The Avirex jacket I described is horsehide that, with a little care, will last FOREVER. One day my son will get it.

 

Back in the late '70s a girlfriend bought me a brown Golden Bear jacket. I loved it so much that I bought another, a black one. Still have them both and I'm getting close to fitting back in them!


Just priced out a new one. $1138.00. Yikes!
WF

 

In the '70s I rode but I didn't have a leather motorcycle jacket, but in the mid 80s I had a Bates leather jacket that was a good one...I can't remember what I did with it, but it's long gone.

 

I have a Brooks, made in Detroit city, 40 plus yrs old.
Not sure if they are still made in Detroit or not.

 

In the 60's and 70's, we wore wind breakers. Warm weather we just wore jeans and a shirt. Bell owned the Helmet market. I wore a tin coat (canvas with paraffin or beeswax and linseed waterproofing.) I still have the original 1936 tin pants my uncle gave me in the 60's, but I lost track of the coat over 45 years ago. My first leather jacket is like Sierra977's, but it is just a little too small for me now. Maybe when I get into my 80's it will fit again. I never really cared for the slanted zipper design. In an unheated bomber at 15,000', it probably was perfect. Someone gave me a Carhartt years ago, but it is a lighter fabric and waterresistant, not waterproof. While it fits me in the shoulders, the rest is like a tent. It is obviously made for someone who drinks a lot more beer than I do. I am a whisky drinker so I don't think it will ever fit. Can't give it to someone else as the guy that gave it to me had it embroidered with my name and logo on the back.

On the fishing boats in the 50's and into the 60's, we used oilskin cloth, paraffin dissolved in kerosene for our canvas pants and jackets. It was early 70's before I had a pair of Helly Hanson rain gear. I still have that yellow slicker and it is still waterproof.

Today's advice, try it on and if it feels good and allows movement, buy it. Quality last damn near forever.

 

Lesco was a good brand back 70's.You can still find good old jackets cheaply on Clist or Ebay.
Just make sure it fits properly

 

I bought a really nice, well made jacket from Natal Leathers off of Ebay for about $40. That was around ten years ago. It was well-used and broke in when I bought it, I have no idea how old it is... great jacket, thick leather and heavy duty hardware.

Husband has had his old jacket that he bought from a local leather shop (Just Leathers) for a long time, (I think about 25-30 years?) That has held up very well also. Except for one of the zippers on the sleeve, he is supposed to be able to take it in to get it fixed for free (lifetime warranty), but we haven't done that yet.

Your best bet is a good local leather shop or Ebay if you know what you are looking for. Sometimes, you can find good leathers at yard/garage sales too.

 

I was wearing pretty much whatever at first, but when I was riding a Yamaha Seca 750 in the early 90's a friend bought me a Schott Perfecto jacket that I was SO proud of. I wore the hell out of that, on and off my bike, but eventually my waistline got too big for it and I had to retire the thing. I passed it on to a younger guy I knew who rode and told him to do the same when he outgrew it. That thing was built like a battleship and it wouldn't surprise me if it's on the third or fourth generation of owner now.

I'd love to get another Perfecto like it, but at the prices they're charging now I'm not sure I'd pull the trigger on that one. I'll sooner get one in a lesser brand, but same style for half or less the cost of a legit Schott. Damn fine jacket, though.

 

I have a set of Hein Gericke chaps I bought at a swap meet gotta be 1979 or still looking good.

 

70'S.....and into the 80'S.....Military leather flight jacket when it was cold out. Mil-spec but have no idea who made them.
When not so cold it was a Levis denim jacket.