Is a Half-Belt a Good Motorcycle Jacket?

Monitor said:

'cause mc jackets without shoulder gussets/bi swing back would have to have a roomier back so to avoid constriction when the wearer's arms are extended which, in turn, would make the jacket look baggy at the back when off the bike, due to the excess material bunching up once you're in a standing positing with your arms relaxed.

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That explains it. Thanks.

Suppose I order a cafe racer without the gussets or bi swing back and it is made from the same pattern. Then the manufacturwer would either add extra room in the back if it is for riding or leave it alone and tighter than usual if it is for casual wear? Am i making sense?

Depends on the maker, I guess? It's a good question! I know Aero can delete gussets from their CR, but I've no idea in what way does that affect the pattern of the jacket. None of the gusset-less Aero CR's that I've seen photos of had a particularly trim looking back, though.

Something I hadn't realized before is how a center seam down the back of the jacket reduces all that blousing, just as darts in a shirt reduce the puffiness in the shirt back. This may be a better option than eliminating the gussets even. Take a look at the Sunburst as an exterme example. It lays really flat against the back.

kronos77 said:

Something I hadn't realized before is how a center seam down the back of the jacket reduces all that blousing, just as darts in a shirt reduce the puffiness in the shirt back. This may be a better option than eliminating the gussets even. Take a look at the Sunburst as an exterme example. It lays really flat against the back.

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The same applies to Aero's Board Racer where they say "The back has a double kidney panel and is cut to fit close to the torso, to achieve this we've had to use a centre back seam, quadruple stitched for extra strength, which follows the contours of the wearers backbone."

Denny said as much himself in a thread a while back; they can delete that seam, but the jacket won't be as trim a fit without it.

Modern motorcycle jackets often have that back seam too. If it's properly constructed then it should be sufficiently durable.

My BKS Leather jacket is constructed that way. It makes the average Aero feel flimsy, and I'd trust it in an off.

ForestForTheTrees said:

To keep this somewhat on-topic, does anyone still apply patches to their riding jackets (not referring to gang patches)? I never have, but the classic Triumph patches are amongst my all time favorites.

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Decorated jackets were big on the Brit / English Rocker scene back in the day. Typically less extremely decorated than has become almost a norm on the Rocker revivalist scene, though some heavily done-up jackets were to be seen. The Rockers' bike jackets were a significant inspiration for the decorated leathers later worn by heavy metal fans and punks alike, via which youth cults in Britain, decorated biker-style leather jackets became popular outside of motorcycling too. Punks in particular had quite the connection to the old Rocker jackets; many prominent punks wore second hand jackets that old rockers had cast off. Sid Vicious may be best remembered in the US for his Perfecto, bought on the early 78 US tour, but the iconic Sid Vicious jacket worn for much more of his short life and almost all his tenure with the Sex PIstols was a second hand Lewis Leathers Dominator. The Clash were, to a man, all heavily influenced by the rocker look. Bass player Paul Simonon grew up with motorcycles, and Bernie Rhodes, their manager, was steeped in youth cultures and street style, and was instrumental in steering them in the direction of Lewis jackets, helping make the Lewis Lightning a more significant leather jacket for British punk rock than the Schott Perfecto. (Even the Ramones wore Lewis jackets in the 70s!).

Rockers typically decorated their jackets with painted-on bike logos, slogans ('sHake, Rattle and Roll', and one, infamously, "Wot, No Bike?" in which he turned up at the Ace Cafe after a spill nixed his bike), patches and enamel badges. The latter two were most commonly logos of various bike brands which the wearer either owned, had owned, or aspired to owning. Almost always British bikes (Harley's following in the UK is sizeable, but it has almost no crossover with the Rocker scene, unsurprisingly given that the scene is largely a nostalgia fest for a very British scene from an era when Britain had a very healthy motorcycle industry and you would never have seen an American bike on the road. Badges relating to the BMF (British Motorcycle Federation), various racing event and racetracks (TT, Mallory Park, et cetera) were common. Also various badges and patches indicating "membership" of the "Ton-Up Club" (i.e. someone who owned a motorcycle capable of doing 'the ton' - going over 100mph - and had impliedly ridden at those speeds on a regular basis). Needless to say, it would be considered extremely bad form to wear one of those never having done the ton. 59 Club badges were also very popular in the Rocker scene. Still are - though sadly there are a lot of fakers out there wearing counterfeit 59 merchandise. The tradition '59' on a plain black patch 3" in diameter is only officially available to actual members. The 59 is not a 'colours club', however - by deliberate design it is and always has been open to anyone who wishes to join, and while not a proselytising or even religious club, it has retained its link with the church from which it originated.

Later rocker jackets, into the early seventies, started to have Japanese bike names on them too, though by that point the original rocker movement (which had its heyday in 60-64, really; theAceCafe originally shut down in 1969) had all but faded out, not to be revived until the mid 90s.

Metalheads and punks tended more towards music references in their jacket decoration. Metalheads were also more likely to favour the "Battle Jacket", a sort of music fan variation on the kuttes of the MC culture.

All three groups still exist in varying numbers (with a level of crossover between them all - many younger folks in the revivalist rocker thing in the UK are old punks - as is the case with most vintage scenes over here!).

I started a thread a few years ago on the Rocker jackets - see: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/british-rocker-jackets-c-1956-1969.82375/

Stearmen said:

I have actually owned more Triumph's then any other make hands down, almost all Meriden built. Norton comes in at second with 6 or 7. I have two Hinckley's, a 2004 Bonneville and a 2011 Thruxton. Other then the general look, teardrop tank, bench seat, parallel twin, there is really no comparison! Push the button and go, no vibration, no oil leaks, and no Prince Of Darkness! They are heavier, it's so easy to put my 79 Bonnie up on the center stand. I have a drawer full of motorcycle patches.

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Triumph have played a very clever game over the last 20 years, imo, by retaining their older aesthetic while combining it with evolved technologies. It's going to be interesting to see what they do with an electric motored bike when they go that way.... (a fair few exist already, but they lack the classic style Triumph do so well). A friend of mine has owned a 2004 Thruxton from new - it was the first black one sold in the UK. Beautiful bike.

Monitor said:

'cause mc jackets without shoulder gussets/bi swing back would have to have a roomier back so to avoid constriction when the wearer's arms are extended which, in turn, would make the jacket look baggy at the back when off the bike, due to the excess material bunching up once you're in a standing positing with your arms relaxed.

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Baggier, but not extremely so. Check out Brando's Durable in The Wild One - those tiny little gussets that don't really do anything, yeah - but note that it's 'big' over the shoulders on him, and much tighter at the waist. That's how they were worn back when. The slight oversizing in the shoulders would have compensated for the lack of serious gusseting, though I don't think it looks bad at all. Course, on the sort of bike Brando was riding in that film, it was an American-style, upright riding position (his Triumph had much higher bars than standard, retro-fitted). This sort of thing makes much more difference when you're talking about crouching over a racing bike.