What do you do in your leather jacket, what lifestyle does it inspire? Tell us a story! (keep it clean)

[barnabus]

This is great. Never actually thought of layering a vest OVER the leather jacket. Looks awesome!

To my mind, denim vest over a leather jacket is the quintessential heavy metal look.

 

[Carlos840]

No lifestyle inspiration for me, i wear leather on the bike because it is what i trust to keep me safe compared to modern textile jackets.
I also wear them to stay dry if i am doing casual outdoor activities, but i don't have a problem wearing a softshell or hardshell if the weather is really bad or if i am doing something more strenuous.

I definitely started wearing leather jackets because i thought it was "cool", but now that i have been wearing them for more than a decade, i just wear them when it makes sens practicaly.

Like i would probably never do airplane travel with a leather jacket anymore, it just doesn't make sens to me, been there, done that, it s*cks.

 

[Peacoat]

When I started back riding a motorcycle as an adult 25 years ago, I got a leather jacket. It was probably made in Pakistan, but was a quality leather that was thick and supple. Would have given me abrasion protection if needed–never did.

Wore it in the rain, the snow and the cold. It kept me dry, and with layering, kept me warm. I should have stopped there, but a few years later, I discovered this place.

I think I now have 15 leather jackets to the consternation of my wife. Those include an Eastman, an Aero or three, a Goodwear, several other name brands whose names escape me and several G-1s, both original issue and reproductions.

These are in addition to the many peacoats I have collected over the years.

As I said, I should have stopped with that original motorcycle jacket; it was all I really needed.

 

[Trouser Bark]

My path has been long and my first significant exposure to leather and hides is here:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/connection-beyond-consumerism.115596/

For reasons unimportant to this thread I was excommunicated from my family when I was roughly 19 years old and lost my rudder for a bit. During that time a friend of mine had outgrown the leather jacket his father had given him and he in turn gave it to me. It was an aviator style w/ a mouton collar and I wore it everywhere as it was the only jacket I had. I eventually outgrew it and donated it to someone it would fit; I have no recollection of whom. Education, career, a family of my own, moving my young family many thousands of miles in pursuit of career goals and during most of that time I never had another leather jacket but would occasionally wander through a shop that sold them and drool. During college I rode a Yamaha DT-250 to school but rarely further. That blue smoke belching two stroke never seemed like a bike meant to go much further than across town or maybe across a few fields. I still recall walking into a leather shop in a quonset hut 30 years ago and trying on a Vanson jacket that I think was a CR. It had a thick orange horizontal stripe running a few inches down from the shoulder and all the way around. It was something like $400 USD at the time and out of my reach. Might've been a flat tracker.

Roughly 25 years ago I became what some call a born again motorcyclist. While the kids and family were young I couldn't risk their futures if I had been splattered out on some remote highway but eventually I could take greater risks w/out much concern. I bought a BMW K75S sometime in the late 90's and stretched its legs every chance I got. Then a BMW R1100R, a Yamaha FZ1, a BMW HP2, etc. I have nine bikes now and get out on them less often but they're still a part of me.

It was somewhere in the early years of being that born again biker that I picked up another jacket that stirred the leather drive in me. It was a Gericke Paris Dakar jacket made mostly of textile but the reinforced sections were leather covered... like the shoulders, elbows, etc. Then it was a Vanson Sport Rider that felt great but looked odd whenever I got off the bike. It had a sort of Terminator vibe to it that looked like you were there to shoot the gas station operator and didn't seem right for my longer rides in snow, rain, slush and sometimes worse. I sold that but it was the bug that led to the current collection of maybe 15 leather jackets, some of which are m/c jackets that never get ridden in. To the office, weekend knock around, etc. It was probably the intoxicating smell of that Vanson Sport many years back that led me to the rest of 'em.

I never ride in leather but I do feel comfortable in a CR and most of the others. I was gifted a very nicely broken in cross zip by Mysteryo many months back and love the jacket but it's still one I feel a little unusual in... like I should lean against a concrete wall and light a smoke or maybe stab a passing miscreant. Not sure what it's about.

After all that it's also true that the jackets I have don't inspire me to be different than I am, don't inspire me to get on a bike or anything else really. With the one slight exception of Mysteryo's gift they all seem like they are me and they are what I'm comfortable in.

They look great w/ a nice pair of harness boots too which I also absolutely love but can't exactly say why.. Leather jackets are another outward expression that lurks in some of us and has to get out.

 

[Steve S]

… there was also a place in Causeway Bay hidden upstairs somewhere...

Yup, this is the one I mean, but I can’t think of the name. Might be Luddite. **** Kok is also good. Here’s a link:

http://[URL][URL]https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/shopping/best-vintage-stores-in-hong-kong

[/URL][/URL]

I consulted my pins in google maps from the HK trip and have been to a few of those in the link! Will check out the ones I missed out on this time around

 

[Steve S]

My path has been long and my first significant exposure to leather and hides is here:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/connection-beyond-consumerism.115596/

For reasons unimportant to this thread I was excommunicated from my family when I was roughly 19 years old and lost my rudder for a bit. During that time a friend of mine had outgrown the leather jacket his father had given him and he in turn gave it to me. It was an aviator style w/ a mouton collar and I wore it everywhere as it was the only jacket I had. I eventually outgrew it and donated it to someone it would fit; I have no recollection of whom. Education, career, a family of my own, moving my young family many thousands of miles in pursuit of career goals and during most of that time I never had another leather jacket but would occasionally wander through a shop that sold them and drool. During college I rode a Yamaha DT-250 to school but rarely further. That blue smoke belching two stroke never seemed like a bike meant to go much further than across town or maybe across a few fields. I still recall walking into a leather shop in a quonset hut 30 years ago and trying on a Vanson jacket that I think was a CR. It had a thick orange horizontal stripe running a few inches down from the shoulder and all the way around. It was something like $400 USD at the time and out of my reach. Might've been a flat tracker.

Roughly 25 years ago I became what some call a born again motorcyclist. While the kids and family were young I couldn't risk their futures if I had been splattered out on some remote highway but eventually I could take greater risks w/out much concern. I bought a BMW K75S sometime in the late 90's and stretched its legs every chance I got. Then a BMW R1100R, a Yamaha FZ1, a BMW HP2, etc. I have nine bikes now and get out on them less often but they're still a part of me.

It was somewhere in the early years of being that born again biker that I picked up another jacket that stirred the leather drive in me. It was a Gericke Paris Dakar jacket made mostly of textile but the reinforced sections were leather covered... like the shoulders, elbows, etc. Then it was a Vanson Sport Rider that felt great but looked odd whenever I got off the bike. It had a sort of Terminator vibe to it that looked like you were there to shoot the gas station operator and didn't seem right for my longer rides in snow, rain, slush and sometimes worse. I sold that but it was the bug that led to the current collection of maybe 15 leather jackets, some of which are m/c jackets that never get ridden in. To the office, weekend knock around, etc. It was probably the intoxicating smell of that Vanson Sport many years back that led me to the rest of 'em.

I never ride in leather but I do feel comfortable in a CR and most of the others. I was gifted a very nicely broken in cross zip by Mysteryo many months back and love the jacket but it's still one I feel a little unusual in... like I should lean against a concrete wall and light a smoke or maybe stab a passing miscreant. Not sure what it's about.

After all that it's also true that the jackets I have don't inspire me to be different than I am, don't inspire me to get on a bike or anything else really. With the one slight exception of Mysteryo's gift they all seem like they are me and they are what I'm comfortable in.

They look great w/ a nice pair of harness boots too which I also absolutely love but can't exactly say why.. Leather jackets are another outward expression that lurks in some of us and has to get out.

This is great - well written and a lovely story

 

[Steve S]

To my mind, denim vest over a leather jacket is the quintessential heavy metal look.

View attachment 748940

I recently saw an example of a japanese person wearing a rocky mountain vest over a leather jacket and thought it was really cool. Will see if I can find the picture.

I tried it out with my vest but given how high the arm holes are it was very tricky to get the leather jacket sleeve in and not the most comfortable.

 

[leatherbikescarsnwatches]

My path has been long and my first significant exposure to leather and hides is here:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/connection-beyond-consumerism.115596/

For reasons unimportant to this thread I was excommunicated from my family when I was roughly 19 years old and lost my rudder for a bit. During that time a friend of mine had outgrown the leather jacket his father had given him and he in turn gave it to me. It was an aviator style w/ a mouton collar and I wore it everywhere as it was the only jacket I had. I eventually outgrew it and donated it to someone it would fit; I have no recollection of whom. Education, career, a family of my own, moving my young family many thousands of miles in pursuit of career goals and during most of that time I never had another leather jacket but would occasionally wander through a shop that sold them and drool. During college I rode a Yamaha DT-250 to school but rarely further. That blue smoke belching two stroke never seemed like a bike meant to go much further than across town or maybe across a few fields. I still recall walking into a leather shop in a quonset hut 30 years ago and trying on a Vanson jacket that I think was a CR. It had a thick orange horizontal stripe running a few inches down from the shoulder and all the way around. It was something like $400 USD at the time and out of my reach. Might've been a flat tracker.

Roughly 25 years ago I became what some call a born again motorcyclist. While the kids and family were young I couldn't risk their futures if I had been splattered out on some remote highway but eventually I could take greater risks w/out much concern. I bought a BMW K75S sometime in the late 90's and stretched its legs every chance I got. Then a BMW R1100R, a Yamaha FZ1, a BMW HP2, etc. I have nine bikes now and get out on them less often but they're still a part of me.

It was somewhere in the early years of being that born again biker that I picked up another jacket that stirred the leather drive in me. It was a Gericke Paris Dakar jacket made mostly of textile but the reinforced sections were leather covered... like the shoulders, elbows, etc. Then it was a Vanson Sport Rider that felt great but looked odd whenever I got off the bike. It had a sort of Terminator vibe to it that looked like you were there to shoot the gas station operator and didn't seem right for my longer rides in snow, rain, slush and sometimes worse. I sold that but it was the bug that led to the current collection of maybe 15 leather jackets, some of which are m/c jackets that never get ridden in. To the office, weekend knock around, etc. It was probably the intoxicating smell of that Vanson Sport many years back that led me to the rest of 'em.

I never ride in leather but I do feel comfortable in a CR and most of the others. I was gifted a very nicely broken in cross zip by Mysteryo many months back and love the jacket but it's still one I feel a little unusual in... like I should lean against a concrete wall and light a smoke or maybe stab a passing miscreant. Not sure what it's about.

After all that it's also true that the jackets I have don't inspire me to be different than I am, don't inspire me to get on a bike or anything else really. With the one slight exception of Mysteryo's gift they all seem like they are me and they are what I'm comfortable in.

They look great w/ a nice pair of harness boots too which I also absolutely love but can't exactly say why.. Leather jackets are another outward expression that lurks in some of us and has to get out.

Good stuff, heart stuff here, inspired . Thank you

 

[leatherbikescarsnwatches]

To my mind, denim vest over a leather jacket is the quintessential heavy metal look.

View attachment 748940

I have always done it a lot it always seems quite natural to me to throw a vest, whatever the material, over leather
I've also always been around motorcycle clubs including growing up around them so maybe that's part of the reason why

 

[Trouser Bark]

Good stuff, heart stuff here, inspired . Thank you

This is great - well written and a lovely story

Thank you, Gentlemen!

 

[TheOldFashioned]

In theory I'm Kayser Soze, but in reality I'm probably closer to Lester Burnham.

 

[leatherbikescarsnwatches]

In theory I'm Kayser Soze, but in reality I'm probably closer to Lester Burnham.

 

[BarryMcCockiner_PhD]

Laying pipe to Enya.

 

[beetleything]

must be fun - relaxing

 

[beetleything]

Ride bikes as you should !

 

[beetleything]

 

[beetleything]

 

[tweedydon]

It's a throw away from Amazon. I needed a lighter weight layer for my leather at one point. I think I also bought the one with a bunch of studs on it LOL

Link?

 

[ton312]

Leather jackets are probably the ones I reach for the least. I don’t do anything special in them. Wear to a bar, grocery store, the movies. Isn’t really a lifestyle choice. I mean in all honesty whe I was riding this thing around I was more likely in a t shirt and flannel….

 

[leatherbikescarsnwatches]

Link?

https://a.co/d/6t36ZZM

There you go!