the 1960s with a Coats Clark main zip and Conmatic cuff zips. There were no close-up pictures of the zippers. He mentioned there were two pockets inside with the left one zippered.

I was fairly eager but decided to bid a reasonable price and was not going to get too upset if I lost this one. When I won I noticed that it took every penny of my bid! So someone must have bid just below me by a few dollars? I went back and looked at the ad to see when it was shipping and just to look at the jacket while it was on it's way. I never noticed until about day three of shipping that the jacket does not have any pockets on the outside!

Uhh... well I guess that's okay. I don't usually use them too much anyway since I don't like the way my wallet or lighter, etc. push out the leather usually. Now that it's here I'm liking it more and more and I really like the back even though I never get to see it. The leather is incredibly soft and has a bit of stretch to it. Perhaps it's a an extra light weight version.
Cheers

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

Hi,
I don’t know what the official definition of a Cafe Racer jacket is - maybe there is only a general concept, and that’s all that’s necessary - but if cross-zips count, I’ve got a few Langlitz Cascades that seem to be a match.

I’ve only got pix of one right now.
It’s what I call my birthday jacket. Based on the hardware (Coats Clark main pull, Conmatic at the cuffs and chain pockets) I think it was made the same decade I was, and on eBay this auction actually ended on my birthday! It was for sale in Los Angeles where I live so I simply rode into Hollywood the day before and struck a deal with the seller and took it home. It was everything I was looking for; Cascade, padded, pin-stripe back design, and the bonus of an unusual color.

Unfortunately the jacket was in rough shape. Very dry and brittle, especially the sleeves. One sleeve has several holes and severely cracked leather. For some reason the body, front and back are in much better condition. It was very dirty overall and covered in a yellowish dust. What I thought were grease stains at the lower back turned out to be dried mud, which came off with a little water.

Here I am trying it on in the shop before I bought it. It was like wearing a paper bag. I think because it’s so special it might have been on display for 20 or 30 years, just hanging on a wall getting drier and drier.

As you can see it cleaned up pretty good. Also this was the first one I saw that did not have a liner. It’s just a leather shell. Maybe someone can explain why if that’s a common thing or not.

This birthday jacket ended up growing in size a bit after I washed it and used a whole tub of conditioner on it. I wore it a few times but as the threads started failing, no doubt completely exhausted, I had to stop using it. My plan is to eventually ride up to Langlitz in Oregon and see if the creators can repair and reincarnate the artifact.

I ended up buying a few others and found one that is sort of a black goat skin version of the grey one, except that the fit is more accurate and it does not have the pin-stripes at the back. It is also an unlined leather shell. And these were clearly made like that as the label is sewn on the inside to the exposed pocket material.

Anyway, if these are cafe racers, I’ll see if I can get some pictures of the other two tomorrow during the day.
Cheers.

Bumping this thread back to life.

Where is this Grey Ghost and how is it doing???

B

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Hi,
The Grey Ghost is still hanging around. I love that it is grey. When I wore it a few times I noticed that is was significantly cooler than a black jacket. I got an Aerostich Roadcrafter in grey also for that exact reason. Works great. Also I think it was made in the 1960s (not sure about that. Any ideas are welcome).

It might be stupid to some but I like the strange coincidence that it might be made in my decade, the auction ended on my birthday (funny you ask only two days after my birthday), and it was literally everything I was looking/hoping for in a Langlitz Cascade, including grey. AND it fits pretty good. It's a miracle.

I wore it a few times but I was always a little worried about it because it seems a bit brittle.
Unfortunately it's super dry and the threads have started to fail. An elbow pad has started to come off and the seam of one of the cuffs has started to split up the sleeve. So it's semi-retired now. I dream of riding up to Langlitz in person and having them restore & repair it so I can wear it regularly.

The other two I show above are my normal jackets. I just wore the one with the Crown main zip (maybe from the 1970s? Or is that Talon at that point?) the other day when I made a video. It's soft and feels fine. I've washed and conditioned all of them.

Thank you for asking,
Cheers

 

[Rev-O]

Here's one that's new to me. Can someone help me ID it? (Schott? Lesco? The label is missing but it has the cloth "Leathercraft Process of America" tag in the side hem)

Leather is thinnish and stiffish with a plasticky sort of coating. I've treated it to some Renapur (the English version of Pecards) but it mostly seems to just sat on the surface rather than soaking and penetrating. Still, the quality seems good (Serval zips, single panel back etc) and I really like the fit and cut. Quite lightweight for an old one.

Shallow shoulder gussets on the back (not quite full bi-swing, more bi-curious) with angled / pre-formed arms.

 

[handymike]

1960s Schott:

 

[Gamma68]

Here's one that's new to me. Can someone help me ID it? (Schott? Lesco? The label is missing but it has the cloth "Leathercraft Process of America" tag in the side hem)

Leather is thinnish and stiffish with a plasticky sort of coating. I've treated it to some Renapur (the English version of Pecards) but it mostly seems to just sat on the surface rather than soaking and penetrating. Still, the quality seems good (Serval zips, single panel back etc) and I really like the fit and cut. Quite lightweight for an old one.

Shallow shoulder gussets on the back (not quite full bi-swing, more bi-curious) with angled / pre-formed arms.

I don't believe this is a Lesco or Schott. Not sure what brand it is. Sorry I can't be more helpful. @ton312 or @Monitor may know.

 

[ton312]

I believe it to be Fidelity or Excelled...could be Beau Breed but the collar snaps make me think no.