Going to Get Jacket Sleeves Tapered

Zack W · Sep 3, 2020

Purchased a Simmons Bilt Horsehide Jacket and the sleeves are a bit loose than what I’d like. Especially the cuff as I can slip off the jacket with the cuff zippers closed. Just judging off of the photos, do you think and inch and a half taken from the biceps to elbow and cuff area too much? Or should I do a inch from the bicep and a inch and a half from the cuff. Thanks!

Zack W · Sep 3, 2020

Zack W said:
Purchased a Simmons Bilt Horsehide Jacket and the sleeves are a bit loose than what I’d like. Especially the cuff as I can slip off the jacket with the cuff zippers closed. Just judging off of the photos, do you think and inch and a half taken from the biceps to elbow and cuff area too much? Or should I do a inch from the bicep and a inch and a half from the cuff. Thanks!

Downunder G Man · Sep 3, 2020

They don't actually look that "wide" to me. What model is the jacket ?

Both my Simmons Bilt jackets , J100 and Nebraska , both in black goat , don't "crush down" to the forearms zipped up.

The zipper sleeves are "looser" than my 3 Vanson variants , Comet , Sturgis and Ike. They all zip REAL tight.

Indeed the Ike does not like my chunky diving watch on my right wrist !

The Vansons of course are all marketed as "zip-tight" sleeves to stop wind on a motorcycle, they sure do just that.

What you are suggesting sounds awfully potentially expensive and risky to boot , bit of a one way trip !

Psant25 · Sep 3, 2020

Be careful. I would put on thickest shirt you would wear and see if while flexing at the elbow there is that much room at biceps. Ive said before I had Johnson Leather do a taper job. The cuff Opening on one side was just ever so slightly larger than the other after the job was done. Bothered me quite a bit I would always notice and ended up selling The jacket

Zack W · Sep 3, 2020

Downunder G Man said:
They don't actually look that "wide" to me. What model is the jacket ?

Both my Simmons Bilt jackets , J100 and Nebraska , both in black goat , don't "crush down" to the forearms zipped up.

The zipper sleeves are "looser" than my 3 Vanson variants , Comet , Sturgis and Ike. They all zip REAL tight.

Indeed the Ike does not like my chunky diving watch on my right wrist !

The Vansons of course are all marketed as "zip-tight" sleeves to stop wind on a motorcycle, they sure do just that.

What you are suggesting sounds awfully potentially expensive and risky to boot , bit of a one way trip !

Thank you for the response! I understand it is a one way trip, but I do prefer my jacket to have a little less room in the cuff area. The other Simmons bilt cafe racer I owned definitely zipped up closer to the wrist.

Zack W · Sep 3, 2020

Psant25 said:
Be careful. I would put on thickest shirt you would wear and see if while flexing at the elbow there is that much room at biceps. Ive said before I had Johnson Leather do a taper job. The cuff Opening on one side was just ever so slightly larger than the other after the job was done. Bothered me quite a bit I would always notice and ended up selling The jacket

That’s really disappointing because that’s where I planned on sending my jacket. I wore my thickest shirt when making the final decision, so maybe I might just only take an inch instead of the inch and a half.

Psant25 · Sep 3, 2020

Well it was really not that bad and i am overly picky. There were other fit issues too not pertaining to the alter. I love and trust JL. Have got prlly 6 jackets from them. One coming today that had sleeves shortened. I just think sleeve taper is tricky.

edit: if you are not happy JL will make it right. Alan may not want me saying but he just reached out to me regarding my post above. That shows what kind of guy he is and company it is. Pretty great

Hh121 · Sep 3, 2020

I think alteration job can be difficult, you can not expect absolutely perfect job. I will vote for Johnson Leather, best customer service and no HIDDEN FEES! (Such as give you one quote, and later on when alteration finished change you $120 more said the job is very difficult. I won't tolerate this kind of BS)

Zack W · Sep 3, 2020

Psant25 said:
Well it was really not that bad and i am overly picky. There were other fit issues too not pertaining to the alter. I love and trust JL. Have got prlly 6 jackets from them. One coming today that had sleeves shortened. I just think sleeve taper is tricky.

edit: if you are not happy JL will make it right. Alan may not want me saying but he just reached out to me regarding my post above. That shows what kind of guy he is and company it is. Pretty great

That’s pretty great! Awesome CS right there. Would you suggest only tapering an inch from the bicep and the cuff then? Just purely judging off the photos?

Psant25 · Sep 3, 2020

Zack W said:
That’s pretty great! Awesome CS right there. Would you suggest only tapering an inch from the bicep and the cuff then? Just purely judging off the photos?

To me pics look ok. I would not go more than an inch.

jpk_NJ · Sep 3, 2020

IMO, that is an expensive and risky alteration gamble on it coming out like new perfect. It doesn’t look crazy wide and if it were mine, I’d hot water soak / hair dry the area instead. I have had success doing that and it’s free. Worst case it doesn’t shrink enough / leather gets dried out. Some pecards and it’s back to normal.
I’f the alteration gets botched, your out cash, jacket is now slightly messed up, and you probably end up selling it down the road.

And yes, some places try pulling the low ball quote on repair and then ask for double when they get it or already complete. So far out of 3 places, Johnson was the only place that never gave a me different price in the end. I won’t name the others

Monitor · Sep 3, 2020

Hh121 said:
I think alteration job can be difficult, you can not expect absolutely perfect job. I will vote for Johnson Leather, best customer service and no HIDDEN FEES! (Such as give you one quote, and later on when alteration finished change you $120 more said the job is very difficult. I won't tolerate this kind of BS)

Imma guessing you had someone in mind when writing this so who was it?

Hh121 · Sep 3, 2020

Monitor said:
Imma guessing you had someone in mind when writing this so who was it?

No need to mention the name, if this person keep doing this the business will soon go down.
probably gonna charge me $500 if I ask this person to shortening my heavy aero half belt.

ton312 · Sep 3, 2020

In my opinion these sleeves are already super narrow. I wouldn’t risk any alteration.

Monitor · Sep 3, 2020

ton312 said:
In my opinion these sleeves are already super narrow. I wouldn’t risk any alteration.

Agreed.

Zack W · Sep 3, 2020

ton312 said:
In my opinion these sleeves are already super narrow. I wouldn’t risk any alteration.

My only real issue is the cuffs are wide so the zipper basically non functional. Does it appear to be a good fit regardless? Obviously I’m not an experienced leather jacket owner. More of a high end footwear person myself.

ton312 · Sep 3, 2020

Zack W said:
My only real issue is the cuffs are wide so the zipper basically non functional. Does it appear to be a good fit regardless? Obviously I’m not an experienced leather jacket owner. More of a high end footwear person myself.

Unless you have a very specific need for an air tight cuff I would not get out the knife for alterations. I think it looks damn good as is!

roadking04 · Sep 4, 2020

Unless you ride a motorcycle, I would leave them alone. If you use the jacket for riding, I might consider risking an alteration. They "look" fine and comfortable for casual wear. They would not "function" very well for M/C use.

Will Zach · Sep 4, 2020

I will disagree with my predecessors. Cuffs are def too wide for this style jacket. Bicep/elbow looks okay, but if you take off 1.5" in the cuff, I would also take off 1" in the elbow if you like them more narrow. I will also disagree that taking in sleeve is a big deal - it isn't. Try JL or Dena. I both shortened and taken in huge, pipe-like monkey sleeves in HD cafe racer and there is no comparison - I love the sleeves now, it is a pleasure to put the jacket on. I love narrow sleeves.

navetsea · Sep 4, 2020

doesn't look too baggy though, I mean for a shirt collared jacket, the shape of the sleeve kind of work. racer style jacket with equally tight band collar, zippered chest pockets, then the cuff must seal too. But on this one, sleeve looks good, even buttoned cuff sometime has 2 buttons yet nobody use the tighter button.

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