New Bates website, insane?

Americanaaa Mark said:

For that price I'd expect a much more fancy leather. Not your industry standard riding leather.

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HoosierDaddy said:

Well lets see...I started riding a MC in 1964 at age 16. Had a motorcycle off and on ( mostly on ) over all these years. I don't give a hoot about what is historically correct at certain times concerning side laces, movie cool, or silly short MC jackets ending up at practically navel level which always looked like someone wearing their little grade school brothers jacket to me . I care more about a leather MC jacket that is comfortable, has good reach without sleeves riding up to my elbows, easy to adjust, or just fits in length and designed fairly snug around the waist without allowing drafts up my back or down the crack of my ass.
I've had many different brands over the years including Bates. However, there are several better engineered MC jackets on the market these days than most of years gone by IMO. Vanson being one.
HD

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ton312 said:

Side laces may not be what people want to look at but Vanson, Cal and Bates all use them. For a riding jacket I love them. There's no better cross zip for riding than the Vanson model E (in my opinion). I've had both Bates and Vansons Highwayman and they were really nice fit wise on a bike. The laces allowed me to snug the jacket around my entire torso, not just the waist. The problem I've always had with belted or buckled closures at the waist is the balloon effect they create. Laces let you snug up higher to the pits.

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Mark said:

I was out today on my HD 48, dam wind was shooting up my arms, not nice when the temp is only a couple of degrees above freezing. Off the bike my SB biker jacket fits a treat but on the bike the arms ride up above my wrists by a good couple of inches. Fine in the summer, not so good in the winter. Moral of the story being..add an inch or two on those measuremets before emailing in your order! (that goes for back length as well as arm length)

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