I wear chaps to home depot all the time, are you sure they are gay? I did notice some looks everytime I jump out the truck....and on the jobsite, are you sure? I have lots of friends that are women and they never said anything
i have one that's farely new and it's stiff and shiny! kinda pisses me off. i think i need to do burnout on it or something lol
Yes its a cop jacket! the epalets are for putting your gloves or engsigna, has the gun pocket inside and small pocket up front for keys with built in kidny belt....Roach.
I will certianly agree with the weight part...My current weighs a ton-but my old one was flat-out HEAVY. I wish I had my Grandfathers...he bought a Harley in the early 60's and apparently, was forgetful- the sleeves had "BRAKE' and "CLUTCH" painted on them so the rider could read them. by the time I was old enought to wear it, it had disentegrated at the seams. was cool,though. His flight jacketwas loaned to a meuseum and never returned. bummer- he was a glider pilot, so instead of bombs painted on the back, he painted on little boots for each successful drop- he had (I think?) 27. I do remeber the mural clearly- it was a flying elephant!
from what i know... the perfecto (leather jacket) is an italian design originally, had nothing to do with motorcycling.
I thought the modern motorcycle jacket as we know it was done by langlitz. http://www.langlitz.com/press.shtml
i also believe marlon brando's bike in the wild one was not a triumph thunderbird. i think it was a speed twin. it looks like it has an amal carb not SU. this is very off topic.... sorry...
anyhow. I have a thread killing question...What were Eisenhower Jackets called beofre Eisenhower wore one?[/quote] There were no Eisenhower jackets before Ike wore one. He invented the style. Seems he wanted a short military coat that could be quickly put on and taken off and not have the long tails that were a hassle getting in and out of vehicles. He had a tailor do one up to his design and everyone who saw it wanted one. Only took an executive order to make it an official military style. And now you know the rest of the story. Frank
I bought a brown Harley jacket as a college graduation present to myself in '95. It's real heavy. Was lined up to get a Harley to go with it, but that fell through, them moved, then got married and kid, etc. etc. etc. The jacket gets a lot of compliments, and it still fits very well 12 years later (better after losing 20 pounds this winter). The best compliment I got was from my 11 year old a couple months ago. "I love that jacket. I want it when you're.......outgrown it. When it doesn't fit you any more...Oh...um...you're done growing, aren't you? You won't get any taller and outgrow it, will you. When you get fat is what I meant." He was going to say "When you're dead"!!!! Bwahahaha! I think that's the height of being a cool dad; when you've got something your kid wants after you're gone. -Brad
Horse hide is more water resistant than cow hide due to tighter fibers in the flesh. That's the main difference.
I have a book called the Black Leather Jacket (or something like that) and it's all about the history of the jacket and its role in the counter culture. I'll try to get the reference for you tonight. I'm sure it's out of print, but a used/OOP bookstore might be able to get it for you
The black leather goes back to the earliest days of bike riding. Now the cut off denim....!! That's true americana.
This is a picture of a typical WWI avaiation jacket. They were almost a trench coat in length. I would guess that not until sometime between WWI and WWII did the coats shorten and resemble motorcycle or bomber jackets.
Hey Tingler, here's the info on the book I mentioned The Black Leather Jacket by Mick Farren 1985 ISBN 0-85965-115-0 ISBN 0-85965-087-1 (pbk) I think there are a few used ones for sale on Amazon
Note on cultural distancing: I have a recent German airforce one...patch shows an F-4 Phantom unit. It is very nice, but is a medium gray--the Germans have to be careful about the use of tradition nowadays. I'd bet there are East German ones out there identical to WWII Luftwaffe issue. Those guys kept everything in production for years, unchanged except for Commie patches and badges instead of Nazi ones.
Here's a couple of mine. They are both horse hide. The brown one is really comfortable and broken in. The black one is still really stiff and not even broken in. It has a removable fur collar which is pretty cool, I need to find a belt for it though. I think they are both late 40's-early 50's. The third one is my uncles. I believe its a 50's highway patrol jacket because its got the place to hang a badge. Its also horse hide. I used to borrow that one when I was a teenager, but then I got taller and bigger than my uncle. People used to offer to buy that one right off my back, its really cool.
Buddy of mine had what was supposed to be a Korean war era helicopter pilot jacket. I always thought the classic motorcycle jacket was based on that.
they are cool thats called an "A2" flight jacket. i have a "G1" which was mostly used by the navy, the basic diffence between the two is the "G1" has a furry coller like the one someone posted before. ive been trying to get a "B3" jacket for years... but they get pricey! esp on ebay, and i never see them for sale anywere else. even a british one would be cool. heres my "G1" dont mind my drunken' fonzi pose...
This ad says it's from 1933: http://motorcycles.about.com/library/motoads/nad_HDad136_33.htm Looks like the classic biker jacket to me.
This is one of my favorite pictures of my Dad. It is dated January 1968. I believe it was the same jacket as he wore when my parents were dating in 1961, when his only transportation was an Indian. He had to borrow a friends Henry J to take Mom out on a date. Slonaker
Well Draggin Ass, since you know so much about bomber jackets I'm gonna go off subject slightly because it's not leather. This was my great Uncle's, he was a bomber mechanic stationed in England. Do you know the name of it and is it rare? The sleeve emblem says Army Air Forces under it.
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