i've been hitting the gym so i had to sell my schott perfecto 118, luckily i got nearly $250 for it and bought it for about $385 so i didn't lose too much on it.

i was going to buy another schott but wanted to try on a 46 and 48 to see which one fits better. so i looked up a local tailor who carried them. when i got there he also had vanson jackets so i tried on a model B in a 48 and it fit well with enough room to get a small fleece underneath. this one was sitting for a bit it's still made in america and the guy was selling them at a very good price.

overall the leather is not supple, complete opposite of the schott. the leather was like wearing a saddle bag, stiff, hard cattle hide. the liner only covers the core and not the sleeves. zipping up the sleeves was borderline painful. but in the end it wears like iron and i do enjoy that when riding. in the riding position it felt great, no movement in the jacket, the bi-swing back made move ment easy and effortless. i felt zero wind and with the liner and a thin fleece i was comfortable in temps down into the 30's.

overall i love the jacket but it needs some breaking in (a lot of breaking in) so i've been wearing it around. comparitively the schott really feels like a fashion jacket when you compare both.

i was so impressed i'm going to buy some vanson leather pants from the same guy as soon as i sell enough **** on ebay to pay for them.

i know they're moving their new stuff overseas and that's a real shame, but there is plenty of USA made vanson stuff out there and i would give it a thumbs up.

 

In a spill, I'd rather be in the stiff jacket. The supple one is for taking the wife in the cage to a restaurant.

 

I tried leather jackets from Icon, Alpinestars, and Fox Creek. Every one I tried, even the fox creek, was too short in the sleeves. And when I got the next size up, the sleeves fit but the top jutted way up into my neck on the bike so much that it made me choke.

It's like these jackets are not made for actually riding or something.

was that not the case with the vanson?

I ended up buying a jacket from British Motorcycle Gear. The only one out of 8 or 9 jackets I ordered and returned before finding one that was short enough in the torso to not ride up, but long enough in the sleeves to not ride up the sleeves when reaching to the bars.

what a pain... don't know where the BMG is made... i am hoping at least not china. It has no tag of origin on it that I can find.

 

i didn't have any problems with the vanson jacket riding up and choking me, but from my experience unless you are going the custom route there is always something on the jacket that will be off and you just have to settle.

for me i have a 34 inch waist and 46 inch chest and in order to get a jacket that fits over my chest it's too loose in the stomach, the vanson has this issue too, but it has side adjustments which tighten it up. the schott perfecto was real bad in this regard, it's like if you have a 44 inch chest you would need a 38-40 inch waist to fit properly.

i won't bother with a custom jacket because of the money it costs, in order to justify the cost i would have to think i'll be able to wear it for the next 20 years and chances are my size will fluctuate with diet and going to the gym.