vintage AMF Harley leather jacket

[Seb Lucas]

The current Brooks jackets by the rebooted company are 3oz naked cowhide. Nothing like the old ones and they modified the pattern a little.

I estimate the older ones with the chest pockets are 2 to 2.2 oz, but the leather varies a bit between jackets and even on the same jacket. On my current Brooks the sleeves are thicker than the body. I have a jacket made of 2.2oz oz cow hide (which I ordered as such) and the Brooks is identical in weight and feel.

Mine came to me mint.

 

[Monitor]

The current Brooks jackets by the rebooted company are 3oz naked cowhide. Nothing like the old ones and they modified the pattern a little.

I estimate the older ones with the chest pockets are 2 to 2.2 oz, but the leather varies a bit between jackets and even on the same jacket. On my current Brooks the sleeves are thicker than the body. I have a jacket made of 2.2oz oz cow hide (which I ordered as such) and the Brooks is identical in weight and feel.

Mine came to me mint.

View attachment 50859

What's the label on this one?

I have a jacket that's supposed to be a repro of this VTG Brooks model, the black and white one with arm stripes, and the manufacturer stated in the brochure that came with it that the jacket has been made from a hide replicating the weight and the texture of what the original was made from, which was supposed to be 1.7 oz or 0.7 mm.

 

[Seb Lucas]

It's the old gold and black label. To me it's heading over the 2oz weight. Most of my leathers are 2.5oz, which is as thick as I like to wear in our warm client. It's a weight I have been familiar with for over 20 years. There are, as I said, parts of this jacket that feel thinner, maybe 2oz. But ultimately only a micrometer can tell us. 1.7oz is very thin, it's fashion leather; the 7 Brooks I have owned and the others I have handled all seem more substantial than that.

People used to 3oz or heavy leathers are likely to be struck by how light this is. They may therefore be inclined to underestimate the thickness, leading to the 1.7oz estimate.

Bring out your micrometers.

 

[Seb Lucas]

David Himel could probably tell us.

 

[ton312]

It's the old gold and black label. To me it's heading over the 2oz weight. Most of my leathers are 2.5oz, which is as thick as I like to wear in our warm client. It's a weight I have been familiar with for over 20 years. There are, as I said, parts of this jacket that feel thinner, maybe 2oz. But ultimately only a micrometer can tell us. 1.7oz is very thin, it's fashion leather; the 7 Brooks I have owned and the others I have handled all seem more substantial than that.

People used to 3oz or heavy leathers are likely to be struck by how light this is. They may therefore be inclined to underestimate the thickness, leading to the 1.7oz estimate.

Bring out your micrometers.

I think you're right. I've never found the lighter Brooks leather to be fragile tho...it's still a tough hide, likely due to how it's finished.

 

[mac28761]

I weighed the jacket, it's 3lbs, 6oz. It feels to be a little lighter than mid weight, but not too light.
It really does look identical to a Brooks from what I've seen. A nice feel, sturdy and sharp looking.

 

[mac28761]

I have more pictures posted on my media page

 

[Monitor]

It's really perfect. And in my size, too... ;_;

 

[ton312]

It's really perfect. And in my size, too... ;_;

And that one was made in the USA...the later later AMF's were manufactured in Korea. I owned both a USA made CR and a Korean made version of the cycle champ...both were great jackets. Slight edge to the USA made in terms of hide quality...

 

[Seb Lucas]

I had a Korean one a few years ago - thought it was a copy. What is the story with AMF?

 

[ton312]

I had a Korean one a few years ago - thought it was a copy. What is the story with AMF?

The later AMF years, when they expanded into all sorts of sporting goods, including bowling balls (for which they are most notable) had them farming out all sorts of their product line. This occurred right before Harley came back and purchased the rights to the company and all its ansilary product lines. AMF year Harley bikes have an abissmal rep that they largely earned due to very poor QC and loads of mechanical failures. The jackets and bowling equipment were likely the best things they produced.

 

[ton312]

 

[Monitor]

I had no clue they used to make bowling balls. What possessed them to venture into that?

 

[handymike]

Just used one Saturday - never made the connection.

 

[ton312]

Just used one Saturday - never made the connection.

They made everything: sewing machines, bakeware, sporting goods, lawn darts and Harleys. You name it, they made it They became so thin spread tho that everything started to suck. So they sold off little bits and pieces of the co. until they became what they are today. Purely bowling. They kinda pulled a:

with Harley Davidson.

 

[ton312]

I had no clue they used to make bowling balls. What possessed them to venture into that?

I believe that was their original business. The ball return mechanism!

 

[scottyrocks]

From wiki:

'The company was founded in 1900 by Rufus L. Patterson, inventor of the first automated cigarette manufacturing machine. Originally incorporated in New Jersey but operating in Brooklyn, the company began by manufacturing cigarette, baking, and stitching machines.[4] AMF moved into the bowling business after World War II, when AMF automated bowling equipment and bowling centers became profitable business ventures. Bicycle production was added in 1950.'

'For a time, AMF owned Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Aging production facilities and increasing quality control problems in some product lines caused sales declines in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company's vast diversified output proved difficult to efficiently manage, and after suffering a series of losses, the company began to sell off most of its manufacturing operations.'

 

[technovox]

The jacket that the OP posted may be a Harley... but it is definitely not a Harley Sportster. Harley Sportsters have just one pocket- the chest pocket.

I've owned a few of the AMF Harley "One Pocket" Sportster cafe racers. I've found that the AMF Sportsters really vary in quality. My experience has been that the later AMF Sportsters feel quite cheaply made, almost a "plastic-y" texture to the leather- they typically have a ring pull on the single chest pocket. The better quality AMF sportsters have a thicker, richer feel to the leather and feature the Conmar diamond pull on the single chest pocket and Conmar zippers on the sleeves. I suspect that there was a crossover period of time when the better quality Sporsters had the "Harley Workmanship" label removed and replaced with the AMF label. Later when they ran out of these jackets, they started to outsource them.

Here's a pic of a later version AMF Harley Sportster:

 

[nick123]

Learn something new every day! I'll never look at bowling balls the same way.

 

[ton312]

I like this take on the AMF years!